heraldic devices belonging to Edward III.

The buck and the strawberry, which are so often seen, belong to the
Frazer Clan of Scotland, and may have been worked by ladies who were
kith and kin of this clan.

The unicorn was the device of James I. and the siren or mermaid of Lady
Frazer, who is said to have worked her own golden hair in the heart of a
Tudor rose on a book cover for James I.

The hart was also a device of Richard II. and the "broom pod" of the
Plantagenets. The caterpillar and butterfly were specially badges of
Charles I., while the oak-tree and acorn were invariably worked into
every picture in memory of Charles II.'s escape in an oak tree.

IX

SAMPLERS

IX

SAMPLERS

Real art work--Specimens in South Kensington Museum--High price
now obtained.

A "sampler" is an example or a sample of the worker's skill and
cleverness in design and stitching. When they first appeared, as far as
we know about the middle of the seventeenth century, they were merely a
collection of embroidery, lace, cut and drawn work stitches, and had
little affinity to the samplers of a later date, which seemed especially
ordained to show various patterns of cross stitches, the alphabet, and
the numerals.

The early samplers were real works of art; they were frequently over a
yard long, not more than a quarter of a yard wide, and were adorned with
as many as thirty different patterns of lace and cut and drawn work.
This extreme narrowness was to enable the sampler to be rolled on a
little ivory stick, like the Japanese _kakemonas_.

The foundation of all the early samplers was a coarse linen, and to this
fact we owe the preservation of many of them. Those made two hundred
years later, on a coarse, loose canvas, even now show signs of decay,
while these ancient ones on linen are as perfect as when made, only
being gently mellowed by Time to the colour of old ivory.

The earliest sampler known is dated 1643, and was worked by Elizabeth
Hinde. It is only 6 inches by 6-1/2 inches, and is entirely lacework,
and apparently has been intended for part of a sampler. The worker
perhaps changed her mind and considered rightfully that she had
accomplished her _chef d'oeuvre_, or as so often explains these
unfinished specimens, the Reaper gathered the flower, and only this
dainty piece of stitching was left to perpetuate the memory of Elizabeth
Hinde.

The sampler in question is just one row of cut and drawn