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The aim of this book is to look at
samplers made in Scotland as well as their place in the
education of girls, putting them within the social
context of the period. The time spanned covers the
first emergence of a specific Scottish style and ends
with the introduction of the 1872 Education (Scotland)
Act which made schooling a local government
responsibility.
The contents include a brief history of samplers, before
considering the documentary evidence for samplers in
Scotland and the earliest surviving pieces. Schooling for
girls and the importance of plain sewing samplers are
dealt with before looking at embroidered examples, the
various types found in Scotland and how certain designs
appear to be specific to this country. An important
aspect of Scottish samplers is the use of family initials
that allows for tracing the makers in various archive
sources.
During research for the book the author, Naomi Tarrant,
came across an old sampler made into a bag among the
Seafield Papers in the National Records of Scotland.
It survived because it contained the executory
papers of Lady Ann Duff, who was born in 1725 and died in
1805. There are no known samplers made by Scottish
girls surviving before the early years of the eighteenth
century, although there are documentary records that they
were made from at least the mid sixteenth century, so
this was an exciting find. Although it had no date
and its maker is unknown, it is possibly the oldest
Scottish sampler that now survives, dating to at least
the mid-seventeenth century. Photographs and
a fuller details on the piece feature in the
book.
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