Ways of Dying in 1665

Samhain is Hallowe'en

Samhain is the Celtic festival of the New Year I believe, coinciding with Halloween?

I prefer holly trees, to be honest - mind you, they have dodgy associations as well, I seem to remember...

A tree does all that? Wow!

I'm just off to commune with our local yew.

but Scout, death is a form of transformation and it is never final.
A Yew just told me.

I am going to nominate this thread for classics as it is too interesting to die out.

'The Yew tree, or Yew wood, the Tree ogham Idho , is the link to spiritual guidance through your ancestors, guides and guardians in the Otherworld. The Yew is here to remind us that there are other levels of existence beyond this material plane. By understanding the illusionary nature of the life we have created for ourselves, we can live our lives more consciously. Often death is fraught with a sense of loss, but the Yew can teach us to see death as a form of transformation and that it is never final.'

Clearly we can all learn a lot from the Yew.

I didn't notice that! So it's by a Pagan Celtic Type!

Yowch to the idea of palate repair without anaesthetic, just thinking of the anaesthetic jabs I've had in the roof of my mouth, I can just imagine!

Rowan tree - protective against witches; not sure about yew and witch association. (Sorry, just needed to expand my previous comment).

Tympany - bet that has to do with the belly swelling up and being tight as a drum (timpani), eh?

oh Ariel I like the way it says 'Originally published Samhain 1997' at the top

(@ Thumbwitch not Stratters)

I KNOW! I WAS TRYING TO BE AMUSING

No, Ariel is right, the yew is associated with pagan sites. Churches were built on pagan sites, as part of the displacement of the old religions. As yews are very long lived, most churches still have yews growing in the churchyards.

Yew trees Disclaimer - I have not read the whole thing.

Apparently there is a yew tree somewhere in Perthshire which is over 3000 years old. It's Europe's oldest living thing, or something.

PMSL Ariel - you're fine! I just can't help myself.
Except it would have been the tetanus bacteria that would have become resistant to the penicillin, and it would have continued to produce tetanus toxin, which is what kills you. (Assuming it was tetanus, but it usually is something like that where rosebushes are concerned).

yew and rowan are both associated with witches, aren't they?

Scarlett, I am the world mum expert in clefts and am happy to helpmyou out if you need. First recorded lip repair 300 years BC in china, palate repair unheard of until chloroform as it was agonising to do without anaesthetic.
Tutankhumun had a cleft apparently.

The yew is because it is meant to have sophoric (sp?) Effects, therefore planting lots in graveyards will keep any wandering restless spirits under control.
Apparently you should never fall asleep under a yew bush/tree either.

Oh a History Geek club would be lovely

Thumbwitch, apparently where we live in France, you can take your wild mushrooms to the chemist and they will tell you if they're poisonous or not. I'm still not sure I'd risk it!

But if the yews were sacred, would they then have hacked bits off them to make weaponry?

One theory I have heard re yew in churchyards was that it was needed for bows, so it had to be planted somewhere (so the villages could send their requisite number of archers to fight the French when required). But as they didn't want the animals to eat it, and churchyards were typically fenced off, the churchyard was the ideal place.
However, it is also the case that yew already had a reputation as a sacred tree and churches were often put in places that were already sacred, so the yew may have been there in some cases before the church.

I saw this at school. I remember thinking Griping in the Guts was probably appendicitis / peritonitis