THE YEW. 



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their greatest height is about forty feet^ and their 

 extreme spread sixty feet in diameter. Tradition 

 fixes their age at nine hundred years. About two 

 years since a lady happened to be driving through 

 the grove, and observed something like fire at the 

 base of one of the trunks, which somewhat sur- 

 prised her, as no one is permitted to light a fire 

 under the trees, and moreover, there was not a 

 living creature to be seen within the confines of 

 the valley. She approached the spot, and found 

 that the trunk of one of the largest trees was a 

 glowing mass, whilst the branches were as fresh 

 and the leaves as green, as those of the uninjured 

 trees around. She drove back to the village 

 (about a mile distant) and informed the person 

 who had charge of the trees, of what she had 

 observed. He immediately sent a man towards 

 the spot, but he was so awe-stricken by the 

 solitude of the vale and the unaccountable fire, 

 that he was afraid to approach it. Others, however, 

 soon came with a good supply of water, and after 

 many hours extinguished the fire ; but the tree 

 fell. My informant saw it a day or two after- 

 wards, when it presented a very extraordinary 

 appearance. Although the entire trunk from the 

 commencement of the branches to beneath the 

 surface of the ground was converted into charcoal, 

 the crown of the tree seemed entirely unaffected 

 by the fire. The cause of the fire was not as- 

 certained. It could not have been occasioned 

 by friction: but as one side of the tree was 

 decayed, it is probable that fire was actually 

 applied to it. Spontaneous combustion may, 

 however, have taken place amidst the rotten 

 wood and other materials collected in the hollow. 



