The Aber Yew

On the walk to the loch the other morning I noticed a number of yew seeds that had fallen from this old yew.  The yew is a very slow growing tree and this one is reputed to be several hundred years old.  The leaflet on the Aber path tells the story associated with the tree and describes how the yew tree was a gathering point for the cattle that were once an important part of life in the township. 

"Glens near the north of Loch Lomond were home to two clans - the Macfarlanes and the Macgregors - who were keen cattle rustlers. Whenever livestock was stolen, the local landowner had to pay his tenants for their losses. Tiring of this expense, William Cochrane of Kilmaronock signed-over the local farmlands to his tenants in the late 1600s, in return for modest payment. Once the small farmers (all of whom were fairly poor) owned the land, the cattle raids stopped!

For more than a century after that, the ‘Aber Lairds’, as the small farmers were 

known, worked the land around here. Each morning, a herdsman would blow a horn beside the yew to muster the Aber cattle. Then he’d take them to the common 

grazings on the Ring, close to the eastern end of this walk. In the evening, more 

blasts of the horn would summon the Aber folk to collect their livestock." 

This history makes it all the more distressing to see the old tree dying.  However, the fact that it has still managed to produce some seeds provides an opportunity for it to continue.  I collected several of the seeds with their fleshy red aril and have been researching the best way to propagate them.  It could take some time as yew seeds can take up to two years to germinate.  Firstly I need to simulate the stomach of a thrush or blackbird and provide some warm damp conditions for a few weeks. Then a harsh winter needs to be created as they go into the bottom of the fridge.  This may need to be repeated if nothing happens next spring.  I just hope I've got the patience and don't forget about them.  I'll report back in a couple of years to see if any of the seeds have sprouted.  Their slow growing nature means that it could be another thirty years before any new plant produces its own seeds.  Definitely a project for the long term.