DON’T MISS

It is, as you may be aware, the centenary of the Scottish poet WS Graham (1918-86), underrated through much of his lifetime but increasingly appreciated now. Born in Greenock, he trained as a draughtsman then eventually moved to St Ives where he mingled with the coterie of artists who gathered around Ben Nicolson and Barbara Hepworth. He is best known for his wonderful elegies to some of those artists, but the focus of this exhibition is his art, another outlet for his creative expression. Illustrated manuscripts and postcards, notebooks, letters, even the backs of envelopes – all are here, alongside major St Ives artworks from the Pier Collection.

particular symbols and stitches which they taught, and so you will find similar symbols cropping up in many related samplers,” says Wyld.

Location was important too, with the names of the places in which the girls grew up embroidered and, in some cases, local landmarks reimagined – with varying degrees of accuracy and

“not always recognisable,” smiles Wyld. There was the landed Dorothea Clerk of Penicuik, whose uncle was the famous John Clerk of Penicuik (the composer) and who married her cousin when she was just 15 in unusual circumstances.

There is the sampler of a Catherine Macpherson, which ostensibly has all the characteristics of a Scottish sampler until you realise that the carefully embroidered ship in the lower right corner has a tiny American flag – the ship being the boat that took her family to America.

Jane Milton, in her intricate and neat sampler, has embroidered the Orphan Hospital of Edinburgh, where she and her many siblings were schooled. These are beautiful things in their own right, yet full of signs and symbols, they are also a researcher’s dream.

“I hope that people will realise it’s not just about sewing. It’s about young girls’ lives, women’s lives, a window on the past that can’t be gained from other objects. These are things made by young girls, not by artists. It gives us a completely new perspective on our history.”

Embroidered Stories: Scottish Samplers, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, 0300 123 6789, www.nms.ac.uk, Oct 26-Apr 21, daily 10am-5pm