Yew
1. a. A tree of the genus Taxus (N.O. Coniferæ) widely distributed in the North Temperate Zone, esp. T. baccata, the common yew of Europe and Asia, having heavy elastic wood and dense dark-green foliage; often planted in churchyards, and regarded as symbolic of sadness. c725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) T15 Taxus, iuu. 985 Charter of Æelred in Kemble Cod. Dipl. III. 218 Of wænhyrste on one eald iw; onone of on iwe to Lullan setle. a1000 Riddles lvi. 9 ær wæs hlin & ac & se hearda iw & se fealwa holen. c1000 ÆLFRIC Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 139/14 Ornus, eow. c1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Rel. Ant. II. 82/2 Eye, w [Arundel MS., if, ew]. c1340 Nominale (Skeat) 667 Hw, rosetre and hawetre. c1386 CHAUCER Knt.'s T. 2065 Mapul, thorn, bech, hasel, Ew, whippeltre. a1400 Gloss. in Rel. Ant. I. 7 Taxus, ewe. 1535 in E. Law Hampton Crt. Pal. (1885) 372 Treys of Yow, Sypers, Genaper, and Bayes. 1562 TURNER Herbal II. 150 The berries of the Italian Ughe. 1587 L. MASCALL Govt. Cattle, Oxen (1596) 36 Yeugh is euill for cattell to eate. 1588 SHAKES. Tit. A. II. iii. 107 They told me they would binde me heere, Vnto the body of a dismall yew. 1612 WEBSTER White Devil I. ii. 262 Under that Eu, As I sat sadly leaning on a grave. 1625 BACON Ess., Gardens (Arb.) 555 Iuniper; Cipresse Trees; Eugh. 1663 COWLEY Verses on Sev. Occas., Complaint 4 Beneath a Bow'r for sorrow made,..Of the black Yew's unlucky green. 1699 GARTH Dispens. II. 11 Beneath the gloomy Covert of an Eugh. 1706 HEARNE Coll. (O.H.S.) I. 223 Robinson..pull'd up some of ye Ews. 1715 Ibid. V. 39 Some say that tis to be planted with Ugh, dwarf Ughs. 1750 JOHNSON Rambler No. 44, I threw myself beneath a blasted yeugh. 1799 J. ROBERTSON Agric. Perth 478 Ews 6 [feet in circumference]. 1872 OLIVER Elem. Bot. II. 247 The wood of the Yew is said never to be attacked by insects.
Yew-tree - this dream denotes the death of an aged person, or relation, or patron, from whom you will possess a legacy which will place you above want. If you dream that you sit under a yew-tree, it foretells that your life will not be long. But if you merely gaze upon it, and admire it, it is a sign that you will live long.
Zadkiel's Dream Book, reprinted in A Handbook of Dreams and Fortune-Telling
Dark yew trees add a gloomy, somber air to English churchyards. Anglo settlers brought them to America where they have become a feature of many graveyards. The trope "yew" or "you" tree invokes in the mind of poets a representation of the ultimate end of us all. (Cf. Wordsworth, Yew-Trees and Lines Left Upon a Seat in a Yew-Tree) English cemeteries became yew-tree reserves because the branches were used to make bows. Once a year, parishioners would clip the churchyard yews so that other cemeteries might be filled with the victims of war.
"mournful lean Despair
Brings me yew to deck my grave",
William Blake, Song
"the dismal yew", John Fletcher, Aspatia's Song
| Your health,
Master Yew – my bones are few And I fully admit my rent is due But do not be vexed, I will post-date a cheque for you Louis MacNeice, The Party |
Half-hidden
in a graveyard,
In the blackness of a yew,
Where never living creature stirs,
Nor sunbeam pierces through,
Is a tomb-stone, green and crooked –
Its faded legend gone –
… Day breaks in heedless beauty,
Kindling each drop of dew,
But unforsaking shadow dwells
Beneath this lonely yew.
Walter de la Mare, The Stranger