2072

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

only fifteen pence; a circumstance which renders it probable that some par-ticular ideas of sanctity were attached to the churchyard yews, and that theyonly were employed in religious ceremonies.

The history of the yew, as a garden tree, is involved in obscurity. Thereis no evidence that it was used, either for hedges, or for being clipped intoartificial shapes, by the Romans ; and, therefore, it is probable that it was firstso employed in the west of Europe, and, in all probability, in France. InEngland, clipped yews, whether as hedges or garden ornaments, were notcommon in the early part of Evelyn’s time; for that author claims, “withoutvanitie,” the merit of having been the first who brought the yew “into fashion,as well for defence [meaning in hedges], as for a succedaneum to cypress,whether in hedges or pyramids, conic spires, bowls, or what other shapes;adorning the parks or larger avenues with their lofty tops, 30 ft. high, andbraving all the effects of the most rigid winter, which cypress cannot weather.I do again,” he continues, “ name the yew, for hedges, preferable, for beautyand a stiff defence, to any plant I have ever seen.” (Hunt. Evel., i. p. 261.)The practice of clipping the yew and other trees into the shapes of animalsand geometrical forms seems to have been most prevalent from the time ofCharles I. to the latter end of William III., when it gradually gave way. Brad-ley, writing in 1717 (Neiv Improvements, p. 72.), says of the yew,—“ I haveseen great varieties of figures, very well represented, of men, beasts, birds,ships, and the like; but the most common shapes which have been given tothe yew by gardeners are either cones or pyramids.” He prefers the yewfor clipping into forms of animals, on account of the smallness of its leaves ;adding that “ the holly, and other broad-leaved evergreens, are not fit forbeing cut into aay nicer figures ” than pyramids, balls, or a straight stemwith a top like the cap of a mushroom. Switzer, writing about the sametime as Bradley, ventures to doubt the beauty of these figures; but the finalblow was given to them in the time of Queen Anne, by Bridgman, in RichmondPark; and by Pope, in a paper in the Guardian, vol. ii. No. 174. The yew stillcontinues to be clipped in the form of hedges; and in some places, for examplein some of the college gardens at Oxford, these hedges exhibit niches, arcades,and pilasters. There are a few very old gardens in England, such as atWroxton, near Banbury, Stanstead, near Chichester, and Leven’s Grove, inWestmoreland, where the yew may still be seen cut into singular shapes, asornaments to regularly clipped hedges, and to ancient flower-gardens. Theeffect of these is so striking and singular, that we are surprised the taste hasnot, to a certain extent, been revived. This, we have no doubt, it will be, inthe gardens to Gothic and Elizabethan villas, as soon as men exercise theirreason in matters of this kind, and do not allow themselves to be led indis-criminately by fashion.

It may be mentioned, as a historical fact connected with the yew, thatDe Candolle has adopted this tree as a sort of standard by which to determinethe age of trees generally, from the number of layers of wood in their trunks.The reasons why he preferred the yew appear to be, that of this tree thereare a greater number of authentic records of the age of individual specimensthan in the case of most other trees; because the tree is very generally dis-tributed throughout Europe; and, finally and chiefly, because the wood is ofslower growth and greater durability than that of any other European tree.De Candolle, in his Physiologie Vegetate, tom. ii. p. 974. and 1001., and alsoin an article published in the Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve, says thatmeasurements of the layers of three yews, one of 71, another of 150, and athird of 280 years old, agreed in proving that this tree grows a little morethan one line annually in diameter in the first 150 years, and a little less from150 to 250 years. He adds, “ If we admit an average of a line annually forvery old yews, it is probably within the truth; and, in reckoning the numberof their years as equal to that of the lines of their diameter, we shall makethem to be younger than they actually are.” The justness of Professor DeCandolle’s conclusion has been questioned by Professor Henslow, and other