Yew Tree Chronicles 9 The Civil War

The Civil War
I think, by now, you are fully aware of how unsettling I have always
found the idea of a using an axe to chop off a head. There is not a
tree in the land that wants a person anywhere near them wielding
an axe for obvious reasons. Just the very thought of it makes my
bark peel. But the day I heard that King Charles the 1st had met his
end, nose to the block, surrounded by non-well wishers in
Whitehall, quite honestly, I was beside myself. If a King can be
struck down, what tree is safe I ask you? It was lucky Tisburgers
adored me, and in a world of never-ending conflict since the Civil
War kicked off in 1642, I can only surmise that I in my nobleness
and beauty represented all that was good and kind and consistent
in a world gone mad.
You might imagine that Tisbury would have carried on as normal
sheltered as it is, in its pretty valley, situated on a road to nowhere
in particular. Well let me disavow you of that notion right now
without further ado. The village suffered just as much as
everywhere else as the long tendrils of civil discord slid across the
Kingdom. While not exactly the epicentre of discontent there was
enough going on in these parts to daily remind you of the fragility
of life. Good folk were fearful, distrust was everywhere with
loyalties tested on a daily basis. And of course ordinary men were
commandeered to fight for one side or the other while the women
and children were left to keep the farms working and the forges
burning.
But today, there is one story from that same year the Civil War
kicked off that I wish to impart to you. The fact that it strongly links
to me, the wondrous Yew of Old, is neither here nor there, but of
course I realise you will appreciate it all the more for that very
reason.
So, in 1593 a baby boy was born and baptised in my beloved St
John’s church right here beside me and well I remember it. The son
of Master and Mistress Mayhew they named him Thomas. And in
1642, the year Civil War broke out, that very same Thomas
Mayhew, by now 51 years of age, established the first English
settlement on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of New England

in North America. Alongside Martha’s Vineyard he
purchased the rights to Nantucket, and the Elizabeth Islands,
established a colony, and became the islands’s first English
Governor. Mayhew, unusual for the time, built a strong and
cooperative relations with the native Wampanoag people,
encouraging trade and peaceful coexistence. He named one part
of the island Tisbury and another area Chilmark and the
descendants of the sheep he transported out there from these
parts, still graze on that distant pasture.
What has this got to do with me, other than being present at his
baptism, I hear you ask? Well, I have an offspring. Planted in 1987
that offspring was grown from a dear little sapling of mine and
stands proudly, fully grown, outside the Haven’s Grace Churchyard
in West Tisbury, on the Island of Martha’s Vineyard. To think a part
of me is on the other side of the Atlantic symbolising the enduring
connection between our two communities. And just to add to this
marvellous tale of connectivtity, and to bring this story right up to
date, the Haven’s Grace church generously made a contribution to
our wonderful new East Window here in St Johns.

And that wasn’t all. No end of unpleasant events were daily
occurring in these parts. Lady Blanche Arundell, no spring chicken
at the time, was left to defend Wardour Castle against
Parliamentarian forces with only 25 men to call upon for help. The
poor dear held out for six days. You had to hand it to her, I would
have chucked in the towel after two hours. Her son Henry
alongside a Royalist force, eventually won it back, but the old
castle, after so many sieges, would never be restored to its former
glory.
Unlike me of course. I remained glorious throughout this unedifying
period of British history. But still, it has to be said, I, like most of the
common folk, was mightily relieved when the bells of St John’s
rang out for the coronation of Charles the second.