{"id":919,"date":"2015-02-16T13:52:14","date_gmt":"2015-02-16T13:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/?p=919"},"modified":"2018-10-24T15:29:21","modified_gmt":"2018-10-24T14:29:21","slug":"scottish-samplers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madelena.com\/blog\/scottish-samplers\/","title":{"rendered":"Scottish Samplers – Learn how to tell the difference between Scottish and English"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scottish samplers – how to recognise them<\/span><\/h1>\n

Today we take a look at how to recognise Scottish Samplers. This is the first in a series of antique needlework sampler blogs where you will discover, if you don’t already know, why people get excited…<\/p>\n

The general rule is\u00a0never to\u00a0attribute anything on\u00a0the basis of one indicator alone. Unless there is a place name which is definitely Scottish, serious attributions\u00a0can only\u00a0be made\u00a0on the basis of\u00a0two or more\u00a0features. A sampler stitched in Scotland could\u00a0have an inscription or a verse stitched in\u00a0the French language. There is a \u00a0historical association with France\u00a0through Mary Queen of Scots (8th December 1542\u00a0\u2013 8 February 1587).\u00a0\"\"Daughter of James\u00a0V of Scotland who died six days after she was born she was sent to France\u00a0at age six to be raised and educated.\u00a0\u00a0Aged 18 she returned to reign as Queen of Scotland.\u00a0It did not work out. She\u00a0was forced to abdicate. Escaping to England in 1568, her\u00a0cousin the reigning\u00a0Queen Elizabeth\u00a0I\u00a0placed Mary\u00a0under\u00a0house arrest expecting her to press a\u00a0claim\u00a0to\u00a0English throne, which she did. After\u00a0nineteen uneasy years\u00a0Elizabeth\u00a0reluctantly ordered Mary’s death by execution (axe) in 1587\u00a0. You\u00a0think we’re inventing\u00a0this stuff? More on Mary Queen of the Scots<\/a> Back to Scottish Samplers, what should we be looking at<\/em>? Colours, alphabets, place names, family initials, surnames, peacocks, urns, and houses. What should we be looking for<\/em>? Read on…<\/p>\n

Colors<\/span><\/h3>\n

Stitching in red and green\u00a0only, is a strong indicator of Scottish origin. 1804 Scottish sampler, alphabets, numbers and family initials<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Scottish<\/a>
Segment of a Scottish Sampler, 1804, stitched in red and green threads only<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the left is a\u00a0portion of a\u00a0plain, pre-Victorian\u00a0band sampler with no name, just a set of three family initials, SM, IM, BM, indicating this could be\u00a0one of those\u00a0Scottish samplers. Thread in red and green only confirms the attribution. Alphabet and numbers samplers\u00a0in this style\u00a0are commonly found in\u00a0Victorian needlework and earlier. It\u00a0had been\u00a0decided that\u00a0schoolgirls\u00a0should learn words and numbers. World\u2019s largest online gallery of antique SAMPLERS<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Verse<\/span><\/h3>\n

Occasionally a clue\u00a0to a sampler’s\u00a0origin may lie in a verse. However we\u00a0have chosen the following verse\u00a0for different reasons… Moral guidance\u00a0needed\u00a0to be drummed into young minds. Average life expectancy in 1840 was a mere\u00a034 years. Education included\u00a0preparing children\u00a0for what might be around the corner.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0More demographics, Victorian Scotland<\/span><\/a>. So we\u00a0give you\u00a0a verse from one of our Scottish samplers. Victorian style motivation for children. Scottish? House sampler with verse, for sale<\/span><\/a> “Keep death and Judgment always in your eye \/ None’s fit to live but who is fit to die \/\u00a0Make use of present time because you must \/ \u00a0Take up your lodging shortly in the dust \/ Tis dreadful to behold the setting sun \/\u00a0And night approaching e’er your work is done.”<\/p>\n

Alphabets<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Scottish<\/a>
Curlicues ref. Marcus Huish book published in 1913<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alphabet\u00a0bands with curlicues are a very strong indicator of Scottish samplers. Curlicues are those wonderfully\u00a0intricate curly<\/p>\n

\"Scottish<\/a>
Holbein stitch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Holbein stitches used to decorate letters\u00a0in the alphabet and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Place names<\/span><\/h3>\n

The name of a Scottish town or school is obviously a very strong indicator of a Scottish Sampler. Amongst the samplers\u00a0illustrated\u00a0in this blog\u00a0we have seen ‘Perth’ and\u00a0‘Kelso’.<\/p>\n

Family Initials<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"1825<\/a>
Upper portion of the 1825 Scottish Sampler by Euphemia Gibson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1825 Scottish sampler by Euphemia Gibson<\/a> A strong indicator of Scottish origin is the use of family initials. Interestingly this\u00a0tradition is also found in Flanders. The two cultures\u00a0have been\u00a0well integrated for centuries. Some have called this the North Sea Culture. Back then it was the German Ocean. They appear\u00a0either in bands as in this sampler,\u00a0or scattered around. In this case, there is the added indicator of\u00a0a Scottish town name ‘Kelso’. In other instances there is no added indicator so a ‘Scottish’ attribution is not possible. On this link is an example of a sampler with family initials only<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Surnames<\/span><\/h3>\n

A Scottish name like McTavish or MacIntosh\u00a0might be\u00a0construed as\u00a0a clue, but caution is advisable. There were very significant population movements out of and into Scotland so surnames are spread all over the world. There has been an exchange of populations for centuries with the coastal region known as Flanders now North Belgium (Dutch speaking). John Irvine and Alex Fleming of the Abertay Historical Society are researching\u00a0the\u00a0Flemish in Scotland. They are asking for\u00a0Scottish families\u00a0with the following surnames to contact them: Fleming (Flemyng, Flemeng and Flandrensis), Baird, Balliol, Beaton, Brodie, Bruce, Cameron, Campbell, Comyn, Crawford, Douglas, Erskine, Graham, Hamilton, Hay, Innes, Lindsay, Murray, Oliphant and Seton.<\/p>\n

Motifs<\/span><\/h2>\n

Peacocks<\/h3>\n

The peacock with fanned tail feathers<\/strong> is a strong indicator.<\/p>\n

Urns<\/h3>\n

The handled urns\u00a0with five flowers<\/strong> are another indicator. Not always five flowers.<\/p>\n

\"Scottish<\/a>
Scottish Sampler motifs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This clip is\u00a0of a page\u00a0from the\u00a0Marcus Huish book ‘Samplers and\u00a0Tapestry Embroideries’ published in\u00a01913.\u00a0 The sampler is a long sampler by May Barland aged 11 Perth (a town in Scotland)\u00a0 September 1779. It shows two typical\u00a0fan-tailed peacocks and two handled-urns with five flowers each. Thistles may be a clue but not a useful one\u00a0as they\u00a0appear in proven English samplers.<\/p>\n

Houses<\/span><\/h3>\n

Elizabeth Feller in\u00a0her\u00a0excellent\u00a0book ‘Miche\u00e1l & Elizabeth Feller The Needlework Collection: 2’ notes\u00a0the frequency with which grand houses appear\u00a0in Scottish samplers.<\/p>\n

\"1840<\/a>
1840 Mary Eldridge Scottish? sampler with family initials<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Scottish? 1840 House sampler by Mary Eldridge<\/span><\/a> The sampler illustrated here is available for sale from Madelena online. It has a combination of family initials WE WW EW and ME. It also has a\u00a0grand house with smoke coming from the chimneys,\u00a0similar to\u00a0the one in Elizabeth’s book. On this basis we tentatively attribute a Scottish origin to the Mary Eldridge sampler. Scottish Samplers currently available from Madelena<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

A word about fading<\/span><\/h3>\n

Whenever\u00a0we see the words ‘Antique cross stitch sampler for sale’\u00a0we get excited.\u00a0Buying antique needlework samplers and pictures is our passion and a significant part of our business. The best find of all is the unfaded sampler that has been rolled up in\u00a0tissue paper in a drawer\u00a0for 250 years with colors as bright as day.\u00a0For practical reasons\u00a0many\u00a0were folded leaving creases\u00a0and wear. Others\u00a0were displayed for generations\u00a0and became\u00a0faded, some colors more than others. Some are burned out by exposure to sunlight. Some have suffered attempts at washing resulting in running colours. In\u00a0later blogs we will\u00a0talk\u00a0about how\u00a0samplers\u00a0developed in step with the role of women in the home;\u00a0materials and stitches; the many different types of samplers; countries of origin;\u00a0conservation; and value.<\/p>\n

I have added a reminder of another excellent book on Scottish Samplers below.<\/p>\n

\"Naomi<\/a>
Naomi Tarrant, 2014, excellent book on Scottish Samplers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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