The Fortingall Yew is an ancient European yew (''

Taxus baccata ''Taxus baccata'' is a species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe (including Britain and Ireland), northwest Africa, northern Iran, and southwest Asia.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain ...

'') in the

churchyard In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also ...

of the village of

Fortingall Fortingall is a small village in highland Perthshire, Scotland, in Glen Lyon. Its nearest sizable neighbours are Aberfeldy and Kenmore. Its Gaelic name is ''Fartairchill'' (lit. "Escarpment Church"—i.e. "church at the foot of an escarpmen ...

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

, Scotland. Considered one of the oldest trees in Britain, modern estimates place its age at an average of 5,000 years.

Age

Some estimates put the tree's age at between 2,000 and 3,000 years; it may also be a remnant of a post-Roman Christian site and around 1,500 years old.Bevan-Jones (2004) pp. 38–39 Others have suggested an age as great as 5,000 to 9,000 years, with

Forestry and Land Scotland Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) ( gd, Coilltearachd agus Fearann Alba) is responsible for managing and promoting Scotland's national forest estate: land, predominantly covered in forest, owned by the Scottish Government on behalf of the nation. ...

considering it to be 5,000 years old. This makes it one of the oldest known trees in Europe. (The root system of the

Norway spruce ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very close ...

Old Tjikko Old Tjikko is a 9,550 year-old Norway spruce, located on Fulufjället Mountain of Dalarna province in Sweden. Old Tjikko originally gained fame as the "world's oldest tree." Old Tjikko is, however, a clonal tree that has regenerated new trun ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

is at least 9,500 years old.) The Fortingall Yew is possibly the oldest tree in Britain.

The tree

The tree's once massive trunk ( in girth when it was first recorded in writing, in 1769) with a former head of unknown original height, is split into several separate stems, giving the impression of several smaller trees, with loss of the

heartwood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

rings that would establish its true age. This is a result of the natural decay of the ancient heartwood, which reduced the centre of the trunk down to ground level by 1770. Other than this, the tree is still in good health, and may last for many more centuries. By 1833 it was noted that "large arms had been removed and even masses of the trunk, carried off, to make drinking-cups and other curiosities." It is protected by a low wall, erected in 1785 to preserve it, but can still be easily viewed. Fortingall Yew cutting, Kindrogan

Clippings from the tree have been taken to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, to form part of a mile-long hedge. The purpose of this "Yew Conservation Hedge Project" is to maintain the DNA of ''

'' from ancient specimens in the UK as, worldwide, the trees are threatened by felling and disease. In 2019 concern was expressed by the Tree Warden for Fortingall and the coordinator of the Tayside Biodiversity Community Partnership that tourist activity on and around the tree posed a threat to its survival.

History

The area immediately surrounding Fortingall has a variety of prehistoric archaeological sites including '' Càrn na Marbh'', a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...

. Place-name and archaeological evidence hint at an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

cult centre at Fortingall, which may have had this tree as its focus. The site was Christianised during the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

, with the yew already full grown, perhaps because it was already a sacred place. A recollection of 1804 noted that "the boys of the village" had damaged the yew "kindling their fire of '' Bealltuinn'' at its root." Rev. James MacGregor, author of the ''

Book of the Dean of Lismore The ''Book of the Dean of Lismore'' ( gd, Leabhar Deathan Lios Mòir) is a Scottish manuscript, compiled in eastern Perthshire in the first half of the 16th century. The chief compiler, after whom it is named, was James MacGregor (''Seumas Mac ...

'', was a minister in the church during the 16th century.

Sex of the tree

The yew is male, however in 2015 scientists from the

Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

reported that one small branch on the outer part of the crown had changed sex and begun to bear a small group of berries, an occurrence occasionally noted in some

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

plant species, including yews. This is possibly as a result of

environmental stress Stress, either physiological, biological or psychological, is an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition. Stress is the body's method of reacting to a condition such as a threat, challenge or physical and psych ...

. The seeds have been preserved for study and will be used to help maintain genetic diversity in yews.

Legend

According to local legend,

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of J ...

was born in its shade and played there as a child. Dr Paul S Philippou, honorary research fellow in history at the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...

, has suggested the legend is historically inaccurate and is an embellished myth.

Notes

References

* *

Keay Keay is an English surname, pronounced eɪ(KAY); it is a variant of the surname Kay.Patrick Hanks, ''Dictionary of American Family Names'' (Oxford UP, 2003), p. 286. Notable people with the surname include: *Anna Keay (born 1974), British historia ...

, J. & Keay, J. (1994) ''

Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland ''Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland'' is a reference work published by HarperCollins, edited by the husband and wife team, John and Julia Keay. History Scots had provided the impetus for a number of well-known references works, ''Chambers Dic ...

''. London. HarperCollins. * Lindsay, John (1884) "On yews—with special reference to the Fortingall Yew". ''Transactions of the Edinburgh Field Naturalists' and Microscopical Club''. 85.

External links

{{Commons category
Video tour of the Fortingall YewForestry and Land Scotland pageBBC news "Mapping nature's ancient monuments"Ancient Yews
Individual yew trees Tourist attractions in Perth and Kinross Individual trees in Scotland Oldest trees

Age