Yew Trees
The common yew tree (Taxus baccata) is native to Ireland and the UK and has been growing there for thousands of years. It is an evergreen tree that grows to about 25 metres and has a dark-brown or reddish bark. Flowers appear on the yew in March and April and fruit appears during the summer. Today only three pure yew forests exist in Europe, one of which is located on the Muckross Peninsula in Killarney National Park, Co. Kerry.
Place names show us that yew trees were once more widespread in Ireland for example
• Mayo translates to Maigh Eo which means: The plain of the yews and
• Youghal translates to Eochaill which means: yew wood.
Many place names around Wales are also named after yew trees such as:
• Llwynywen which means Yew Grove.
The yew tree grows in an unusual way. Its branches root themselves to the ground and these grow to form new trunks. The Yew continues to grow width ways consequently the trunk is often hollow when the tree is very old. Yew trees are often used as symbols of renewal due to its growth pattern.
Irish yew
The Irish Yew is native to Ireland but unlike the common yew they grow upright. Florence Court in County Fermanagh is famous for being the home of the original Irish yew. The tree was discovered in the mid 1700s by Mr. George Willis. It became available to gardeners in Ireland and Britain in the early 1800s. It was planted in tight places because of its shape and today it is very common in older neighbourhoods and in graveyards.
Sacred Trees
Yew trees were considered sacred throughout Irish and Welsh culture and are linked with the Druids of the Iron Age Celts and also to Christianity.
The Celts used the wood of the yew to create many spiritual artefacts, such as wands and staffs. It was also used for divination purposes and at festivals such as Lughanasa and Samhain. It is believed that the Celts located many of their holy shrines and burial sites in or near groves of yew.
In the 19th century, a cup dating from around 100 B.C. was found in peat land near the village of Trawsfynydd in North Wales. This cup was probably a cup used by the druids as part of religious ceremonies. It was made of blades of yew and was covered in bronze worked into a Celtic pattern, in the style of La Tène. It is currently housed at the National Museum in Liverpool.
The English name 'yew' is actually of Celtic derivation. The yew is called ‘yw’ or ‘ywen’ in Welsh and ‘iughar’ in Irish.
When Christianity came to Ireland and Wales, many of the new churches were built on sacred yew tree groves, sites that it is thought had previously been used by the druids. The yew tree played an important role in the new religion. It came to be viewed as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ and was used in churches as palm on Palm Sunday and burnt for ash on Ash Wednesday.
Over the centuries, it has been widely planted in churchyards and can still be seen today in many old churches. Indeed one of the oldest yew trees in Europe is to be seen growing in a churchyard in Llangernyw, North Wales. It is thought to be over 4,000 years old!
Myths and legends
The Celtic tradition probably explains the host of magical properties associated with the yew that is memorialized in Irish and Welsh folklore. In Ireland, one well known legend is that of Deirdre and Naoise, a couple who had to flee the High King Conchobhar because he wanted to marry Deirdre. When Deirdre and Naoise died, Conchobhar attempted to ensure the couple remained separated in death. However, two yew trees grew over their graves and as the trees grew their branches wove together uniting Deirdre and Naoise once more.
Yew trees also play an important role in lore relating to the Irish fairy race, An Tuatha de Danaan and Welsh fairy race, Tylwyth Teg. A good example is the Welsh legend of Ffridd yr Ywen “the Forest of the Yew” located in the parish of Llanwrin, Montgomeryshire. It tells of two farm-servants, whose names were Twm and Iago. Both went out one day to work in the forest and after working for a while they came to a yew tree right in the middle of the forest and decided to lie down underneath it for a nap. Unbeknown to them they had unwittingly fallen asleep in a fairy ring and when Twm awoke, he found that Iago had vanished. He was still absent the next morning. After searching for his friend for many days, Twm went to a local wise man who advised him to go back to the yew tree one whole year after Iago had disappeared. Twm did as he was told and went back to the tree exactly one year later. After a while sure enough Iago appeared in the ring, dancing with the Tylwyth Teg! Twm snatched him out of the ring as quickly as he could, making sure that he himself did not step inside the green circle. When Iago came out of the ring he looked pale and wan and had no idea that he had been absent for a whole year. Unfortunately, the tale has an unhappy ending for as soon as Iago ate some food he was immediately turned into dust!
The Longbow
Yew is also associated with Wales because of the longbow, an early weapon of war, developed in Wales. It was usually made of one piece of sinewy yew and string. The use of a longbow was first recorded in 633, when Offrid, the son of Edwin, king of Northumbria, was killed by an arrow shot from a Welsh longbow. During the 12th century, Welsh bowmen took a heavy toll on the Anglo-Norman invaders by using the same weapon of war.
Parks and gardens
During the 18th and 19th centuries, when parks and gardens were being developed as never before, yew trees were planted as specimen plants in their own right.
Woodstock
The Yew Walk at Woodstock was planted in the 1850s. It consisted of 8 pairs of yew trees and acted as a link from the terraced flower garden to the pergola walk, rose garden and perimeter paths. The avenue of Yew trees was planted on open ground but over the years the avenue became overgrown with laurel. Dark cover from mature trees also inhibited the growth of the yew trees. Only one yew tree was missing at the time of the garden restoration.
There are also two pairs of yew trees standing at the north and south staircase leading down to the flower terrace. These yews are Irish yews (Taxus baccata ‘Fastigaita’) like those of the yew walk. The yew trees were heavily cut back to promote new growth and greening up and were treated with a soil injection of beneficial mycorrhyzae to the root zone – this is a process whereby mycorrhyzae are injected in a foliar feed under the soil surface. Mycorrhyzae are microorganisms which live in the root zone and aid the uptake of water and nutrients by the trees roots. As the majority of tree roots are in the top layer of soil, it was more beneficial to inject the top layer of soil so roots would benefit.
Glynllifon
During the late 18th century the Wynne family created a pet cemetery in the gardens of Glynllifon. It was here that the family buried many of their pets, including a tame otter! The oldest gravestone found at the site dated to 1775 and was inscribed with the words ‘Alas poor Carnally’. Although most of the pet gravestones have now been kept for safekeeping a ring of very old Irish Yews with a central CommonYew denotes the location of the pet cemetery.
There are also several Irish Yews by the western bridge over the Afon Llifon south of the house.
Photo of bridges
By the man-made island in the river there i another mature yew tree. The island itself is encircled by a group of Irish Yews which have been trained into arches. It is thought that the Hon. F.G. Wynne was responsible for planting and training these yew trees during the 1920’s. From old photographs of the gardens at this time it is clear that topiary was very much in vogue and that many trees were clipped and cut into interesting shapes in the gardens, such as a huge teapot and harp!
The yew today
Today the yew tree is still very important. The poison of the yew tree is called taxin and while it is poisonous to both people and animals it is used by scientists to create taxol an anti-cancer drug.
