Irish Yew

[Bryan Milham]

And English Yew is no good for making English Long Bows. One of the Mediterranean varieties is used, the staves were part of various trade agreements, even through all the wars we had with Europe.

[Les Symonds]

And English Yew is no good for making English Long Bows. One of the Mediterranean varieties is used, the staves were part of various trade agreements, even through all the wars we had with Europe.

....apologies, George, for hacking into your thread, but Bryan's remark is interesting. I came to the realisation, a few decades ago, that one of my junior school teachers had taught me something nonsensical (nothing new in that). He maintained that yews were grown in churchyards because the church was often used as a centre of defense where many a siege took place, and where the local bowmen could get a fresh supply of yew to make new bows if their old bows were damaged in battle. What a load of tosh!
I suspected that yews were planted in churchyards because of their poisonous nature, which would ensure that neighbouring farmers kept their hedges and walls in good order so that their livestock didn't enter the grounds and eat any of the greenery or berries. We were discussing this in the shop the other day, with a customer who had been taught exactly the same thing that I had been taught, and I referred to a book that I keep there to back-up my theory, only to find that there was another reason. For many people in ancient history, the yew tree was probably the oldest living thing that they ever encountered, and thus it became revered as symbolic of everlasting life, so it was grown in churchyards for its proximity to graves, giving everlasting life to the souls of the dead. It became a powerful symbol amongst witches who used its poison maliciously. Rather humorously, though, even today some people try to benefit from this association and I've seen 25gram bags of yew saw-dust being sold on ebay (for extortionate prices) as essential material for modern-day witches.

Hope you kept all those shavings, George!

Les

[GBF]

very interesting Les I will have to bag the sawdust up and put it on Ebay.

Regards George

[bodrighywood]

I have had countless arguments regarding my refusal to make goblets out of yew due to the potential poisoning of the user. Apparently the only part of the yew that isn't poisonous are the flesh of the berries themselves but the seeds in the berries are. One story, possibly just a myth, is that the druids used yew for goblets as the toxin has mild narcotic properties when used carefully but I wouldn't recommend trying it out personally LOL. There are loads of myths and legends regarding the tree and the wood and most refer in some way to death, immortality etc so whether it is Irish yew or some other species handle with reverence LOL.

pete

[Bryan Milham]

Les,

I think we were all taught the same erroneous fact.

However I use to (and still like to when I can) be a toxophilite (Archer). For anyone with a passing iterest I'd recommend this book Bowmen of England - (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bowmen-England-Sword-Military-Classics/dp/0850529468.

Another interesting fact (for the Welsh) is the English originally used a short bow, it was the Welsh we adopted the Longbow from and made us such a formidable force at battles like Agencourt.

[woodndesign]

That's nice yew ...

Must been something with schools, we got taught the same too.

Cheers

[Eric Harvey]

allot of research has been done on churchyard yew`s and most of them it seems predate the churches they surround,so the druid theory may have some credence,as allot of churches were built on sites of worship of former gods etc;some of the churchyard yews are 2.000-3000 yrs older than the churches,I can`t remember the name of one place offhand,but the bole of the tree is so big they can sit 12 for meals inside it where the middle has rotted out,cheers,

Eric.

[GBF]

An Irish man is stumbling through the woods, totally drunk, when he comes upon a preacher baptizing people in the river.



He proceeds into the water, subsequently bumping into the preacher.



The preacher turns around and is almost overcome by the smell of alcohol, whereupon, he asks the drunk, "Are you ready to find Jesus?"



The drunk shouts, "Yes, I am."
 
So the preacher grabs him and dunks him in the water.



He pulls him back and asks, "Brother, have you found Jesus?"



The drunk replies,"No, I haven't found Jesus!"



The preacher, shocked at the answer,dunks him again but for a little longer.



He again pulls him out of the water and asks, "Have you found Jesus, brother?"



The drunk answers,"No, I haven't found Jesus!"
 
By this time, the preacher is at his wits end and dunks the drunk again --



but this time holds him down for about 30 seconds, and when he begins kicking his arms and legs about, he pulls him up.
 
The preacher again asks the drunk, "For the love of God, have you found Jesus?"
 
(get ready for this)
 
The drunk staggers upright, wipes his eyes, coughs up a bit of water, catches his breath, and says to the preacher,
"Are you sure this is where he fell in?"

[Mark Sanger]

Hi George

Have you turned any thin wall natural edge out of this yet. I turned a small one at John's club and to test the wood left it outside in the sun for two days, no degrade or cracking, lovely stuff. 

[Les Symonds]

An Irish man is stumbling......

Brilliant, George....however, have you noticed that we haven't had much interaction with Irish woodturners since you posted this?
I do hope that you haven't offended anyone! 

Les

[GBF]

Hi Mark.

it is very rare the Irish take offense at Irish jokes it usually some humourless moron that gets offended on their behalf.
And as you know I am half Irish and I have not taken half an offense.
No I have not turned any finished pieces out of this yet I am busy roughing out this and Mulberry

Regards George