COTTAGE ORNAMENTS 121 



earlier age, and wished that her samples should be more 

 purely ornamental. A verse of poetry or a text from the 

 Bible never fails. The worker's signature is sure to be at the 

 bottom, and generally the date when the sampler was 

 finished. 



The map of England is a sampler from the same hand : 



Shepherd and Shepherdess 



the counties are bordered in different colours. The portrait 

 is that of the worker of these two samplers. 



Fifty years before, Mary Madgwick chose the map of 

 Europe as the subject of her sampler, finishing it in the year 

 1783. Her patience is worthy of admiration, for, not only 

 is the map well worked and beautifully lettered, but one feels 

 that the lines of latitude and longitude must have sorely 

 vexed her spirit, as on the square- woven fabric it is impossible 

 to work them evenly. 



A sampler dated 1827, worked by Mary Ann Gill, aged 

 ten, has the usual alphabets and ornaments and these verses. 

 In the second verse the want of rhythm, relevancy, and 



Q 



