History, Culture & Myth

Learn more about how the yew interweaves through the lives of humans and its influence on history, art, literature, spirituality, etc.
Photograph of a yew tree with significant storm damage, in Borrowdale

Yew (Taxus) – A Sensational Survivor

This in-depth article explores in comprehensive detail a particular aspect to the yew’s botanical history touched upon in the Arboricultural Association online webinar – Understanding the Yew (24th March 2021).

Opening screen shot for Youtube recording of webinar with Paul Greenwood and Geoff Monck

Webinar – Understanding the Yew

In this webinar, ‘Understanding the Yew Tree’, hosted by the Arboricultural Association (24.03.2021) you can hear Paul Greenwood of SYTHI talk on ‘Looking at the Familiar in an Unfamiliar Way’

A grove of yews on a hillside in Borrowdale

Wordsworth’s Yew poems

Lines Left Upon a Seat in a Yew-Tree which Stands Near the Lake of Esthwaite, On a Desolate Part of the Shore, Yet Commanding a Beautiful Prospect By William Wordsworth

The Tree of the Bow

A popular saying of the High Middle Ages in Scotland was: “England would be but a fling If not for the eugh And the grey goose wing.” If not for

A yew you can walk through on the island of Inchlonaig

Scotland’s History and the Yew

Living for over 1,000 years, Scotland’s most ancient yews are witnesses to the birth and growth of the nation. From St Columba to Robert the Bruce to the Scottish Parliament

Yew roots embracing a gravestone

The Churchyard Yew – A Poem

  Charubel was the pseudonym of the Welsh mystic, John Thomas (1826 – 1908).  The poem comes from  Charubel (1906) Psychology of Botany Minerals and Precious Stones, pp. 126-127. The