The Sampler Sleuth: Scottish Samplers
Historical Motifs & Mystery Mansions
Scotland is a country that remains fiercely proud of its local customs, legends and landscapes. From the past to our modern times, Scotland’s people have lived and breathed their proud cultural history and genealogy.
A great example of Scotland’s cultural and social history can be found in existing Scottish samplers that have endured throughout the centuries, made by the talented hands of our foremothers. Their use of predominantly shades of red and green, distinctive architectural style (“mystery mansions”), heraldic peacocks, dogs, rabbits, illuminated lettering, evergreen trees, thistles, crowns and family initials make these historical textiles quite unique.
Samplers of the 18th and 19th centuries also demonstrated the education and character of the girls who stitched them and the history of events that influenced their lives.
Helen Wyld, senior curator of historical textiles at the National Museum of Scotland, asserts, “The alphabets and religious verses showed that the child could read and knew the Bible. There was also a strong link between the needlework and female virtue of the period—an association that can be traced back to the Bible and classical texts. So, making a sampler was a way of demonstrating the virtues of hard work and discipline, but also faithfulness, patience and good character.”
By studying their materials and designs, Scottish samplers teach us about Scotland’s economic, political and social developments. For example, linen was often used for 18thand early 19th-century samplers until Scotland’s linen industry staggered in the 1820s. After that time, the majority of Scotland’s samplers were stitched in wool or a combination of silk and wool threads. The combination of wool and silk threads helped to bring the original Helen Hally 1843 sampler to life, allowing us to see that Helen had the means and access of fine materials.
Many Scottish samplers of the time were made in the riverside and coastal regions where industry flourished. These samplers often feature representations of family homes and
other important buildings. Such samplers show the shift from “cottage to the manor house” over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, and portray the evidence to the rise of the middle class during the Industrial Revolution.
It is interesting to note that special motifs like the mystery mansions were handed down from mother to daughter, enabling samplers to be treasured in family collections, helping them to endure. The historical significance of the mystery mansion motif continues to be investigated and explored in our modern era.
Scottish needlework expert Margaret Swain wrote in her book, Scottish Needlework Embroideries:
Medieval to Modern (London 1986), the following: “[T]he buildings that occur on various Scottish samplers are often thought to be imaginary. It seems probable that the solid symmetrical houses appearing on so many Scottish samplers between 1750 and 1850 are not imaginary, but actual houses, too familiar to the needlewoman and her family to need a label.”
Stylized mansion houses depicted on samplers are considered to be representations of a stately home built from stone blocks, quoins (a solid exterior angle) and columns from popular engravings or surrounding estates of the period, but were rarely labeled on a textile piece.
Perhaps Helen Hally’s 1843 sampler provides us with a subtle clue. Helen’s sampler hails from the Lanarkshire region, also known as the County of Lanark, which is situated in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Perhaps Helen drew inspiration from the well-known surrounding mansions and castles of the period in the Lanarkshire area, such as Carafin House, residence of the Graeme family who were wine importers; or the stately Birkwood Castle, residence of the MacKirdy family whose profession was law and litigation; or Auchlochan House, built by the Brown family in 1814 and located in Lesmahagow in Lanarkshire.
Helen’s sampler exhibits many of the design elements that make Scottish samplers so distinctive. It begins with rows
Make much of precious time while in your pow’r, Be careful well to husband ev’ry hour, For time will come when you shall sore lament, The unhappy minute that you have misspent. —Nelly Yetts sampler 1738, Edinburgh, Scotland
of uppercase letters, sequential numbers and family initials. Scottish women retained their maiden name after marriage, and Scottish samplers often incorporate two pairs of initials joined by an entwined heart representing the marital joining of two families.
The shift from cottage to manor house is a specific design element that Helen Hally incorporated in her 1843 sampler. Indicative to her country’s heritage, Helen has left the bottom portion of her sampler for the collection of the mystery mansion and spot motifs such as evergreen trees, dogs, birds, a rabbit and various flowers.
The two-story pediment house on Helen’s sampler is accented with a blue slate roof, a typical Scottish mansion motif. The mansion windows have been filled in with dark brown thread and decorative backstitching. The house is surrounded on both sides by evergreen trees with a speckled dog, a rabbit and birds. The dog symbolizes fidelity, loyalty and protectiveness. The bird motif symbolizes the soul in Christianity. The ancient motif of the rabbit symbolizes a good soul fleeing before evil, or gentleness. The heart motifs symbolize divine love.
Scottish samplers are not just about needlework—they also attest to the social life in Scotland during this time period. Many were made by young girls with modest backgrounds, providing us with an alternative view of Scottish history, one that doesn’t appear in a classroom or in textbooks.
These “stories in stitches” reveal so much of a young sampler maker’s life—the places they lived, the schools they attended, and the nature of their education. Each sampler tells us a different story. Some portray a celebration, others represent a commemoration, moral verse or religious hymn. In addition, Scottish samplers of the time also depict a sense of duty and care to family.
From the Scottish borders to the Western Isles, no story is the same, just like the silent hands of our foremothers who stitched these treasures with great hopes and dreams so many centuries ago.
How fortunate are we in the 21st century to be able to revere and admire their silent skill and lessons stitched in artful grace.