The Bleeding Yew of Nevern

[yew tree]

I took this picture on my first trip to Britain, in 1982, with a camera that I remember almost nothing about. This is the famous "Bleeding Yew of Nevern," which has always struck me as an appelation worthy of a Monty Python movie, but the sight of the tree is nonetheless remarkable. I have heard several stories that purport to explain the phenomenon. One holds that the tree will bleed until a Welshman rules in Nevern Castle once again, which may be a while, since the Castle is in ruins. Another story is that the blood of all those buried in the graveyard is drawn up the tree's roots and bleeds out of its side -- pretty creepy.

Anyway, as one might imagine, I was pretty eager to see this tree again on my 1993 trip to Britain, but I have to confess I was disappointed. For some reason, someone has sawn one of the limbs off the tree, and it now bleeds from the sawn-off part. As a result, it is a less impressive than it was back in the early 1980s.

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