OF continuing interest is the story behind the scenes depicted on the familiar blue and white willow pattern pottery.

This cropped up recently in a conversation with some friends who wondered about the identity of the two blue and white birds which are shown flying in the central top area of the design.

Are they swallows? Or pigeons? Some kind of song bird perhaps? Love birds maybe? Or no particular species? Certainly, their flying style is peculiar to say the least, although both do appear to have long forked tails.

Most of us are familiar with the famous blue and white willow pattern design on pottery, but few know the story which is supposedly depicted within the familiar pictures.

First, it must be said the picture is not all it seems. Although it appears to contain scenes from an authentic Chinese story, it is in fact the work of Thomas Turner of Caughley in Shropshire who, in 1779, produced this imitation of the Chinese style of decoration. This may, however, be his interpretation of a known Chinese story although the pattern's name comes from the willow tree which features in the picture. Incidentally, the weeping willow is a native of China.

There are several verses which seek to summarise the story and perhaps the most common is this one:

Two little swallows flying high; a Chinese vessel sailing by;

Weeping willow hanging o'er a bridge with three folk, if not four;

Chinese temple there it stands in the view of many lands;

An orange tree and palings strong, a pretty fence to end my song.

Variations of the verse suggest the birds might be doves or even eagles, while the Chinese temple is otherwise described as a pagoda or even a castle. The Chinese ship is sometimes called a vessel or merely a ship while the tree is either apple or orange. Close examination of any willow pattern design will highlight all these features.

In spite of these variations and in spite of this being an English creation, there is a story behind this famous picture. However, I am not sure whether the story is a genuine Chinese folk tale which inspired Thomas Turner or whether it has been produced to complement his willow pattern design

Whatever its source, it tells how Koong-Shee was the daughter of a rich Chinese merchant. He wanted her to marry a wealthy man whom he knew well and whom he regarded as a highly suitable son-in-law. The girl, however, had fallen in love with a poor clerk called Chang who worked for her father. Even though her father tried to force Koong-Shee to give up Chang, she refused and so her father devised a plan by which he hoped she would forget him.

He forced her to spend her time alone in a small summer house at the end of a beautiful garden. There was little for her to do with her time except to work on her spinning wheel and needlework, but outside was a willow tree and beyond was a fruit tree.

And so it was that the lonely Koong-Shee spent her days without any companion and no one to talk to; other than her spinning and needlework, she had nothing to do but watch the trees burst into leaf and then into blossom, or to watch the birds flying by.

Then she received a letter from Chang asking her to run away with him. He had not dared to post the letter in case it got into the wrong hands and her father learned about it, so he had placed it in a coconut shell and erected a small sail upon it. He placed it in the water and watched it float across the lake towards Koong-Shee. And she saw it. She managed to retrieve it and read it with delight, then replied in the same way, pushing the coconut shell back across the lake. In her letter, she said she would go away with Chang if he was brave enough to come and take her.

Chang then went gallantly to the little summer house, took her hand and began to lead her away. But while they were crossing the bridge, they met Koong-Shee's angry father. They ran but he chased them. Koong-Shee ran ahead with her distaff as Chang ran behind carrying her jewellery box; the father chased them with a whip in his hand. The happy pair managed to outdistance the father and eventually, after a suitable lapse of time, they returned to the summer house to live happily ever after.

But that was not the end. The rich man who had wanted to marry Koong-Shee discovered their hiding place and set fire to it. The lovers could not escape the terrible blaze and both died in the flames, being turned into a pair of turtle doves.

This timeless drama can be seen in the ever-popular willow pattern crockery.

Updated: 09:17 Thursday, July 26, 2001