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Fig. 37.—Scottish Sampler by Mary Bayland. 1779.

The only names of places in England recorded on samplers in The Fine Art Society’s Exhibition were Chipping Norton, Sudbury, Hawkchurch, and Tottenham, and certain orphan schools or hospitals, such as Cheltenham and Ashby. Curiously enough, the Scottish lassies were more particular in adding their dwelling-place, thus, in the sampler reproduced in [Fig. 37], and which is interesting as a survival as late as 1779 of a long sampler, Mary Bayland gives her residence as Perth, and others have been noted at Cupar, Dunbar, and elsewhere in Scotland. It might be expected that these Scottish ones would differ materially from those made far away in the southern parts of the kingdom, but whilst those in [Figs. 32] and [34] have a certain resemblance and difference from others in the decoration of their lettering, that in [Fig. 36] might well have been worked in England, showing that there were no local peculiarities such as we might expect.

It will be seen that two of the American samplers figured here have their localities indicated, namely Miss Damon’s school at Boston ([Fig. 50]) and Brooklyn ([Fig. 47]).

Samplers as Records of National Events

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