I want to say a huge thank you to Dr Annette Rubery and John Winterton,
who kindly provided me with much of the information that I used in this blog post.
© The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum Collections. Item number: 2000.280 Framed painting of Johnson's Willow.
At 11 am, Tuesday, 2nd November 2021, the fifth incarnation of
Johnson’s Willow was planted, beside Stowe Pool in Lichfield.
Who was Dr Samuel Johnson?
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was an English writer and
critic, and one of the most famous literary figures of the 18th century. He is
perhaps best known for his 'Dictionary of the English Language'. Johnson was
born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, in the building that is now The Samuel
Johnson Birthplace Museum & Bookshop. Not far from Johnson’s
childhood home is Stowe Pool, besides which a very special willow tree was first planted in the early 1700s, which Johnson was very fond of.
Johnson's Willow
The first willow was likely planted around 1700, on the
north side of Stowe Pool in Lichfield. It is now known as Johnson’s Willow, because of his endearment for it. He would visit the huge tree whenever he came back to Lichfield. He is said to have declared that it was ‘the delight of his
early and waning life’. The tree was also enjoyed by Anna Seward, a poet from
Lichfield (1742-1809) The original willow blew down in 1829, but thankfully a
cutting was taken from the tree and a new one was planted in the same place in
1830. This happened again in 1898 and 1959.
© The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum Collections. Item number: 2000.223 Johnson's Willow, Lichfield, 1809 Etching of Johnson's willow.
You can see some of the objects associated with Johnson’s Willow at the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum & Bookshop, either in person or by viewing their online collection here.
© The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum Collections. Item number: 2000.104 Circular wooden box. Written inside the lid is 'Dr Johnson's Willow Tree. Lichfield'.
The fourth willow was originally due to be felled 16th August 2021, because of extensive decay. However, due to a pigeon nest full of eggs, The felling had to be postponed until October 8th 2021. The Johnson Society and Lichfield District Council worked together to make sure that the tradition of planting a new willow, grown from a cutting taken from its predecessor, would happen once again. In 2018, cuttings had been taken from the tree and the saplings were looked after and grown by the council, ready for one of them to replace the fourth willow.
The fifth willow
The planting ceremony for the fifth Johnson’s Willow took
place 2nd November 2021. A poetry competition had been held by The
Johnson Society, which was won by Sarah Dale. Her beautiful poem was read out
during the ceremony, you can read it here. You can also enjoy images of the fifth willow and a video from the planting ceremony here.
I am sad I didn’t get to see the fourth willow before it was
felled, but I am looking forward to soon visiting the fifth incarnation of a tree
that is very special to a lot of people. Hopefully, the willow and its link to
Johnson can keep being enjoyed for generations to come.
---
Want to know more about The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum
& Bookshop? I wrote a whole blog post about my recent visit here.
Comments
Post a Comment