“A willow garland thou didst send
Perfumed, last day, to me;
Which did but only this portend,
I was forsook by thee.
“Since it is so, I’ll tell thee what;
To-morrow thou shalt see
Me wear the willow, after that
To die upon the tree.
“As beasts unto the altars go
With garlands dressed, so I
Will with my willow-wreath also
Come forth, and sweetly die.”
The willow seems, from the oldest times, to have been dedicated to
grief; under them the children of Israel lamented their captivity:--“By
the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we
remembered Zion: we hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst
thereof.”[239]
The wicker-baskets made by our forefathers are the subject of an epigram
by Martial:--
“From Britain’s painted sons I came,
And basket is my barbarous name;
Yet now I am so modish grown,
That Rome would claim me for her own.”
It is worthy to be recollected, that some of the _smallest_ trees known
are willows; nay, the smallest tree known, without any exception. The
herbaceous willow, _salix herbacea_, is seldom higher than three inches,
sometimes not more than two; and yet it is in every respect a tree,
notwithstanding the name herbaceous, which, as it has been observed, is
inappropriate. Dr. Clarke says, in his “Travels in Norway,” “We soon
recognised some of our old Lapland acquaintances, such as _Betula nana_,
with its minute leaves, like silver pennies; mountain-birch; and the
dwarf alpine species of willow: of which half a dozen trees, with all
their branches, leaves, flowers, and roots, might be compressed within
two of the pages of a lady’s pocket-book, without coming into contact
with each other. After our return to England, specimens of the _salix
herbacea_ were given to our friends, which, when framed and glazed, had
the appearance of miniature drawings. The author, in collecting them for
his herbiary, has frequently compressed twenty of these trees between
two of the pages of a duodecimo volume.” Yet in the great northern
forests, Dr. Clarke found a species of willow “that would make a
splendid ornament in our English shrubberies, owing to its quick growth,
and beautiful appearance. It had much more the appearance of an orange
than of a willow-tree, its large luxuriant leaves being of the most
vivid green colour, splendidly shining. We believed it to be a variety
of _salix amygdalina_, but it may be a distinct species: it principally
flourishes in Westro Bothnia, and we never saw it elsewhere.”
So much, and more than is here quoted, respecting the willow, has been
gathered by the fair authoress of _Sylvan Sketches_.
In conclusion, be it observed, that the common willow is in common
language sometimes called the sallow, and under that name it is
mentioned by Chaucer:--
“Whoso buildeth his hous all of salowes,
And pricketh his blind hors over the falowes,
And suffreth his wife for to seche hallowes,
He is worthy to be honged on the gallowes.”
_Chaucer._
[239] The Psalms.
~August 10.~
_St. Lawrence_, A. D. 258. _St Deusdedit._ _St. Blaan_, Bp. of
Kinngaradha, A. D. 446.
~St. Lawrence.~
His name stands in the church of England calendar. He suffered martyrdom
at Rome, under Valerian. Mr. Audley relates of St. Lawrence, “that being
peculiarly obnoxious, the order for his punishment was, ‘Bring out the
grate of iron; and when it is _red hot_, _on_ with him, _roast him,
broil him, turn him: upon pain of our high displeasure, do every man his
office, O ye tormentors_.’ These orders were obeyed, and after
_Lawrence_ had been pressed down with fire-forks for a long time, he
said to the tyrant, ‘This side is now roasted enough; O tyrant, do you
think roasted meat or raw the best?’ Soon after he had said this he
expired. The church of _St. Lawrence Jewry_, in London, is dedicated to
him, and has a gridiron on the steeple for a vane, that being generally
supposed the instrument of his torture. The ingenious Mr. Robinson, in
his ‘Ecclesiastical Researches,’ speaking about this saint, says,
‘Philip II. of _Spain_, having won a battle on the 10th of August, the
festival of _St. Lawrence_, vowed to consecrate a PALACE, a CHURCH, and
a MONASTERY to his honour. He did erect the ESCURIAL, which is the
_largest Palace_ in EUROPE. This immense quarry consists of several
courts and quadrangles, all disposed in the shape of a GRIDIRON. The
_bars_ form _several_ courts; and the _Royal Family_ occupy the HANDLE.’
‘_Gridirons_,’ says one, who examined it, ‘are met with in every part of
the building. There are _sculptured_ gridirons, _iron_ gridirons,
_painted_ gridirons, _marble_ gridirons, &c. &c. There are gridirons
_over_ the doors, gridirons in the _yards_, gridirons in the _windows_,
gridirons in the _galleries_. Never was an instrument of martyrdom so
multiplied, so honoured, so celebrated: and thus much for
gridirons.’”[240]