The bellflower appears on a number of Ackworth samplers and was adopted as the Needleprint Marque in 2005 when we published Quaker School Girl Samplers from Ackworth. The bellflower appears on a number of other Quaker samplers also, notably those worked at Westtown. This bellflower is called the Harebell in England, but over the border in Scotland it is called the Bluebell and there is a famous patriotic Scottish ballad, 'The Bluebells of Scotland', which celebrates a highland soldier gone to fight abroad.
The Scottish Bluebell then (as we should call the bellflower) is also sometimes known as Lady's Thimble or Fairy's Thimble - how lovely is that to think on while we stitch?
Jacqueline,
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely flower this is and, the bluebells are just beinning to flower in our garden :>) Fairy's thimble is a perfect name for it and a fitting symbol for a stitchers everywhere.
Best wishes Angela