 In legend the tree is said to have sheltered Wallace from a patrol of English soldiers who were searching for him.The tree is described in a book of 1857 as bearing "the mark of great age", though the writer notes that it was still in good health and "supporting a progeny of spreading branches".A 1912 work described the Wallace Yew as being more than 600 years old and playing a key role in preserving the association of Wallace's name with the village; this being a period between the felling of the Wallace Oak and the erection of a granite monument to Wallace.