FIG. 73. Yew on North side of Chipstead church, Surrey. Circumference at 4 feet from the ground: 25 feet. The blocked-up doorway is Transitional Norman (c. A.D. 1175); the arch is round, but is ornamented with the “dog-tooth.” The Northern position of the yew was probably determined by the Northern approach to the church. ] It has now been made clear that neither the exaggerated estimates of the earlier school of botanists, nor the under-calculations of recent writers, are quite satisfactory, and that, as of old [Illustration: FIG. 74. Yew, Mells churchyard, Somerset. Girth, at a height of 3 feet from the ground, 11 ft 8 in. A slightly smaller tree stands a little towards the East, both specimens being situated on the South side. ] the middle path is safest. We next ask how the yew came to be planted in churchyards. One section of antiquaries teaches that the object was to ensure a supply of evergreens for great festivals, and to furnish, in particular, “palms” for the procession on Palm Sunday (the second Sunday in Lent). That the “yew, or palm,” served this purpose is abundantly proved by entries in churchwardens’ accounts, and by the actual evidence of living eye-witnesses. Nor is it entirely a valid objection that box, laurel, broom and willow, have been or are still used for a like purpose[993]. It is on record, too, that twigs of yew were employed by the priests for sprinkling the Holy Water, in the Asperges, before Mass[994]. This class of evidence can be extended. The _Liber Festivalis_, or “Directory for keeping the Festivals,” an old [Illustration: FIG. 75. Yew, Hambledon churchyard, Surrey. Circumference, at 3 feet from the ground, 29 feet; at 4 feet from the ground, 30 feet.]