Happy England

by Marcus B. Huish

Contents

[CHAPTER I]
	Page
Our Title	1
[CHAPTER II]
Paintresses, Past and Present	13
[CHAPTER III]
The Artist's Early Work	27
[CHAPTER IV]
The Artist's Surrey Home	67
[CHAPTER V]
The Influence of Witley	81
[CHAPTER VI]
The Woods, the Lanes, and the Fields	98
[CHAPTER VII]
Cottages and Homesteads	118
[CHAPTER VIII]
Gardens and Orchards	151
[CHAPTER IX]
Tennyson's Homes	168
[CHAPTER X]
Mrs. Allingham and her Contemporaries	181

List of Illustrations

1.	[Portrait of the Artist]		Frontispiece
CHAPTER I
		Owner of Original.	Facing page
2.	[In the Farmhouse Garden]	Mrs. Allingham	8
3.	[The Market Cross, Hagbourne]	Mrs. E. Lamb	10
4.	[The Robin]	Mr. S. H. S. Lofthouse	12
CHAPTER II
5.	[Milton's House, Chalfont St. Giles]	Mrs. J. A. Combe	22
6.	[The Waller Oak, Coleshill]	Mrs. Allingham	24
7.	[Apple and Pear Blossom]	Mr. Theodore Uzielli	26
CHAPTER III
8.	[The Young Customers]	Miss Bell	50
9.	[The Sand-Martins' Haunt]	Miss Marian James	54
10.	[The Old Men's Gardens, Chelsea Hospital]	Mr. C. Churchill	56
11.	[The Clothes-Line]	Miss Marian James	58
12.	[The Convalescent]	Mr. R. S. Budgett	60
13.	[The Goat Carriage]	Sir F. Wigan, Bt.	62
14.	[The Clothes-Basket]	Mr. C. P. Johnson	62
15.	[In the Hayloft]	Miss Bell	64
16.	[ The Rabbit Hutch]	Mr. C. P. Johnson	64
17.	[The Donkey Ride]	Sir J. Kitson, Bt., M.P.	66
CHAPTER IV
18.	[A Witley Lane]	Mr. H. W. Birks	74
19.	[Hindhead from Witley Common]	The Lord Chief Justice of England	76
20.	[In Witley Village]	Mr. Charles Churchill	76
21.	[Blackdown from Witley Common]	Lord Davey	78
22.	[The Fish-Shop, Haslemere]	Mr. A. E. Cumberbatch	80
CHAPTER V
23.	[The Children's Tea]	Mr. W. Hollins	86
24.	[ The Stile]	Mr. Alfred Shuttleworth	88
25.	[“Pat-a-Cake”]	Sir F. Wigan, Bt.	90
26.	[Lessons]	Mr. C. P. Johnson	90
27.	[Bubbles]	Mr. H. B. Beaumont	92
28.	[On the Sands—Sandown, Isle of Wight]	Mrs. Francis Black	92
29.	[Drying Clothes]	Mr. C. P. Johnson	94
30.	[Her Majesty's Post Office]	Mr. H. B. Beaumont	94
31.	[The Children's Maypole]	Mrs. Dobson	96
CHAPTER VI
32.	[ Spring on the Kentish Downs]	Mrs. Beddington	102
33.	[ Tig Bridge]	Mr. E. S. Curwen	104
34.	[ Spring in the Oakwood]	Mrs. Allingham	106
35.	[ The Cuckoo]	Mr. A. Hugh Thompson	106
36.	[ The Old Yew Tree]	Mrs. Allingham	108
37.	[ The Hawthorn Valley, Brocket]	Lord Mount-Stephen	108
38.	[ Ox-eye Daisies, near Westerham, Kent]	Mrs. Allingham	110
39.	[ Foxgloves]	Mrs. C. A. Barton	112
40.	[ Heather on Crockham Hill, Kent]	Mrs. Allingham	114
41.	[ On the Pilgrims' Way]	Mrs. Allingham	114
42.	[ Night-jar Lane, Witley]	Mr. E. S. Curwen	116
CHAPTER VII
43.	[ Cherry-tree Cottage, Chiddingfold]	The Lord Chief Justice of England	130
44.	[ Cottage at Chiddingfold]	Mr. H. L. Florence	130
45.	[ A Cottage at Hambledon]	Mr. F. Pennington	132
46.	[ In Wormley Wood]	Mrs. Le Poer Trench	134
47.	[ The Elder Bush, Brook Lane, Witley]	Mr. Marcus B. Huish	136
48.	[ The Basket Woman]	Mrs. E. F. Backhouse	138
49.	[ Cottage at Shottermill, near Haslemere]	Mr. W. D. Houghton	140
50.	[ Valewood Farm]	Mrs. Allingham	142
51.	[ An Old House at West Tarring]	Mrs. Allingham	142
52.	[ An Old Buckinghamshire House]	Mr. H. W. Birks	142
53.	[ The Duke's Cottage]	Mr. Maurice Hill	144
54.	[ The Condemned Cottage]	Mrs. Allingham	144
55.	[ On Ide Hill]	Mr. E. W. Fordham	146
56.	[ A Cheshire Cottage, Alderley Edge]	Mr. A. S. Littlejohns	146
57.	[ The Six Bells]	Mr. George Wills	148
58.	[ A Kentish Farmyard]	Mr. Arthur R. Moro	150
CHAPTER VIII
59.	[ Study of a Rose Bush]	Mrs. Allingham	156
60.	[ Wallflowers]	Mr. F. G. Debenham	156
61.	[ Minna]	The Lord Chief Justice of England	158
62.	[ A Kentish Garden]	Mrs. Allingham	158
63.	[ Cutting Cabbages]	Mr. E. W. Fordham	160
64.	[ In a Summer Garden]	Mr. W. Newall	160
65.	[ By the Terrace, Brocket Hall]	Lord Mount-Stephen	162
66.	[ The South Border]	Mrs. Allingham	164
67.	[ The South Border]	W. Edwards, Jun.	164
68.	[ Study of Leeks]	Mrs. Allingham	166
69.	[ The Apple Orchard]	Mrs. Dobson	166
CHAPTER IX
70.	[ The House, Farringford]	Mr. J. Mackinnon	176
71.	[ The Kitchen-Garden, Farringford]	Mrs. Combe	176
72.	[ The Dairy, Farringford]	Mr. Douglas Freshfield	176
73.	[ One of Lord Tennyson's Cottages, Farringford]	Mr. E. Marsh Simpson	176
74.	[ A Garden in October, Aldworth]	Mr. F. Pennington	176
75.	[ Hook Hill Farm, Freshwater]	Sir J. Kitson, Bt., M.P.	176
76.	[ At Pound Green, Freshwater]	Mr. Douglas Freshfield	178
77.	[ A Cottage at Freshwater Gate]	Sir Henry Irving	178
CHAPTER X
78.	[ A Cabin at Ballyshannon]	Mrs. Allingham	196
79.	[ The Fairy Bridges]	Mrs. Allingham	198
80.	[ The Church of Sta. Maria della Salute, Venice]	Mr. C. P. Johnson	200
81.	[ A Fruit Stall, Venice]	Mr. C. P. Johnson	202

The illustrations in this volume have been engraved and printed by the Hentschel Colourtype Company.

Happy England

CHAPTER I
OUR TITLE

To choose a title that will felicitously fit the lifework of an artist is no easy matter, especially when the product is a very varied one, and the producer is disposed to take a modest estimate of its value.

In the present case the titles that have suggested themselves to one or other of those concerned in the selection have not been few, and a friendly contest has ensued over the desire of the artist on the one hand to belittle, and of author and publishers on the other to fairly appraise, both the ground which her work covers and the qualities which it contains.

The first point to be considered in giving the volume a name was that it forms one of a series in which an endeavour—and, to judge by public appreciation, a successful endeavour—has been made to illustrate in colour an artist’s impressions of a particular country: as, for instance, Mr. John Fulleylove’s of the Holy Land, Mr. Talbot Kelly’s of Egypt, and Mr. Mortimer Menpes’s of Japan. Now Mrs. Allingham throughout her work has been steadfast in her adherence to the portrayal of one country only. She has never travelled or painted outside Europe, and within its limits only at one place outside the British Isles, namely, Venice. Even in her native country her work has been strictly localised. Neither Scotland nor Wales has attracted her attention since the days when she first worked seriously as an artist, and Ireland has only received a scanty meed, and that due to family ties. England, therefore, was the one and only name under which her work could be included within the series, and that has very properly been assigned to it.