304 



THE YEW. 



There are several earthworks supposed to be 

 British on the surrounding hills ; and on the 

 highest ridge, four or five hundred feet above the 

 bottom, are some tumuli or cairns, which are 

 supposed to be the tombs of Danish Sea-kings." 

 The old name of the place is said to be ^' Kings'- 

 slain Bottom."* The vicinity of these ancient 

 Yews to the British remains would seem to favour 

 Mr. Bowman's view mentioned above. 



The Yew-tree is characterised by a trunk pe- 

 culiarly suggestive of massiveness and solidity, 

 not being covered, like the trunks of most other 

 trees, with a splitting bark, but seemingly com- 

 posed of a number of smooth stems fused together. 

 The bark itself is of a reddish brown hue, and 

 scales off in thin plates. At the height of a few 

 feet from the ground, it sends out numerous 

 horizontal branches, which spread in all direc- 

 tions, and are densely clothed with tough twigs, 

 which are leafy throughout their whole extent, or 

 nearly so. The leaves are thickly set on two op- 

 posite sides of the stem, very narrow, slightly re- 

 curved, dark green, and shining above, but paler 

 below. The young shoots of the Yew are subject 

 to a disease, the effect of which is a conical bunch 

 of succulent leaves at the extremity of the twigs ; 

 this, when it has grown to about an inch in length, 

 withers and dies off. The flowers, which are of 

 two kinds, and grow on separate trees, appear 

 among the leaves, and on the under side of the 

 twigs. The barren flowers are the most numerous, 

 appearing in the form of membranous scaly buds, 

 from the centre of each of which protrudes a slen- 



* I am indebted for the above account of the Kingly Bottom 

 Yews to Dr. N. Tyacke. 



