Threads 15: White Willow and Another Willow Tool
This week we are looking at two different methods for stripping the bark off the willow rods in the spring.
A note for those unfamiliar with the different types of willow used for basket making:
White willow has had the bark stripped off in the spring while the sap is rising and is white in colour.
Buff willow has been steamed for 12 hours and then the loose bark is removed.The reason it is coloured buff, is because the dye in the bark has dyed the white willow buff.
Brown willow has the bark still attached.
In certain parts of England stripping the willow was a major seasonal event. There is even a popular country dance called ‘strip the willow’. Before the invention of buff willow in the late 1800s, white willow was considered far superior to brown willow. It was used primarily for domestic use, for laundry, and hospitals, etc.
In order to encourage new growth after coppicing the willow plants, the rods to be used for a white willow are bundled and put into ponds or water tanks. This way they continue to grow, and when they come into leaf and the sap is rising, they are ready to strip.
A few years ago I was inspired by reading about colouring chrysanthemums by placing dye in the water when they were growing. I experimented with willow. Using coloured ink, red blue and green, I put a bundle of Willers into three different buckets, each with a different colour of the water. As the willows came into leaf I stripped them, and yes I had coloured Willow! I did not test for colorfastness, but as far as I can remember it did not fade any more than buff willow.
The willow brake
As seen in the photo below, the willow brake is attached to a heavy stump and is used to pull the willow rod between the two uprights which are held together like a spring. Take one end of the Willow rods and push it down until it is squeezed together. Then it is pulled quickly through the V-slot and the bark is loosened and immediately falls off. Being on a spring it squeezes the rod all the way to the narrow end. It is quick and easy, but each piece has to be done separately.
Before I bought my brake back from England, I invented a fairly simple method using the stump of an old tree. I hammered in 3 sets of nails, from a distance of a quarter of an inch to an inch and 3/4 of an inch apart. See the sketch below. It was not as efficient as a brake, but it worked quite well and I used it for several years.
Thanks to a couple of readers in my previous note about the commander, ‘why the hole in the handle?’ Yes, it makes it much easier to straighten the upright willow rods while weaving a big basket. A second reason is that it can be used to put the finger through to help hold The tool in the correct position.
Photo of a Willow Brake in the museum used to strip bark from willow, to make white willow. Sketch of a tree stump with sets of nails in “V” pattern for willow bark stripping.