This Scottish sampler is a delight for the eye! Margaret is offered to you in two different formats ~ as an instant PDF download and as a printed booklet. Details of the printed booklet can be found HERE.
Margaret stitched a truly adorable sampler with a rich palette of colours. There is so much to excite your needle. The reverse of the sampler revealed Margaret’s story as told by her great-granddaughter EBG Allison on September 10, 1998.
Margaret or Maggie was twelve years old when she stitched her sampler at the Female School in Ardrossan. This historic harbour town is located in Ayrshire, 30 miles from Glasgow and has sandy beaches with beautiful views over the Firth of Clyde. Shipbuilding was one of Ardrossan’s important industries in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Maggie was born on March 4, 1854 at Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland. She was the natural daughter of Margaret Newall, an Irish farm servant. Her father is unknown but could have been Peter Benson, a dock labourer, whom Margaret Newall later married.
When Maggie was two years old, she was adopted by James Beattie and his wife, Barbara Hunter who had no children of their own. Maggie grew up in Saltcoats and Ardrossan and after leaving school became a domestic servant. At the age of 19, she married William Auld on November 21, 1873 at her parents’ home in Ardrossan. William was a 24-year-old plumber from Newton of Ayr. Their first child James was born the following February! The couple went on to have twelve children, ten boys and two girls including one pair of twin boys. Their two daughters were the tenth and eleventh of their children.
The family first lived at St Quivox, Ayr and then in the town of Ayr where William built up a prosperous plumbing and electrical business. He became a member of the Ayr Council and a bailie of the town.
Maggie and William’s last years were spent at 66 Sandgate, Ayr. William died in 1927 at the age of 77 and Margaret died ten years later in 1937 at the age of 82.
The sampler is worked mainly in cross stitch over two threads of linen, the text has been worked in cross stitch over 1 strand of linen. The project has been rated as suitable for all levels of abilities.
There are 4 versions of the pdf. You will be able to download any or all of the following versions of the pdf and the graph:
Version 1 ~ A pdf with a six-page colour chart.
Version 2 ~ A pdf with a one-page colour chart which can be printed but is intended to be viewed/used on your tablet, phone, laptop, or computer.
Version 3 ~ A pdf with a six-page black and white symbol chart.
Version 4 ~ A pdf with a one-page black and white chart which can be printed but is intended to be viewed/used on your tablet, phone, laptop, or computer.
The reproduction of Margaret’s sampler has been a team effort. Her sampler has been painstakingly charted by Sandra Moffitt, her booklet produced by Nicola Parkman, and the model lovingly stitched by Bhooma Aravamudan. At the very core of Hands Across the Sea Samplers there is a team of needleworkers who are passionate about antique samplers and being able to share those samplers with you.
