Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-05-21
THE WEEPING WILLOW.
Row a Product of the Garden OF
Eden Immigrated 90 this Country.


Benson J. Tossing in Hdrper's Young People.
You have seen and admired the weep
ing willow tree-the sdlir Babyt0nicG-
upon which the captive Hebrews hung
their harps when they sat down by the
rivers of Babylon and 'wept when they
remembered Zion" 1t is native of the
Garden of Eden, and not of America,
and l will tell you how it immigrated to
this country.
More than $50 years ago a merchant
lost his fortune. He went to Smyrna,
seaside city in Asia Minor, to recover it.
Alexander Pope, one of the great poets
of England, was the merchants warm
friend, and sympathized with him in his
misfortunes.
Soon after the merchant arrived in
Smyrna he sent to the Pope, as a pres
ent, a box of dried figs. AT that time
the poet had built a beautiful villa at
Twickenham, on the bank of the river
Thames; and was adorning it with trees,
shrubbery and Towering plants.
On opening the box of figs Pope dis
covered in it small twig of the tree. 1t
was stranger to him. As it came from
the East, he planted the twig in the
ground near the edge of the river, close
by his villa. The spot accidentally
chosen for the planting was favorable to
its growth, for the twig was from the
weeping willow tree-possibly from the
bank of one of "the rivers of Babylon"
which flourishes best along the borders
of water courses.
This little twig grew vigorously, and
in few years it became large tree,
diYR xxyidn ito ronnhna ond dFnnr.
ing, graceful sprays, and winning the
inspiration of the poets friends, as well
as strangers. 1t became the ancestor of
all the weeping willows in England.
There was rebellion in the English
American colonies in 1775. British
troops were sent to Boston to put down
the insurrection. Their leaders expected
to end it in a few weeks after their ar
rival. Some young officers brought fish
ing tackle with them to enable them to
enjoy sport after the brief war; Others
came to settle on the conflscated lands of
the "rebels."
Among the latter was young officer
on the staff of General Howe. He
brought with him, wrapped in oil silk, a
twig from POpe's weeping willow at
Twickenham, which he intended to
plant on some stream watering his
American estate.
Washington commanded an army be-
fore Boston which kept the British i'm.
prIsoned in that city long time against
their will. On his staff was his step-sOn,
John Parke Custis, who frequently went
to the British headquarters, under the
protection of flag, with dispatches for
General Howe. He became acquainted
with the young officer who had the will
low twig. and they became friends.
Instead of crushing the rebellion in
six weeks" the British army at Boston,
at the end of an Imprisonment of nine
months, was glad to fly by sea for life
and liberty to Halifax. Long before that
flight the British subaltern, satisfied that
he should never have an estate in Ameri-
ca to adorn, gave his carefully preserved
willow twig to young Custis, who plant
ed it at Abingdon, his estate in Virginia,
where it grew and fiour1shed, and be-
came a parent of all the weeping will
lows in the United States.
Sometime after the war, Gen. Horatio
Gates, of the Revolution, settled on the
t'Rose Hill Farm" on New York Island.
and at the entrance to lane which led
from country road to his house he
planted twig from the vigorous willow
at Abingdon, which he had brought with
him. That country road is now Third av-
enue, and the lane Twenty street.
Gates mansion, built of wood, and two
stories Il height. stood near the corner
of Twenty-seventh street and Second
avenue, where | saw it consumed by
fire in 1915. The tree which grew from
the twig planted at the entrance to
Gates lane remained until comparative
ly few years ago. 1t stood on the
northeast corner of Third avenue and
Twenty second street. 1t was a direct
descendant, in the third generation, of
Pope's willow, planted at Twickenham
about 400