CHAP. CIII. SALTCA N CEiE. Sa\\X. 1519 



a favourite tree of the doctor's, and to have attracted his attention for many 

 years: indeed, to use his own expression, it was the delight of his early and 

 waning life; and it is said that lie never failed to visit it whenever he went 

 to Lichfield ; and, during his visit to that city in the year 1781, he desired 

 Dr. Trevor Jones, a physician of that place, to give him a description of it, 

 saying it was hy much the largest tree of the kind he had ever seen or heard 

 of, and therefore wished to give an account of it in the Philosophical Trans- 

 actions, that its size might be recorded. Dr. Jones, in compliance with his re- 

 quest, furnished him with the particular dimensions of the tree, which were 

 as follows : — The trunk rose to the height of 12 ft. 8^™., and then divided 

 into 15 large ascending branches, which, in very numerous and crowded 

 subdivisions, spread at the top in a circular form, not unlike the appearance 

 of a shady oak, inclining a little towards the east. The circumference of 

 the trunk at the bottom was 15 ft. 9yVi n «; m 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 circumference 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 very uneven, and the bark much furrowed. The 

 tree had then (Nov. 29. 1781) a vigorous and thriving appearance. The 

 most moderate computation 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." The tree stood near the public foot- 

 path in the fields between the city of Lichfield and Stow Hill, the residence 

 of the celebrated "Molly Ashton;" and it is said that Dr. Johnson fre- 

 quently rested under its shade when on his w r ay to the house of that lady, 

 whom he never failed to visit periodically, till a short time before his 

 death. (See Croker's edition of Bos well'' s Johnson.) There is a portrait of 

 Johnson's Willow given as a frontispiece to the Salictnm Woburnense ; but, 

 as that figure has much more the appearance of a spreading beech than of 

 a willow of any kind, we were induced to doubt its fidelity. We ac- 

 cordingly made enquiries, through a friend at Lichfield, respecting the 

 original tree ; and we have satisfied ourselves that the portrait alluded to 

 bears very little resemblance to what Johnson's Willow at any stage of 

 its growth ; or, at least, at any time since the year 1810. (See Gard. Mag., 

 vol. xii. p. 71 G ; and vol. xiii. p. 94.) There are two engravings of Johnson's 

 Willow in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1785 ; one of these, a south-west 

 view of the tree, taken in July, 1785, by Mr. Stringer, and which may be con- 

 sidered as representing the appearance of the tree at Dr. Johnson's death, is 

 copied to the reduced scale of 1 in. to 12 ft. infg. 1312. From this period, 

 the tree appears to have gradually increased in size till April, 1810, when Dr. 

 Withering found the trunk to girt 2 1 ft. at G ft. from the ground, and to extend 

 20 ft. in height, before dividing into enormous ramifications: the trunk and 

 branches were then perfectly sound, and the very extensive head showed 

 unimpaired vigour. In November of the same year, however, many of the 

 branches were swept away in a violent storm ; and nearly half of what 

 remained of the tree fell to the ground in August, 1815, leaving little more 

 than its stupendous trunk, and a few side boughs. We have seen a portrait 

 of the tree by Mr. Stringer, made in 1816, which was kindiy lent to us by 

 that gentleman, by which it appears to have been then considerably muti- 

 lated, and in a state of decay. This decay was accelerated by a fire made 

 in the hollow of the trunk by some boys, in 1825, and which would pro- 

 bably have consumed the tree, had not Mr. Stringer, whose garden nearly 

 adjoins it, seen flames proceeding from the trunk, and sent some of his men 

 for the town engine to extinguish the fire. In April, 1829, the tree was 

 blown down in a violent storm, which took place on the 29th of that month, 

 about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. A drawing was taken of the tree as it lay 

 on the ground, from which a lithograph was published, representing its 

 appearance before its fall; and from this lithograph/g. 1313. is reduced 

 to the scale of 1 in. to 12 ft. 



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