CHAP. CXI/. TAXA^CEM. TA XUS. 2081 



the tree stands quite erect; that the trunk is destitute of branches for some 

 way up; and that the head still continues to grow. 



Yews remarkable for some Singularity in their Form, Mode of Growth, or 

 Situation. The yew being one of the trees most frequently subjected to the 

 shears in former times, is occasionally to be met with clipped into artificial 

 forms ; but those singularities of form which we intend to notice here will 

 be chiefly such as have arisen from fortuitous circumstances. The most re- 

 markable clipped yew tree that we recollect, in the neighbourhood of Lon- 

 don, is one in the churchyard at Hounslow ; the sides of which are formed 

 into square plinths and cylinders, and the top into a cock. There is a similar 

 tree in the churchyard at Beaconsfield. The clipped tree at Harlington (no- 

 ticed in p. 2077.), which must have been one of the grandest things of its kind 

 of the time, is, as already observed, no longer subjected to the shears. 



The Crum Castle Yew Tree " grows on a small mound of earth, 4 ft. 

 above the level of the surrounding surface. Its branches were formerly 

 supported by 32 brick pillars, 6 ft. high ;. but these were removed about three 

 years ago, and it is now supported by 16 oak posts with their bark on, which 

 look more in character with the tree. Its height is 18 ft. 6 in. ; the trunk is 

 9 ft. 3 in. in girt at 1 ft. 6 in. from the ground; and the space covered by the 

 branches is 70 ft. 6 in. in diameter. Its branches are so interwoven and 

 platted together through each other, that it is almost impossible to trace any 

 one of them from the trunk to its extremity. This, indeed, is the cause of 

 the very remarkable appearance of the tree : but at what time, or by whose 

 hands, this labour was performed, is unknown. The tree is supposed to be 

 three or four centuries old, and has rather the appearance of being on the 

 decline. It was highly valued by the late Earl of Erne, who frequently em- 

 ployed men to clean the moss from its branches. It is a female plant, and 

 bears annually abundance of fruit. This singular tree is surrounded by a yew 

 hedge, which is kept neatly clipped. — W. Henderson. Crum Castle, March, 

 1836." 



The Portbury Yews. In the churchyard of Portbury, near Bristol, are two 

 very lofty yews, much longer in the bole than usual. One of these, in Au- 

 gust, 1836, had a small branch from the base of a bough, which had shot 

 downwards into the decayed top of the trunk ; and which, on being pulled 

 up, proved to be a perfect root, upwards of 3 ft. in length. This singular 

 circumstance will explain the origin of the inner trunks of yew trees, as ex- 

 emplified in that of Mamhilad, already described, p. 2077. When the top of 

 the trunk becomes cracked by the action of storms upon the boughs, the rain 

 finds access, and, in time, causes decay ; and the dead leaves and dung of 

 bats and birds, &c, falling in, combine with the rotten wood to form a soft 

 rich mould, into which a bud shooting out from a neighbouring part (if not 

 actually covered by the mould) is naturally drawn by the moisture and sur- 

 rounding shade, and transformed into a root. As the fissure widened and 

 deepened, by the slow but sure process of decay, this root would descend 

 and thicken, till it ultimately fixed itself in the soil below. After a lapse of, 

 perhaps, several centuries, decay, gradually advancing, would at last reach the 

 circumference of the trunk, and produce a rift on one side : through this the 

 rotten mould would fall out, gradually exposing the root it had conducted 

 downwards ; and the combined influence of light and air, acting upon its 

 juices, would cause it to deposit annual layers of true wood, and to be covered 

 with a true bark. Meanwhile it would have shot up a stem near its point of 

 union, and have formed for itself an independent head and branches. All this 

 is in strict conformity with the known laws of vegetable physiology ; and some 

 similar process has produced the peculiarities already described in the Mamhi- 

 lad and Llanthewy Vach yews. In the Portbury tree, the same process is 

 shown in its earlier stage ; and these examples make it probable that, under 

 favourable circumstances, the yew has the power of thus perpetuating itself. 

 If so, it may be said to have a new claim to be considered the emblem of im- 

 mortalitv. There is no doubt that, barring accidents, the inner trunks of the 



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