Martin
Wow! That certainly puts three new slants on things.
First the reference to a superstition about driving
out devils. Haven't come across that before. Wonder where
it came from? Secondly the "medical" sponge-like
functional reason which sounds even more weird
and Hammer House of Horrorish than the monkish
belief! And thirdly the reference to a tradition I'd never
heard of concerning the dangers of sleeping under
a yew tree.
I look forward to reading Grigson.
Incidentally, knowing that yews were poisonous didn't
stop us country boys from climbing them and cutting out
suitable branches for bows.
RonH
BUS
----- Original Message -----
From: Martin Howley <[log in to unmask]>
To: medieval, religion <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, September 27, 1999 08:25
Subject: Re: Yew trees
> Dear Ron,
> Perhaps Geoffrey Grigson's account, which quotes Turner's _Botonologia:
> The British Physician_, 1664, of the reason yews were planted in
> churchyards, will be of interest to you. Turner says that the yew was set
> in churchyards not, 'as some superstitious monks have imagined,' because
> it could drive away devils, but because it 'attracts and imbibes
> putrefaction and gross oleaginous vapours exhaled out of graves by the
> setting sun, and sometimes drawn into those meteors called *ignes fatui*'!
> The reference is in Grigson's _An Englishman's Flora_, London, 1960
> (1958). Grigson also says that the tradition that sitting or sleeping
> under the shade of a yew tree was potentially fatal dates back to
> Dioscorides.
>
> Cheers,
> Martin Howley
>
> Martin Howley, Humanities Librarian, Tel: (709) 737-8514
> QE II Library, Memorial Univ of Newfoundland FAX: (709) 737-2153
> St John's, NFLD, Canada A1B 3Y1 E-mail:[log in to unmask]
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 'Ne credat lector, quod sibi sufficiat lectio sine unctione, speculatio
> sine devotione, investigatio sine admiratione, ....industria sine pietate,
> scientia sine caritate, intelligentia sine humilitate.' -- St Bonaventure
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> On Sun, 26 Sep 1999, Ron Hornsby wrote:
>
> > People
> >
> > Can anyone direct me, please, to a source that throws light
> > on the religious connotations of the yew trees found in so many
> > English churchyards? The Concise Columbia Encyclopaedia
> > makes a cryptic claim that yew trees have been associated
> > with death and funeral rites since antiquity. If so, how? There
> > is nothing in either Larousse on Mythology, or Fraser's
> > Golden Bough on the subject.
> >
> > Ron Hornsby
> >
> >
>
>
>
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