Qiieries and Answers, 715 



a little towards the east. The circumference of the trunk at the bottom was 

 15 ft. 9-^ in. J in the middle, 11 ft. 10 in. ; and at the top, immediately below 

 the branches, 13 ft. The entire height of the tree was 49 ft. ; and the circum- 

 ference of the branches, at their extremities, upwards of 200 ft., overshadowing 

 a plane not far short of 4000 ft. The surface of the trunk was ver}' uneven, 

 and the bark much furrowed. The tree had then (Nov. 29. 1781) a vigorous 

 and increasing appearance. The most moderate reputation of its age was, at 

 that time, near fourscore years ; and some respectable authorities were 

 strongly inclined to think that a century had passed over its head. 



Dr. Jones informs us, in the same letter, that it stood nearly midway 

 between the Minster and Stow Pools, in the boggy vale through which the 

 Pipe Brook runs ; and at the bottom of a gentle descent, which terminates, 

 at a short distance, in a deep moor. A public footpath crossed the roots of 

 the tree on the south-west side ; and that, with the consolidation of the light 

 spongy moor, might have been the reason that the inclination of the tree, 

 from the force of the northerly and westerly winds, was less than usual in 

 aquatic trees, especially those which have diffuse heads. It must have 

 increased in size very considerably after the year 1781, when the dimensions 

 of it, given above, were taken by Dr. Jones ; as Dr. Withering informs us that 

 he paid a visit to this far-famed willow (probably a short time prior to 1810); 

 and that the magnitude of it was then truly surprising. He found the trunk, 

 at 6 ft. above the ground, to measure 21 ft. in girt, and to extend 20 ft. in 

 height, of that vast size, before dividing into enormous ramifications. The 

 whole trunk, comprising about 130 solid feet of timber, was then perfectly 

 sound, and the very extensive head showed unimpaired vigour. It was 

 doomed, however, to continue in this flourishing state but a very short time 

 longer ; for we are informed that many of its branches, on that side of it 

 fronting the city of Lichfield, were swept away in the violent storms of 

 Saturday, Nov. 10. 1810; and that nearly half of what remained of it fell to 

 the ground in August, 1815, "leaving little more than its stupendous trunk, 

 its green coronal, and a few side boughs;" and these relics of the once 

 famous and celebrated willow, which is said to have been " the ornament and 

 glory of Stow Valley, the subject of every writer, the gratification of every 

 naturalist, and the admiration of every traveller," were, Mr. Grigor tells us, 

 blown down in 1829. It is gratifying to hear that an offset from the old 

 tree has been planted on the same site, and that it is in a vigorous state of 

 growth. 



It seems to be not finally determined, at present, to what species of willow 

 this tree really belonged. Some authors have stated it to have been the 

 Salix babylonica L., or weeping willow. Dr. Jones thought it to be the 

 (Salix viminalis L. Sir J. E. Smith says it was Salix HusselUdiia, "as he was 

 assured by the Rev, Mr. Dickenson, who has mentioned it in his edition of 

 Shaw's Hhtory of Staffordshire (p. 113.) by the name of *S'. fragilis :" and 

 Mr. Grigor informs us that it appears to have been *S'alix alba. 



There are two engravings of this tree in the Gentleman^s Magazine for 

 1785; one at p. 412., the other at p. 640. The first is not only a view 

 of the tree, but also of the scenery which surrounds it, including a view of 

 the Pipe Brook ; the venerable church of St. Chadd, generally called Stow 

 Church ; and the house where Dr. Johnson spent much of his time when he 

 visited Lichfield. The second is a south-west view of the tree only, taken by 

 Mr. Stringer, July 20. 1785. Dr. Johnson died Dec. 13. 1784, aged seventy- 

 five years. I send you a drawing, copied by Mr. Russell, from the latter 

 engraving. — WilHam Baxter. Botanic Garden, Oxford, June 29. 1836. 



We are greatly obliged to Mr. Baxter for the above information, and for 

 the copy of the portrait, which we shall, probably, have engraved for the 

 Arboretum Britannicum. In the Salictuni Woburnense , Johnson's Willow is 

 said, on the authority of Sir J. E. Smith, the Duke of Bedford, and others, 

 to be the jS'alix Russelh«K«, which we have no doubt it is. There is a 



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