5/x So many #UK churches were built next to already existing Yew trees. There are various hypotheses around this, but all stem from the fact that #Yews were long (long before Christianity) sacred trees, due to their longevity and also perhaps because they are so poisonous. You can read a lot online but I particularly enjoyed this #BBCSounds #NaturalHistories #podcast with Brett Westwood (a really wonderful series all round by the way)
#December 31, 1829
#OTD Alexander Smith, #Scottish #Poet, is born.
He wrote,
My #Study... looks down on #Dreamthorp like a #Meditative #Eye.
[I have] an #OldFashioned #Rambling #Garden, with:
#Grassy plots & #Fantastically-clipped #Yews, which have gathered #Darkness from a #Hundred #Summers & #Winters;
#Sundials, on which the #Sun is constantly telling his #Age;
And #Statues, #Green with #Neglect & #Stains from the #Weather.
Pauline von Hellermann
PhotoLust
Jennifer Ebeling