Part 20 (1/2)
There are several remarkable existing church-yard Yews in this country.
The tallest, which is at Harlington, near Hounslow, is fifty-six feet in height; another at Martley, Worcesters.h.i.+re, is about twelve yards in circ.u.mference; and at As.h.i.+ll, Somersets.h.i.+re, there are two very large trees--one fifteen feet round, extending its branches north and south fifty-six feet; the other dividing into three large trunks a little above the ground, but having many of its branches decayed. There are also eleven Yew-trees in the church-yard of Aberystwith, the largest being twenty-four feet, and the smallest eleven feet six inches, in circ.u.mference.
There is also a group of Yews at Fountain's Abbey worthy of remark on their own account, and they are also interesting in a historical view.
Burton gives the following notice of them:--”At Christmas the Archbishop, being at Ripon (anno 1132), a.s.signed to the monks some lands in the patrimony of St. Peter, about three miles west of that place, for the erecting of a monastery. The spot of ground had never been inhabited, unless by wild beasts, being overgrown with wood and brambles, lying between two steep hills and rocks, covered with wood on all sides, more proper for a retreat for wild beasts than the human species. This was called Skeldale, or the vale of the Skell, a rivulet running through it from the west to the eastward part of it. The Archbishop also gave to them a neighbouring village, called Sutton Richard. The prior of St. Mary's, at York, was chosen abbot by the monks, being the first of this monastery of Fountain's, with whom they withdrew into this uncouth desert, without any house to shelter them in the winter season, or provisions to subsist on; but entirely depending on Divine Providence. There stood a large elm in the midst of the vale, on which they put some thatch or straw, and under that they lay, eat, and prayed, the bishop for a time supplying them with bread, and the rivulet with drink. Part of the day some spent in making wattles, to erect a little oratory, whilst others cleared some ground, to make a little garden. But it is supposed that they soon changed the shelter of the elm for that of seven Yew-trees, growing on the declivity of the hill, on the south side of the Abbey, all standing at this present time, except the largest, which was blown down about the middle of the last century. They are of extraordinary size; the trunk of one of them is twenty-six feet six inches in circ.u.mference, at the height of three feet from the ground; and they stand so near each other, as to form a cover almost equal to a thatched roof. Under these trees, we are told by tradition, the monks resided till they built the monastery, which seems to be very probable, when we consider how little a Yew-tree increases in a year, and to what a bulk these are grown. And as the hill-side was covered with wood, which is now cut down, except these trees, it seems as if they were left standing to perpetuate the memory of the monks'
habitation there, during the first winter of their residence.”
Wordsworth gives us the following animated description of a noted Yew in Lorton Vale; and also of four others--the ”fraternal four,”--growing in Borrowdale:--
There is a Yew-tree, pride of Lorton Vale, Which to this day stands single, in the midst Of its own darkness, as it stood of yore, Nor loth to furnish weapons for the bands Of Omfraville or Percy, ere they marched To Scotland's heath; or those that crossed the sea, And drew their sounding bows at Agincourt, Perhaps at earlier Crecy, or Poictiers.
Of vast circ.u.mference and gloom profound This solitary tree! a living thing Produced too slowly ever to decay; Of form and aspect too magnificent To be destroyed. But worthier still of note Are these fraternal four of Borrowdale, Joined in one solemn and capacious grove; Huge trunks! and each particular trunk a growth Of intertwisted fibres serpentine Up-coiling, and inveterately convolved,-- Nor uninformed with phantasy, and looks That threaten the profane;--a pillared shade Upon whose gra.s.sless floor of red-brown hue, By sheddings from the pining umbrage tinged Perennially--beneath whose sable roof Of boughs, as if for festal purpose, decked With unrejoicing berries, ghostly shapes May meet at moontide--Fear and trembling Hope, Silence and Foresight--Death the Skeleton, And Time the Shadow,--there to celebrate, As in a natural temple scattered o'er With altars undisturbed of mossy stone; United wors.h.i.+p; or in mute repose To lie, and listen to the mountain flood Murmuring from Glaramara's inmost caves.
The Yew is easily propagated by sowing the berries as soon as they are ripe (without clearing them from the surrounding pulp), upon a shady bed of fresh soil, covering them over about half an inch with the same earth. Many plants will appear in spring, while others will remain in the ground until autumn, or the spring following. When the plants come up, they should be kept free from weeds, or they will be choked and frequently destroyed. The plants may remain in the original bed two years, and then be removed early in October into beds four or five feet wide, each plant a foot apart from the next, and the same distance in the rows; taking care to lay a little muck over the ground about their roots, and to water them in dry weather. There the plants may remain two or three years, according to their growth, when they should be transplanted into nursery rows at three feet distance, and eighteen inches asunder. This operation must be performed in autumn. After remaining three or four years in the nursery, they may be planted where they are to remain, observing to remove them in autumn where the ground is very dry, and in spring where it is cold and moist. Whether as an evergreen undergrowth or as a timber-tree, the Yew deserves to be more extensively, cultivated than heretofore. As an underwood, it is scarcely inferior to the holly, and only so in failing to produce those sparkling effects of light which distinguish the larger and more highly glazed dark green foliage of that tree: in hardihood it is its equal, and it bears, with the same comparative impunity, the drip and shade of many of our loftier deciduous trees, a quality of great importance where an evergreen wood is desired. The great value and durable properties of its wood ought also to favour its introduction into our mixed plantations, even where profit is the chief object in view, the value of the wood well compensating for the slowness of its growth. Besides, when fostered by the shelter of surrounding trees, it would be drawn up and grow much more rapidly, and with a cleaner stem.
The Yew is not only celebrated for its toughness and elasticity--it is a common saying among the inhabitants of the New Forest, that a post of Yew will outlast a post of iron. The veins of its timber exceed in beauty those of most other trees, and its roots are not surpa.s.sed by the ancient citron. The artists in box most gladly employ it; and for the cogs of mill-wheels and axle-trees, there is no wood to be compared to it.
We extract the following table from the ancient laws of Wales, showing the comparative worth of a Yew with other trees:--
A consecrated Yew, its value is a pound.
An oak, its value is six score pence.
A mistletoe branch, its value is three score pence.
Thirty pence is the value of every princ.i.p.al branch in the oak.
Three score pence is the value of every sweet apple-tree.
Thirty pence is the value of a sour apple-tree.
Fifteen pence is the value of a good Yew-tree.
Seven pence halfpenny is the value of a thorn-tree.
FORESTS AND WOODLANDS
OF
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
The British isles, like other countries of Europe, were in former times abundantly covered with forests. The first general attack made upon these in England was in 1536, when Henry VIII. confiscated the church lands, and distributed them, together with their woods, among numerous grantees. But it was not until between the civil war which broke out in 1642 and the restoration in 1660, that the royal forests, as well as the woods of the n.o.bility and gentry, were materially diminished. During these few years, however, many extensive forests so completely disappeared, that hardly any memorial was left of them but their name.
These two great territorial changes were followed by increased social and national prosperity. Though we have now hardly any forests or woodlands of considerable extent, there are perhaps few countries over which timber is more equably distributed, that is, in those counties where the soil and aspect are favourable to its growth. Woods of small extent, coppices, clumps, and cl.u.s.ters of trees are very generally distributed over the face of the country, which, together with the timber scattered in the hedge-rows, const.i.tute a ma.s.s of wood of no inconsiderable importance.
In Herefords.h.i.+re, Warwicks.h.i.+re, Northamptons.h.i.+re, and Staffords.h.i.+re is abundance of fine oak and elm woods. In Buckinghams.h.i.+re there is much birch and oak, and also fine beech. Suss.e.x, once celebrated for the extent and quality of its oak forests, has yet some good timber; at present its woodlands, including coppice-wood, occupy 175,000 acres.
Ess.e.x, with 50,000 acres of woodland, has some elms and oaks. Surrey, Hertfords.h.i.+re, and Derbys.h.i.+re abound in coppice-woods. In Worcesters.h.i.+re is abundance of oak and elm. In Oxfords.h.i.+re there are the forests of Wychwood and Stokenchurch, chiefly of beech, with some oak, ash, birch, and aspen. Berks.h.i.+re contains a part of Windsor forest; and Gloucesters.h.i.+re, the Forest of Dean; so that these three last counties are extensively wooded and with n.o.ble trees. Ches.h.i.+re has few woods of any extent, but the hedge-row timber and coppices are in such abundance as to give the whole country, especially when seen from an elevation, the appearance of a vast forest. Of the remaining counties some have very little wood, and a few are altogether without it; but the want and value of timber have given rise to a great many flouris.h.i.+ng plantations.
In Wales particularly, there is a rage for planting. In South Wales alone six millions of trees, it is said, are annually planted; if that is the case, nine-tenths of the number must come to nothing, or the whole country would be one entire forest.