Timber of yew tree and its uses

It is also remarkably elastic, and is therefore much valued for bows. In ancient times, when bows and arrows were the chief weapons of destruction in war, the bows made of the Yew tree were valued by the ancient Britons above all others. According to the Arboretum Britannicum, in Switzerland, where this tree was scarce, it was formerly forbidden, under heavy penalties, to cut down the Yew for any other purpose than to make bows of the wood. The Swiss mountaineers call it "William's tree," in memory of William Tell.