326 A N T I QJU I t I E S
« arboréS in cethèterio próftémat.” Now if it is recblleétéd that
we feldom fee any other very large or aiitiènt tree iti a churchyard
but yews, this ftatute muft have principally related t6 this
fpeeies of tree; and consequently their being planted in church^
yards is of müch more ancient date than the year 1307.
As to the ufe of thefe trees, poflibly the more refpeCtable
parifhioners were buried under their lhade before the improper
cuftom was introduced of burying within the body of the church,
where the living are to alTerable/' Deborah, Rebekah’s hürfe’ , was
buried under an Oak ; the moft honourable place of interment
probably next to the cave of Machpelah *, which feems to havé
been appropriated to the remains of the patriarchal family alone.
The farther ufe of yew-treès might be as a fcreen to churches,
by their thick foliage, from the violence o f winds ; perhaps alfo
for the purpofe of archery, the beft long bows being made of that
material: and we do not hear that they are planted in the churchyards
of other parts of Europe, where long bows were not fo much
in ufe. They might alfo be placed as a flielter to the congregation
affembling before the church-doors were opened, and as an emblem
o f mortality by their funereal appearance. In the fouth of
England every church-yard almoft has it’s tree, and fome two;
but in the north, we underftand, few are to be found.
The idea of R. C. that theyew-tree afforded it’s branches inftead
of palms for the proceffions on Palm-Sunday, is a good one, and
deferves attention. See Gent. Mag. Vol. L. p. 128.
i Gen. fcxxv, 8. r Gen. xxiii, 9.
L E T T E R
f- -C ■ .. . -A A d . . . f t ,P * /,
L E T T E R VI,
T he living of Selborne was a very fmall vicarage; but, being in
thé patronage oiMagdalbn-college, in the univerfity of Oxford, that
fociety endowed it with the great tithes of Selborne, more than a
century ago : and fince the year 1758 again with the great tithes
of Oakhanger, called Bene’s- parfonage: fo that, together, it is become
a, refpeftable piece of preferment, to which one of the
fellows is,, always prefented. The vicar holds the great tithes,
by leafe, under the college. The great difad vantage of this living,
is, that it, has not one foot of glebe near homes.
I T S P A Y M E N T S A R E , , . £ • W
King’s books — ® * 1
Yearly tenths — ° 1 2z
Yearly procurations for Blackmore andOakhanger I Q \ y
Chap: with acquit; — >
Selborne procurations and acquit; 0 9 °
I am unable to give a complete lift of the vicars of this panfli
till towards the end of the reign of queen Elizabeth; from which
period the regifters furnilh a regular feries,
In Domefday we find thus— “ De tfto manerio dono^dedit Rex
“ Radfredo prefbytero dimidiam hidam cum ecclefia.” So that
before Domefday, which was compiled between the years 108.1 and
1086, here was an officiating minifter at this place.
s A t B e n e s , or B in 's , parfonage there is a houfe and (tout barn,
glebe: Bene's parfonage is three miles from the church*
and feven acres of
After