Forms: α. 1 weliʓ, 5 weleygh; 5 Sc. pl. willeis, 4–5 wilghe, wylghe, 6 wylly(e, -ie, 6, 9 dial. willie, willy, 8 willi- (9 -ey, wullie, -y); 7 wilfe, 8– dial. wilf. β. 4 welew, 5 welogh, 5–6 welowe; 4 wilewe, 4–5 wilw(e, wylw(e, wyl(o)ugh, (whilwh), wil(l)ou, wylo, wyllo, wilowe, 5–6 wylow(e, (whylowe), 6 willo, wyllow(e, -ough, 7 willough, 5– willow. [OE. weliʓ f., corresp. to Fris. wylch, wil(l)ig, OLG. wilgia (LG. wilge), MDu. wilge (Du. wilg), MHG. wilge; f. Teut. walg-, welg-, whence also OE. wiliʓe WILLY sb.1
The form-history is obscure, partly from the fact that examples of the word are not forthcoming for the period between late OE. and the 14th century, when the immediate precursor of the present form, viz. wilwe, is already established, instead of the normal representative of OE. weliʓ, which would be *welly. The change in the root-syllable may be due to WILLY sb.1 (OE. wiliʓe), or an OE. *wiliʓ may have existed; for the terminal syllable cf. bellows beside belly (OE. beliʓ), fellow beside felly (OE. feliʓ). The type willy survives dial.]
I. 1. Any plant of the genus Salix, which consists of trees and shrubs of various sizes, widely distributed in temperate and cold regions, growing for the most part by the side of watercourses, characterized by very pliant branches and long narrow drooping leaves, and valued economically as furnishing osiers, a light smooth and soft wood, or a medicinal astringent bark, or grown ornamentally by the side of water.
α. a. 750. Blickl. Glosses, in O. E. Texts, 123. In salicibus, on welʓum.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 156. Weliʓes leaf wylle on wætere.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, cxxxvi[i]. 2. In þe wylghes in þe myddis of hit.
c. 1400. trans. Secr. Secr., Gov. Lordsh., 81. Þat he haue weleyghes and myrt.
14[?]. Liber pauperum, in MS. Lincoln A. i. 17, lf. 295 (Hall.). Tak the bark of wilghe that is bitwene the tre and the utter barke.
1473. Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879), I. 178. Plantation of willeis.
1483. Cath. Angl., 418/1. A Wylght [sic], salix.
1535. Coverdale, Lev. xxiii. 40. Wyllies of the broke. Ibid., Isa. xliv. 4. The Willies by the waters side.
[1641. wilfe: See WILLOW-TREE.]
β. c. 1325. Gloss. W. de Bibbesw., in Wright, Voc., 163. Sauz [glossed wytie; Camb. MS. wilwe; All Souls MS. withe or wilghe].
c. 1340. Nominale (Skeat), 659. Sauce … Welew.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 2064. Wylugh [v.rr. Wylow, Wylw, Willow].
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 365. At Glyndalkan … wilewys bereþ apples as it were appel treen.
14[?]. Nom., in Wr.-Wülcker, 716/19. Hec salix, a welogh.
1426. Lydg., De Guil. Pilgr., 15178. Som whilwh ful off levys grene.
c. 1450. Cokwolds Daunce, x. in Hartshorne, Anc. Metr. T. (1829), 212. Garland of wylos sculd be fette, And sett vpon his hed.
1546. Supplic. Poore Commons (1871), 78. A christalline ryuer garnished with wyllouse.
1634. Milton, Comus, 891. By the rushy-fringed bank, Where grows the Willow and the Osier dank.
1727–46. Thomson, Summer, 1275. Plaintive breeze, that play’d Among the bending willows.
1784. Cowper, Task, I. 268. The willows dip Their pendent boughs, stooping as if to drink.
1818. Keats, Endym., I. 43. While the Willow trails Its delicate amber.
1859. H. Kingsley, G. Hamlyn, ii. The old willows by the river.
b. The wood or osiers of any tree of this genus.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, xxiv. 517. He … toke the balke … as lightly as it had be som pece of welowe.
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit., I. 491. Willowes … Whereof … there be Baskets made.
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 15. The pressure of the external air will then force the mercury through the pores of the bazel or willow.
c. in allusive use with reference to pliability.
1832. Macaulay, Ess., Burleigh, ¶ 4. Burleigh, like the old Marquess of Winchester, who preceded him in the custody of the White Staff, was of the willow, and not of the oak.
1847. Emerson, Poems, Musketaquid, 70. I am a willow of the wilderness, Loving the wind that bent me.
1910. J. Moffatt, Paul & Paulinism, 23. Barnabas was of the willow rather than of the oak order.
d. Taken as a symbol of grief for unrequited love or the loss of a mate; esp. in phr. to wear (the) willow, the willow garland (see 6 d), or the green willow: to grieve for the loss of a loved one.
1584. Lyly, Sappho, II. iv. Peace miserable wretch, enioy thy care in couert, weare willow in thy hatte, and baies in thy hart.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., V. i. 10. In such a night Stood Dido with a Willow in her hand Vpon the wilde sea bankes.
1597. Breton, Wit’s Trenchmour, Wks. (Grosart), II. 20. Some dolefull Ballad, to the tune of all a greene willow.
1603. Dekker & Chettle, Grissil, V. ii. Bring me a crown of gold to crown my loue; A wreath of willow for dispised Grissill.
1604. Shaks., Oth., IV. iii. 51. Sing all a greene Willough must be my Garland.
1625. Fletcher & Shirley, Nt. Walker, I. i. We see you’r willow and are sorry for’t.
1632. Massinger, Maid of Hon., V. i. You may cry willow, willow for your brother.
1668. Dryden, Secret Love, V. i. If you had not forsaken me, I had you: so the Willows may flourish for any branches I shall rob ’em of.
1678. D’Urfey, Fool turn’d Critick, II. ii. 19. Lady A. … so that for his sake I quitted all the rest. Pen. And left them Willowes.
1714. Gay, Sheph. Week, Thurs. 134. Nor shall she crown’d with willow die a maid.
1825. Hone, Every-day Bk., I. 1080. ‘She is in her willows’ … implies the mourning of a female for her lost mate.
1885. Kath. S. Macquoid, At Red Glove, VI. i. There’s that pretty little fool Marie Peyrolles wearing the willow because Monsieur Engemann is away courting Madam Carouge.
2. With qualification denoting a particular species or variety of the genus Salix: see quots. and almond w. (ALMOND 10), CRACK-WILLOW, goat w. (GOAT sb. 4 b), ground w. (GROUND sb. 18 c), rose w. (ROSE sb. 23 b), sage w. (SAGE sb.1 5 b), sallow w. (SALLOW sb. 4), † stake w. (STAKE sb.1 7), swamp w. (SWAMP sb. 3 c), sweet w. (SWEET C 1 b), WEEPING WILLOW, whipcord w. (WHIPCORD sb. 3). Cf. OSIER and SALLOW sb.
1868. Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869), 202. Weeping and drooping trees…. *Babylonian willow (Salix Babylonica).
1847. Darlington, Amer. Weeds, etc. (1860), 323. S[alix] viminalis … Osier. *Basket Willow.
1731. Miller, Gard. Dict., s.v. Salix, The *Bay-leav’d Sweet Willow.
1841. Penny Cycl., XX. 360/1. Salix Russelliana, Russell or *Bedford willow.
1845–50. Mrs. Lincoln, Lect. Bot., App. 161. Salix discolor (*bog willow).
1650. [W. Howe], Phytol. Brit., 107. Salix angustifolia pumila; In uliginosis. *Dwarf-Willow.
1857. Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., V. 111. This species is sometimes called the *Golden Willow (Salix chrysantha), on account of the beautiful golden catkins which in May and June ornament its boughs.
1868. Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869), 202. *Kilmarnock willow (Salix caprea, var. pendula).
1841. Penny Cycl., XX. 360/2. Salix purpurea, *purple willow.
1842. Proc. Berw. Nat. Club, II. No. 10. 7. The *tree willow (Salix caprea).
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, III. li. 1203. Salix aquatica. The Oziar, or *water Willow.
1640. Parkinson, Theat. Bot., 1430. Salix arborea angustifolia alba vulgaris.… Our ordinary *white Willow groweth quickely to be a great and tall tree.
1882. Garden, 9 Sept., 227/3. The wood of the white Willow … is always in request.
1796. Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), II. 48. Salix myrsinites … *Whortle leaved Willow.
1841. Penny Cycl., XX. 360/2. Salix vitellina, the *yellow willow.
b. Extended, with qualification, to plants of other genera having some resemblance to the willow: see quots.
1548. Turner, Names Herbes (E.D.S.), 41. Halimus … may be called in englishe sea wyllowe or prickwylowe because it hath the leaues of a wylowe and prickes lyke a thorne.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, III. lxviii. 1228. Gaule, sweete Willow, or Dutch Myrtle tree.
1760. J. Lee, Introd. Bot., App. 331. Willow, Spiked, of Theophrastus, Spiræa.
1866. Brogden, Prov. Wds. Lincs., Roman Willow, a garden plant, Syringa cœruleo flore.
1866. Treas. Bot., Willow…. Golden. A Madeira name for Genista scoparia.…—, Primrose. A West Indian name for Œnothera. Ibid. (1875), Suppl., Willow, Australian. Geijera parviflora. —, Water, of the United States, Dianthera americana.
1889. Maiden, Useful Plants Australia, 306. Acacia calamifolia, Willow, or Broom Wattle.
c. With qualification bay, flowering, French, Persian: the WILLOW-HERB, Epilobium angustifolium.
1633. Johnson, Gerarde’s Herbal, II. cxxix. 479. Chamænerium is called of Gesner, Epilobion: in English, Bay Willow.
1741. Compl. Fam. Piece, II. iii. 386. French Willow.
1857. Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., II. 280. E[pilobium] angustifolium (Rose Bay, or Flowering Willow).
1866. Treas. Bot., Willow … Persian, Epilobium angustifolium.
II. † 3. = WILLY sb.1 2. Obs.
1385–6. City of London Rec., Pleas & Mem. Rolls, Roll 27 A m. 28 (MS.). Grant destruccion de pesson par engyns appeles Wilwes.
1495. Trevisa’s Barth. De P. R., XVIII. i. (W. de W.), Y iij. For flesshe rostyd crabbes come in to wylowes [Add. MS. wyles] & pytches.
a. 1555. Philpot, trans. Curio’s Def. Christ’s Ch., Wks. (Parker Soc., 1842), 385. Many unclean and damnable persons is contained in this church, which we behold as it were fishes of all sorts in a fisher’s trunk or willo.
4. = WILLY sb.1 3.
1835. Ure, Philos. Manuf., 164. Blowing and lapping machines … are universally employed for cleaning and opening cotton after it has passed through the willow.
1877–80. Gt. Industr. Gt. Brit., I. 229. The conical self-acting willow, invented by Mr. Lillie, of Manchester.
1891. Marsden, Cotton Spinning (ed. 4), 85. The spikes on the cylinder and casing of the willow.
5. A cricket-bat (made of willow-wood). Similarly, the bat at baseball.
1866. Le Fanu, All in Dark, xxxiv. He handles the willow pretty well.
1869. Routledge’s Ev. Boy’s Ann., 639. I had my turn at the ‘willow.’
1876. in Box, Engl. Game Cricket (1877), 414. Willow the King is a monarch grand, Three in a row his courtiers stand.
III. 6. attrib. and Comb. a. Simple attrib., as willow band, bark, bed, bottom, bush, dust, gall (GALL sb.3), garth, ground, grove, head, hedge, holt, hoop, island, rind, row, shadow, swamp, top, tribe, twig, walk, wand, withe, wood; made of willow-wood, as willow-cylinder, polisher. b. Instrumental, parasynthetic, objective, and similative, as willow-bordered, -colo(u)red, -fringed, -grown, -leaved, -like, -shaded, -tufted, -veiled adjs.; willow-peeler. c. Special Combs.: willow bay, Salix pentandra; willow-branch, a branch of a willow-tree; also allusively as in 1 d; willow curtain (see quot.); willow-earth, compost made of rotten willow-branches; † willow-flower = WILLOW-HERB 2; willow-green, a variety of green resembling the color of willow-leaves; willow-grouse, the common ptarmigan of North America, Lagopus albus; willow-lark, the sedge-warbler; willow-leaf, a leaf of the willow-tree, or a figure resembling this; pl. the luminous filaments of the sun’s surface; willow myrtle, a myrtaceous willow-leaved tree (Agonis flexuosa) of Western Australia; willow-nightingale local, the reed-sparrow; willow oak, a North American oak, Quercus Phellos, having narrow entire leaves like those of the willow; willow partridge, = willow-grouse; willow pattern, a pattern of domestic crockery in blue, orig. designed by Thomas Turner in the late 18th century, having willow-trees as a prominent feature; hence willow-patterned a.; willow ptarmigan = willow-grouse; willow-sparrow = willow-warbler; willow sheets, squares, pieces of plaited willow for hat-making; willow-thorn, sea-buckthorn, Hippophaë rhamnoides; willow-warbler, a small bird, Sylvia trochilus; willow ware, crockery-ware of a willow pattern; willow weapon, a cricket-bat; willow weed = WILLOW-HERB 2, 3; also, various species of Polygonum, knotweed; willow-wielder, a batsman at cricket; willow-wort, = WILLOW-HERB 1, 3; also pl., Lindley’s name for the willow family; willow-wren, = willow-warbler. Also in several names of insects or their larvæ that infest willows, as willow-beauty (Boarmia rhomboidaria), -bee (Megachile willughbeia); -beetle (spec. Phyllodecta vitellinæ), -butterfly, -caterpillar, -cimbex, † -cricket, -fly (any insect of the family Perlidæ), -moth (Caradrina quadripunctata), -sawfly, -slug (larva of the sawfly), -worm.
1819. Shelley, Cyclops, 203. My young lambs coupled two by two With *willow bands.
1836. J. M. Gully, Magendie’s Formul. (ed. 2), 193. *Willow-bark having been frequently employed against intermittent fevers.
1650. [W. Howe], Phytol. Brit., 108. Salix folio laureo,… *Willow bay.
1832. Rennie, Butterfl. & Moths, 111. The *Willow Beauty … appears the beginning of July, in woody places and gardens.
1591. Percivall, Sp. Dict., Bimbrera, a *willow bed.
1897. Watts-Dunton, Aylwin, VII. i. A winding, *willow-bordered river.
1807. P. Gass, Jrnl., 51. Passed a *willow bottom on the south side, and a creek on the north.
1611. Beaum. & Fl., Maid’s Trag., II. i. Song, Maidens, *Willow branches bear; say I died true.
1830. Tennyson, Dying Swan, 37. The willow-branches hoar and dank.
1860. Trollope, Framley P., xxx. I have been overwhelmed with presents of willow branches.
1876. Geo. Eliot, Dan. Der., xvii. It was bordered by a line of *willow-bushes.
1773. B. Wilkes, Engl. Moths, 58. The *Willow-Butterfly.
c. 1633. in Verney Mem. (1907), I. 68. The *willow colored satten suite.
1799. G. Smith, Laboratory, II. 300. *Willow-cricket, or small peacock fly.
1884. Knight, Dict. Mech., Suppl., *Willow Curtain,… a device to curb the rapidity of streams and induce deposit of sediment.
1731. Miller, Gard. Dict., s.v. Layers, Mould, mix’d with a little rotten *Willow-dust.
1683. J. Reid, Scots Gard’ner (1907), 69. *Willow-earth or rotten willow-sticks at the bottom of the pot, helps to retain the moisture.
1799. G. Smith, Laboratory, II. 143. A little willow-earth is very proper to mix with the above compost.
1633. Johnson, Gerarde’s Herbal, II. cxxix. 477. Chamænerion alterum angustifolium. Narrow leaued *Willow-floure.
1787. Best, Angling (ed. 2), 119. The *Willow-Fly comes on about the beginning of September.
1749. Warton, Tri. Isis, 6. O’er Isis’ *willow-fringed banks I stray’d.
1870. Kingsley, At Last, xiii. Certain alder and willow-fringed reaches of the Thames.
1812. Sporting Mag., XXXIX. 231. Trotting on to the small *willow garth near Clifford [Yorkshire].
1857. Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., V. 93. Osier-holts or Willow-garths, as such grounds are called in Yorkshire.
1672. W. Hughes, Amer. Physitian, 28. A more blewish green colour, much like the colour called a *Willow-green.
1703. Lond. Gaz., No. 3906/4. A Piece Ditto, striped with Willow-green and small Orange or Philamot.
1832. T. Brown, Bk. Butterfl. & M. (1834), I. 172. Of a pale willow-green above.
1608. Merry Devil Edmonton, III. ii. Heere in the walke neere to the *willow ground.
1849. D. J. Browne, Amer. Poultry Yd. (1855), 311. The *willow grouse on the rock crows his challenge aloud.
1552. Huloet, *Willow groue, salicetum.
1577. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., I. 17. Meddowe, Wood Lande, and Wyllowe Groues.
1855. Singleton, Virgil, Georgics, II. 575. The wild willow-grove.
1871. Morris, in Mackail, Life (1899), I. 265. A sandy plain somewhat *willow-grown.
1798. Act 38 Geo. III., c. v. § 2. Any *Willow Heads, Loppings of Pollard or Doddard Trees.
1805. Dickson, Pract. Agric., I. Plate xxxi. A protection of *willow-hedge, raised by setting the stakes.
1832. Boston, Linc. etc. Herald, 13 Nov., 4/3. Secreted in a *willow holt … in Holland Fen.
1697. J. Puckle, New Dial., 18. Nor do We in England (as you [the Dutch]) want *Willow Hoops from Hamburgh.
1814. Brackenridge, Jrnl., in Views Louisiana, 204. Having passed a small *willow island.
1769. G. White, Selborne, To Pennant, 29 May. A new salicaria, which at first I suspected might have proved your *willow-lark.
1562. Turner, Herbal, II. 43 b. Of Lysimachia … The leues … are thinne and in fasshon lyke *wylow leues.
c. 1711. Petiver, Gazophyl., Dec. vii. Tab. 63. This has plain Willow Leaves.
1829. Shelley, Summer, 9. The willow leaves that glanced in the light breeze.
1860. Nasmyth, in Monthly Not. Royal Astron. Soc. (1864), XXIV. 67. What I claim to be the first to discover … in reference to the structure of his entire luminous surface, as well as the precise form of the structural details, which, from their general similitude in respect to form, I at once compared with willow-leaves. Ibid. These luminous filaments or willow-leaf-shaped objects.
1731. Miller, Gard. Dict., s.v. Adhatoda, The *Willow-leav’d Malabar Nut.
1864. Lockyer, in Reader, 16 Jan., 79/2. Mr. Nasmyth’s discovery of the willow-leaved things … covering like so many scales the whole surface of the sun.
1712. Petiver, in Phil. Trans., XXVII. 422. Its Leaves below are long *Willow-like.
1897. Mary Kingsley, W. Africa, 186. A long-branched willow-like shrub.
1845. G. E. Day, trans. Simon’s Anim. Chem., I. 101. The caterpillar of the *willow-moth.
1898. Morris, Austral Engl., *Willow Myrtle,… with willow-like leaves and pendent branches.
1773. Phil. Trans., LXIII. 281, note. In the neighbourhood of Shrewsbury, the [reedsparrow] hath obtained the name of the *willow-nightingale.
1717. Petiveriana, III. 208. *Willow Oak. From the Likeness of its Leaf.
1772. Forster, in Phil. Trans., LXII. 390. *Willow-partridges.
1829. S. Shaw, Staffordsh. Potteries, ix. 214. The Pattern Mr. Turner used was the *willow, designed by him from two oriental Plates, still preserved.
1848. J. H. Newman, Loss & Gain, I. x. 68. I myself found half a willow-pattern saucer in the crater of Vesuvius.
1878. Longf., Kéramos, 326. The willow pattern, that we knew In childhood, with its bridge of blue Leading to unknown thoroughfares.
1857. Miss Yonge, Dynevor Terrace, I. ii. 8. A beautifully chased silver cream-jug—an inconsistent companion for the homely black teapot and *willow-patterned plates.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Willow-peeler, a device or a machine for stripping the bark from the willow wands.
1884. F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 214. Plates for carriage and other small clocks … are polished with a *willow polisher.
1872. Coues, Key N. Amer. Birds, 235. Lagopus albus. *Willow Ptarmigan.
c. 1500. World & Child (1522), A iij. I can wystell you a fytte Syres in a *whylowe ryne.
1806. Grahame, Birds Scot., 5. He sits And warps the skep with willow rind.
1586. W. Webbe, Engl. Poetrie (Arb.), 75. Greene *willow rowes which Hiblæ bees doo reioice in.
1845. Florist Jrnl., 193. Over the margin of the *willow-shaded pond.
1827. Clare, Sheph. Cal., 56. To wash-pools, where the *willow shadows lean.
1819. P. O. Lond. Direct., 364. Patentee … of Beaver, Silk and Willow Hats, and *Willow-squares.
1834. 1st Rep. Poor Law Comm. (1885), 199. I formerly carried on the business of a willow-square maker.
1901. Seebohm, Birds of Siberia, xiv. 125. This never-ending, almost impenetrable *willow-swamp.
1857. Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., V. 49. Sea Buckthorn, Sallow-thorn, or *Willow-thorn.
1693. Congreve, in Dryden’s Juvenal, xi. (1697), 285. No bitter *Willow-tops have been its Food.
1805. Dickson, Pract. Agric., I. 119. The farmer may have recourse to plants of the *willow tribe for the forming of his hedges.
1764. Goldsm., Trav., 294. The *willow-tufted bank.
1653. Walton, Angler, ii. 62. Oh it is a great logger-headed Chub: Come, hang him upon that *Willow twig.
1819. Scott, Ivanhoe, xxxi. It shore asunder, as it had been a willow twig, the tough and plaited handle of the mace.
1833. Tennyson, Lady of Shalott, I. iii. By the margin, *willow-veil’d.
1816. Scott, Old Mort., xxxviii. When you want me for breakfast, I will be found in the *willow-walk by the river.
a. 1585. Montgomerie, Flyting, 82. With a *willie wand thy skin was well scourged.
c. 1650. Robin Hood & Q. Kath., xxii. in Child, Ballads, V. 201. I’le cleave the willow wand.
1715. Ramsay, Christ’s Kirk Gr., II. v. Clever houghs like willi-wands.
1748. Thomson, Cast. Indol., I. xxiii. As lithe they grow as any willow wand.
1810. Scott, Lady of L., V. ix. The rushes and the willow-wand Are bristling into axe and brand.
1846. Jenyns, Nat. Hist., 133. We found to-day the nest of a *willow-warbler.
1882. Proc. Berw. Nat. Club, IX. No. 3. 429. The willow-warbler (Sylvia trochilus).
c. 1885. R. Collyer, in J. H. Holmes, Life & Lett. (1917), I. ii. 24. A great rack for the pewter dishes and *willow ware.
1850. ‘Bat,’ Crick. Man., 45. The way to use the *willow weapon.
1741. Compl. Fam.-Piece, II. iii. 379. *Willow Weed or French Willow.
1855. Tennyson, Brook, 46. And many a fairy foreland set With willow-weed and mallow.
1866. Treas. Bot., Willow-weed, Lythrum Salicaria; also Polygonum lapathifolium.
1903. Times, 13 July, 11/6. The weary watching of wily *willow-wielders.
1870. Morris, Earthly Par., II. III. 292. The goodman … from a corner nigh Took up some *willow-withes.
1799. G. Smith, Laboratory, I. 4. The charcoal of *willow-wood is preferred, by many, for the manufacture of gunpowder.
1845. G. Dodd, Brit. Manuf., IV. 61. Wheels … made of … willow-wood.
1896. Lodeman, Spray. Plants, 373. *Willow-worm; Antiopa Butterfly (Vanessa Antiopa, Linn.).
1591. Sylvester, Du Bartas, I. iii. 753. As Betonie breakes friendship’s ancient bands, So *Willo-wort makes wonted hate shake hands.
1698. Fryer, Acc. E. India & P., 307. In an Hollow made by the falling of the Water in the Rains, grows Willow-wort.
1731. Miller, Gard. Dict., s.v. Salicaria, Willow-wort or spiked Lose-strife.
1846. Lindley, Veg. Kingd., 254, Salicaceæ. Willow-worts.
1805. Scott, Last Minstrel, II. xi. And changed the *willow-wreaths to stone.
1768. Pennant, Brit. Zool., II. 266. The *willow-wren frequents large moist woods.
1882. Proc. Berw. Nat. Club, ix. No. 3. 556. Aug. 16th, Willow-wrens had deserted the furze bushes and hedges.
d. In uses containing an allusion to the willow as a symbol of mourning or of being lovelorn.
1585. in Chappell, Old Engl. Pop. Mus. (1893), 110. I wylbe the turtle most stedfast [still] to the: & paciently were this grene wyllow garland.
1593. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., III. iii. 228. Tell him, in hope hee’l proue a widower shortly, I weare the Willow Garland for his sake.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., III. 112. Still for to weare the Willow wreath.
1638. Ford, Fancies, III. iii. A knot of Willow Ribbands.
1648. Herrick, Hesper., To Willow-tree, 7. When once the Lovers Rose is dead,… Then Willow-garlands, ’bout the head, Bedew’d with teares, are worne.
1825. T. Hook, Sayings, Ser. II. Sutherl., 36. This willow-wearing fair one. Ibid. (1833), Parson’s Dau., I. xii. The … willow-wearers at Ullsford.
e. quasi-adj. = WILLOWY a. 2. See also quot. a. 1700.
1634. S. R., Noble Soldier, IV. i. F i b. I yeelded With willow-bendings to commanding breaths.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Willow, Poor, and of no Reputation.
1875. Miss Braddon, Strange World, ii. Tall, slim, and willow-waisted.
