362 
THE YEW. 
THE YEW. 
BY JAMES GRIGOE. 
nrs is the mourner's tree, appropri- 
ately stationed beside the dwellings 
of such as have gone to their " long 
home." It is endeared to many 
on this account ; and, I think, 
justly; for though it is rejected 
and abhorred by many, on account of its 
gloomy character, the educated and contem- 
plative mind is far from despising it, and 
rather derives a pleasure from the idea, that it 
is the faithful, acknowledged, and rightful 
guardian of our last earthly resting-place. 
It is a dense-growing demure object, not 
without elegance in its spray when minutely 
examined ; but, as a picture, too lumpy. . It 
never waves in the breeze, nor does it display 
any degree of the light and shade which we ob- 
serve in the generality of trees, such as the 
pine, the elm, and the oak ; which throw out 
their branches in horizontal irregular tiers, 
and consequently present those dark recesses 
which are so beautiful in such objects. The 
density of its foliage points it out as a tree ad- 
mirably adapted for hedges ; hence it is found 
very much employed for sheltering gardens, 
and for being clipped into a variety of fanciful 
figures. Judging from the hedges which still 
remain in the old gardens throughout England, 
it would appear, that soon after Evelyn's time, 
it had been much more extensively planted 
than it has been during the present century. 
It is still a favourite in secluded portions of 
pleasure grounds, where its thick and im- 
pervious foliage shuts out the view of surround- 
ing scenes. In our cathedral cities it is almost 
invariably found of a great age and size ; and 
perhaps there is no tree of which so many ex- 
traordinary specimens might be enumerated. 
Of the age of the Yew in Fortingal church- 
yard, Perthshire, there is no precise account ; 
but it is believed to have been a flourishing 
tree at the commencement of the Christian 
era. The Tytherly Yews are about 500 years 
old, whilst the age of those at Fountains 
Abbey is 800 years. Under the window, 
where I now write, are some goodly Yew 
trees ; but they are chiefly to be noted as it 
was under their shade the late Sir James 
Edward Smith, the celebrated botanist, spent 
a great portion of his leisure time. 
