,,happy ,,england ,,agents ,,in ,,america ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company #ff ,,fifth ,,avenue1 ,,new ,,york ,illustration3 #a4 ,,portrait ,,of ,,the ,,artist ,fradelle ,young4 ,h4 ,allingham 7signature7 ,beautiful ,britain ,,happy ,,england ,,by ,,helen ,,allingham1 ,r4,w4,s4 ,,text ,,by ,,marcus ,b4 ,,huish ,,royal ,,canadian ,,edition ,,limited ,,to #ajjj ,,sets ,illustration ,,cambridge ,,corporation1 ,,limited ,,montreal ,a4 ,c4 ,,black1 ,,london ,contents ,,chapter ,i ,page ,our ,title #a ,,chapter ,,ii ,paintresses1 ,past and ,present #ac ,,chapter ,,iii ,the ,artist's ,early ,work #bg ,,chapter ,,iv ,the ,artist's ,surrey ,home #fg ,,chapter ,v ,the ,influence of ,witley #ha ,,chapter ,,vi ,the ,woods1 the ,lanes1 and the ,fields #ih ,,chapter ,,vii ,cottages and ,homesteads #aah ,,chapter ,,viii ,gardens and ,orchards #aea ,,chapter ,,ix ,tennyson's ,homes #afh ,,chapter ,x ,mrs4 ,allingham and her ,contemporaries #aha ,list of ,illustrations #a4 ,portrait of the ,artist ,frontispiece ,,chapter ,i ,owner of ,original4 ,facing page #b4 ,in the ,farmhouse ,garden ,mrs4 ,allingham #h #c4 ,the ,market ,cross1 ,hagbourne ,mrs4 ,e4 ,lamb #aj #d4 ,the ,robin ,mr4 ,s4 ,h4 ,s4 ,lofthouse #ab ,,chapter ,,ii #e4 ,milton's ,house1 ,chalfont ,mrs4 ,j4 ,a4 ,combe #bb ,st4 ,giles #f4 ,the ,waller ,oak1 ,coleshill ,mrs4 ,allingham #bd #g4 ,apple and ,pear ,blossom ,mr4 ,theodore ,uzielli #bf ,,chapter ,,iii #h4 ,the ,young ,customers ,miss ,bell #ej #i4 ,the ,sand-,martins' ,haunt ,miss ,marian ,james #ed #aj4 ,the ,old ,men's ,gardens1 ,mr4 ,c4 ,churchill #ef ,chelsea ,hospital #aa4 ,the ,clothes-,line ,miss ,marian ,james #eh #ab4 ,the ,convalescent ,mr4 ,r4 ,s4 ,budgett #fj #ac4 ,the ,goat ,carriage ,sir ,f4 ,wigan1 ,bt4 #fb #ad4 ,the ,clothes-,basket ,mr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,johnson #fb #ae4 ,in the ,hayloft ,miss ,bell #fd #af4 ,the ,rabbit ,hutch ,mr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,johnson #fd #ag4 ,the ,donkey ,ride ,sir ,j4 ,kitson1 ,bt41 ,m4,p4 #ff ,,chapter ,,iv #ah4 ,a ,witley ,lane ,mr4 ,h4 ,w4 ,birks #gd #ai4 ,hindhead from ,witley ,common ,the ,lord ,chief ,justice of #gf ,england #bj4 ,in ,witley ,village ,mr4 ,charles ,churchill #gf #ba4 ,blackdown from ,witley ,common ,lord ,davey #gh #bb4 ,the ,fish-,shop1 ,haslemere ,mr4 ,a4 ,e4 ,cumberbatch #hj ,,chapter ,v #bc4 ,the ,children's ,tea ,mr4 ,w4 ,hollins #hf #bd4 ,the ,stile ,mr4 ,alfred ,shuttleworth #hh #be4 ,pat-a-,cake ,sir ,f4 ,wigan1 ,bt4 #ij #bf4 ,lessons ,mr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,johnson #ij #bg4 ,bubbles ,mr4 ,h4 ,b4 ,beaumont #ib #bh4 ,on the ,sands--,sandown1 ,mrs4 ,francis ,black #ib ,isle of ,wight #bi4 ,drying ,clothes ,mr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,johnson #id #cj4 ,her ,majesty's ,post ,office ,mr4 ,h4 ,b4 ,beaumont #id #ca4 ,the ,children's ,maypole ,mrs4 ,dobson #if ,,chapter ,,vi #cb4 ,spring on the ,kentish ,downs ,mrs4 ,beddington #ajb #cc4 ,tig ,bridge ,mr4 ,e4 ,s4 ,curwen #ajd #cd4 ,spring in the ,oakwood ,mrs4 ,allingham #ajf #ce4 ,the ,cuckoo ,mr4 ,a4 ,hugh ,thompson #ajf #cf4 ,the ,old ,yew ,tree ,mrs4 ,allingham #ajh #cg4 ,the ,hawthorn ,valley1 ,brocket ,lord ,mount-,stephen #ajh #ch4 ,ox-eye ,daisies1 near ,mrs4 ,allingham #aaj ,westerham1 ,kent #ci4 ,foxgloves ,mrs4 ,c4 ,a4 ,barton #aab #dj4 ,heather on ,crockham ,hill1 ,kent ,mrs4 ,allingham #aad #da4 ,on the ,pilgrims' ,way #aad #db4 ,night-jar ,lane1 ,witley ,mr4 ,e4 ,s4 ,curwen #aaf ,,chapter ,,vii #dc4 ,cherry-tree ,cottage1 ,the ,lord ,chief ,justice of #acj ,chiddingfold ,england #dd4 ,cottage at ,chiddingfold ,mr4 ,h4 ,l4 ,florence #acj #de4 ,a ,cottage at ,hambledon ,mr4 ,f4 ,pennington #acb #df4 ,in ,wormley ,wood ,mrs4 ,le ,poer ,trench #acd #dg4 ,the ,elder ,bush1 ,brook ,lane1 ,mr4 ,marcus ,b4 ,huish #acf ,witley #dh4 ,the ,basket ,woman ,mrs4 ,e4 ,f4 ,backhouse #ach #di4 ,cottage at ,shottermill1 ,mr4 ,w4 ,d4 ,houghton #adj near ,haslemere #ej4 ,valewood ,farm ,mrs4 ,allingham #adb #ea4 ,an ,old ,house at ,west ,tarring #adb #eb4 ,an ,old ,buckinghamshire ,house ,mr4 ,h4 ,w4 ,birks #adb #ec4 ,the ,duke's ,cottage ,mr4 ,maurice ,hill #add #ed4 ,the ,condemned ,cottage ,mrs4 ,allingham #add #ee4 ,on ,ide ,hill ,mr4 ,e4 ,w4 ,fordham #adf #ef4 ,a ,cheshire ,cottage1 ,mr4 ,a4 ,s4 ,littlejohns #adf ,alderley ,edge #eg4 ,the ,six ,bells ,mr4 ,george ,wills #adh #eh4 ,a ,kentish ,farmyard ,mr4 ,arthur ,r4 ,moro #aej ,,chapter ,,viii #ei4 ,study of a ,rose ,bush ,mrs4 ,allingham #aef #fj4 ,wallflowers ,mr4 ,f4 ,g4 ,debenham #aef #fa4 ,minna ,the ,lord ,chief ,justice of #aeh ,england #fb4 ,a ,kentish ,garden ,mrs4 ,allingham #aeh #fc4 ,cutting ,cabbages ,mr4 ,e4 ,w4 ,fordham #afj #fd4 ,in a ,summer ,garden ,mr4 ,w4 ,newall #afj #fe4 ,by the ,terrace1 ,brocket ,hall ,lord ,mount-,stephen #afb #ff4 ,the ,south ,border ,mrs4 ,allingham #afd #fg4 ,the ,south ,border ,w4 ,edwards1 ,jun4 #afd #fh4 ,study of ,leeks ,mrs4 ,allingham #aff #fi4 ,the ,apple ,orchard ,mrs4 ,dobson #aff ,,chapter ,,ix #gj4 ,the ,house1 ,farringford ,mr4 ,j4 ,mackinnon #agf #ga4 ,the ,kitchen-,garden1 ,farringford ,mrs4 ,combe #agf #gb4 ,the ,dairy1 ,farringford ,mr4 ,douglas ,freshfield #agf #gc4 ,one of ,lord ,tennyson's ,mr4 ,e4 ,marsh ,simpson #agf ,cottages1 ,farringford #gd4 ,a ,garden in ,october1 ,aldworth ,mr4 ,f4 ,pennington #agf #ge4 ,hook ,hill ,farm1 ,freshwater ,sir ,j4 ,kitson1 ,bt41 ,m4,p4 #agf #gf4 ,at ,pound ,green1 ,freshwater ,mr4 ,douglas ,freshfield #agh #gg4 ,a ,cottage at ,freshwater ,gate ,sir ,henry ,irving #agh ,,chapter ,x #gh4 ,a ,cabin at ,ballyshannon ,mrs4 ,allingham #aif #gi4 ,the ,fairy ,bridges #aih #hj4 ,the ,church of ,sta4 ,maria ,mr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,johnson #bjj della ,salute1 ,venice #ha4 ,a ,fruit ,stall1 ,venice #bjb ,the illustrations in this volume have been engraved and printed by the ,hentschel ,colourtype ,company4 ,happy ,england ,,chapter ,i ,,our ,,title ,to choose a title that will felicitously fit the lifework of an artist is no easy matter1 especially when the product is a very varied one1 and the producer is disposed to take a modest estimate of its value4 ,in the present case the titles that have suggested themselves to one or other of those concerned in the selection have not been few1 and a friendly contest has ensued over the desire of the artist on the one hand to belittle1 and of author and publishers on the other to fairly appraise1 both the ground which her work covers and the qualities which it contains4 ,the first point to be considered in giving the volume a name was that it forms one of a series in which an endeavour--and1 to judge by public appreciation1 a successful endeavour--has been made to illustrate in colour an artist's impressions of a particular country3 as1 for instance1 ,mr4 ,john ,fulleylove's of the ,holy ,land1 ,mr4 ,talbot ,kelly's of ,egypt1 and ,mr4 ,mortimer ,menpes's of ,japan4 ,now ,mrs4 ,allingham throughout her work has been steadfast in her adherence to the portrayal of one country only4 ,she has never travelled or painted outside ,europe1 and within its limits only at one place outside the ,british ,isles1 namely1 ,venice4 ,even in her native country her work has been strictly localised4 ,neither ,scotland nor ,wales has attracted her attention since the days when she first worked seriously as an artist1 and ,ireland has only received a scanty meed1 and that due to family ties4 ,england1 therefore1 was the one and only name under which her work could be included within the series1 and that has very properly been assigned to it4 ,but it will be seen that to this has been added the prefix ,happy1 thereby drawing down the disapprobation of certain of the artist's friends1 who1 recognising her as a resident in ,hampstead1 have associated the title with that alliterative one which the northern suburbs have received at the hands of the ,bank ,holiday visitant2 and they facetiously surmise that the work may be called ',appy ,england6 ,by a ,denizen of ',appy ',ampstead6 ,but a glance at the illustrations by any one unacquainted with ,mrs4 ,allingham's residential qualifications1 and by the still greater number ignorant even of her name 7for these1 in spite of her well-earned reputation1 will be the majority1 taking the countries over which this volume will circulate71 must convince such an one that the ,england requires and deserves not only a qualifying but a commendatory prefix1 and that the best that will fit it is that to which the artist has now submitted4 ,we say a qualifying title1 because within its covers we find only a one-sided and partial view of both life and landscape4 ,none of the sterner realities of either are presented4 ,in strong opposition to the tendency of the art of the later years of the nineteenth century1 the baser side of life has been studiously avoided1 and nature has only been put down on paper in its happiest moods and its pleasantest array4 ,storm and stress in both life and landscape are altogether absent4 ,we say1 further1 a commendatory title1 because as regards both life and landscape it is1 throughout1 a mirror of halcyon days4 ,if sickness intrudes on a single occasion1 it is in its convalescent stage2 if old age1 it is in a ,haven of ,rest2 the wandering pedlar finds a ready market for her wares1 the tramp assistance by the wayside4 ,in both life and landscape it is a portrayal of youth rejoicing in its youth4 ,for the most part it represents childhood1 and1 if we are to believe ,mr4 ,ruskin1 for the first time in modern ,art2 for in his lecture on ,mrs4 ,allingham at ,oxford1 he declared that though long by academic art denied or resisted1 at last bursting out like one of the sweet ,surrey fountains1 all dazzling and pure1 you have the radiance and innocence of reinstated infant divinity showered again among the flowers of ,english meadows of ,mrs4 ,allingham4 ,this healthiness1 happiness1 and joy of life1 coupled with an idyllic beauty1 reveals itself in every figure in ,mrs4 ,allingham's story1 so that even the drudgery of rural life is made to appear as a task to be envied4 ,and the same joyous and happy note is to be found in her landscapes4 ,every scene is ,full in the smile of the blue firmament4 ,one feels that ,every flower ,enjoys the air it breathes4 ,rain1 wind1 or lowering skies find no place in any of them1 but each calls forth the expression ,what a day ,to sun one and do nothing6 ,no attempt is made to select the sterner effects of landscape which earlier ,english painters so persistently affected4 ,with the rough steeps of ,hindhead at her door1 the artist's feet have almost invariably turned towards the lowlands and the reposeful forms of the distant ,south ,downs4 ,cottages1 farmsteads1 and flower gardens have been her choice in preference to dales1 crags1 and fells4 ,and in so selecting1 and so delineating1 she has certainly catered for the happiness of the greater number4 ,what does the worker1 long in city pent1 desire when he cries ',tis very sweet to look into the fair ,and open face of heaven8 ,and what does the banished ,englishman oftenest turn his thoughts to1 even although he may be dwelling under aspects of nature which many would think far more beautiful than those of his native land8 ,browning in his ,home ,thoughts from ,abroad gives consummate expression to the homesickness of many an exile3-- ,oh6 to be in ,england ,now that ,april's there6 99 99 99 99 99 ,all will be gay when noontide wakes anew ,the ,buttercups1 the little children's dower1 ,far brighter than this gaudy melon flower6 ,and ,keats also-- ,happy is ,england6 ,i could be content ,to see no other verdure than its own1 ,to feel no other breezes than are blown ,through its tall woods1 with high romances blent4 ,these1 the poets' longings1 suggested the prefix for which so lengthy an apology has been made1 and which1 in spite of the artist's demur1 we have pressed upon her acceptance1 confident that the public verdict will be an acquittal against any charge either of exaggeration1 or that he who excuses himself accuses himself4 ,if an apology is due it is in respect of the letterpress4 ,the necessity of maintaining the size to which the public has been accustomed in the series of which this forms a part1 and of interleaving the numerous illustrations which it contains1 means the provision of a certain number of words4 ,now an artist's life that has been passed amid such pleasant surroundings as has that of ,mrs4 ,allingham1 cannot contain a sufficiency of material for the purpose4 ,indulgence must1 therefore1 be granted when it is found that much of the contents consists merely of the writer's descriptions of the illustrations1 a discovery which might suggest that they were primarily the raison d'tre of the volume4 ,as regards the illustrations1 a word must be said4 ,the remarkable achievements in colour reproduction1 through what is known as the three-colour process1 have enabled the public to be placed in possession of memorials of an artist's work in a way that was not possible even so recently as a year or two ago4 ,hitherto self-respecting painters have very rightly demurred to any colour reproductions of their work being made except by processes whose cost and lengthy procedure prohibited quantity as well as quality4 ,mrs4 ,allingham herself1 in view of previous attempts1 was of the same opinion until a trial of the process now adopted convinced her to the contrary4 ,now she is happy that a leap forward in science has enabled renderings in little of her water-colours to be offered to thousands who did not know them previously4 ,the water-colours selected for reproduction have been brought together from many sources1 and at much inconvenience to their owners4 ,both artist and publishers ask me to take this opportunity of thanking those whose names will be found in the ,list of ,illustrations1 for the generosity with which they have placed the originals at their disposal4 ,it was ,mrs4 ,allingham's wish that the illustrations should be placed in order of date1 and this has been done as far as possible2 but this and the following chapter being in a way introductory1 it has been deemed advisable to interleave them with three or four which do not fall in with the rest as regards subject or locality4 ,for reasons of convenience the description of each drawing is not inserted in the body1 but at the end of the chapter in which it appears4 ,illustration3 #b4 ,,in ,,the ,,farmhouse ,,garden ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #aijc4 ,a portrait of ,vi1 the daughter of the farmer at whose house in ,kent ,mrs4 ,allingham stays4 ,mrs4 ,allingham was tempted to take up again her disused practice of portrait-painting1 by the attraction of the combination of the yellow of the child's hair and hat1 the red of the roses1 and the blue of the distant hillside4 ,illustration3 #c4 ,,the ,,market ,,cross1 ,,hagbourne ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mrs4 ,e4 ,lamb4 ,painted #ahih4 ,berkshire1 in spite of its notable places and situation1 does not boast of much in the way of county chronicles1 and little can be learnt by one whose sole resource is a ,murray's ,guide concerning the interesting village where the scene of this drawing is laid1 for it is there dismissed in a couple of lines4 ,hagbourne1 or ,hagborne1 is one of the many bornes which 7in the counties bordering on the ,thames1 as elsewhere7 takes its ,saxon affix from one of the burns or brooks which find their way from thence into the neighbouring river4 ,it lies off the ,great ,western main line1 and its fine church may be seen a mile away to the southward just before arriving at ,didcot4 ,this proximity to a considerable railway junction has not disturbed much of its old-world character4 ,the buildings and the ,cross1 which make a delightful harmony in greys1 probably looked much the same when ,cavalier and ,puritan harried this district in the ,civil ,war1 for with ,newbury on one side and ,oxford on the other1 they must oftentimes have been up and down this1 the main street of the village4 ,the ,cross has long since lost its meaning4 ,the folk from the countryside no longer bring their butter1 eggs1 and farm produce for local sale4 ,the villagers have to be content with margarine1 ,french eggs1 and other foreign commodities from the local stores1 and the ,cross steps are now only of use for infant energies to practise their powers of jumping from4 ,so1 too1 the sun-dial on the top1 which does not appear to have ever been surmounted by a cross1 is now useless1 for everybody either has a watch or is sufficiently notified as to meal times by a buzzer at the railway works hard by4 ,mrs4 ,allingham says that most of her drawings are marked in her memory by some local comment concerning them4 ,in this case a bystander sympathetically remarked that it seemed a mighty tedious job1 in that of ,milton's ,house that it was a foolish little thing when you began--the most favourable criticism she ever encountered only amounting to ,why1 it's almost worth framing6 ,illustration3 #d4 ,,the ,,robin ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,s4 ,h4 ,s4 ,lofthouse4 ,painted #ahih4 ,one of the simplest1 and yet one of the most satisfying of ,mrs4 ,allingham's compositions4 ,it is clearly not a morning to stay indoors with needlework which neither in size nor importance calls for table or chair4 ,besides1 at the cottage gate there is a likelier chance of interruption and conversation with occasional passers-by4 ,but1 at no time numerous on this ,surrey hillside1 these are altogether lacking at the moment1 and the pink-frocked maiden has to be content with the very mild distraction afforded by the overtures of the family robin1 who is always ready to open up converse and to waste his time also in manuvres and pretended explorations over ground in her vicinity1 which he well knows to be altogether barren of provender4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,paintresses1 ,,past ,,and ,,present ,man took advantage of his strength to be ,first in the field3 some ages have been lost2 ,but woman ripens earlier1 and her life is longer-- ,let her not fear4 ,the fair sex is so much in evidence in ,art to-day 7the first census of this century recording the names of nearly four thousand who profess that calling7 that we are apt to forget that the lady artist1 worthy of a place amongst the foremost of the other sex1 is a creation of modern growth4 ,paintresses--to call them by a quaint and agreeable name--there have been in profusion1 and an author1 writing a quarter of a century ago1 managed to fill two bulky volumes#a with their biographies2 but the majority of these have owed both their practice and their place in ,art to the fact of their fathers or husbands having been engaged in that profession4 ,history has recorded but little concerning the women artists who worked in the early days of ,english ,art4 ,the scanty records which1 however1 have come down to us prove that if they lived uneventful lives they did so in comfort4 ,for instance1 it is noted of the first that passes across the pages of ,english history1 namely ,susannah ,hornebolt 7all the early names were foreign71 that she lived for many years in great favour and esteem at the ,king's ,court1 and died rich and honoured3 of the next1 ,lavinia ,teerlinck1 that she also died rich and respected1 having received in her prime a higher salary than ,holbein1 and from ,queen ,elizabeth1 later on in life1 a quarterly wage of #da4 ,farther on we find ,charles ,i4 giving to ,anne ,carlisle and ,vandyck1 at one time1 as much ultramarine as cost him #ejj1 and ,anna ,maria ,carew obtaining from ,charles ,,ii4 in #affb a pension of #bjj a year4 ,about the same time ,mary ,beale1 who is described as passing a tranquil1 modest existence1 full of sweetness1 dignity1 and matronly purity1 earned the same amount from her brush1 charging #e for a head1 and #aj for a half-length4 ,she died in #afig1 and was buried under the communion table in ,st4 ,james's1 ,piccadilly1 a church which holds the remains of other paintresses4 ,another1 ,mary ,delaney1 described as lovely in girlhood and old age1 and who must have been a delightful personage from the testimonies which have come down to us concerning her1 lived almost through the eighteenth century1 being born in #agjj1 and dying in #aghh1 and being1 also1 buried in ,st4 ,james's4 ,she has left on record that ,i have been very busy at my usual presumption of copying beautiful nature2 but the many copies of that kind that she must have made during this long life are all unknown to those who have studied ,art a hundred years later4 ,midway in the eighteenth century we come across the great and unique event in the annals of ,female ,art1 namely the election of two ladies to the ,academic body1 in the persons of ,angelica ,kauffman--who was one of the original signatories of the memorial to ,george ,,iii41 asking him to found an ,academy1 and who passed in as such on the granting of that privilege--and ,mary ,moser1 who probably owed her election to the fact that her father was ,keeper of the newly-founded body4 ,the only other lady artists who flit across the stage during the latter half of that century--in the case of whom any attempt at distinction or recognition is possible--were ,frances ,reynolds1 the sister of the ,president1 and the dearest dear of ,dr4 ,johnson1 and ,maria ,cosway1 the wife of the miniaturist4 ,these kept up the tradition of ladies always being connected with ,art by parentage or marriage4 ,the ,academy catalogues of the first half of the nineteenth century may be searched in vain for any name whose fame has endured even to these times1 although the number of lady exhibitors was considerable4 ,in the exhibitions of fifty years ago1 of #ijj names1 #fg1 or #g per cent1 were those of the fair sex1 the majority being termed in the alphabetical list ,mrs4 ----1 as above2 that is to say1 they bore the surname and lived at the same addresses as the exhibitor who preceded them4#b ,the admission of women to the ,royal ,academy ,schools in #ahfj must not only have had much to do with increasing the numbers of paintresses1 but in raising the standard of their work4 ,in recent years1 at the annual prize distributions of that institution1 when they present themselves in such interesting and serried ranks1 they have firmly established their right to work alongside of the men1 by carrying off many of the most important awards4#c ,the ,royal ,female ,school of ,art1 the ,slade ,school1 and ,schools of ,art everywhere throughout the country each and all are now engaged in swelling the ranks of the profession with a far greater number of aspirants to a living than there is any room for4 ,this invasion of womankind into ,art1 which has also shown itself in a remarkable way in poetry and fiction1 is in no way to be decried4 ,on the contrary1 it has come upon the present generation as a delightful surprise1 as a breath of fresh and sweet-scented air after the heavy atmosphere which hung over ,art in the later days of the nineteenth century4 ,to mention a few only3 ,miss ,elizabeth ,thompson 7,lady ,butler71 ,lady ,alma ,tadema1 ,mrs4 ,jopling1 ,miss ,dicksee1 ,mrs4 ,henrietta ,rae1 ,miss ,kemp ,welch1 and ,miss ,brickdale in oil painting2 ,mrs4 ,angell1 ,miss ,clara ,montalba1 ,miss ,gow1 ,miss ,kate ,greenaway1 and ,mrs4 ,allingham in water-colours have each looked at ,art in a distinguished manner1 and one quite distinct from that of their fellow-workers of the sterner sex4 ,the ladies named all entered upon their profession with a due sense of its importance4 ,many of them may perhaps be counted fortunate in having commenced their careers before the newer ideas came into vogue1 by virtue of which anybody and everybody may pose as an artist1 now that it entails none of that lengthy apprenticeship which from all time has been deemed to be a necessary preliminary to practice4 ,even so lately as the date when ,mrs4 ,allingham came upon the scene1 draftsmanship and composition were still regarded as a matter of some importance if success was to be achieved4 ,nature1 as represented in ,art1 was still subjected to a process of selection1 a selection1 too1 of its higher in preference to its lower forms4 ,the same pattern was not allowed to serve for every tree in the landscape whatever be its growth1 foliage1 or the local influences which have affected its form4 ,a sufficient study of the human and of animal forms to admit of their introduction1 if needful1 into that landscape was not deemed superfluous4 ,most important of all1 beauty still held the field1 and the cult of unvarnished ugliness had not captured the rising generation4 ,the endeavours of women in what is termed very erroneously the higher branch of the profession1 have not as yet received the reward that is their due4 ,placed at the ,royal ,academy under practically the same conditions as the male sex whilst under tuition1 both as regards fortune and success1 their pictures1 when they mount from the ,schools in the basement to the ,exhibition ,galleries on the first floor of ,burlington ,house1 carry with them no further possibility of reward1 even although1 as they have done1 they hold the pride of place there4 ,it is true that as each election to the ,academic body comes round rumours arise as to the chances of one or other of the fair sex forcing an entrance through the doors that1 with the two exceptions we have named1 have been barred to them since the foundation of the ,institution4 ,the day1 however1 when their talent in oil painting1 or any other art medium1 will be recognised by ,academic honours has yet to come4 ,to their honour be it said1 the undoubted capacities of ladies have not passed unrecognised by water-colour painters4 ,both the ,royal ,society and the ,royal ,institute of ,painters in ,water ,colours have enrolled amongst their ranks the names of women who have been worthy exponents of the ,art4 ,the practice of water-colour art would appear to appeal especially to womankind1 as not only are the constituents which go to its making of a more agreeable character than those of oil1 but the whole machinery necessary for its successful production is more compact and capable of adaptation to the ordinary house4 ,the very methods employed have a certain daintiness about them which coincides with a lady's delicacy4 ,the work does not necessitate hours of standing1 with evil-smelling paints1 in a large top-lit studio1 but can be effected seated1 in any living room which contains a window of sufficient size4 ,there is no need to leave all the materials about while the canvasses dry1 and no preliminary setting of palettes and subsequent cleaning off4 ,yet in spite of this the water-colour art during the first century of its existence was practised almost solely by the male sex1 and it was not until the middle of the ,victorian reign that a few women came on to the scene1 and at once showed themselves the equals of the male sex1 not only so far as proficiency but originality was concerned4 ,in the case of no one of these was there any imitation or following of a master2 but each struck out for herself what was1 if not a new line1 certainly a presentation of an old one in a novel form4 ,mrs4 ,angell1 better known perhaps as ,helen ,coleman1 took up the portrayal of flowers and still life1 which had been carried to such a pitch of minute finish by ,william ,hunt1 and treated it with a breadth1 freedom1 and freshness that delighted everybody4 ,it secured for her at once a place amid a section of water-colourists who found it very difficult to obtain these qualities in their work4 ,miss ,clara ,montalba went to ,venice and painted it under aspects which were entirely different from those of her predecessors1 such as ,james ,holland2 and she again has practically held the field ever since as regards that particular phase of atmospheric effect which has attracted attention to her achievement4 ,the kind of work and the subjects taken up by ,mrs4 ,allingham will be dealt with at greater length hereafter1 but ,i may premise by saying that she1 too1 ultimately settled into methods that are entirely her own1 and such as no one can accuse her of having derived from anybody else4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the following illustrations find a place in this chapter3-- ,illustration3 #e4 ,,milton',s ,,house1 ,,chalfont ,,st4 ,,giles ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mrs4 ,j4 ,a4 ,combe4 ,painted #ahih4 ,the popularity of a poet can hardly be gauged by the number of visitors to the haunts wherein he passed his day4 ,rather are they numbered by the proximity of a railroad thereto4 ,consequently it is not surprising that the pilgrims to the little out-of-the-way ,buckinghamshire village where ,milton completed his ,paradise ,lost are an inconsiderable percentage of those who journey to ,stratford-on-,avon4 ,for though ,chalfont ,st4 ,giles lies only a short distance away from the twenty-third milestone on the high-road from ,london to ,aylesbury1 it is some three miles from the nearest station--a station1 too1 where few conveyances are obtainable4 ,motor cars which will take the would-be pilgrim in an hour from a ,northumberland ,avenue hotel may increase its popularity1 but at present the village of the pretty box1 as ,milton called the house1 is as slumberous and as little changed as it was in the year #affe1 when ,milton fled thither from his house in ,artillery ,ground1 ,bunhill ,row1 before the terror of the plague4#d ,milton was then fifty-seven1 and is described as a pale1 but not cadaverous man1 dressed neatly in black1 with his hands and fingers gouty1 and with chalk-stones4 ,he loved a garden1 and would never take a house1 not even in ,london1 without one1 his habit being to sit in the sun in his garden1 or in the colder weather to pace it for three or four hours at a stretch4 ,many of his verses he composed or pruned as he thus walked1 coming in to dictate them to his amanuensis1 and it was from the vernal to the autumnal equinox that his intermittent inspiration bore its fruit4 ,his only other recreation besides conversation was music1 and he sang1 and played either the organ or the bass viol4 ,it was at ,chalfont that ,milton put into the hands of ,ellwood his completed ,paradise ,lost1 with a request that he would return it to him with his judgment thereupon4 ,it was here also that on receiving ,ellwood's famous opinion1 ,thou hast said much here of ,paradise ,lost1 but what hast thou to say of ,paradise ,found8 he commenced his ,paradise ,regained4 ,he returned to ,london after the plague abated1 in time to see it again devastated by the fresh calamity of the great fire4 ,an engraving of this house appears in ,dunster's edition of ,paradise ,regained1 and an account in ,todd's ,life of ,milton1 p4 #bgb2 also in ,jesse's ,favourite ,haunts1 p4 #fb4 ,illustration3 #f4 ,,the ,,waller ,,oak1 ,,coleshill ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #aijb4 ,that several of ,mrs4 ,allingham's drawings should illustrate scenes connected with ,great ,britain's poets is not remarkable1 seeing that her life has been so intimately bound up with one of them1 but it is at first somewhat startling to find that the two selected for illustration here should treat of ,milton and ,waller1 for was it not the latter who said of ,paradise ,lost that it was distinguished only by its length4 ,the accident that has brought them together here is perhaps that the two scenes are near neighbours1 and1 may be1 the artist was tempted to paint the old oak through kindly sentiments towards the author of the sweet-smelling lines1 ,go1 ,lovely ,rose1 by which his name endures4 ,coleshill1 where the oak stands1 is a woody hamlet near ,amersham1 and a mile or two away from ,chalfont ,st4 ,giles4 ,the tree which bears his name1 and under which he is said to have composed much of his verse1 dates from long anterior to the late days of the ,monarchy1 when he was more engaged in hatching plots than in writing verse4 ,if1 as is probable1 he viewed and sought its comforting shade1 he can hardly have believed that it would survive the fame of him who received such praise from his contemporaries as to be acclaimed inter poetas sui temporis facile princeps4 ,illustration3 #g4 ,,apple ,,and ,,pear ,,blossom ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,theodore ,uzielli4 ,painted #aija4 ,a charming little picture made out of the simplest details is this spring scene in an ,isle of ,wight lane4 ,but if the details are of the simplest character1 as much cannot be said for the methods employed by the artist in their treatment4 ,these are so intricate that the drawing was perhaps the most difficult of any to reproduce1 owing to the impossibility of accurately translating the subtle gradations which distinguish the tender greenery of trees1 hedgerow1 and bank4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,artist',s ,,early ,,work ,mrs4 ,allingham1 whose maiden name was ,helen ,paterson1 was born on ,september #bf1 #ahdh1 near ,burton-on-,trent1 ,derbyshire1 where her father1 ,alexander ,henry ,paterson1 ,m4,d41 had a medical practice4 ,as her name implies1 she is of ,scottish descent on the paternal side4 ,a year after her birth her family removed to ,altrincham in ,cheshire1 where her father died suddenly1 in #ahfb1 of diphtheria1 caught in attending a patient4 ,this unforeseen blow broke up the ,cheshire household1 and the widow shortly afterwards wended her way with her young family to ,birmingham1 where the next few years1 the most impressionable of our young artist's life1 were to be spent amid surroundings which at that date were in no wise conducive to influencing her in the direction of ,art of any kind4 ,scribbling out of her head on any material she could lay hold of 7not even sparing the polished surfaces of the ,victorian furniture7 had been her chief pleasure as a child2 and as she grew older she drew from ,nature with interest and ease1 especially during family visits to ,kenilworth and other country and seaside places4 ,some friends in ,birmingham started a drawing club which met each month at houses of the different members1 and the young student was kindly invited to join it4 ,subjects were fixed upon and the drawings were shown and discussed at each meeting4 ,more good resulted from this than might have been expected1 for some of the members were not only persons of taste but were collectors of fine examples in ,art1 which were also seen and considered at the meetings4 ,helen ,paterson1 finding that her pen-and-ink productions were more satisfactory than her colour attempts1 came to hope that she might gradually qualify herself for book illustration1 instead of earning a living by teaching1 as she at first anticipated her future would be4 ,two influences greatly helped the girl in her artistic desires at this time4 ,helen ,paterson's mother's sister1 ,laura ,herford1 had taken up ,art as a profession4 ,although her name does not often appear in ,exhibition records1 the sisterhood of artists owe her a very enduring debt4 ,for to her was due that opening of the ,royal ,academy ,schools to women to which ,i have already referred1 and which she obtained through another's slip of the tongue1 aided by a successful subterfuge4 ,lord ,lyndhurst1 at a ,royal ,academy banquet1 in singing the praises of that institution1 claimed that its schools offered free tuition to all ,her ,majesty's subjects4 ,within a few days he received from ,miss ,herford a communication pointing out the inaccuracy of his statement1 inasmuch as tuition was only given to the male and not to the female sex1 which comprised the majority of ,her ,majesty's subjects4 ,she therefore appealed to him to use his influence with the ,government to obtain the removal of the restriction4 ,he did so1 and the ,government1 on addressing ,sir ,charles ,eastlake1 the ,president of the ,royal ,academy1 found in him one altogether in sympathy with such a reform4 ,he replied to the ,government that there was no written law against the admission of women1 and after an interview with the lady he connived at a drawing of hers being sent in as a test of her capability for admission as a probationer1 under the initials merely of her ,christian names4 ,a few days subsequently a notification that he had passed the test and obtained admission arrived at her home addressed to ,a4 ,l4 ,herford1 ,esq4 ,there was of course a demonstration when the lady presented herself in answer to the summons to execute a drawing in the presence of the ,keeper2 and her claim to stay and do this was vehemently combated by the ,council1 to whom it was of course referred4 ,but the ,president demonstrated the absurdity of the situation1 and so strongly advocated the untenability of the position that the door was opened once and for all to female students4 ,this lady1 who had a strong character in many other directions1 constituted herself ,art-adviser-in-chief to her young niece from the time of her father's death4 ,the other influence under which ,helen ,paterson came at this critical period was that of a capable and sympathetic master at ,birmingham4 ,in ,mr4 ,raimbach1 the head of the ,birmingham ,school of ,design1 she encountered a man who was a teacher1 born not made1 and who1 not being hidebound with the old dry-as-dust traditions1 saw and fostered whatever gifts were to be found in his pupils4 ,he it was who1 interesting himself in her desire to learn to draw the human figure1 and to study more of its anatomy than could be gained from the casts of the ,school of ,design and from the lifeless programme which existed there1 encouraged her to go to ,london for wider study1 in the hope of gaining entrance into the ,academy ,schools1 and taking up ,art as a profession under her aunt's auspices4 ,she followed his advice1 gave up a single pupil she had acquired1 and passed into the ,academy ,schools in ,april #ahfg after a short preliminary course at the ,female ,school of ,art1 ,queen's ,square4 ,british ,art may congratulate itself that in ,helen ,paterson's case1 as in that of so many others1 there's a divinity that shapes our ends1 rough-hew them how we will4 ,it is very certain that had the fates ordained that she should remain in ,birmingham her talent would never have flowed into the channel which has made possible a memoir of her ,art under the title of ,happy ,england4 ,the environments of that great city are such that it would have been practically impossible for her artistic training to have been as her divinity decreed it should be1 or to place means of exercising it within her grasp should she have desired them4 ,during the first year or two at the ,royal ,academy ,helen ,paterson worked in the antique school1 where the study of drawing1 proportion of the figure1 with some anatomy1 precluded the thought of painting4 ,when raised to the painting school she1 like many another capable student then as now1 was at first driven hither and thither by the variety of and apparently contradictory advice that she received from her masters4 ,for one month she was under a visitor with strongly defined ideas in one direction1 and the next under some one else who was equally assertive in another1 and it was some time before she could strike a balance for her own understanding4 ,but1 for reasons which those who know her well will recognise1 she received help and kindness from all1 and1 as she gratefully remembers1 from none more than from ,millais1 ,frederick ,leighton1 ,frederick ,goodall1 ,fred ,walker1 ,stacy ,marks1 and ,john ,pettie4 ,millais especially could in a minute or two impart something which was never afterwards forgotten1 whilst the encouragement of all was most stimulating to a beginner4 ,another artist who has been a life-long adviser and the kindest of friends1 was ,briton ,riviere1 with whom and whose family an intimacy began even in her student days4 ,an invitation to stay with them at ,st4 ,andrews on the coast of ,fife in the summer of #ahgb inaugurated ,miss ,paterson's first serious work from ,nature4 ,the result was deemed to be satisfactory by ,mr4 ,riviere1 who helped to dissipate a certain despondency and fear which had sprung up in the young artist's mind as regards her colour powers4 ,it was not1 however1 in the grey houses and uninteresting streets of this old northern university town1 to which she first turned1 that the true relations between tone and colour discovered themselves to her longing eye1 but amongst the sandbanks1 seaweed1 and blue water which fringe its noted golf-links4 ,for the first time the artist felt herself happy in attempting to work in any other medium than black and white4 ,just prior to this fortunate visit she had in the spring of the year been taken by an old friend of the family to ,rome1 where she had worked assiduously at ,nature1 but with little satisfaction so far as she herself was concerned4 ,she had by this time fully made up her mind to embark on a career in which she was determined1 and was in fact obliged1 to earn a living2 and as her colour work at present had no market1 there was nothing for it but to procure a livelihood by black and white4 ,wood engraving1 although nearing the end of its existence1 was still the only medium of cheap illustration4 ,photography later on came to its aid to a certain extent1 but the majority of the original drawings continued to be drawn directly on to the wood block4 ,there were still close upon a hundred wood engravers employed in ,london1 working for the most part under master engravers1 into whose hands the publishers of magazines1 illustrated periodicals1 and books entrusted1 not only the cutting of the block1 but the selection of the artist to make the drawing upon it4 ,it was to these that ,helen ,paterson had to look for work1 and it was upon a round of their offices that in the autumn of #ahfi she diffidently started with a portfolio full of drawings4 ,employment did not come at once1 and the list of seventy names with which she started had been considerably reduced before1 to her great satisfaction1 a drawing out of her sheaf was taken by ,mr4 ,joseph ,swain1 to whom she had an introduction1 for submission to the proprietors of ,once a ,week4 ,it was accepted1 and she copied it on to the wood4 ,gradually she obtained work for other magazines1 including ,little ,folks1 published by ,cassell1 and ,aunt ,judy1 by ,george ,bell1 the drawings for ,aunt ,judy illustrating ,mrs4 ,ewing's ,a ,flat ,iron for a ,farthing1 ,jan of the ,windmill1 and ,six to ,sixteen4 ,the first alteration of any magnitude of the custom to which reference has been made1 namely1 of the artist having to look to the engraver for work1 occurred when the ,graphic newspaper was started in the year #ahgj4 ,mr4 ,w4 ,l4 ,thomas1 to whom the credit of this improvement in the status of the worker in black and white was due1 was himself an artist and a member of the ,institute of ,painters in ,water ,colours4 ,as such he was not only in touch with1 but capable of appreciating the unusual amount of budding talent of abundant promise which was just then presenting itself4 ,this he enlisted in the service of the ,graphic upon what may be termed co-operative terms1 for those who liked could have half their payment in cash and half in shares in the venture4 ,many1 the majority we believe1 unfortunately could not afford the latter proposition4 ,unfortunately indeed1 for the paper embarked on a career which has yielded dividends1 at times of over a hundred per cent1 and has kept the shares at a premium1 which few companies in existence can boast of4 ,this phenomenal success was in a large measure the result of the personal interest that was brought to bear upon every department1 and that every employ took in his share in it4 ,the illustrations1 upon which success mainly depended1 were not the product of a formulated system1 working in a groove1 where blocks were served out to artists as to a machine1 without any regard to their fitness for the particular piece of work4 ,artists of capacity1 whose names are now to be found amongst the most noted in the academic roll1 were selected for the particular illustration that suited them1 and were well paid for it4 ,the public was not only astonished at1 but grateful for1 the result1 and showed their appreciation by at once placing the ,graphic in the high position which it deserved and has since enjoyed4 ,helen ,paterson was so fortunate as to be brought into touch with ,mr4 ,thomas shortly after the first appearance of the paper4 ,she had obtained some work from one ,harrall1 an engraver1 with whom ,mr4 ,thomas had had business connections in the past1 and it was at ,harrall's suggestion that she went to ,mr4 ,thomas1 who at once offered her a place on the staff of the ,graphic1 a place which she retained until her marriage in #ahgd4 ,it was indeed a godsend to her1 for it meant not only regular work but handsome pay4 ,twelve guineas for a full1 and eight for a half page1 and at least one of these a week1 meant not merely maintenance1 but a reserve against that rainy day which1 fortunately1 the subject of our memoir has never had to contend with4 ,the subjects which ,miss ,paterson was called upon to produce were of the most diversified character1 but all of them had figures as their main feature4 ,to properly limn these she had to employ regular models1 but she also enlisted the aid of her fellow-students1 for she was still at the ,royal ,academy1 and her sketch-books of that time1 of which she has many1 are full of studies of artists1 no few of whom have since become celebrated in the world of ,art4 ,looking through the pages of the ,graphic with the artist1 it is interesting to note the variety of episodes upon which ,mr4 ,thomas employed her4 ,her drawings were not always from her own sketches1 being at times from originals that had been sent to the paper in an embryo condition necessitating entire revision1 or from rapid notes by artists sent to represent the paper at important functions4 ,but on occasions she was also deputed to attend at these1 and in consequence underwent some novel experiences for a young girl4 ,a meeting at ,mr4 ,gladstone's1 ,fashions in the ,park1 ,flower ,shows at the ,botanical ,gardens1 ,archery at the ,toxophilite ,society's1--these formed the lighter side of her work1 the more serious being the illustration of novels by novelists of note4 ,this was at the time a new feature in journalism4 ,amongst those entrusted to her were ,innocent1 by ,mrs4 ,oliphant1 and ,ninety-,three1 by ,victor ,hugo4 ,for the murder trial in the former she had to visit the ,central ,criminal ,court1 and through so doing was more accurate than the authoress1 who admittedly had not been there1 and whose work consequently showed several glaring mistakes1 such as the prisoner addressing the judge by name4 ,she was also employed upon a novel of ,charles ,reade's in conjunction with ,mr4 ,luke ,fildes and ,mr4 ,henry ,woods4 ,this she undertook with extreme diffidence1 for ,reade had sent round a circular saying that he greatly disliked having his stories illustrated at all2 but as it had to be in this case1 he begged to notify that he gave situations1 whilst ,george ,eliot and ,anthony ,trollope only gave conversations1 and he requested that good use should be made of these situations4 ,meeting him some years afterwards1 the author paid her the compliment of saying he liked her illustration of the heroine in his story the best of any4 ,nor was ,miss ,paterson entirely dependent upon the ,graphic1 whose illustrations1 oftentimes given out in a hurry1 had to be finished within a period limited by hours4 ,she was fortunate to be numbered amongst the select few who worked for the ,cornhill1 for which she was1 through ,mr4 ,swain's kind offices1 asked to illustrate ,hardy's ,far from the ,madding ,crowd1 which was at first attributed to ,george ,eliot4 ,the author was fairly complimentary as to the result1 although he said it was difficult for two minds to imagine scenes in the same light4 ,later on she had the pleasant task of illustrating ,miss ,thackeray's ,miss ,angel in the same magazine4 ,the drawing of ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds asking ,angelica to marry him1 perhaps the best of the series1 was one of the first to be signed with the name of ,allingham1 by which she has since been known4 ,a very interesting acquaintance with ,sir ,henry ,irving1 which has lasted ever since1 was commenced in the early seventies through her having to visit the ,lyceum for the ,graphic to delineate him and ,miss ,isabel ,bateman in ,richelieu4 ,mr4 ,bateman1 who was then the manager1 placed a box at her disposal1 which she occupied for several nights whilst making the drawing4 ,one of the cottage drawings reproduced here 7,plate #gg7 belongs to ,sir ,henry4 ,although working regularly and almost continuously at black and white during these years she managed to intersperse it with some work in colour1 and at the exhibitions of the old ,dudley ,gallery ,art ,society1 which had been recently founded1 and which had proved a great boon to rising and amateur art1 she exhibited water-colours under the title of ,may1 ,dangerous ,ground1 and ,soldiers' ,orphans watching a bloodless battle at ,aldershot1 painted in the studio from a ,graphic drawing4 ,in the autumn of the year #ahgd ,miss ,paterson was married to ,mr4 ,william ,allingham1 the well-known poet1 editor of ,fraser's ,magazine1 and friend of so many of the celebrities in literature1 science1 and art of the middle of the last century1 amongst whom may be mentioned ,carlyle1 ,ruskin1 ,dante ,gabriel ,rossetti1 ,browning1 and ,tennyson4 ,it was to be near the first named that the newly married couple went to reside in ,trafalgar ,square1 ,chelsea1 where they passed the next seven years of their married life1 namely until #ahha4 ,to ,carlyle ,mrs4 ,allingham had the privilege of frequent and familiar access during his last years2 and when he found that he was not expected to pose to her1 and that she had1 as he emphatically declared1 a real talent for portraiture 7the only form of pictorial art in which he took any interest71 he became very kind and complaisant1 and she was able to make nearly a dozen portraits of him in water-colours4 ,an early one1 which he declared made him look like an old fool1 was painted in the little back garden of ,no4 #e ,cheyne ,row1 which was not without shade and greenery in the summer time4 ,there1 in company with his pet cat ,tib1 and a ,paisley churchwarden 7no pipe good for anything1 according to him1 being get-at-able in ,england71 he indulged in smoking1 the only creature comfort that afforded him any satisfaction4 ,in these portraits he is depicted sitting in his comfortable dressing-gown faded to a dim slaty grey1 refusing to wear a gorgeous oriental garment that his admirers had presented to him4 ,an etching of one of these drawings appeared in the ,art ,journal for #ahhb4 ,other portraits were painted in the winter of #ahgh-gi1 in his long drawing-room with its three windows looking out into the street4 ,rossetti she never saw1 although he had been an intimate friend of her husband's for twenty years#e and was then living in ,chelsea1 for he was just entering on that unfortunate epoch preceding his death1 when he was induced to cut himself adrift from all his old circle of acquaintances4 ,the fact is regrettable1 for it would have been interesting to note his opinion of a lady's work with which he must have been in full sympathy4 ,mr4 ,allingham had known ,ruskin for many years4 ,his wife's acquaintance began in interesting fashion at the ,old ,water-,colour ,society's4 ,she happened to be there during the ,exhibition of #ahgg at a time when the room was almost empty4 ,mr4 ,ruskin had been looking at her drawing of ,carlyle1 and introducing himself1 asked her why she had painted ,carlyle like a lamb1 when he ought to be painted like a lion1 as he was1 and whether she would paint the sage as such for him8 ,to this she had to reply that she could only paint him as she saw him1 which was certainly not in leonine garb4 ,one afternoon soon afterwards1 ,mr4 ,allingham chanced to meet ,ruskin at ,carlyle's1 and brought him round to see her work4 ,she was at the time engaged on the drawing of ,the ,clothes-,line 7,plate #aa71 and he objected to the scarlet of the handkerchief1 and also to the woman1 who he said ought to have been a rough workwoman1 an opinion which ,mrs4 ,allingham did not share with him at the time1 but which she has since felt to be a correct one4 ,he also saw another drawing with a grey sky1 and asked her why she did not make her skies blue4 ,to her reply that she thought there was often great beauty in grey skies1 he growled1 ,the devil sends grey skies4 ,browning1 an old friend of her husband's1 ,mrs4 ,allingham sometimes had the privilege of seeing during her residence in ,london4 ,one occasion was typical of the man4 ,he had been asked to come and see her work1 which was at the time arranged at one end of a room at ,trafalgar ,square1 ,chelsea1 before sending in to the ,exhibition4 ,the drawings were naturally small ones1 and ,browning appeared to be altogether oblivious to their existence4 ,turning round1 with his back to them1 he at once commenced a story of some one who came to see an artist's work1 and the artist was very huffed because his visitor never took the slightest notice of his pictures1 but talked to him of other subjects all the time4 ,this1 ,browning considered1 was no sufficient ground for his huffiness4 ,his obliviousness to ,mrs4 ,allingham's drawings may have been due to his having been accustomed to the pictures of his son1 which were of large size1 and in comparison with which ,mrs4 ,allingham's would be quite invisible4 ,against this theory1 however1 ,i may mention that on one occasion ,i happened to have the good fortune to be present in his son's studio when ,tennyson was announced4 ,browning at once advanced to the door to meet him1 bent low1 and addressed him as ,magister ,meus1 and although the ,laureate had come to see the paintings1 and stayed some time1 neither of the two poets1 so long as ,i was present1 noticed them in any way4 ,whilst ,mrs4 ,allingham was painting ,carlyle1 ,browning came to see him1 and they held a most interesting and delightful conversation on the subject of the great ,french writers4 ,the alteration in ,browning's demeanour from his usual bluff and breezy manner to a quiet1 deferential tone during the conversation was very notable4 ,of her intimacy with ,tennyson ,i may speak later when we come to the drawings which illustrate his two houses in ,sussex and the ,isle of ,wight4 ,the year of her marriage was also a landmark in ,mrs4 ,allingham's career1 through the ,royal ,academy accepting and hanging two water-colours1 one entitled ,the ,milkmaid1 the other1 ,wait for ,me1 the subject of the latter being a young lady entering a cottage whilst a dog watched her outside the gate4 ,it would have been interesting to have been able to insert a reproduction of either of these in this volume1 for they would probably have shown that her fear as to her inability to master colour was entirely without basis1 but ,i have not been able to trace them4 ,the drawings were not only well hung1 but were sold during the ,exhibition4 ,it was1 however1 by another drawing that ,mrs4 ,allingham won her name4 ,in the year #ahge she was commissioned by ,mr4 ,george ,bell to make a water-colour from one of the black-and-white drawings which she had done some years before for ,mrs4 ,ewing's ,a ,flat ,iron for a ,farthing4 ,we shall have occasion to describe at length1 later on1 this delightful little picture that is reproduced in ,plate #h4 ,it is only necessary for our purpose here to state that it was seen early in #ahge by that prince of landscape water-colourists1 ,mr4 ,alfred ,hunt4 ,he was an old friend of ,mr4 ,allingham's1 and being told that his wife was thinking of trying for election at the ,royal ,society of ,painters in ,water ,colours1 kindly offered to go through her portfolios4 ,the ,from these he made a selection1 and promised to propose her at an election which was about to take place4 ,the result fully proved the soundness of his choice1 for the candidate not only secured the rare distinction of being elected on the first time of asking1 but the still rarer one of securing her place in that body1 so notable for its diversity of opinion when candidates are in question1 with hardly a dissentient vote4 ,ladies were not admitted to the rank of full members of the ,society until the year #ahij1 when she was1 to her great pleasure and astonishment1 elected a full member4 ,she deserved it2 for much of the charm of these exhibitions had been due to the presence of the work which she has contributed to every ,exhibition held since her election save two1 one of these rare absences being due to her having mistaken the date for sending in4 ,this election1 and the fact that after her marriage she could afford to do without the monetary aid derived from black-and-white work1 decided her to embark upon water-colours2 although in these she still confined her work to figure subjects1 more than one of which continued to be founded on her previous work in monochrome4 ,the last book in which her name as an illustrator appeared was1 appropriately enough1 ,rhymes for the ,young ,folk1 by her husband1 published in ,cassell's in #ahhe1 to which she contributed most of the illustrations4 ,she relinquished black-and-white work without any regret1 for although she was much indebted to it1 it never held her sympathies1 and she always longed to express herself in colour1 the medium in which she instinctively felt she had ultimately the best chance of success4 ,although we are only separated from the ,chelsea of ,mrs4 ,allingham's days by little more than a quarter of a century1 its artistic associations were then of a very different order to those that are in evidence nowadays4 ,the era of vast studios in which duchesses and millionaires find adequate surroundings for their portraits was not yet4 ,whistler was close to old ,chelsea ,church1 a few doors only from where he recently died4 ,tite ,street1 with which his name will always be connected1 was not yet built4 ,he was still engaged on those remarkable1 but at that time insufficiently appreciated1 canvases of scenes which have now passed away1 such as ,fireworks at ,cremorne1 and ,nocturnes dimly disclosing old ,battersea ,bridge4 ,seymour ,haden was etching the picturesque faade of the ,walk1 with his brother-in-law's house as a principal object in it1 and without the respectable embankment which now makes it more reputable from a hygienic1 but less admirable from an artistic point of view4 ,rossetti was practically the only other artist of note in the quarter4 ,but with one exception ,mrs4 ,allingham's work was not reminiscent of the place4 ,that exception1 however1 disclosed to her a field in which she foresaw much delight and abundant possibilities4 ,in the old ,pensioners' ,garden at ,chelsea ,hospital were to be found tenderly-cared-for borders of humble flowers4 ,the garden itself was a haven of repose for the old warriors1 and a show-place for their visitors4 ,mrs4 ,allingham1 like another artist1 ,hubert ,herkomer1 about the same time1 was touched by the pathos of the surroundings1 and1 chiefly on the urgency of her husband1 she ventured on a drawing of more importance than any hitherto attempted4 ,the subject1 which we shall speak of again later1 was finished in #ahgg1 and was the first large drawing exhibited by her at the ,society of ,painters in ,water ,colours4 ,painters--good1 bad1 and indifferent--of the garden are nowadays such a numerous body that one is apt to forget that the time is quite recent when to paint one with its flowers was a new departure4 ,it is nevertheless the fact1 and in taking it up1 especially those that are associated with the humbler type of cottages1 ,mrs4 ,allingham was practically the originator of a new subject4 ,to the pensioners' patches at ,chelsea we are indebted for the sweet portraits of humble flower-steads which are now cherished by so many a fortunate possessor1 and charm every beholder4 ,thus ,chelsea aroused a desire to attack gardens possessing greater possibilities than a town-stunted patch1 a desire that was not1 however1 gratified until two years later when1 during a visit in the spring of #ahgi to ,shere1 the first of many cottages and flowers was painted from nature4 ,in #ahha1 after the death of ,carlyle1 ,chelsea had attractions for neither husband nor wife1 and with a young family growing up and calling for larger and healthier quarters1 the house in ,trafalgar ,square was given up for one at ,witley in ,surrey1 a hamlet close to ,haslemere1 which she had visited the year before1 and in the midst of a country which ,birket ,foster had already done much to popularise1 having resided at a beautiful house there for many years4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the water-colours of this first period1 namely from #ahge to #ahhj1 that are reproduced here1 are the following3-- ,illustration3 #h4 ,,the ,,young ,,customers ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,miss ,bell4 ,painted #ahge4 ,the drawing by which1 as we have said1 ,mrs4 ,allingham made her name1 obtained election at the ,society of ,painters in ,water ,colours1 was represented at her first appearance there in #ahge1 and also at the ,paris ,exposition in #ahgh1 and through which she obtained the recognition of ,ruskin1 who thus wrote concerning it in the ,notes which he was at that time in the habit of compiling each year on the ,summer ,exhibitions4 ,it happens curiously that the only drawing of which the memory remains with me as a possession out of the ,old ,water-,colour ,exhibition of this year--,mrs4 ,allingham's ,young ,customers--should not only be by an accomplished designer of woodcuts1 but itself the illustration of a popular story4 ,the drawing1 with whatever temporary purpose executed1 is for ever lovely--a thing which ,i believe ,gainsborough would have given one of his own paintings for1 old fashioned as red-tipped daisies are1 and more precious than rubies4 ,later on1 in #ahhc1 in his lectures at ,oxford on ,mrs4 ,allingham he again referred to it as ,the drawing which some years ago riveted1 and ever since has retained the public admiration--the two deliberate housewives in their village toyshop1 bent on domestic utilities and economies1 and proud in the acquisition of two flat irons for a farthing--has become1 and rightly1 a classic picture1 which will have its place among the memorable things in the ,art of our time1 when many of its loudly-trumpeted magnificences are remembered no more4 ,the black-and-white drawing on which it was founded1 a somewhat thin and immature performance1 was one of twelve illustrations made by ,mrs4 ,allingham for ,mrs4 ,ewing's ,a ,flat ,iron for a ,farthing1#f where it appears as illustrating the following episode4 ,it will be seen that ,mrs4 ,allingham's version of the story differs in many points from that of the authoress1 which is thus told by ,reginald1 the only son3-- ,as ,i looked1 there came down the hill a fine1 large1 sleek donkey1 led by an old man-servant1 and having on its back what is called a ,spanish saddle1 in which two little girls sat side by side1 the whole party jogging quietly along at a foot's pace in the sunshine4 ,i was so overwhelmed and impressed by the loveliness of these two children1 and by their quaint1 queenly little ways1 that time has not dimmed one line in the picture that they then made upon my mind4 ,i can see them now as clearly as ,i saw them then1 as ,i stood at the tinsmith's door in the ,high ,street of ,oakford--let me see1 how many years ago8 ,the child who looked the older1 but was1 as ,i afterwards discovered1 the younger of the two1 was also the less pretty4 ,and yet she had a sweet little face1 hair like spun gold1 and blue-grey eyes with dark lashes4 ,she wore a grey frock of some warm material1 below which peeped her indoors dress of blue4 ,the outer coat had a quaint cape like a coachman's1 which was relieved by a broad white crimped frill round her throat4 ,her legs were cased in knitted gaiters of white wool1 and her hands in the most comical miniatures of gloves4 ,on her fairy head she wore a large bonnet of grey beaver1 with a frill inside4 ,but it was her sister who shone on my young eyes like a fairy vision4 ,she looked too delicate1 too brilliant1 too utterly lovely1 for anywhere but fairyland4 ,she ought to have been kept in tissue-paper1 like the loveliest of wax dolls4 ,her hair was the true flaxen1 the very fairest of the fair4 ,the purity and vividness of the tints of red and white in her face ,i have never seen equalled4 ,her eyes were of speedwell blue1 and looked as if they were meant to be always more or less brimming with tears4 ,to say the truth1 her face had not half the character which gave force to that of the other little damsel1 but a certain helplessness about it gave it a peculiar charm4 ,she was dressed exactly like the other1 with one exception--her bonnet was of white beaver1 and she became it like a queen4 ,at the tinsmith's shop they stopped1 and the old man-servant1 after unbuckling a strap which seemed to support them in their saddle1 lifted each little miss in turn to the ground4 ,once on the pavement the little lady of the grey beaver shook herself out1 and proceeded to straighten the disarranged overcoat of her companion1 and then1 taking her by the hand1 the two clambered up the step into the shop4 ,the tinsmith's shop boasted of two seats1 and on to one of these she of the grey beaver with some difficulty climbed4 ,the eyes of the other were fast filling with tears1 when from her lofty perch the sister caught sight of the man-servant1 who stood in the doorway1 and she beckoned him with a wave of her tiny finger4 ,lift her up1 if you please1 she said on his approach4 ,and the other child was placed on the other chair4 ,the shopman appeared to know them1 and though he smiled1 he said very respectfully1 ,what articles can ,i show you this morning1 ladies8 ,the fairy-like creature in the white beaver1 who had been fumbling in her miniature glove1 now timidly laid a farthing on the counter1 and then turning her back for very shyness on the shopman1 raised one small shoulder1 and inclining her head towards it1 gave an appealing glance at her sister out of the pale-blue eyes4 ,that little lady1 thus appealed to1 firmly placed another farthing on the board1 and said in the tiniest but most decided of voices1 ,,two ,,flat ,,irons1 ,,if ,,you ,,please4 ,hereupon the shopman produced a drawer from below the counter1 and set it before them4 ,what it contained ,i was not tall enough to see1 but out of it he took several flat irons of triangular shape1 and apparently made of pewter1 or some alloy of tin4 ,these the grey beaver examined and tried upon a corner of her cape1 with inimitable gravity and importance4 ,at last she selected two1 and keeping one for herself1 gave the other to her sister4 ,is it a nice one8 the little white-beavered lady inquired4 ,very nice4 ,kite as nice as yours8 she persisted4 ,just the same1 said the other firmly4 ,and having glanced at the counter to see that the farthings were both duly deposited1 she rolled abruptly over on her seat1 and scrambled off backwards1 a manuvre which the other child accomplished with more difficulty4 ,the coats and capes were then put tidy as before1 and the two went out of the shop together1 hand in hand4 ,then the old man-servant lifted them into the ,spanish saddle1 and buckled the strap1 and away they went up the steep street1 and over the brow of the hill1 where trees and palings began to show1 the beaver bonnets nodding together in consultation over the flat irons4 ,the commission to paint this water-colour being unfettered in every way1 the artist felt herself at liberty to create a colour scheme of her own--hence the changes in the dresses1 etc42 also to put an old woman 7after a ,devonshire cottager7 in place of the shopman1 and to make the shop a toyshop instead of a tinsmith's4 ,the little girl ironing was painted from a study of a ,mr4 ,hennessy's eldest little daughter2 the fair little maiden from ,mr4 ,briton ,riviere's eldest daughter4 ,illustration3 #i4 ,,the ,,sand-,,martins' ,,haunt ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,miss ,james4 ,painted #ahgf4 ,i passed an inland cliff precipitate2 ,from tiny caves peeped many a soot-black poll4 ,in each a mother-martin sat elate1 ,and of the news delivered her small soul3 ,gossip1 how wags the world8 ,well1 gossip1 well4 ,interesting not only as the earliest example here of ,mrs4 ,allingham's landscape work1 having been painted at ,limpsfield1 ,surrey1 in ,may #ahgf1 and as such full of promise of better things to come1 but as an instance of a preference for a complex and very difficult effect1 which the artist1 on obtaining greater experience1 very wisely abandoned4 ,there is little doubt that she was tempted by the glorious wealth of colouring which a low sun threw upon the warm quarry side1 the pine wood1 and the huge cumuli which banked them up--a magnificent but a fleeting effect1 which could only be placed on record from very rapid notes4 ,the result could be successful only in the hands of a practised adept1 and it is not surprising1 therefore1 that in those of an artist just embarking on her career it was not entirely so4 ,the difficulties of the task may have afforded her a useful lesson1 for we have seen no further attempts on her part at their repetition4 ,if the landscape foretells little concerning the future of the artist1 the figures standing on the brink of the quarry1 the elder with her arm placed lovingly and protectingly round the neck of the younger1 whilst they watch the martins rejoicing in the warm summer evening1 are eminently suggestive of the success which ,mrs4 ,allingham was to achieve in the addition of figures to landscape composition4 ,illustration3 #aj4 ,,the ,,old ,,men',s ,,gardens1 ,,chelsea ,,hospital ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,charles ,churchill4 ,painted #ahgf4 ,contemporary criticism is not1 as a rule1 palatable to an artist1 for amongst the varied views which the art critics bring to their task there are always to be found some that are not seen from the same standpoint as his4 ,besides1 for some occult reason1 the balance always trends in the direction of fault-finding rather than praise1 probably because it is so much the easier1 for work always has and will have imperfections that are not difficult to distinguish4 ,but in the case of the water-colour before us the critics' chorus must have been very exhilarating to the young artist1 especially as1 at the time of its exhibition at the ,royal ,water-,colour ,society1 in the spring of #ahgg1 she was by no means in good health4 ,the ,spectator1 for instance1 wrote that artists would have to look to their laurels when ladies began to paint in a manner little inferior to ,walker4 ,the ,athenum gave it the exceptional length of a column1 considering it one of the few pictures by which the exhibition in question would be remembered4 ,tom ,taylor in the ,times wrote as follows3-- ,of all the newly associated figure painters there is none whose work has more of the rare quality that inspires interest than ,mrs4 ,allingham4 ,she has only two drawings here1 a pretty little child's head and a large and exquisitely finished composition1 ,the ,old ,men's ,gardens1 ,chelsea ,hospital1 where some hundred and forty little garden plots are parcelled out among as many of the old pensioners1 each of whom is free to follow his own fancies in his gardening4 ,in the hush of a calm summer evening1 two graceful girls in white dresses accept a nosegay from one of the veterans1 a ,guardsman of the vieille cour1 by his look and bearing4 ,all around are plots of sweet1 bright flowers all aglow with variegated petals4 ,here and there under the shade of the old trees sit restful groups of the old veterans1 with children about them2 one little fellow reverentially lifts and examines one of the medals on a war-worn breast4 ,behind1 the thickly-clothed fronds of a drooping ash spread to the declining sun1 and the level roofs of the old ,hospital rise ruddy against the warm and cloudless sky4 ,no praise can be too high for the exquisiteness with which the flowers are drawn1 coloured1 and combined1 or for the skill with which they are blended into an artistic whole with the suggestive and graceful group in the foreground4 ,the drawing deserves to take its place as a pendant of ,walker's ,haven of ,rest4 ,it is curious that all the critics seem to have misinterpreted the main meaning of the artist's motive1 namely1 that whilst the ,pensioners naturally1 in the first place1 wish to sell their posies1 they are always ready to give them to those who cannot afford to buy4 ,the well-to-do ladies are purchasing the flowers1 the little group of mother1 boy1 and baby1 on the right1 who can ill afford to buy1 are having a posy graciously offered to them4 ,the drawing represented ,mrs4 ,allingham at the ,jubilee ,exhibition in ,manchester1 #ahhg1 and the ,loan ,water-,colour ,exhibition at the ,guildhall1 ,london1 in #ahif4 ,it is of the large size1 for this artist's work1 of #be inches by #ae inches4 ,illustration3 #aa4 ,,the ,,clothes-,,line ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,miss ,james4 ,painted #ahgi4 ,how considerable and rapid an advance now took place in ,mrs4 ,allingham's powers may be seen from the two drawings which are dated two years later1 namely1 in #ahgi4 ,in figure draftsmanship there is no comparison between the timid and haltingly painted children of ,the ,sand-,martins' ,haunt and the seated baby in ,the ,clothes-,line4 ,in the first the capacity to draw was no doubt present1 but the power to express it through the medium of water-colour was as yet unacquired4 ,but after two years' study1 knowledge is present in its fulness1 and from now onwards the only changes in ,mrs4 ,allingham's work are a greater precision1 breadth1 facility of handling1 and harmony of colour4 ,the figure of the woman still smacks somewhat too much of the studio1 and she is a lady-like model1#g certainly not the type one would expect to see hanging out the washing of such a clearly limited and humble wardrobe as in this case4 ,the figure again detaches itself too much from the rest of the picture1 and ,mrs4 ,allingham1 we are sure1 would now never introduce such a jarring note as the scarlet and primrose handkerchief1 to which ,mr4 ,ruskin objected at the time it was painted4 ,the blanket1 clothes-line1 clothes-basket1 and other accessories are painted with a minuteness which was an admirable prelude to the breadth that was to follow2 but are singularly constrained in comparison with the yellow gorse bushes1 most difficult of any shrubs to limn1 but which here are noteworthy for unusual easiness of touch4 ,even with these qualifications the picture is a delightful one1 replete with grace and beauty1 and complete in its portrayal of the little incident of the baby1 a less robust little body than ,mrs4 ,allingham would now paint1 capturing as many of the clothes-pegs that her mother needs as her small fingers and arms can embrace4 ,illustration3 #ab4 ,,the ,,convalescent ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,r4 ,s4 ,budgett4 ,painted #ahgi4 ,this1 like ,the ,young ,customers1 was founded on previous work1 namely1 a black-and-white drawing made for the ,graphic1 as an illustration to ,mrs4 ,oliphant's ,innocent4 ,but in the story the patient dies from an over-dose administered in mistake by ,innocent1 who is nursing her4 ,some years afterwards the poisoning comes to light1 and ,innocent is tried and acquitted4 ,mrs4 ,allingham would never have voluntarily repeated such a subject as this1 and her temperament is shown in her having utilised the material for one in which refreshing sleep promises a speedy recovery4 ,illustration3 #ac4 ,,the ,,goat ,,carriage ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,sir ,f4 ,wigan4 ,painted #ahhj4 ,painted at ,broadstairs1 and containing portraits of ,mrs4 ,allingham's children4 ,noticeable as being one of a few drawings where the artist has introduced animals of any size into her compositions1 but showing that1 had she minded1 she might have animated her landscapes with them with as conspicuous success as she has with her human figures4 ,perhaps an incident which happened whilst this picture was being painted deterred her4 ,billy being tied up so as to keep him in somewhat the same position1 managed to gnaw through his rope1 and1 irate at his detention1 he made for the lady to whom he thought his captivity was due1 and nearly upset her1 paintbox1 and picture4 ,the exhibition of this and kindred portraits of her children under such titles as ,the ,young ,artist and ,the ,donkey ,ride1 led to strangers wishing for portraits of their offspring under similar winsome conditions4 ,but ,mrs4 ,allingham never cared for the restraint imposed by portrait painting1 and the few that she did in this manner were undertaken more from friendship than from pleasure4 ,illustration3 #ad4 ,,the ,,clothes-,,basket ,from the ,water-colour the property of ,mr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,johnson4 ,painted #ahhj4 ,it is very seldom that ,mrs4 ,allingham has treated her public to drawings with low horizons or sunsets1 perhaps for the reason that little of her life has been spent away in the flatter counties1 where the latter are so noticeable and full of charm and beauty4 ,this water-colour1 the first large landscape that the artist exhibited1 was painted from studies made in the ,isle of ,thanet1 whilst staying at ,broadstairs4 ,illustration3 #ae4 ,,in ,,the ,,hayloft ,from the ,water-colour the property of ,miss ,bell4 ,painted #ahhj4 ,this is practically the last of the water-colours which were the outcome of earlier pictures executed in black and white for the illustration of books4 ,the story is from ,deborah's ,drawer1 by ,eleanor ,grace ,o',reilly1 for which1 as ,helen ,paterson1 our artist had made nine drawings in #ahgj1 at a time when she was so inexperienced in drawing on the wood that in more than one instance her monogram appears turned the wrong way4 ,mr4 ,bell1 the publisher of the book1 subsequently commissioned her to make a companion water-colour to ,the ,young ,customers1 and suggested one of the illustrations called ,ralph's ,girls as the basis for a subject4 ,the little black-robed girls were twins1 whose mother had recently died1 and who had been placed under the care of a grandmother1 who forgot their youth and spirits4 ,they were imaginative children1 and indulged in delightfully original games4 ,one 7that of personating a sportsman named ,jenkins and a dog called ,tubbs1 who together went partridge-shooting through a big field of cabbages laden with dew7 they had just been taking part in4 ,tired out with it1 they decided to be themselves again1 and to mount to the hayloft and play another favourite game1 that of remembering4 ,this meant taking them back over their short lives1 which ended up with their most recent remembrance1 their mother's death4 ,whilst talking over this they are summoned from their retreat1 and have to appear with their black dresses soaked with the dew from the cabbages1 and with hay adhering everywhere to their deep crape trimmings4 ,hence much penance6 ,illustration3 #af4 ,,the ,,rabbit ,,hutch ,from the ,drawing the property of ,mr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,johnson4 ,painted #ahhj4 ,painted in ,london1 but from sketches made near ,broadstairs1 the house seen over the wall being one of those that are to be found along the east coast1 which bear a decided evidence of ,dutch influence in their architecture4 ,here again we have evidence that ,mrs4 ,allingham might1 had she been so minded1 have succeeded with animals as well as she has with human figures and landscape4 ,a little play is being enacted2 the dog1 evidently a rival of the inhabitants of the hutch1 has to be kept at a distance while their feeding is going on1 lest his jealousy might find an outlet in an onslaught upon them4 ,illustration3 #ag4 ,,the ,,donkey ,,ride ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,sir ,james ,kitson1 ,bart41 ,m4,p4 ,painted #ahhj4 ,this drawing was executed just at the turning of the ways1 when ,london was to be exchanged for country life1 and studio for out-of-door painting4 ,what an increased power came about through the change will be seen by a comparison between this ,donkey ,ride and the ,children's ,tea 7,plate #bc74 ,only two years separate them in date2 but whilst in the one we have timidity and hesitancy1 in the other the end is practically assured4 ,in ,the ,donkey ,ride we have evidences of experiments1 especially in the direction of finicking stippling 7all over the sea and sky7 and of the use of body-colour 7in the baby's bonnet and the flowers71 which were abandoned later on1 to the artist's exceeding great benefit4 ,what we expect to find1 and do find1 is the pure sentiment1 and the dainty freshness1 which is never absent from the earliest efforts onwards4 ,the scene is the cliffs near ,broadstairs1 ,mrs4 ,allingham's two eldest children occupying the panniers4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,artist',s ,,surrey ,,home ,there are few fairer counties in ,england than ,surrey1 and of ,surrey the fairest portion is admittedly the extreme south-western edge which skirts ,sussex to the south and ,hampshire to the west4 ,travellers from ,london to ,portsmouth by the ,london and ,south-,western ,railway on leaving ,guildford pass through the middle of the right angle which this corner makes1 and cut the corner two miles beyond ,haslemere almost exactly at the point where the three counties meet4 ,as the steep rise of nearly #cjj feet which has to be surmounted in the six miles which divide ,witley from ,haslemere is being negotiated by the train1 the most unobservant passenger must be struck by the singularly beautiful wooded character of the country on either side1 and by the far-extended view which is unfolded as the eye looks southward over the ,weald of ,sussex4 ,it was to ,sandhills1 near ,witley1 that ,mrs4 ,allingham came to live in #ahha with her growing family1 and it was in this corner of ,surrey that she found ample material for almost all her work during the next few years2 and it is there that she has returned at intervals for the majority of those cottage subjects which the public has called for1 ever since her first portrayal of them shortly after her commencement of landscape painting in these parts4 ,witley consists of groups of irregularly-dotted-about houses1 which hardly constitute a village1 and would perhaps be better designated by the proper name--,witley ,street4 ,a few years ago every one of the houses counted their ages by centuries1 and were fitting companions of the ancient oaks and elms that shaded them4 ,some few are left1 but the majority are gone1 many so long before the term of their natural existence had run that it was a troublesome piece of work to destroy them4 ,there is also an old ,domesday ,book ,church4 ,drawings of almost all of the cottages1 from the hand of ,mrs4 ,allingham1 are in existence somewhere or other1 but she never seems to have painted this or other churches1 having apparently little liking for them1 as had ,birket ,foster4 ,in the present case the omission to do so arose from the fact that in painting it she would have formed one of the occupants of half-a-dozen outspread white umbrellas1 all taking a stiffly-composed subject from the same point of view4 ,sandhills1 where our artist lived1 is on the ,haslemere side of ,witley1 on a sloping common of heather and gorse1 topped with fir trees4 ,from thence the view1 looking southwards1 extends far and wide over the ,weald of ,surrey and ,sussex1 ,hindhead1 a mountain-like hill rising behind1 and ,blackdown1 a spur stretching out on to the ,sussex ,valley to the right4 ,in the distance are to be seen the rising grounds near ,midhurst and ,petworth1 ,chanctonbury ,ring with its tuft of trees1 called locally ,the ,squire's ,hunting ,cap1 and on a clear day the downs as far as ,brighton and ,lewes4 ,it is indeed a healthy and bracing spot1 and one calculated to induce a painter to energetic work1 and a delight in doing it4 ,subjects lay close at hand1 the ,sandhills garden furnishing many a one4 ,master ,hardy's1 a charming cottage tenanted by a charming old man1 was within a stone's throw1 and received attention inside and out4 ,of the ,hindhead ,road1 which passes south-west1 a single ,exhibition1 that of #ahhf1 contained six subjects1 all of them wayside cottages1 but no one of which1 when the ,exhibition opened1 was as depicted1 having in that short time been done up by local builders at the bidding of ,philistine owners4 ,the neighbourhood round is1 or perhaps we should say was1 also prolific in subjects--,haslemere1 four miles south-west1 with its pleasant wide old streets1 and with fields tilted up at the end of it1 furnished its ,fish-,shop1 and other thoroughly ,english village scenes4 ,some two miles south of ,haslemere was ,aldworth1 ,lord ,tennyson's house1 a mile over the ,sussex border1 although always spoken of as his ,surrey residence4 ,to ,mrs4 ,allingham's work there we shall have occasion to refer later on4 ,the varied summits of ,hindhead 7painted a century earlier by ,turner and ,rowlandson1 and at that time adorned with a gibbet for the benefit of the highwaymen who infested the ,portsmouth ,road1 which passes over it71 in one place bare moor1 in another crested with fir trees1 lay some distance northward of ,haslemere2 but our artist did not often depict them1 although they presented themselves under many a charming aspect1 and never more glorious than at sunset in their robes of violet and gold4 ,a thoroughly characteristic view of them is however given in the ,lord ,chief ,justice's drawing 7,plate #ai74 ,to the southward of ,sandhills stretches1 as we have said1 the ,weald4 ,to this district ,mrs4 ,allingham made frequent excursions1 not only for cottages1 which she found at ,hambledon1 ,chiddingfold1 and ,wisborough1 but for spring and autumn subjects in the oak woods and copses which to this day probably bear much the same aspect as did the ancient ,forest of ,anderida 7whose site they occupy7 in the time of the ,heptarchy4 ,oak is the tree of the wealden clay on the lower levels1 but elms grow to a grand size on the higher ground1 where ashes are also numerous4 ,spanish chestnuts encamp in state on certain slopes1 and many of the hills are fringed and pillared with pines4 ,the interminable hazel copses are interspersed with long labyrinthine paths1 the intricacies of which are only known to the countryside folk4 ,not so long ago the cutting down at intervals of the young wood for the purposes of hop poles1 hurdles1 and kindling1 brought in a handsome revenue to the owners2 but of late years wire has taken the place of wood for the two first of these objects1 and the labourers prefer dear coal to wood1 even as a gift1 for it does not entail cutting up4 ,as railway rates to bring it to the metropolis are prohibitive1 it is hard to say what the consequences will be in a few years1 but the probabilities actually point to a return to the primitive conditions which existed in the ,saxon times to which we have referred4 ,in the spring the country round is decked with primroses1 bluebells1 and cowslips in the woods1 hedgerows1 and fields1 being fortunately outside the range of the marauders from ,london2 and it is indeed pleasurable to ramble from copse to field1 and back again4 ,but in autumn and winter the deep clay soil makes it heavy travelling in the deep-cut roads and lanes1 cumbered with the redolent decay of the leafage from the trees4 ,the cottars were1 when the majority of these drawings were made1 rural and old-fashioned1 and many had lived hereabouts through numerous generations4 ,a quiet1 taciturn folk1 contented with moderate comforts1 on good terms with their wealthier neighbours1 not often feeling the pinch of poverty4 ,maybe all are not so good-looking as ,mrs4 ,allingham has depicted them1 but they vary much1 some being flaxen ,saxons1 others as dark complexioned as gipsies4 ,as will be seen1 they have a taste and enjoyment for colour1 if not for change1 in the gardens with which their cottages are fairly well supplied4 ,these are bright at one or other season of the year with snowdrop1 crocus1 and daffodil1 lilac1 sweetwilliam1 and pink1 sunflower1 ,michaelmas daisy1 and chrysanthemum4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the following drawings have been selected as illustrating the neighbourhood of ,mrs4 ,allingham's home at ,sandhills3-- ,illustration3 #ah4 ,a ,,witley ,,lane ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,h4 ,w4 ,birks4 ,painted #ahhg4 ,it is very seldom that we encounter a drawing of ,mrs4 ,allingham that deals with ,nature in winter's garb4 ,in this respect she differs from ,birket ,foster1 who rightly considered that trees were oftentimes as beautiful in their nude as in their clothed array4 ,especially did he delight in the towering framework of the elm1 which he regarded as the most typical of ,english trees4 ,nor is it often that we see ,mrs4 ,allingham afield so early in the spring as in this lane scene1 where the elms are clothed only in their ruddy hearted blossom flakes4#h ,perhaps this absence is due to prudential reasons1 to avoid the rheumatism which appears to be the only ailment which the landscapist runs against in his healthy outdoor profession4 ,those who have seen the woods of ,surrey and ,sussex at this time of year know what a lovely colour they assume in the budding stage1 a colour that makes the view over the ,weald from such a vantage-ground as ,blackdown a sea of ravishing violet hues1 almost equalling that of the oak forests as seen in ,february from the ,terrace at ,pau1 which stretch away to the snow-clad range of the ,pyrenees--perhaps the most delicately perfect view in ,europe4 ,but the day selected for this sketch was evidently a warm one for the time of year1 or we should not see that unusual occurrence1 an open bedroom window in a labourer's cottage4 ,the flowering whin is no index to the season1 for we know the old adage-- ,when the whin's in bloom1 my love's in tune4 ,but the catkins on the hazel1 and the primroses on the banks1 must place it round that elastic date1 ,eastertide4 ,these wayside primroses remind one of a strongly expressed opinion of ,mrs4 ,allingham's1 that wayside flowers should never be gathered1 but left for the enjoyment of the passers-by--a liberal one1 which was first instilled into her by her husband1 who wrote verses upon it1 from which ,i cull the following lines3-- ,pluck not the wayside flower1 ,it is the traveller's dower2 ,a thousand passers-by ,its beauties may espy4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the primrose on the slope ,a spot of sunshine dwells1 ,and cheerful message tells4 99 99 99 99 99 ,then spare the wayside flower6 ,it is the traveller's dower4 ,illustration3 #ai4 ,,hindhead ,,from ,,witley ,,common ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,lord ,chief ,justice of ,england4 ,painted #ahhh4 ,when this drawing appeared in the ,exhibition of #ahhi there were some who called in question the truthfulness of the colour of distant ,hindhead1 affirming that it was too blue4 ,but when the air comes up in ,august from the southward1 laden with a salty moisture1 and the shadows are cast by hurrying clouds over the distance1 it is altogether and exactly of the hue set down here4 ,had the effect been incorrect it would hardly have been acquired by so critical a collector as ,lord ,alverstone1 nor would it have been hung in his ,surrey home1 where it invites daily comparison with ,nature under similar aspects4 ,the drawing was painted on the spot1 from just behind the artist's house1 and is one of the few instances where she has added to the charm of her work by a sky of some intricacy4 ,in her cottage and other drawings1 where buildings or other landscape objects are of primary importance1 she has felt that the simpler the treatment of the sky the better1 and with good reason4 ,here1 where a large expanse calls for interesting forms to cover it1 she has shown her complete ability to introduce them4 ,mrs4 ,allingham's house at ,sandhills was below the foreground slope1 to the right of the cottages whose roofs rise from the ling4 ,the highest point of ,hindhead seen here is ,hurt ,hill1 some nine hundred feet above sea-level1 a name which ,mr4 ,allingham always held to be a corruption of ,whort ,hill1 from the whortleberries with which its slopes are covered1 and which in these1 as in other parts are called wurts4 ,illustration3 #bj4 ,,in ,,witley ,,village ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,charles ,churchill4 ,painted #ahhd4 ,this drawing was in ,the ,fine ,art ,society's ,exhibition in #ahhf1 the catalogue stating that the cottage had disappeared in the spring of #ahhe4 ,it was pulled down by its owner to be replaced by buildings whose monotonous symmetry1 to his eye no doubt1 appeared in better taste4 ,the cottage was still far from the natural term of its existence1 as evidenced by the troublesome piece of work it was to dislocate the sound1 firm old oaken beams of which its framework was built up4 ,mr4 ,birket ,foster1 who equally with ,mrs4 ,allingham mourned its disappearance1 regretted that he could not rebuild it in his own grounds4 ,the blackening elms1 and the ripe bracken carried home by the cottar1 show that the time when this picturesque dwelling was painted was late summer1 probably that of #ahhd4 ,mrs4 ,allingham was clearly then not of ,ruskin's opinion concerning the wrongness of painting trees in full leaf1 for she found the blue-black of the trees a harmonious background to her red and russet roof4 ,the work throughout shows a loving fidelity to ,nature1 as if the artist had felt that she was looking upon the likeness of an old friend for the last time1 and wished to perpetuate every lineament and feature4 ,illustration3 #ba4 ,,blackdown ,,from ,,witley ,,common ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,lord ,davey4 ,painted #ahhf4 ,this view is taken from the same bridle-path as is seen in ,lord ,alverstone's ,hindhead1 but at a lower elevation1 and looking some points more to the south2 also at a later time of year1 probably in early ,october1 to judge by the browning hazels4 ,the bracken-covered elevation in the distance is ,grays ,wood ,common1 which lies to the south of the railway1 and the spur of blue hill seen in the distance is ,blackdown4 ,aldworth1 ,lord ,tennyson's seat1 lies just this side of where the hill falls away4 ,the drawing is one of three only in the whole collection where ,mrs4 ,allingham has introduced a draught animal4 ,illustration3 #bb4 ,,the ,,fish-,,shop1 ,,haslemere ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,a4 ,e4 ,cumberbatch4 ,painted #ahhg4 ,one can well understand the local builder in his daily round past this picturesque little tenement casting longing eyes upon its uneven roof1 its diamond-paned lattices1 its projecting shop front1 and its spoutless eaves1 which allowed the damp to rise up from the foundations and the green lichen to grow upon its walls1 and that he rested not until he had set hands upon it1 and taken one more old-world feature from the main thoroughfare at ,haslemere4 ,such was actually the case here1 for the shop has long ago disappeared1 but it was not until1 much to its owner's regret1 interference was necessary4 ,were it not that it indeed was the fish-shop of ,haslemere1 it might well have served for the toyshop in which the scene of ,the ,young ,customers was laid4 ,in the days when this was painted the accommodation provided was probably sufficient for the intermittent supply of an inland village1 for ,haslemere was not1 until the last few years1 a country resort for those who seek fine air and beautiful scenery1 and can afford to pay a high price for it4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,witley ,it will be readily understood that such a beneficial change in her life surroundings as that from ,trafalgar ,square1 ,chelsea1 to ,sandhills1 ,witley1 was not without its effect upon ,mrs4 ,allingham's ,art4 ,hitherto her work had1 by the exigencies of fortune1 lain almost wholly and entirely in the direction of the figure4 ,it was studio work1 done for the most part under pressure of time1 the selection of subject being none of hers1 and therefore oftentimes altogether unsympathetic4 ,finding herself now in the presence of ,nature of a kind that appealed to her1 and which she could appreciate untrammelled by any conditions1 it is not surprising that--unwittingly1 no doubt1 at first--the preference was given to that side of ,art which presented itself under so much more favourable conditions4 ,the delight of painting en plein air had first been tasted at ,shere in the spring and summer of #ahgh1 where she was passionately happy in watching the changes and developments of the seasons1 being in the fields1 lanes1 and copses all day and every day4#i ,almost as full a feast had followed at ,haslemere in #ahhj4 ,when these were succeeded by a permanent residence in front of ,nature1 studio work became more and more trying and unsatisfactory4 ,to most people of an artistic temperament the abandonment of the figure for landscape would never have been the subject of a moment's consideration1 for it would have appeared to them the desertion of a higher for a lower grade of ,art4 ,but from the time of her arrival in the country there seems to have never been any doubt in ,mrs4 ,allingham's mind as to the direction which her ,art should take4 ,the pleasure to which we have referred of sitting down in the open air before ,nature1 whose aspects and moods she could select at her own will1 and at her own time1 was infinitely preferable to the toil and trouble of either illustrating the ideas of others1 or building up scenes1 oftentimes improbable ones1 of her own creation4 ,from this time onwards1 then1 we find her drifting away from the figure1 but not altogether1 or at once1 for as her family grew up1 scenes in her house life passed across her view which she enjoyed to place on record1 and for which the world thanks her3 scenes of infant life in the nursery1 such as ,pat-a-cake and ,the ,children's ,tea2 in the schoolroom1 such as ,lessons2 and out of school hours1 such as ,bubbles and ,the ,children's ,maypole4 ,in one and all of these it is her own family who are the chief actors4 ,the portrayal of her children in heads of a larger size than her usual work was at this time seen by friends and others1 who pressed upon her commissions for effigies of their own little ones1 a branch of work which promptly drew down upon her the disapproval of ,ruskin1 who wrote3 ,i am indeed sorrowfully compelled to express my regret that she should have spent unavailing pains in finishing single heads1 which are at the best uninteresting miniatures1 instead of fulfilling her true gift1 and doing what the ,lord made her for in representing the gesture1 character1 and humour of charming children in country landscapes4 ,but this change naturally did not pass over her work all at once1 or even in a single year4 ,mrs4 ,allingham's presentations of the countryside commenced in earnest shortly after her settling down at ,witley in #ahha2 but as will be seen by the dates of the pictures which illustrate this chapter1 the figure as the dominant feature continues for another six years2 in fact1 during the whole of her seven and a half years at ,witley we find it now and again1 and do not part with it as such until #ahij4 ,since then hardly a single example has come from her brush4 ,mrs4 ,allingham gives as her reason for the change that she came to the conclusion that she could put as much interest into a figure two or three inches high as in one three times as large1 and that she could paint it better2 for in painting large figures out of doors it was always a difficulty in making them look anything else than they were1 namely1 posing models4 ,but if the figure ceases to occupy the foremost position1 it is still there1 and is always present to add a charming vitality to all that she does4 ,to people a landscape with figures1 of captivating mien1 each taking its proper position1 and each adding to the interest of the whole1 is a gift which is the property of but few landscapists4 ,it is indeed a gift1 for we have before us the example of the greatest landscapist of all1 who the more he strove the more he failed4 ,but it is a gift which we believe many more might obtain by strenuous endeavour4 ,it is always a matter of surprise to the ignorant public how it comes to pass that an artist who can draw nature admirably should never attempt to learn the draftsmanship of the human figure1 by the omission of which from his work he deprives it of half its interest and value4 ,he often goes a step further1 and shows not his inability but his indolence by producing picture after picture1 upon the face of which no single instance occurs of the introduction of man1 beast1 or bird1 save and except a single unpretentious creature of the lowest grade of the feathered creation2 this1 however1 he will draw sufficiently well to prove that he could1 an he would1 double the interest in his landscapes4 ,to the outsider this appears incomprehensible in the person of those who apparently are thorough artists1 ardent in their profession4 ,one meets such an one at table1 and even between the courses he cannot refrain from taking out his pencil and covering the menu with his scribblings2 but the same man appears before ,nature without a note-book1 in which he might be storing so many jottings1 which would be of untold value to his work4 ,mrs4 ,allingham's case has been the entire contrary to this2 she has1 ,i will not say toiled1 for the garnering must be a pleasure1 but stored1 many a time and oft1 for future use1 a mass of valuable material1 so that she is never at a loss for the right adjunct to fit the right place4 ,her so doing was1 in the first instance1 due entirely to her husband4 ,he said1 truly1 that the introduction of animals and birds1 in fact1 any form of life1 gave scale and interest to a picture1 and he urged her to begin making studies from the first4 ,there is not the slightest doubt that she owed very much to him that habit of thinking out fitting figures1 as she has always tried1 and with exceptional success1 as accessories to every landscape4 ,her sketch-books1 consequently1 are full not only of men1 women1 and children1 and their immediate belongings1 but of most of the animal life which follows in their train4 ,i say most1 because for some reason1 which ,i have not elicited from her1 she has preferences4 ,horses1 cattle1 and sheep she will have but little of1 only occasionally introducing them in distant hay or harvest fields4 ,the only instances of anything akin to either in this book are the animals in ,the ,goat ,carriage1 and ,the ,donkey ,ride4 ,nor will she have much to say to dogs1 but for cats she has a great fondness1 and they animate a large number of her scenes4 ,fowls1 pigeons1 and the like she paints to the life1 and she apparently is thoroughly acquainted with their habits2 but other winged creatures1 save an occasional robin1 she avoids4 ,rabbits1 wild and tame1 she often introduces4 ,her pictures being always typical of repose1 she avoids much motion in her figures4 ,her children even1 seldom indulge in violent action1 unlike those of ,birket ,foster1 who run races down hill1 use the skipping-rope1 fly kites1 and urge the horses in the lane out of their accustomed foots-pace4 99 99 99 99 99 ,as typical examples of the drawings made in the early days at ,witley1 and whilst the figure was the main object1 we have selected the following3-- ,illustration3 #bc4 ,,the ,,children',s ,,tea ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,w4 ,hollins4 ,painted #ahhb4 ,this is the most important1 and1 to my mind1 the most delightful of any of ,mrs4 ,allingham's creations2 quite individual1 and quite unlike the work of any one else4 ,not only is the subject a charming one1 but the actors in it all hold one's attention4 ,it is certainly destined in the future to hold a high place among the examples of ,english water-colour art4 ,the scene is laid in ,mrs4 ,allingham's dining-room at ,sandhills1 ,witley1 and contains portraits of her children4 ,the incidents are slight but original4 ,the mother is handing a cup of tea1 but no one notices it1 for the eldest girl's attention is taken up with the old cat lapping its milk1 her younger sister1 with her back to the window1 is occupied in feeding her doll1 propped up against a cup1 from a large bowl of bread and milk1 and the two other children are attracted to a sulphur butterfly which has just alighted on a glass of lilies of the valley4 ,the etceteras are painted as beautifully as the bigger objects2 note1 for instance1 the bowl of daffodils on the old oak cupboard1 the china on the table1 and even the buns and the preserves4 ,the whole is suffused with the warmth of a spring afternoon1 the season being ascertainable by the budding trees outside1 and the spring flowers inside4 ,exception may be taken to the faces not being more in shadow from a light which1 although reflected from the tablecloth1 is apparently behind them1 and to the tablecloth being whiter than the sky1 which it would not be4 ,the fact1 as regards the former1 is that the faces were also lit from a window behind the spectator1 whilst the latter is a permissible licence4 ,illustration3 #bd4 ,,the ,,stile ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,alfred ,shuttleworth4 ,painted #ahhc4 ,the effort of negotiating a country stile1 such as the one here depicted1 which has no aids in the way of subsidiary steps1 always induces a desire to rest by the way4 ,especially is this the case when a well-worn top affords a substantial seat4 ,time is evidently of little importance to the two sisters1 for they have lingered in the hazel copse gathering hyacinths and primroses4 ,besides1 the little one has asserted her right to a meal1 and that would of itself be a sufficient excuse for lingering on the journey4 ,the dog seems of the same way of thinking1 and is evidently eagerly weighing the chances as to how much of the slice of bread and butter will fall to its share4 ,the drawing is a rich piece of colouring1 but the hedgerow bank1 with its profusion and variety of flowers1 shows just that lack of a restraining hand which is so evident in ,mrs4 ,allingham's fully-matured work4 ,it was painted entirely in the open air1 close to ,sandhills1 and the model who sat for the little child is now the artist's housemaid4 ,illustration3 #be4 ,,pat-,a-,,cake ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,sir ,f4 ,wigan1 ,bt4 ,painted #ahhd4 ,this drawing1 although painted later than ,the ,children's ,tea1 would seem to be the prelude to a set in which practically the same figures take a part4 ,the motive here1 as in all ,mrs4 ,allingham's subjects1 is of the simplest kind4 ,the young girl reads from nursery rhymes that time-honoured one of ,pat-a-cake1 ,pat-a-cake1 ,baker's ,man4 ,it is apparently her younger brother's first introduction to the bye-play of patting1 which should accompany its recitation1 for the child regards the performance with some doubt1 and has to be trained by the nurse as to how its hands should be manuvred4 ,the drawing is full of details1 such as the workbox1 scissors1 thimble1 primroses1 and anemones in the bowl1 the china in the cupboard1 and the coloured engraving on the wall1 which1 as we have seen in the case of other painters who have practised it1 opens up in fuller maturity a power of painting which is never possible to those who have neglected such an education4 ,illustration3 #bf4 ,,lessons ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,johnson4 ,painted #ahhe4 ,the relations between the teacher and the taught appear to be somewhat strained this summer morning1 for the little girl in pink is evidently at fault with her lessons1 and the boy1 while presumably figuring up a sum on his slate1 has his eyes and ears open for a break in the silence which fills the room for the moment4 ,however1 in a short time it will be halcyon weather for all the actors1 for the sun is streaming in at the window1 the roses show that it is high summer1 and a day on which the sternest teacher could not condemn the most intractable child to lengthy indoor imprisonment4 ,this drawing is of the same importance as regards size as ,the ,children's ,tea1 and is full of charm in every part4 ,illustration3 #bg4 ,,bubbles ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,h4 ,b4 ,beaumont4 ,painted #ahhf4 ,lessons are over1 a stool has been brought from the schoolroom1 the kitchen has been invaded1 and the dish of soapsuds having been placed upon it the fun has begun4 ,who1 that has enjoyed it1 will forget the acrid taste of the long new churchwarden 7where do the children of the present day find such pipes if they ever condescend to the fascinating game of bubble-blowing87 that one naturally sucked away at long before the watery compound was ready1 the still more pungent taste of the household soap1 the delight of seeing the first iridescent globe detach itself from the pipe and float upwards on the still air1 or of raising a hundred globules by blowing directly into the basin1 as the smocked youngster is doing here4 ,such joys countervailed the smarts which befell one's eyes when the burst bubble scattered its fragments into them1 or when the suds came to an end1 not through their dissipation into air1 but over one's clothes4 ,illustration3 #bh4 ,,on ,,the ,,sands--,,sandown1 ,,isle ,,of ,,wight ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mrs4 ,francis ,black4 ,painted about #ahhf4 ,the family of young children that was now growing up round our artist naturally necessitated the summer holiday assuming a visit to the seaside1 and much of ,mrs4 ,allingham's time was1 no doubt1 spent on the shore in their company4 ,it is little matter for surprise that this pleasure was combined with that of welding them into pictures2 and1 if an excuse must be made for ,mrs4 ,allingham oftentimes robing her little girls in pink1 it is to be found in the fact that the models were almost invariably her own children1 who were so attired4 ,it certainly will not be one of the least agreeable incidents for those who saunter over the illustrations of this volume to distinguish them and trace their growth from the cradle onwards1 until they pass out of the stage of child models4 ,this drawing was painted on the shore at ,sandown1 ,isle of ,wight1 where the detritus of the ,culver chalk cliffs afforded1 in combination with the sand1 splendid material for the early achievements in architecture and estate planning which used to yield so healthy an occupation to youngsters4 ,it was a hazardous task to attempt success with such a variety of tones of white as here presented themselves1 but the result is entirely satisfactory4 ,in fact the drawing shows how readily and with what success the painter took up another phase of outdoor work1 not easy of accomplishment4 ,in those collections which include these seashore subjects they single themselves out from all their neighbours by the aptitude with which figures and a limpid sea are painted in sunshine4 ,this1 again1 is no doubt due to their having been entirely out-of-doors work4 ,illustration3 #bi4 ,,drying ,,clothes ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,johnson4 ,painted #ahhf4 ,this important drawing1 in which the figure is on a large scale1 makes one regret that ,mrs4 ,allingham abandoned her portraiture1 for a more captivating life study it is hard to imagine4 ,flattery apart1 one may say that ,frederick ,walker never drew a more ideal figure or conceived a more charming colour scheme4 ,the only feature which would perhaps have been omitted from a later work is that of the foxgloves in the corner1 which appears to be rather an artificial introduction4 ,the note of the little child behind the gate is charming4 ,it is evidently not allowed to wander in the field1 although the well-worn path shows that here is the main road to the cottage1 and it feels that a joy is denied it not to be allowed to participate in the ceremony of gathering in of the family washing1 as it was in younger days when the clothes were hung out4 ,illustration3 #cj4 ,,her ,,majesty',s ,,post ,,office ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,h4 ,b4 ,beaumont4 ,painted #ahhg4 ,this1 at the time it was painted1 was the only ,post ,office of which ,bowler's ,green1 near ,haslemere1 boasted1 and from its appearance it might well have served during the reigns of several of ,her ,majesty's predecessors4 ,it speaks much for the absence of ill-disposed persons in the neighbourhood that letters were for so long entrusted to its care1 as it seems far removed from the days of the scarlet funnel which probably now replaces it4 ,i opine that the young gentleman whom we saw a short while ago engaged in bubble-blowing has been entrusted here with the posting of a letter4 ,illustration3 #ca4 ,,the ,,children',s ,,maypole ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mrs4 ,dobson4 ,painted #ahhf4 ,may ,day still lingers in some parts of the country1 for only last year in an out-of-the-way lane in ,northamptonshire the writer encountered a band of children decked in flowers1 and their best frocks and ribbons1 singing an old ,may ditty4 ,but lovers have long ago ceased to plant trees before their mistresses' doors1 and to dance with them afterwards round the maypole on the village green1 which we too are old enough to remember in ,leicestershire4 ,the ceremony that ,mrs4 ,allingham's children are taking a part in was doubtless the recognition by a poet of his illustrious predecessor ,spenser's exhortation3-- ,youths folke now flocken in everywhere ,to gather ,may baskets1 and smelling briere2 ,and home they hasten1 the postes to dight ,with hawthorne buds1 and sweet eglantine1 ,and girlonds of roses1 and soppes in wine4 ,the scene is laid in the woods at ,witley4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,woods1 ,,the ,,lanes1 ,,and ,,the ,,fields ,i've been dreaming all night1 and thinking all day1 of the hedgerows of ,england2 ,they are in blossom now1 and the country is all like a garden2 ,thinking of lanes and of fields1 and the song of the lark and the linnet4 ,when ,mrs4 ,allingham finally1 ,i will not say determined to cut herself away from figure painting1 but by the influence of her surroundings drifted away from it1 she did not1 as so many do1 become the delineator of a single phase of landscape art4 ,her journeyings in search of subjects for some years were neither many nor extensive1 for a paintress with a family growing up around her has not the same opportunities as a painter4 ,he can leave his incumbrances in charge of his wife1 and his work will probably benefit by an occasional flitting from home surroundings4 ,but a mother's work would not thrive away from her children even if absence was possible1 which it probably was not in ,mrs4 ,allingham's case4 ,hence we find that the ground she has covered has been almost entirely confined to what are termed the ,home ,counties1 with an occasional diversion to the ,isle of ,wight1 ,dorsetshire1 ,gloucestershire1 and ,cheshire4 ,in the ,home ,counties1 ,surrey and ,kent have furnished most of her material1 the former naturally being oftenest drawn upon during her life at ,witley1 and the latter since she lived in ,london1 whither she returned in the year #ahhh4 ,this inability to roam about whither she chose was doubtless helpful in compelling her to vary her subjects1 for she would of necessity have to paint whatever came within her reach4 ,but her energy also had its share1 for it enabled her to search the whole countryside wherever she was1 and gather in a dozen suitable scenes where another might only discover one4 ,as evidence of this we may instance the case of the corner of ,kent whither she has gone again and again of late1 and where in the present year she has still been able to find ample material to her liking4 ,a visit to this somewhat out-of-the-way spot1 which lies in ,kent in an almost identically similar position to that which ,witley does in ,surrey1 namely1 in the extreme south-west corner1 shows how she has found material everywhere4 ,in the mile that separates the station from the farmhouse where she encamps1 she shows a cottage that she has painted from every side1 a brick kiln that she has her eye on1 an old yew1 and a clump of elms that has been most serviceable4 ,arriving at the farm-gate she points to the modest floral display in front that has sufficed for ,in the ,farmhouse ,garden 7,plate #b71 whilst over the way are the buildings of ,a ,kentish ,farmyard 7,plate #eh74 ,entering the house the visitor may not be much impressed with the view from her sitting-room window1 but under the artist's hands it has become the silvern sheet of daisies reproduced in ,plate #ch4 ,on the ,pilgrims' ,way 7,plate #da7 is a field or so away1 whilst a short walk up the downs behind the house finds us in the presence of the originals of ,plates #cb and #cf4 ,a drive across the vale and we have ,crockham ,hill1 whence comes ,plate #dj1 and ,ide ,hill1 ,plate #ee4 ,a ramble round these scenes1 whilst a most enjoyable matter to any one born to an appreciation of the country1 was in truth not the inspiration that would be imagined to the writer of the text1 for he had seen1 for instance1 the daintily conceived water-colour of ,ox-eye ,daisies 7,plate #ch71 painted a year ago1 and he arrived at the field to find this year's crop a failure1 and on a day in which the distant woods were hardly visible2 the scene of the ,foxgloves had all the underwood grown up1 and only a stray spike suggestive of the glory of past years2 gipsy tramps on the road to berrying 7strawberry gathering7 conjured up no visions of the tenant of ,mrs4 ,allingham's ,spring on the ,kentish ,downs1 but only a horrible thought of the strawberries defiled by being picked by their hands4 ,this description of the variety of the artist's work within a single small area will show that it is somewhat difficult to classify it for consideration4 ,however1 one or two arrangements and rearrangements of the drawings which illustrate these phases of the artist's output seem to bring them best into the following divisions3 woods1 lanes1 and fields2 cottages2 and gardens4 ,these we shall therefore consider in this and the following chapters1 dealing here with the first of them4 ,midway in her life at ,witley1 ,the ,fine ,art ,society induced ,mrs4 ,allingham to undertake1 as the subject for an ,exhibition1 the portrayal of the countryside under its four seasonal aspects of spring1 summer1 autumn1 and winter4 ,she completed her task1 and the result was shown in #ahhf in an ,exhibition1 but a glance at the catalogue shows in which direction her preference lay2 for whilst spring and summer between them accounted for more than fifty pictures1 only seven answered for autumn1 and six1 of which one half were interiors1 illustrated winter4 ,these proportions may not perhaps have represented the ratio of her affections1 but of her physical ability to portray each of the seasons4 ,autumn leaves and tints no doubt appealed to her artistic eye as much as spring or summer hues1 but for some reason1 perhaps that of health1 illustrations were few and far between of the time of year ,when yellow leaves1 or none1 or few1 do hang ,upon those boughs which shake against the cold1 ,bare ruin'd choirs1 where late the sweet birds sang4 ,in so selecting she differed from ,mr4 ,ruskin1 who has laid it down that a tree is never meant to be drawn with all its leaves on1 any more than a day when its sun is at noon4 ,one draws the day in its morning or eventide1 the tree in its spring or autumn dress4 ,this naturally exaggerated dictum is the contrary of ,mrs4 ,allingham's practice4 ,she almost invariably waits for the trees until they have completely donned their spring garb1 and leaves them ere they doff their summer dress4 ,the drawings of the woods1 lanes1 and fields which ,mrs4 ,allingham has selected for illustration here comprise six of spring1 three of summer1 and two of autumn1 winter being unrepresented4 ,they are culled as to seven from ,kent1 three from ,surrey1 and a single one from ,hertfordshire4 ,taking them in their seasonal order we may discuss them as follows3-- ,illustration3 #cb4 ,,spring ,,on ,,the ,,kentish ,,downs ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mrs4 ,beddington4 ,painted #aijj4 ,out of the city1 far away ,with spring to-day6 ,where copses tufted with primrose ,give one repose4 ,,william ,,allingham4 ,that the joy of spring is a never-failing subject for poets1 any one may see who turns over the pages of the numerous compilations which now treat of ,nature4 ,i doubt1 however1 whether they receive a higher pleasure from it than does the townsman who can only walk afield at rare intervals1 and whose first visit to the country each year is taken at ,eastertide4 ,he probably has no eye save for the contrasts which he experiences to his daily life1 of scene1 air1 and vitality1 but these will certainly infect him with a healthier love of life than is enjoyed by those who live amongst them and see them come and go4 ,fortunate is the man who can visit these ,kentish downs at a time when the breath of spring is touching everything1 when the eastern air makes one appreciate the shelter that the hazel copses fringing their sides afford1 an appreciation which is shared by the firs which hug their southern slopes4 ,it is very early spring in this drawing4 ,the highest trees show no sign of it save at their outermost edges4 ,hazels alone1 and they only in the shelter1 have shed their flowery tassels1 and assumed a leafage which is still immature in colour4 ,the sprawling trails of the traveller's joy1 which rioted over everything last autumn1 are still without any trace of returning vitality4 ,illustration3 #cc4 ,,tig ,,bridge ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,e4 ,s4 ,curwen4 ,painted #ahhg4 ,here the white ray'd anemone is born1 ,wood-sorrel1 and the varnish'd buttercup2 ,and primrose in its purfled green swathed up1 ,pallid and sweet round every budding thorn4 ,,william ,,allingham4 ,this little sequestered bridge would hardly seem to be of sufficient importance to deserve a name1 nor for the matter of that the streamlet1 the ,tigbourne1 which runs beneath it1 but on the ,hindhead slope streams of any size are scarce1 and therefore call for notice4 ,bridges resemble stiles in being enforced loitering places1 for whilst there is no effort which compels a halt in crossing bridges1 as there is with stiles1 there is the sense of mystery which underlies them1 and expectancy as to what the water may contain4 ,especially is this so for youth2 and so here we have boy and girl who pause on their way from bluebell gathering1 whilst the former makes belief of fishing with the thread of twine which youngsters of his age always find to hand in one or other of their pockets4 ,illustration3 #cd4 ,,spring ,,in ,,the ,,oakwood ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #aijc4 ,we have elsewhere remarked on the rare occasions on which ,mrs4 ,allingham utilises sunlight and shadow4 ,here1 however1 is one of them1 and one which shows that it is from no incapacity to do so1 for it is now introduced with a difficult effect1 namely1 blue flowers under a low raking light4 ,the artist's eye was doubtless attracted by the unusual visitation of a bright warm sun on a spring day1 and determined to perpetuate it4 ,the wood in which the scene is laid is on the ,kentish ,downs1 where1 as the distorted boughs show1 the winds are always in evidence4 ,the juxtaposition of the two primaries1 blue and yellow1 is always a happy one in nature1 but specially is it so when we have such a mass of sapphire blue4 ,blue1 gentle cousin of the forest green1 ,married to green in all the sweetest flowers-- ,forget-me-not1 the bluebell1 and that queen ,of secrecy the violet4 ,illustration3 #ce4 ,,the ,,cuckoo ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,a4 ,hugh ,thompson4 ,painted about #ahhg4 ,in a recent ,one ,man ,exhibition by that refined artist ,mr4 ,eyre ,walker1 there was a very unusual drawing entitled ,beauty for ,ashes4 ,the entire foreground was occupied with a luxuriant growth of purple willow loosestrife1 intermixed with the silvery white balls of down from seeding nipplewort4 ,standing gaunt from this intermingling1 luxuriant crop1 were the charred stems of burnt fir trees1 whilst the living mass of their fellows formed an agreeable background4 ,the subject must have attracted many travellers on the ,south-,western ,railway as they passed ,byfleet2 it did so in ,mr4 ,walker's case to the extent that he stayed his journey and painted it4 ,in that case this beautiful display had1 as the title to the picture hints1 arisen from the ashes of a forest4 ,a spark from a train had set fire to the wood1 and had apparently destroyed every living thing in its course4 ,but such is ,nature that out of death sprang life4 ,so it has been with the coppice here1 and in the oakwood scene which preceded it4 ,the cutting down and clearing of the wood has brought sun1 air1 and rain to the soil1 and as a consequence have followed the ,sheets of hyacinth ,that seem the heavens upbreaking thro' the earth4 ,the drawing takes its name from the cuckoo whose note has arrested the children's attention4 ,illustration3 #cf4 ,,the ,,old ,,yew ,,tree ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #aijc4 ,the sad yew is seen ,still with the black cloak round his ancient wrongs4 ,,william ,,allingham4 ,one of many that are dotted about the southern slopes of the ,westerham ,downs1 and that1 not only here but all along the line of the ,pilgrims' ,way1 are regarded as having their origin in these devotees4 ,the drawing was made in the early part of the present year1 when the primroses and violets were out1 but before there was anything else1 save the blossom of the willow1 to show that ,the spring comes slowly up this way1 ,slowly1 slowly6 ,to give the world high holiday4 ,illustration3 #cg4 ,,the ,,hawthorn ,,valley1 ,,brocket ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,lord ,mount-,stephen4 ,painted #ahih4 ,it is somewhat remarkable that the most impressive flower-show that ,nature presents to our notice1 namely1 when1 as ,may passes into ,june1 the whole countryside is decked with a bridal array of pure white1 should have taken hold of but few of our poets4 ,shakespeare1 of course1 recognised it in lines which make one smile at the idea that they could ever have been composed by a town-bred poet3-- ,o what a life were this6 ,how sweet1 how lovely6 ,gives not the hawthorn-bush a sweeter shade ,to shepherds1 looking on their silly sheep1 ,than doth a rich embroidered canopy ,to kings that fear their subjects' treachery4 ,another1 in the person of ,mrs4 ,allingham's husband1 penned a sonnet upon it containing the following happy description3-- ,cluster'd pearls upon a robe of green1 ,and broideries of white bloom4 ,the scene of this drawing is laid in the park at ,brocket ,hall1 to which reference is made in connection with a subsequent illustration 7,plate #fe74 ,the park is full of ancient timber1 one great oak on the border of the two counties 7,herts and ,beds7 being mentioned in ,doomsday ,book1 and another going by the name of ,queen ,elizabeth's oak1 from the tradition that the ,princess was sitting under it when the news reached her that she was ,queen of ,england4#aj ,the ,hawthorn ,valley runs for nearly a mile from one of the park entrances towards the more woodland part of the estate1 and was formerly used as a private race-course4 ,the artist has treated a very difficult subject with success1 as any one1 especially an amateur1 who has tried to portray masses of hawthorn blossom will readily admit4 ,any attempt to draw the flowers and fill in the foliage is hopeless1 and it can only be done1 as in this case1 by erasure4 ,hardly less difficult to accomplish are the delicate fronds of the young bracken1 unfolding upwards by inches a day1 which can only be treated suggestively4 ,in the original1 which is on a somewhat large scale1 the middle distance is enlivened with browsing rabbits1 but the very considerable reduction of the drawing has reduced these to a size which renders them hardly distinguishable4 ,illustration3 #ch4 ,,ox-,,eye ,,daisies1 ,,near ,,westerham1 ,,kent ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #aijb4 ,whilst no ,exhibition passes nowadays which has not one or more representations of the blithe populace of daisies1 the fashion has only come in of late years4 ,even the ,flemings1 who were so partial to the flowers of the field1 seem to have considered it beneath their notice--a strange occurrence1 because one can hardly turn over the pages of any missal of a corresponding epoch without coming upon many a faithful representation of the rose-encircled orb4 ,chaucer extolled it ,above all the flow'res in the mead ,then love ,i most these flow'res white and red1 ,such that men callen daisies in our town4 ,and much content it gave him ,to see this flow'r against the sunne spread4 ,when it upriseth early by the morrow ,that blissful sight softeneth all my sorrow4 ,he recognised its name of day's eye1 because it opens and closes its flower with the daylight1 in the lines-- ,the daisie or els the eye of the daie1 ,the emprise and the floure of floures alle4 ,in fact it was a favourite with ,english poets long before it came under the notice of ,english painters4 ,witness ,milton's well-known line-- ,meadows trim with daisies pied4 ,it was not until the epoch of the pre-,raphaelite brethren that the daisies which pie the meadows seemed worthy of perpetuation1 and it was reserved to ,frederick ,walker1 in his ,harbour of ,refuge1 to limn them on a lawn falling beneath the scythe4 ,the flower that ,mrs4 ,allingham has painted with so much skill--for it is a very difficult undertaking to suggest a mass of daisies without too much individualising--is not1 of course1 the field daisy 7bellis perennis7 but the ox-eye1 or moon daisy1 which is really a chrysanthemum 7chrysanthemum leucanthemum71 a plant which seems to have increased very much of late years1 especially on railway embankments1 maybe because it has come into vogue1 and actually been advanced to a flower worthy of gathering and using as a table decoration1 an honour that would never have been bestowed on it a quarter of a century ago4 ,the drawing was made from the window of the farmhouse in ,kent1 to which1 as we have said1 ,mrs4 ,allingham runs down at all seasons4 ,it was evidently made on a glorious summer day1 when every flower had expanded to its utmost under the delicious heat of a ripening sun4 ,the bulbous cloudlet which floats in front of the whiter strata1 and the blueness of the distant woods may augur rain in the near future1 but for the moment everything appears to be in a serenely happy condition1 except perhaps the farmer1 who would fain see a crop in which there was less flower and more grass4 ,illustration3 #ci4 ,,foxgloves ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mrs4 ,c4 ,a4 ,barton4 ,painted #ahih4 ,foxgloves have appealed to ,mrs4 ,allingham for portrayal in more than one locality in ,england1 but never in greater luxuriance than on this ,kentish woodside1 where their spikes overtop the sweet little sixteen-year-old faggot-carrier4 ,it happens to be another instance of a magnificent crop springing up the first year after a growth of saplings have been cleared away1 and not to be repeated even in this year of grace 7#aijc7 when the newspapers have been full of descriptions of the unwonted displays of foxgloves everywhere1 and have been taunting the gardeners upon their poor results in comparison with ,nature's4 ,illustration3 #dj4 ,,heather ,,on ,,crockham ,,hill1 ,,kent ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #aijb4 ,it is perhaps a fallacy1 or at least heresy1 to assert that ,english heather bears away the palm for beauty over that of the country with which it is more popularly associated4 ,but many1 ,i am sure1 will agree with me that nowhere in ,scotland is any stretch of heather to be found which can eclipse in its magnificence of colour that which extends for mile after mile over ,surrey and ,kentish commonland in mid ,august4 ,in the summer in which this drawing was painted it was especially noticeable as being in more perfect bloom than it had been known to be for many seasons4 ,illustration3 #da4 ,,on ,,the ,,pilgrims' ,,way ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #aijb4 ,i was taken to task by ,mrs4 ,allingham a while ago for saying that her affections were not so set upon the delineation of harvesting as were those of most landscapists1 and she stated that she had painted the sheafed fields again and again4 ,but ,i held to my assertion1 and proof comes in this drawing just handed to me4 ,not one artist in ten would1 ,i am certain1 have sat down to his subject on this side of the hedge1 but would have been over the stile1 and made his foreground of the shorn field and stacked sheaves1 breaking their monotony of form and colour by the waggon and its attendant labourers4 ,but ,mrs4 ,allingham could not pass the harvest of the hedge1 and was satisfied with just a peep of the corn through the gap formed by the stile4 ,it is not surprising1 for who that is fond of flowers could pass such a gladsome sight as the display which ,nature has so lavishly offered month after month the summer through to those who cared to notice it4 ,in ,may the hedge was white with hawthorn1 in ,june gay with dog-roses and white briar1 in ,july with convolvuli and woodbine1 and now again in ,august comes the clematis and the blackberry flower4 ,illustration3 #db4 ,,night-,,jar ,,lane1 ,,witley ,from the ,drawing in the possession of ,mr4 ,e4 ,s4 ,curwen4 ,painted #ahhg4 ,one of those steep self-made roads which the passage of the seasons rather than of man has furrowed and deepened in the flow of the deep still wood1 a lodgment for the leaves from whose depths that charming lament of the dying may well have arisen1-- ,said ,fading ,leaf to ,fallen ,leaf1 ,i toss alone on a forsaken tree1 ,it rocks and cracks with every gust that rocks ,its straining bulk3 say6 how is it with thee8 ,said ,fallen ,leaf to ,fading ,leaf1 ,a heavy foot went by1 an hour ago2 ,crush'd into clay1 ,i stain the way2 ,the loud wind calls me1 and ,i cannot go4 ,the name ,night-,jar1 by which this lane is known1 is unusual1 and probably points to its having been a favourite hunting-ground for a seldom-seen visitant1 for which it seems well-fitted4 ,the name may well date back to ,white of ,selborne's time1 who lived not far away1 and termed the bird a wonderful and curious creature1 which it must be if1 as he records1 it commences its jar1 or note1 every evening so exactly at the close of day that it coincided to a second with the report--which he could distinguish in summer--of the ,portsmouth evening gun4 ,night-jars are most deceptive in their flight1 one or two giving an illusion of many by their extremely rapid movements and turns2 and they may well have been very noticeable to persons in the confined space of this gully1 especially as the observer in his evening stroll would probably stir up the moths1 which are the bird's favourite food1 and which would attract it into his immediate vicinity4 ,how much interest would be added to a countryside were the lanes all fitted with titles such as this4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,cottages ,,and ,,homesteads ,the ancient haunts of men have numberless tongues for those who know how to hear them speak4 ,it was not until some fifteen years of ,mrs4 ,allingham's career as a painter in water-colour had been accomplished that she found the subject with which her name has since been so inseparably linked4 ,looking through the ranks of her associates in the ,art it is in rare instances that we encounter so complete a departure out of a long-practised groove1 or one which has been so amply justified4 ,but in selecting ,english ,cottages and ,homesteads1 and peopling them with a comely tenantry1 she happened upon a theme that was certain not only to obtain the suffrages of the ordinary exhibition visitors1 but of those who add to seeing1 admiration and acquisition4 ,thus it has come to pass that in the other fifteen years which have elapsed since she first began to paint them1 ,mrs4 ,allingham's ,cottages have become a household word amongst connoisseurs of ,english water-colours1 and no representative collection has been deemed to be complete without an example of them4 ,this appreciation is very assuredly a sound one1 as the value of these pictures does not consist solely in their beauty as works of ,art1 but in their recording in line and colour a most interesting but unfortunately vanishing phase of ,english domestic architecture4 ,for the cottages are almost without exception veritable portraits1 the artist 7whilst naturally selecting those best suited to her purpose7 having felt it a duty to present them with an accuracy of structural feature which is not always the case in creations of this kind1 where the painter has had other views1 and considered that he could improve his picture by an addition here and an omission there4 ,so many of ,mrs4 ,allingham's drawings of cottages have been taken from the counties of ,surrey and ,sussex1 that it may interest not only the owners of those here reproduced1 but others who possess similar subjects1 to read a short description of the features that distinguish the buildings in these districts4 ,one is perhaps too apt to pass these lowlier habitations of our fellow-men1 whether we see them in reality or in their counterfeits1 without a thought as to their structure1 or an idea that it is an evolution which has grown on very marked lines from primitive types1 and which in almost every instance has been influenced by local surroundings4 ,in the early days of housebuilding the use of local materials was naturally a distinctive feature of dwellings of every kind1 but more especially in those where expenditure had to be kept within narrow limits4 ,but even in such a case the style of architecture affected in the better built houses influenced and may be traced in the more humble ones4 ,change amongst our forefathers was even less hastily assumed than in these days1 and a style which experience had proved to be convenient was persevered in for generation after generation1 individuality seldom having any play1 although a necessary adaptation to the site gave to most buildings a distinction of their own4 ,one of the earliest forms1 and one still to be found even in buildings which have now descended to the use of yeomen's dwellings1 was that of a large central room having on one side of it the smaller living and sleeping rooms1 and on the other the kitchens and servants' apartments1 the wings projecting sometimes both to back and front1 sometimes only to the latter4 ,in later times1 as such a house fell into less well-to-do hands1 necessity usually compelled the splitting-up of the house into various tenements1 in which event the central room was generally divided into compartments1 often into a complete dwelling4 ,types of this kind may be found in most villages in the south-eastern counties1 and examples will be seen in ,the ,six ,bells 7,plate #eg7 and the house at ,west ,tarring1 near ,worthing 7,plate #ea71 where the central portion falls back from the gabled ends4 ,this arrangement of a central hall used for a living room1 after going out of favour for some centuries1 is curiously enough once more coming into fashion4 ,local materials having1 as we have said1 much to do with the structure1 the type of dwelling that we may expect to find in counties where wood was plentiful1 and the cost of preparing and putting it on the ground less than that of quarrying1 shaping1 and carrying stone1 is the picturesque1 timber-formed cottage4 ,those interested in the plan of construction1 which was always simple1 of these will find full details in ,mr4 ,guy ,dawber's ,introduction to ,old ,cottages and ,farm ,houses in ,kent and ,sussex1 as well as many illustrations of examples that occur in these counties4 ,the materials other than wood used for the framework1 and which were necessary to fill up the interstices1 were1 in the better class of dwellings1 bricks2 in others1 a consistency formed of chopped straw and clay1 an outward symmetry of appearance being gained by a covering of plaster where it was not deemed advisable to protect the woodwork1 and of boarding or tiles where the whole surface called for protection4 ,several of the cottages illustrated in this volume have been protected by these tilings on some part or another1 perhaps only on a gable end1 most often on the upper story1 sometimes over the whole building1 but of course1 principally1 where it was most exposed to the weather 7see ,cherry-,tree ,cottage1 ,plate #dc2 ,chiddingfold1 ,plate #dd2 ,shottermill1 ,plate #di2 and ,valewood ,farm1 ,plate #ej74 ,this purpose of the tile in the old houses1 and its use only for protection1 distinguishes them from the modern erections1 where it is oftentimes affixed in the most haphazard style1 and clearly without any idea of fitting it where it will be most serviceable4 ,the space in the interior was very irregularly apportioned1 whilst the cubic space allotted to living rooms1 both on the ground and first floors1 was singularly insufficient for modern hygienic views4 ,a reason for the small size of the rooms may have been that it enabled them to be more readily warmed1 either by the heat given off by the closely-packed indwellers1 or by the small wood fires which alone could be indulged in4 ,little use was made of the large space in the roof1 but this omission adds much to the picturesqueness of the exterior1 for the roofs gain in simplicity by their unbroken surface and treatment4 ,it is somewhat astonishing that the old builders did not recognise this costly disregard of space4 ,the roofs1 like the framework1 testify to the geological formation and agricultural conditions of the district4 ,the roof-tree was always of hand-hewn oak1 and this it was1 according to ,birket ,foster1 which gave to many of the old roofs their pleasant curves away from the central chimney4 ,the ordinary unseasoned sawn deal of the modern roof may swag in any direction4 ,the roof-covering where the land was chiefly arable1 or the distance from market considerable1 was usually wheaten thatch1 which was certainly the most comfortable1 being warm in winter and cool in summer1 just the reverse of the tiles or slates that have practically supplanted it4#aa ,in other districts the cottages are covered with what are known as stone slates1 thick and heavy4 ,roofs to carry the weight of these had always to be flattened1 with the result that they require mortaring to keep out the wet4 ,the ,west ,tarring cottage 7,plate #ea7 is an instance of a stone roofing4 ,the red tiles1 which were used for the most part1 are certainly the most agreeable to the artistic eye1 for their seemingly haphazard setting1 due in part to the builder and in part to nature1 affords that pleasure which always arises from an unstudied irregularity of line4 ,roof tiles were made thicker and less carefully in the old days1 and our artist's truth in delineation may be detected in almost any drawing by examining where the weight has swagged away the tiles between the main roof beams4 ,unlike chimneys erected by our cottage builders of to-day1 which appear to issue out of a single mould1 those of the untutored architects of the past present every variety of treatment and appearance4 ,the old solidly built chimney seen in many of ,mrs4 ,allingham's cottages 7,chiddingfold1 ,plate #dd7 is worthy of note as a type of many sturdy fellows which have resisted the ravages of time1 and have stood for centuries almost without need of repair4 ,in old days the chimney was regarded not only as a special feature but as an ornament1 and not as a necessary but ugly excrescence4 ,although probably it only served for one room in the house1 that service was an important one1 and so materials were liberally used in its construction4 ,in ,kent and ,sussex many of the chimneys are of brick1 although the house and the base of the chimney-stack are of stone4 ,this arose from the stone not lending itself to thin slabs1 and consequently being altogether too cumbrous and bulky4 ,the windows in the old cottages were naturally small when glass was a luxury1 and became fewer in number when a tax upon light was one of the means for carrying on the country's wars4 ,they were usually filled with the smallest panes1 fitted into lead lattice1 so that breakages might be reduced to the smallest area4 ,not much of this remains1 but a specimen of it is to be seen in the ,old ,buckinghamshire ,house 7,plate #eb74 ,one of the few alterations that ,mrs4 ,allingham allows herself is the substitution of these diamond lattices throughout a house where she finds a single example in any of the lights1 or if1 as she has on more than one occasion found1 that they have been replaced by others1 and are themselves stacked up as rubbish4 ,she has in her studio some that have been served in this way1 and which have now become useful models4 ,it would be imagined that the sense of pride in these1 the last traces of their village ancestors1 would have prompted their descendants1 whether of the same kin or not1 to deal reverently with them1 and endeavour to hand on as long as possible these silent witnesses to the honest workmanship of their forbears4 ,such1 unfortunately1 is but seldom the case4 ,if any one will visit ,witley with this book in his hand1 and compare the present state of the few examples given there1 not twenty years after they were painted1 he will see what is taking place not only in this little village but through the length and breadth of ,england4 ,it is not always wilful on the part of the landlord1 but arises from either his lack of sympathy1 time1 or interest4 ,he probably has a sense of his duty to keep up things1 and so sends his agent to go round with an architect and settle a general plan for doing up the old places 7usually described as tumbling down or falling to pieces74 ,thereupon a village builder makes an estimate and sends in a scratch pack of masons and joiners1 and between them they often supplant fine old work1 most of it as firm as a rock1 with poor materials and careless labour1 and rub out a piece of old ,england1 irrecoverable henceforth by all the genius in the world and all the money in the bank4 ,the drainage and water supply1 points where improvement is often desirable1 may be left unattended to4 ,but whatever else is decided on1 no uneven tiled roofs1 with moss and houseleek1 must remain2 no thatch on any pretence1 nor ivy on the wall1 nor vine along the eaves4 ,the cherry or apple tree1 that pushed its blossoms almost into a lattice1 will probably be cut down1 and the wild rose and honeysuckle hedge be replaced by a row of pales or wires4 ,the leaden lattice itself and all its fellows1 however perfect1 must inevitably give place to a set of mean little square windows of unseasoned wood1 though perhaps on the very next property an architect is building imitation old cottages with lattices6 ,with the needful small repairs1 most of the real old cottages would have lasted for many generations to come1 to the satisfaction of their inhabitants and the delight of all who can feel the charm of beauty combined with ancientness--a charm once lost1 lost for ever4 ,and unquestionably the well-repaired old cottages would generally be more comfortable than the new or the done-up ones1 to say nothing of the sentiment of the cottager4 ,an old man1 who was in a temporary lodging during the doing-up of his cottage1 being asked1 ,when shall you get back to your house8 answered1 ,in about a month1 they tells me2 but it won't be like going home4 ,at the same time it is fair to add that many of the doings-up in ,mrs4 ,allingham's country are of good intention and less ruthless execution than may be seen elsewhere1 and that certain owners show a real feeling of wise conservatism4 ,it would perhaps be a low estimate1 however1 to say that a thousand ancient cottages are now disappearing in ,england every twelvemonth1 without trace or record left--many that ,shakespeare might have seen1 some ,chaucer2 while the number done up is beyond computation4 ,the baronial halls have had abundant recognition and laudation at the hands of the historian and the painter2 the numerous manor-houses1 less pretentious1 often more lovely1 very little2 the old cottages next to none1 even the local chronicler running his spectacles over them without a pause4 ,it really looks as if we were1 one and all1 constituted as a poet has seen us3-- ,for1 don't you mark1 we're made so that we love ,first when we see them painted1 things we have passed ,perhaps a hundred times nor cared to see2 ,and so they are better1 painted--better to us1 ,which is the same thing4 ,art was given for that-- ,god uses us to help each other so1 ,lending our minds out4 ,had ,mrs4 ,allingham done nothing else for her country1 she has justified her career as a recorder of this altogether overlooked phase of ,english architecture--a phase which will soon be a thing of the past4 ,i remember once being accosted by a bystander in ,angers1 as ,i was wrestling with the perspective of a beautiful old house1 with the remark1 ,ah1 you had better hurry more than you are doing and finish the roof of that house1 for it will be off to-morrow and the whole down in three days4 ,that has often been the case with ,mrs4 ,allingham4 ,more than once a cottage limned one summer has disappeared before the drawing was exhibited the following spring4 ,year in and year out the process has been at work during the quarter of a century during which the artist has been garnering1 and it has almost come to be a joke that were she to paint as long again as she has1 she might have to cease from actual lack of material4 99 99 99 99 99 ,our illustrations of cottages divide themselves into1 first the examples in the immediate neighbourhood of ,sandhills2 and secondly1 those farther afield in ,kent1 ,buckingham1 ,dorset1 the ,isle of ,wight1 and ,cheshire4 ,those near ,sandhills form points in the circumference of a circle of which it is the centre1 the most southern being ,chiddingfold1 where we start on our survey4 ,illustration3 #dc4 ,,cherry-,,tree ,,cottage1 ,,chiddingfold ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,lord ,chief ,justice of ,england4 ,painted #ahhe4 ,the old hamlet of ,chiddingfold lies about as far to the south as ,witley does to the north of the station on the ,london and ,south-,western ,railway which bears their joint names4 ,it boasts of a very ancient inn1 ,the ,crown1--formed1 it is said1 in part out of a monastic building1--and a large village green4 ,cherry-,tree ,cottage is1 as will be seen1 the milk shop of the place1 and1 if we may judge from the coming and going in ,mrs4 ,allingham's picture1 carries on an animated1 prosperous trade at certain times of the day4 ,illustration3 #dd4 ,,cottage ,,at ,,chiddingfold ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,h4 ,l4 ,florence4 ,painted #ahhi4 ,we have here a ,march day1 or rather one of the type associated with that month1 but which usually visits us with increasing severity as ,april and ,may and the summer progress4 ,wind in the east1 with the sky a cold1 steely blue in the zenith1 greying even the young elm shoots a stone's-throw distant4 ,the cottage almanack1 ,old ,moore's1 will foretell that night frosts will prevail1 and the cottager will be fearsome of its effect upon his apple crop1 always so promising in its blossom1 so scanty in its fulfilment4 ,splendid weather for the full-blooded lassies1 who can tarry to gossip without fear of chills1 and also for drying clothes on the hedgerow1 but nipping for the old beldame who tends them1 and who has to wrap up against it with shawl and cap4 ,laburnum1 rich ,in streaming gold1 competes in colour with the spikes of the broom1 which the artist must have been thankful to the hedgecutter for sparing as he passed his shears along its surface when last he trimmed it4 ,for some reason the broom bears an ill repute hereabouts as bringing bad luck1 although in early times it was put to a desirable use1 as ,gerard tells us that that worthy ,prince of famous memory1 ,henry ,,viii4 of ,england1 was wont to drink the distilled water of ,broome floures4 ,wordsworth also gives it#ab a special word in his lines-- ,am ,i not ,in truth a favour'd plant8 ,on me such bounty summer showers1 ,that ,i am cover'd o'er with flowers2 ,and when the frost is in the sky1 ,my branches are so fresh and gay1 ,that you might look on me and say-- ,this plant can never die4 ,the cottage contains a typical example of the massive central chimney1 and also an end one1 which it is unusual to find in company with the other in so small a dwelling4 ,note also the weather tiling round the gable end and the upper story4 ,illustration3 #de4 ,a ,,cottage ,,at ,,hambledon ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,f4 ,pennington4 ,painted #ahhh4 ,for those who read between the lines there are plenty of pretty allegories connected with these drawings4 ,this1 for instance1 might well be termed ,youth and ,age4 ,the venerable cottage in its declining years1 so appropriately set in a framework of autumn tints and flowers1 supported on its colder side by the tendrils of ivy1 almost of its own age1 but on its warmer side maturing a fruitful vine1 emblem of the mother and child which gather at the gate1 and of the brood of fowls which busily search the wayside4 ,illustration3 #df4 ,,in ,,wormley ,,wood ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mrs4 ,le ,poer ,trench4 ,painted #ahhf4 ,half a century ago most of the old dwellings on the ,surrey border were thatched with good wheaten straw from the ,weald of ,sussex1 but thatch will soon be a thing of the past1 partly for the reason that there are no thatchers 7or thackers as they are called in local midland dialect7 left1 principally because the straw1 of which they consumed a good deal1 and which used to be a cheap commodity and not very realisable1 in villages whose access to market was difficult1 now finds a ready sale4 ,locomotion has also enabled slates to be conveyed from hundreds of miles away1 and placed on the ground at a less rate than straw4 ,thus the old order changeth1 and without any regard to the comfort of the tenant1 whose roof1 as ,i have already said1 instead of consisting of a covering which was warm in winter and cool in summer1 is now one which is practically the reverse4 ,strawen roofs are easy of repair or renewal1 and look very trim and cosy when kept in condition4 ,at the time when this drawing was painted this cottage1 lying snugly in the recesses of ,wormley ,wood 7whose pines always attract the attention as the train passes them just before ,witley station is reached71 was the last specimen of thatch in the neighbourhood1 and it only continued so to be through the intervention of a well-known artist who lived not far off4 ,that artist is dead1 and probably in the score of years which have since elapsed the thatch has gone the way of the rest1 and the harmony of yellowish greys which existed between it and its background have given way to a gaudy contrast of unweathered red tiles or cold unsympathetic blue slates4 ,the cottage itself may well date back to ,tudor times1 and the sweetwilliams1 pansies1 and lavender which border the path leading to it may be the descendants of far-away progenitors1 culled by a long-forgotten labourer in his master's nosegay garden1 which at that time was a luxury of the well-to-do only4 ,many of the flowers found in this plot of ground were in early days conserved in the gardens of the simple folk rather for their medicinal use than their decorative qualities4 ,such was certainly the case with lavender4 ,the floures of lavender do cure the beating of the harte1 says one contemporary herbal2 and another written in ,commonwealth times says1 ,they are very pleasing and delightful to the brain1 which is much refreshed with their sweetness4 ,it was always found in the garden of women who pretended to good housewifery1 not only because the heads of the flowers were used for nosegays and posies1 but for putting into linen and apparel4 ,illustration3 #dg4 ,,the ,,elder ,,bush1 ,,brook ,,lane1 ,,witley ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,marcus ,huish4 ,painted #ahhg4 ,those who are ingenious enough to see the inspiration of another hand in every work that an artist produces would probably raise an outcry against anybody infringing the copyright which they consider that ,collins secured more than half a century ago for the children swinging on a gate in his ,happy as a ,king4 ,but who that examines with any interest or care the figures in this water-colour could for a moment believe that ,mrs4 ,allingham had ever had ,collins even unconsciously in her mind when she put in these happy little mortals as adjuncts to her landscape4 ,having enjoyed at ages such as theirs a swing on many a gate1 one can testify that these children must have been seen1 studied1 and put in from the life and on the spot4 ,see how the elder girl leans over the gate1 with perfect self-assurance1 directing the boy as to how far back the gate may go2 how the younger one has to climb a rung higher than her sister in order to obtain the necessary purchase with her arms1 and even then she can only do so with a strain and with a certain nervousness as to the result of the jar when the gate reaches the post on its return4 ,again1 some one has to do the swinging1 and ,mrs4 ,allingham has given the proper touch of gallantry by making the second in age of the party1 a boy1 the first to undertake this part of the business4 ,the excitement of the moment has communicated itself to the youngest of the family1 who raises his stick to cheer as the gate swings to4 ,although painted within thirty miles of ,london1 the age of cheap rickety perambulators had not reached the countryside when this drawing was made nearly twenty years ago1 and so we see the youngest in a sturdy1 hand-made go-cart4 ,the country folk who passed the artist when she was making this drawing wondered doubtless at her selection of a point of sight where practically nothing but roof and wall of the building were visible1 when a few steps farther on its front door and windows might have made a picture2 but the charm of the drawing exists in this simplicity of subject1 the greatest pleasure being procurable from the least important features1 such1 for instance1 as the lichen-covered and leek-topped wall1 and the untended1 buttercup-flecked bank on which it stands4 ,the locality of the drawing is ,brook ,lane1 near ,witley1 and the drawing was an almost exact portrait of the cottage as it stood in #ahhf1 but since then it has been modernised like the majority of its fellows1 and though the oak-timbered walls1 tiled roof1 and massive chimney still stand1 the old curves of the roof-tree have gone1 and ,american windows have replaced the old lattices4 ,the other side of the house1 as it then appeared1 has been preserved to us in the next picture4 ,illustration3 #dh4 ,,the ,,basket ,,woman ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mrs4 ,backhouse4 ,painted #ahhg4 ,the art critic of ,the ,times1 in speaking of the ,exhibition where this drawing was exhibited1 singled it out as taking rank amongst the very best of ,mrs4 ,allingham's work1 and the very model of what an ,english water-colour should be1 with its woodside cottage1 its tangled hedges1 its background of sombre fir trees1 and figures of the girl with basket1 and of the cottagers to whom she is offering her wares1 showing as it does intense love for our beautiful south country landscape1 with the power of seizing its most picturesque aspects with truth of eye and delicacy of hand4 ,to my mind the most remarkable feature of the drawing is the way in which the long stretch of hedge has been managed4 ,in most hands it would either be a monotonous and uninteresting feature or an absolute failure1 for the difficulty of lending variety of surface and texture to so large a mass is only known to those who have attempted it2 it could only be effected by painting it entirely from nature and on the spot1 as was the case here4 ,many would have been tempted to break it up by varieties of garden blooms1 but ,mrs4 ,allingham has only relieved it by a stray spray or two of wild honeysuckle1 which never flowers in masses1 and a few white convolvuli4 ,that we are not far removed from the small hop district which is to be found west and northward of this part is evidenced by the hops which the old woman was in course of plucking from the pole when her attention was arrested by the wandering pedlar4 ,this and the apples ripening on the straggling apple tree show the season to be early autumn1 whereas the elder bush in the companion drawing puts its season as ,june4 ,illustration3 #di4 ,,cottage ,,at ,,shottermill1 ,,near ,,haslemere ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,w4 ,d4 ,houghton4 ,painted #ahia4 ,each of three counties may practically claim this cottage for one of its types1 for it lies absolutely at the junction of ,surrey1 ,sussex1 and ,hampshire4 ,for a single tenement it is particularly roomy1 and a comfortable one to boot1 for its screen of tiles is carried so low down4 ,it was a curious mood of the artist's to sit down square in front of it and paint its paling paralleling across the picture1 a somewhat daring stroke of composition to carry on the line of white tiling with one of white clothes4 ,the sky displays an unusual departure from the artist's custom1 as the whole length of it is banked up with banks of cumuli4 ,the figures and the empty basket point to a little domestic episode4 ,boy and girl have been sent on an errand1 but have not got beyond the farther side of the gate before they betake themselves to a loll on the grass1 which has lengthened out to such an extent that the old grand-dame comes to the cottage door to look for their return1 little witting that they are quietly crouched within a few feet of her1 hidden behind the paling1 over which lavender1 sweet-pea1 roses1 peonies1 and hollyhocks nod at them4 ,they are even less conscious of wrong-doing and of impending scoldings than the cat1 which sneaks homewards after a lengthened absence on a poaching expedition4 ,illustration3 #ej4 ,,valewood ,,farm ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #aijc4 ,valewood is over the ridge which protects ,haslemere on the south1 and is a very pretty vale of sloping meadows fringed with wood1 all under the shadow of ,blackdown1 to which it belongs4 ,this is distinguished from most houses hereabouts in boasting a stream1 the headwater of a string of ponds1 whence starts the river ,wey northwards on its tortuous journey round the western slopes of ,hindhead4 ,when ,mrs4 ,allingham painted the house1 which was inhabited by well-to-do yeomen from ,devonshire1 the dairying and the milking were still conducted by desirable hands1 namely1 those of milkmaids4 ,illustration3 #ea4 ,,an ,,old ,,house ,,at ,,west ,,tarring ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #aijj4 ,worthing has been termed a dull and dreary place1 the only relief to which is its suburb of ,west ,tarring4 ,this happening to have been one of the peculiars of the ,archbishops of ,canterbury1 has buildings and objects of considerable antiquarian interest4 ,the cottages which ,mrs4 ,allingham selected for her drawing may be classed amongst them1 for they are a type1 as good as any in this volume1 of the well-built1 substantial dwelling-house of our progenitors of many centuries ago--one in which all the features that we have pointed out are to be found4 ,the house has in course of time clearly become too big for its situation1 and has consequently been parcelled out into cottages2 this has necessitated some alteration of the front of the lower story1 but otherwise it is an exceptionally well-preserved specimen4 ,long may it remain so4 ,illustration3 #eb4 ,,an ,,old ,,buckinghamshire ,,house ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,h4 ,w4 ,birks4 ,painted #ahii4 ,this is a somewhat rare instance of the artist selecting for portraiture a house of larger dimensions than a cottage4 ,it is a singular trait1 perhaps a womanly trait1 that we never find her choice falling upon the country gentleman's seat1 although their formal gardening and parterres of flowers must oftentimes have tempted her4 ,her selection1 in fact1 never rises beyond the wayside tenement1 which in that before us no doubt once housed a well-to-do yeoman1 but was1 when ,mrs4 ,allingham limned it1 only tenanted in part by a small farmer and in part by a butcher4 ,but it is planned and fashioned on the old ,english lines to which we have referred1 and which in the days when it was built governed those of the dwelling of every well-to-do person4 ,illustration3 #ec4 ,,the ,,duke',s ,,cottage ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,maurice ,hill4 ,painted #ahif4 ,the trend of the trees indicates that this scene is laid where the winds are not only strong1 but blow most frequently from one particular quarter4 ,it is1 in fact1 on the coast of ,dorset1 at ,burton1 a little seaside resort of the inhabitants of ,bridport1 when they want a change from their own water-side town4 ,the ,english ,channel comes up to one side of the buttercup-clad field1 and was behind the artist as she sat to paint the carrier's cottage1 a man of some local celebrity1 who took the artist to task for not painting his home from a particular point of view1 saying1 ,i've had it painted many a time1 and theyse always took it from there4 ,he was a man accustomed to boss the village in a kindly but firm way1 never allowing any controversy concerning his charges1 which were1 however1 always reasonable4 ,hence he had come to be nicknamed ,the ,duke1 and as such did not understand ,mrs4 ,allingham's declining at once to recommence her sketch at the spot he indicated4 ,the ,dorsetshire cottages1 for the most part1 differ altogether from their fellows in ,surrey and ,sussex1 for their walls are made of what would seem to be the flimsiest and clumsiest materials1--dried mud1 intermixed with straw to give it consistency1 entering mainly into their composition4 ,many are not far removed from the ,irish cabins1 of which we see an example in ,plate #gh4 ,illustration3 #ed4 ,,the ,,condemned ,,cottage ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #aijb4 ,in speaking of ,duke's ,cottage1 ,i dwelt upon the poor materials of which it and its ,dorsetshire fellows were made1 and this1 coupled with ,mrs4 ,allingham presenting a picture of one that is too decayed to live in1 may raise a suggestion as to their instability4 ,but such is not the case4 ,the lack of substance in the material is made up by increased thickness1 and the cottage before us has stood the wear and tear of several hundred years1 and now only lacks a tenant through its insanitary condition4 ,a robin greeted the artist from the topmost of the grass-grown steps1 glad no doubt to see some one about the place once more4 ,illustration3 #ee4 ,,on ,,ide ,,hill ,from the ,drawing in the possession of ,mr4 ,e4 ,w4 ,fordham4 ,painted #aijj4 ,ide ,hill is to be found in ,kent1 on the south side of the ,westerham ,valley1 and the old cottage is the last survival of a type1 every one of which has given place to the newly built and commonplace4#ac ,the view from hereabouts is very fine--so fine1 indeed1 that ,miss ,octavia ,hill has1 for some time1 been endeavouring1 and at last with success1 to preserve a point for the use of the public whence the best can be seen4 ,illustration3 #ef4 ,a ,,cheshire ,,cottage1 ,,alderley ,,edge ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,a4 ,s4 ,littlejohns4 ,painted #ahih4 ,the almost invariable rule of the south1 that cottages are formed out of the local material that is nearest to hand1 is clearly not practised farther north1 to judge by this example of a typical ,cheshire cottage4 ,stone is apparently so ready to hand that not only is the roadway paved with it1 but even the approach to the cottage1 whilst the large blocks seen elsewhere in the picture show that it is not limited in size4 ,yet the only portion of the building that is constructed of stone1 so far as we can see1 is the lean-to shed4 ,the cottage itself differs in many respects from those we have been used to in ,surrey and ,sussex4 ,the roof is utilised1 in fact the level of the first floor is on a line almost with its eaves1 and a large bay window in the centre1 and one at the end1 show that it is well lighted4 ,heavy barge-boards are affixed to the gables1 which is by no means always the case down south1 and the wooden framework has at one time been blackened in consonance with a custom prevalent in ,cheshire and ,lancashire1 but which is probably only of comparatively recent date2 for gas-tar1 which is used1 was not invented a hundred years ago1 and there seems no sense in a preservative for oak beams which usually are almost too hard to drive a nail into4 ,the fashion is probably due to the substitution of unseasoned timber for oak4 ,illustration3 #eg4 ,,the ,,six ,,bells ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,g4 ,wills4 ,painted #ahib4 ,this beautiful old specimen of a timbered house was discovered by ,mrs4 ,allingham by accident when staying with some artistic friends at ,bearsted1 in ,kent1 who were unaware of its existence4 ,although the weather was very cold and the season late1 she lost no time in painting it1 as its inmates said that it would be pulled down directly its owner1 an old lady of ninety-two1 who was very ill1 died4 ,having spent a long day absorbed in putting down on paper its intricate details1 she went into the house for a little warmth and a cup of tea1 only to find a single fire1 by which sat a labourer with his pot of warmed ale on the hob4 ,asking whether she could not go to some other fire1 she was assured that nowhere else in the house could one be lit1 as water lay below all the floors1 and a fire caused this to evaporate and fill the rooms with steam4 ,as we have said1 ,mrs4 ,allingham alters her compositions as little as possible when painting from ,nature1 but in this case she has omitted a church tower that stood just to the right of the inn1 and added the tall trees behind it4 ,the omission was due to a feeling that the house itself was the point1 and a quite sufficient point of interest1 that would only be lessened by a competing one4 ,the addition of the trees was made in order to give value to the grey of the house-side1 which would have been considerably diminished by a broad expanse of sky4 ,illustration3 #eh4 ,a ,,kentish ,,farmyard ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,arthur ,r4 ,moro4 ,painted #aijj4 ,farmyards are out of fashion nowadays1 and a ,royal ,water-,colour ,society's ,exhibition1 which in the days of ,prout and ,william ,hunt probably contained a dozen of them1 will now find place for a single example only from the hand of ,mr4 ,wilmot ,pilsbury1 who alone faithfully records for us the range of straw-thatched buildings sheltering an array of picturesque waggons and obsolete farming implements4 ,but this stead is just opposite to the farm in which ,mrs4 ,allingham stays1 and it has often attracted her on damp days by its looking like a blaze of raw sienna4 ,we can understand the tiled expanse of steep-pitched1 moss-covered roof affording her some of that material on which her heart delights1 and which she has felt it a duty to hand down to posterity before it gives place to some corrugated iron structure which must1 ere long1 supplant this old timber-built barn4 ,what was originally a study has been transformed by her1 through the human incidents1 into a picture3 the milkmaid carrying the laden pail from the byre2 the cock on the dunghill1 seemingly amazed that his wives are too busily engaged on its contents to admire him2 the lily-white ducks waddling to the pool to indulge in a drink1 the gusto of which seems to increase in proportion to the questionableness of its quality4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,gardens ,,and ,,orchards ,one is nearer ,god's heart in a garden ,than anywhere else on earth4 ,the practice of painting gardens is almost as modern as that of painting by ladies4 ,the ,flemings of the fifteenth century1 it is true1 introduced in a delightful fashion conventional borders of flowers into some of their pictures1 probably because they felt that ornament must be presented from end to end of them1 and that in no way could they do this better than by adding the gaiety of flowers to their foregrounds4 ,but all through the later dreary days no one touched the garden1 for the conglomeration of flowers in the pieces of the ,dutchmen of the seventeenth century cannot be treated as such4 ,flowers certainly flourished in the gardens of the well-to-do in ,england in the century between #agej and #ahej1 but none of the limners of the drawings of noblemen or of gentlemen's seats which were produced in such quantities during that period ever condescended to introduce them4 ,even so late as fifty years ago1 if we may judge from the titles1 the ,royal ,academy ,exhibition of that date did not contain a single specimen of a flower-garden4 ,the only probable one is a picture entitled ,cottage ,roses1 and any remotely connected with the garden appear under such headings as ,early ,tulips1 ,geraniums1 ,japonicas and ,orchids1 ,will you have this pretty rose1 ,mamma8 or ,the ,last ,currants of ,summer6 ,taste only half a century ago was different from ours1 and asked for other provender4 ,thus1 the original owner of the catalogue from which these statistics were taken was an energetic amateur critic1 who has commended1 or otherwise1 almost every picture1 commendations being signified by crosses and disapproval by noughts4 ,the only work with five crosses is one illustrating the line1 ,now stood ,eliza on the wood-crown'd height4 ,on the other hand1 ,millais' ,peace ,concluded stands at the head of the bad marks with five1 his ,blind ,girl with two1 which number is shared with ,leighton's ,triumph of ,music4 ,holman ,hunt's ,scapegoat1 in addition to four bad marks1 is described as detestable and profane4 ,these pre-,raphaelites1 ,millais1 ,holman ,hunt1 and their followers1 then so little esteemed1 may in truth be said to have been the originators of the garden-drawing cult1 chief amongst their followers being ,frederick ,walker4 ,to the example of the last-named more especially are due the productions of the numerous artists--good1 bad1 and indifferent--who have seized upon a delightful subject and almost nauseated the public with their productions4 ,the omission of gardens from the painter's rle in later times may in a measure have been due to the gardens themselves1 or1 to speak more correctly1 to those under whose charge they were maintained4 ,the ideal of a garden to the true artist must always have differed from these as to its ordering1 even in these very recent days when the edict has gone forth that ,nature is to be allowed a hand in the planning4 ,the gardener1 no matter whether the surroundings favour a formal garden or not1 insists upon his harmonies or contrasts of brilliant colourings4 ,if he takes these from a manual on gardening he will adopt what is termed a procession of colouring somewhat as follows3 strong blues1 pale yellow1 pink1 crimson1 strong scarlet1 orange1 and bright yellow4 ,he is told that his colours are to be placed with careful deliberation and forethought1 as a painter employs them in his picture1 and not dropped down as he has them on his palette6 ,alfred ,parsons and ,george ,elgood have on occasions grappled with creations such as these1 when placed in settings of yew-trimmed hedges1 or as surroundings of a central statue1 or sundial2 but who will say that the results have been as successful as those where formality has been merely a suggestion1 and ,nature has had her say and her way4 ,surroundings must1 of course1 play a prominent part in any garden scheme4 ,however much we may dislike a stiff formality1 it is sometimes a necessity4 ,for instance1 herbaceous plants1 with annuals of mixed colours1 would have looked out of place on the lawn in front of ,brocket ,hall 7,plate #fe71 which calls for a mass of plants of uniform colours4 ,the lie of the ground1 too1 must1 as in such a case1 be taken into account3 there it is a sloping descent facing towards the sun1 and so is not easy to keep in a moist condition4 ,geraniums and calceolarias1 which stand such conditions1 are therefore almost a necessity4 ,when this book was proposed to ,mrs4 ,allingham her chief objection was her certainty that no process could reproduce her drawings satisfactorily4 ,her method of work was1 she believed1 entirely opposed to mechanical reproduction1 for she employed not only every formula used by her fellow water-colourists1 but many that others would not venture upon4 ,amongst those she tabulated was her system of obtaining effects by rubbing1 scrubbing1 and scratching4 ,but the process was not to be denied1 and she was fain to admit that even in these it has been a wonderfully faithful reproducer4 ,now nowhere are these methods of ,mrs4 ,allingham's more utilised1 and with greater effect1 than in her drawings of flower-gardens4 ,the system of painting flowers in masses has undergone great changes of late4 ,the plan adopted a generation or so ago was first to draw and paint the flowers and then the foliage4 ,this method left the flowers isolated objects and the foliage without substantiality4 ,mrs4 ,allingham's method is the reverse of this4 ,take1 for instance1 the white clove pinks in the foreground of ,mrs4 ,combe's drawing of the kitchen-garden at ,farringford 7,plate #ga74 ,these are so admirably done that their perfume almost scents the room4 ,they have been simply carved out of a background of walk and grey-green spikes1 and left as white paper1 all their drawing and modelling being achieved by a dexterous use of the knife and a wetted and rubbed surface4 ,the poppies1 roses1 columbines1 and stocks have all been created in the same way4 ,the advantage is seen at once4 ,there are no badly pencilled outlines1 and the blooms blend amongst themselves and grow naturally out of their foliage4 ,illustration3 #ei4 ,,study ,,of ,a ,,rose ,,bush ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted about #ahhg4 ,a very interesting series of studies of various kinds might have been included in this volume1 which would have shown the thoroughness with which our artist works1 and it was with much reluctance that we discarded all but two1 in the interests of the larger number of our readers1 who might have thought them better fitted for a manual of instruction4 ,the ,gloire de ,dijon rose1 however1 is such a prime old favourite1 begotten before the days of scentless specimens to which are appended the ill-sounding names of fashionable patrons of the rose-grower1 that we could not keep our hands off it when we came across it in the artist's portfolio4 ,this rose tree1 or one of its fellows1 will be seen in the background of two of the drawings of ,mrs4 ,allingham's garden at ,sandhills1 namely1 ,plates #fa and #fd4 ,illustration3 #fj4 ,,wallflowers ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,f4 ,g4 ,debenham4 ,painted about #ahic4 ,of the denizens of the garden there is perhaps none which appeals to a countryman who has drifted into the city so much as the wallflower4 ,his senses both of sight and smell have probably grown up under its influence1 and it carries him back to the home of his childhood1 for it is of never-to-be-forgotten sweetness both in colour and in scent1 and it conjures up old days when the rare warmth of an ,april sun extracted its perfume until all the air in its neighbourhood was redolent of it4 ,if my reader be a west countryman1 like the author1 he may best know it as the gilliflower1 but he will do so erroneously1 for the name rightly applies to the carnation1 and was so used even in ,chaucer's time-- ,many a clove gilofre ,to put in ale2 and again in ,culpepper-- ,the great clove carnation ,gillo-,floure4 ,but as a rose by any other name would smell as sweet1 every true flower-lover cherishes his wallflower1 which returns to him so bountifully the slightest attention1 which accepts the humblest position1 which thrives on the scantiest fare1 which is amongst the first to welcome us in the spring1 and1 with its scantier second bloom1 amongst the last to bid adieu in the autumn1 sometimes even striving to gladden us with its blossom year in and year out if winter's cold be not too stark4 ,old names give place to new1 and in nurserymen's catalogues we search in vain for its pleasant-sounding title1 and fail to distinguish either its reproduction in black and white1 or its designation under that of cheiranthus4 ,illustration3 #fa4 ,,minna ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,lord ,chief ,justice of ,england4 ,painted about #ahhf4 ,this1 and the drawing of a ,summer ,garden 7,plate #fd71 are taken almost from the same spot in ,mrs4 ,allingham's garden at ,sandhills4 ,both are simple studies of flowers without any more elaborate effort at arrangement or composition than that which gives to each a purposed scheme of colour--a scheme1 however1 that is1 with set purpose1 hidden away1 so that the flowers may look as if they grew1 as they appear to do1 by chance4 ,the flowers1 too1 are old-fashioned inhabitants3 pansies1 sea-pinks1 marigolds1 sweetwilliams1 snap-dragons1 eschscholtzias1 and flags1 with a background of rose bushes2 all of them 7with the exception1 perhaps1 of the flag7 flowers such as ,spenser might have had in his eye when he penned the lines-- ,no daintie flowre or herbe that growes on grownd1 ,no arborett with painted blossomes drest ,and smelling sweete1 but there it might be fownd ,to bud out faire1 and throwe her sweete smels al arownd4 ,illustration3 #fb4 ,a ,,kentish ,,garden ,from the ,drawing in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #aijc4 ,this scene may well be compared with that of ,tennyson's garden at ,aldworth1 reproduced in ,plate #gd1 as it illustrates even more appositely than does that1 the lines in ,roses on the ,terrace concerning the contrast between the pink of the flower and the blue of the distance4 ,but here the interval between the colours is not the exaggerated fifty miles of the poem1 but one insufficient to dim the shapes of the trees on the opposite side of the valley4 ,of all the gardens here illustrated none offers a greater wealth of colour than this ,kentish garden1 situated as it is with an aspect which makes it a veritable sun-trap4 ,illustration3 #fc4 ,,cutting ,,cabbages ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,e4 ,w4 ,fordham4 ,painted about #ahhd4 ,the cabbage is probably to most people the most uninteresting tenant of the kitchen-garden1 and yet its presence there was probably the motive which set ,mrs4 ,allingham to work to make this drawing1 for it is clear that in the first instance it was conceived as a study of the varied and delicate mother-of-pearl hues which each presented to an artistic eye4 ,as a piece of painting it is extremely meritorious through its being absolutely straight-forward drawing and brush work1 the high lights being left1 and not obtained by the usual method of cutting1 scraping1 or body colour4 ,the buxom mother of a growing family selecting the best plant for their dinner is just the personal note which distinguishes each and every one of our illustrations4 ,illustration3 #fd4 ,,in ,a ,,summer ,,garden ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,william ,newall4 ,painted about #ahhg4 ,i cannot refrain from drawing attention to this reproduction as one of the wonders of the three colour process4 ,if my readers could see the three colours which produce the result when superimposed1 first the yellow1 then the red1 and lastly the blue--aniline hues of the most forbidding character--they would indeed deem it incredible that any resemblance to the original could be possible4 ,it certainly passes the comprehension of the uninitiated how the differing delicacies of the violet hues of the flowers to the left could be obtained from a partnership which produced the blue black of the flowers in the foreground1 the light pinks of the ,shirley poppies1 and the rich reds of the sweetwilliams4 ,again1 what a marvel must the photographic process be which refuses to recognise the snow-white campanula1 and leaves it to be defined by the untouched paper1 and yet records the faint pink flush which has been breathed upon the edges of the sweetwilliam4 ,it is indeed a tribute to the inventive genius of the present day1 genius which will probably enable the press the button and we do the rest photographer before many days are past to reel off in colour what he now can only accomplish in monochrome4 ,illustration3 #fe4 ,,by ,,the ,,terrace1 ,,brocket ,,hall ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,lord ,mount-,stephen4 ,painted #aijj4 ,portraiture of time-worn cottages where ,nature has its way1 and cottars' gardens where flowers come and go at their own sweet will1 is a very different thing from portraiture of a well-kept house1 where the bricklayer and the mason are requisitioned when the slightest decay shows itself1 and of gardens where formal ribbon borders are laid out by so-called landscape gardeners1 whose taste always leans to bright colours not always massed in the happiest way4 ,in portraits of houses license is hardly permissible even for artistic effects1 for not only may associations be connected with every slope and turn of a path1 but the artist always has before him the possibility that the drawing will be hung in close proximity to the scene1 for comparison by persons who may not always be charitably disposed to artistic alterations4 ,it speaks well1 therefore1 for ,mrs4 ,allingham in the drawing of the garden at ,brocket that she has produced a drawing which1 without offending the conventions1 is still a picture harmonious in colour1 and probably very satisfying to the owner4 ,there are few who would have cared to essay the very difficult drawing of cedars1 and have accomplished it so well1 or have laboured with so much care over the plain-faced house and windows4 ,as to these latter she has been happy in assisting the sunlight in the picture by the drawn-down blinds at the angles which the sun reaches4 ,the scene has clearly been pictured in the full blaze of summer4 ,brocket ,hall is a mansion some three miles north of ,hatfield1 ,hertfordshire1 and a short distance off the ,great ,north ,road4 ,it is one of a string of seats hereabouts which belong to ,earl ,cowper1 but has been tenanted by ,lord ,mount-,stephen for some years4 ,the house1 which1 as will be seen1 has not much architectural pretensions1 was built in the eighteenth century1 but it is1 to cite an old chronicle1 situate on a dry hill in a fair park well wooded and greatly timbered through which the river ,lea winds picturesquely4 ,it is notable as having been the residence of two ,prime ,ministers1 ,lord ,melbourne and ,lord ,palmerston4 ,the drawing of ,the ,hawthorn ,valley 7,plate #cg7 is taken from a part of the park4 ,illustration3 #ff4 ,,the ,,south ,,border ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #aijb4 ,this is one of the borders designed on the graduated doctrine as practised by ,miss ,jekyll in her garden at ,munstead near ,godalming4 ,here we have the colours starting at the far end in grey leaves1 whites1 blues1 pinks1 and pale yellows1 towards a gorgeous centre of reds1 oranges1 and scarlets1 the whites being formed of yuccas1 the pinks of hollyhocks1 the reds and yellows of gladioli1 nasturtiums1 ,african marigolds1 herbaceous sunflowers1 dahlias1 and geraniums4 ,another part of the scheme is seen in the drawing which follows4 ,illustration3 #fg4 ,,the ,,south ,,border ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,w4 ,edwards1 ,jun4 ,painted #aijj4 ,a further illustration of the same border in ,miss ,jekyll's garden1 but painted a year or two earlier1 and representing it at its farther end1 where cool colours are coming into the scheme4 ,the orange-red flowers hanging over the wall are those of the ,bignonia grandiflora2 the bushes on either side of the archway with white flowers are choisyas1 and the adjoining ones are red and yellow dahlias1 flanked by tritonias 7red-hot pokers72 the oranges in front are ,african marigolds 7hardly reproduced sufficiently brightly71 with white marguerites2 the grey-leaved plant to the left is the ,cineraria maritima4 ,miss ,jekyll does not entirely keep to her arrangement of masses of colour2 whilst1 as an artist1 she affects rich masses of colour1 she is not above experimenting by breaking in varieties4 ,illustration3 #fh4 ,,study ,,of ,,leeks ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #aijb4 ,i like the leeke above all herbes and flowers1 ,when first we wore the same the field was ours4 ,the ,leeke is ,white and ,greene1 whereby is ment ,that ,britaines are both stout and eminent2 ,next to the ,lion and the ,unicorn1 ,the ,leeke's the fairest emblym that is worne4 ,when ,mrs4 ,allingham in wandering round a garden came upon this bed of flowering leeks1 and1 singularly moved to love the lovely that are not beloved1 at once sat down to paint it in preference to a more ambitious display in the front garden that was at her service1 her friends probably considered her artistic perception to be peculiar1 and some there may be who will deem the honour given to it by introduction into these pages to be more than its worth4 ,but it has more than one claim to recognition here1 for it is unusual in subject1 delicate in its violet tints1 not unbecoming in form1 and is here disassociated from the disagreeable odour which usually accompanies the reality4 ,illustration3 #fi4 ,,the ,,apple ,,orchard ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mrs4 ,dobson4 ,painted about #ahgg4 ,originally1 no doubt1 a study of one of those subjects which artists like to attack1 a misshapen tree presenting every imaginable contortion of foreshortened curvature to harass and worry the draughtsman1--a tree1 specimens of which are too often to be found in old orchards of this size1 whose bearing time has long departed1 and who now only cumber the ground1 and with their many fellows have had much to do with the gradual decay of the ,english apple industry4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,tennyson',s ,,homes ,few poets have been so fortunate in their residences as was the great ,poet ,laureate of the ,victorian era in the two which he for many years called his own4 ,selected in the first instance for their beauty and their seclusion1 they had other advantages which fitted them admirably to a poet's temperament4 ,farringford1 at the western end of the ,isle of ,wight1 was the first to be acquired1 being purchased in #ahec2 it was ,tennyson's home for forty years1 and the house wherein most of his best-known works were written4 ,at the time when it came into his hands communication with the mainland was of the most primitive description1 and the poet and his wife had to cross the ,solent in a rowing-boat4 ,so far removed was he from intrusion there that he could indulge in what to him were favourite pastimes--sweeping up the leaves1 mowing the grass1 gravelling the walks1 and digging the beds--without interruption4 ,many of the visitors which railway and steamship facilities brought to the neighbourhood in later years felt that he set the boundary within which no foot other than his own and that of his friends should tread at an extreme limit4 ,golfers over the ,needles ,links--persons who1 perhaps1 are prone to consider that whatever is capable of being made into a course should be so utilised--were wont to look with covetous eyes over a portion of the downs that would have formed a much-needed addition to their course1 but over which no ball was allowed to be played4 ,but the pertinacity of the crowd1 in endeavouring to get a sight of the ,laureate1 necessitated an inexorable rule if the retreat was to be what it was intended1 namely1 a place for work and for rest4 ,mrs4 ,tennyson thus described her wild house amongst the pine trees3-- ,the golden green of the trees1 the burning splendour of ,blackgang ,chine1 and the red bank of the primeval river contrasted with the turkis blue of the sea 7that is our view from the drawing-room7 make altogether a miracle of beauty at sunset4 ,we are glad that ,farringford is ours4 ,although at times the weather can be cold and bleak enough in this sheltered corner of the ,isle of ,wight1 and ,the scream of a madden'd beach ,dragged down by the wave must oftentimes have shocked the ear in the ,farringford house1 the climate is too relaxing an one for continued residence1 and ,tennyson's second house1 ,aldworth1 was well chosen as a contrast4 ,aubrey ,vere thus describes it3-- ,it lifted ,england's great poet to a height from which he could gaze on a large portion of that ,english land which he loved so well1 see it basking in its most affluent beauty1 and only bound by the inviolate sea4 ,the house stands at an elevation of some six hundred feet above the sea1 on the spur of ,blackdown1 which is the highest ground in ,sussex1 on a steep side towards the ,weald1 just where the greensand hills break off4 ,it is some two miles from ,haslemere1 and just within the ,sussex border4 ,two of the drawings connected with these houses1 which are reproduced here1 were painted before ,tennyson's death1 namely1 in #ahij4 ,the house at ,farringford was drawn in the spring1 when the lawn was pied with daisies1 and the ,laureate required his heavy cloak to guard him from the keenness of the ,april winds4 ,the kitchen-garden at ,farringford1 which somewhat belies its name1 for flowers encroach everywhere upon the vegetables1 and the apple trees rise amidst a parterre of blossom1 was painted in its summer aspect1 when it was gay with pinks1 stocks1 rockets1 larkspurs1 delphiniums1 aubrietias1 eschscholtzias1 and big ,oriental poppies4 ,tennyson visited it almost daily to take the record of the rain-gauge and thermometer1 which can be descried in the drawing about half-way down the path4 ,the kitchen-garden at ,aldworth opens up a very different prospect to the banked-up background of trees at ,farringford4 ,standing at a very considerable elevation1 it commands a magnificent view over the ,weald of ,sussex4 ,the spot is referred to in the poem ,roses on the ,terrace in the volume entitled ,demeter1 thus-- ,this red flower1 which on our terrace here1 ,glows in the blue of fifty miles away2 as also in the lines-- ,green ,sussex fading into blue1 ,with one grey glimpse of sea4 ,it was this view that the dying poet longed to see once again on his last morning when he cried1 ,i want the blinds up6 ,i want to see the sky and the light6 ,the time of year when ,mrs4 ,allingham painted it was ,october1 and a wet ,october too1 for two umbrellas even could not keep her from getting wet through4 ,it is rare for ,mrs4 ,allingham to set her flowers so near the horizon as in this case1--in fact ,i only remember having seen another instance of it1--but no doubt the same feeling that appealed to the poet's eye1 and impelled him to pen the lines we have quoted1 fascinated the artist's1 namely1 the beautiful appearance of the varied hues of flowers against a background of delicate blue4 ,october is the saddest time of year for the garden1 but a basket full of gleanings at that time is more cherished than one in the full heyday of its magnificence4 ,here the apple tree has already shed most of its leaves1 the hollyhock stems are baring1 and autumnal flowers1 in which yellow so much predominates1 as1 for instance1 the great marigold1 the herbaceous sunflower1 and the calliopsis1 are much in evidence4 ,nasturtiums and every free-growing creeper have long ere this trailed their stems over the box edging1 and made an untidiness which forebodes their early destruction at the hands of the gardener4 ,of sweet-scented flowers only a few peas and mignonette remain4 ,mr4 ,allingham knew the ,poet ,laureate for many years1 having at one time lived at ,lymington1 which is the port of departure for the western end of the ,isle of ,wight1 and whence he often crossed to ,farringford4 ,the artist's first meeting with ,tennyson was soon after her marriage4 ,he and his son ,hallam had come up to town1 and had walked over from ,mr4 ,james ,knowles's house at ,clapham1 where they were staying1 to ,chelsea4 ,he invited ,mrs4 ,allingham to ,aldworth1 an invitation which was accepted shortly afterwards4 ,the poet was very proud of the country which framed his house1 and during this visit he took her his special walks to ,blackdown1 to ,fir ,tree ,corner 7whence there is a wide view over the ,weald towards the sea71 and to a great favourite of his1 the ,foxes' ,hole1 a lovely valley beyond his own grounds4 ,whilst on this last-named ramble he suddenly turned round and chided the artist for chattering instead of looking at the view4 ,during this visit he read to her a part of his ,harold1 and the wonder of his voice and whole manner of reading or chanting she will never forget4 ,when the ,allinghams came to live at ,witley they were able to get to and from ,aldworth in an afternoon1 and so were frequent visitors there4 ,one day in the autumn of #ahha ,mrs4 ,allingham went over alone1 owing to her husband's absence1 and after lunch the poet walked with her to ,foxes' ,hole1 where they sat on bundles of peasticks1 she painting an old cottage since pulled down1 and he watching her4 ,after a time he said slowly1 ,i should like to do that4 ,it does not look very difficult4 ,years later he showed her some water-colour drawings he had made1 from imagination1 of ,mount ,ida clad in dark fir groves1 which were undoubtedly very clever in their suggestiveness4 ,lord ,tennyson's ,isle of ,wight home ,mrs4 ,allingham did not see until after she returned to live in ,london1 when ,mr4 ,hallam ,tennyson1 in conversing with her about her drawings1 told her that if she would come to the ,isle of ,wight he could show her some fine old cottages4 ,she accordingly went at the ,easter of #ahij to ,freshwater1 when he was as good as his word1 and she at once began drawings of ,the ,dairy and the cottage ,at ,pound ,green4 ,miss ,kate ,greenaway1 who had come to stay with her1 also painted them4 ,the next spring1 and many springs afterwards1 ,mrs4 ,allingham went to ,freshwater1 generally after the ,easter holidays4 ,during one of these stays she accompanied ,birket ,foster to ,farringford1 and the poet asked the two artists to come for a walk with him4 ,there happened to be a boy of the party in a sailor costume with a bright blue collar and a scarlet cap1 and ,birket ,foster1 who was at the moment walking behind with ,mrs4 ,allingham1 said1 ,why is that red and blue so disagreeable8 ,tennyson's quick ear caught something1 and he turned on them1 setting his stick firmly in the ground1 and asked ,mr4 ,foster to explain himself4 ,well1 ,mr4 ,foster said1 ,i only know that the effect of the contrast is to make cold water run down my spine4 ,mrs4 ,allingham cordially agreed with ,mr4 ,birket ,foster1 but ,tennyson could not feel the cold water1 although he saw their point1 and said it was doubtless with painters as with himself in poetry1 namely1 that some combinations of sound gave intense pleasure1 whilst others grated1 and he quoted certain lines as being so to him4 ,on another occasion1 whilst walking with him at ,freshwater1 he said something which led ,mrs4 ,allingham to mention that she generally kept her drawings by her for a long time1 often for years1 working on them now and again and considering about figures and incidents for them1#ad upon which he remarked that it was the same in the case of poems1 and that he used generally to keep his by him1 often in print1 for a considerable time before publishing4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the following drawings have been sufficiently described in the text3-- ,illustration3 #gj4 ,,the ,,house1 ,,farringford ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,john ,mackinnon4 ,painted #ahij4 ,illustration3 #ga4 ,,the ,,kitchen-,,garden1 ,,farringford ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mrs4 ,combe4 ,painted #ahid4 ,illustration3 #gb4 ,,the ,,dairy1 ,,farringford ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,douglas ,freshfield4 ,painted #ahij4 ,illustration3 #gc4 ,,one ,,of ,,lord ,,tennyson',s ,,cottages1 ,,farringford ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,e4 ,marsh ,simpson4 ,painted #aijj4 ,illustration3 #gd4 ,a ,,garden ,,in ,,october1 ,,aldworth ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,f4 ,pennington4 ,painted #ahia4 ,the next three water-colours find a place here1 as having been painted during visits to the ,island4 ,illustration3 #ge4 #ge4 ,,hook ,,hill ,,farm1 ,,freshwater ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,sir ,james ,kitson1 ,bt41 ,m4,p4 ,painted #ahia4 ,an old farmhouse on the other side of the ,yar ,valley to ,farringford1 but one which ,tennyson often made an object for a walk4 ,it possessed a fine yard and old thatch-covered barn1 which1 however1 has passed out of existence1 but not before ,mrs4 ,allingham had perpetuated it in water-colour4 ,this group of buildings has been painted by the artist from every side1 and at other seasons than that represented here1 when pear1 apple1 and lilac trees1 primroses1 and daisies vie with one another in heralding the coming spring4 ,illustration3 #gf4 ,,at ,,pound ,,green1 ,,freshwater1 ,,isle ,,of ,,wight ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,douglas ,freshfield4 ,painted about #ahia4 ,to the cottage-born child of to-day the name of the ,pound has little significance1 but even in the writer's recollection it not only had a fascination but a feeling almost akin to terror1 being deemed1 in very truth1 to be a prison for the dumb animals who generally1 through no fault of their own1 were impounded there4 ,both it and its tenants too were always suggestive of starvation4 ,when 7following1 at some interval of time1 the village stocks7 it passed out of use1 the countryside1 in losing both1 forgot a very cruel phase of life4 ,a child of to-day has1 with all its education1 not acquired many amusements to replace that of teasing the tenants of the ,pound on the ,green1 so he never tires of pulling anything with the faintest similitude to the cart which he will probably spend much of his later life in driving4 ,here the youngster has evidently been making stabling for his toy under a seat whose back is formed out of some carved relic of an old sailing-ship that was probably wrecked at the ,needles1 and whose remains the tide carried in to ,freshwater ,bay4 ,illustration3 #gg4 ,a ,,cottage ,,at ,,freshwater ,,gate ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,sir ,henry ,irving4 ,painted #ahia4 ,tramps are usually few and far between in the ,isle of ,wight1 for the reason that the island does not rear many1 and those from the mainland do not care to cross the ,solent lest1 should they be tempted to wrong-doing1 there may be a difficulty in avoiding the arm of the law or the confines of the island4 ,it is somewhat surprising1 therefore1 to find the only flaw in our title of ,happy ,england in such a locality4 ,but here it is1 on this spring day1 when apple1 and pear1 and primrose blossoms make one ,bless ,his name ,that ,he hath mantled the green earth with flowers4 ,we have the rift1 making the discordant note1 of want1 in the person of a woman1 dragged down with the burden of four children1 sending the eldest to beg a crust at a house which cannot contain a superfluity of the good things of this world4 ,a singular interest attaches to ,mrs4 ,allingham's drawing of this cottage4 ,she had nearly completed it on a ,saturday afternoon1 and was asked by a friend whether she would finish it next day4 ,to this she replied that she never sketched in public on ,sunday4 ,on ,monday the cottage was a heap of ruins1 having been burnt down the previous night4 ,,chapter ,x ,,mrs4 ,,allingham ,,and ,,her ,,contemporaries ,that a true artist is always individual1 and that his work is always affected by some one or other of his predecessors or contemporaries1 would appear to be a paradox3 nevertheless it is a proposition that few will dispute4 ,art has been practised for too long a period1 and by too many talented professors1 for entirely novel views or treatments of ,nature to be possible1 and whilst an artist may be entirely unaware that he has imbibed anything from others1 it is certain that if he has had eyes to see he must have done so4 ,i have already stated that ,mrs4 ,allingham's work1 whether in subject or execution1 is1 so far as she is aware1 entirely her own1 and it would1 perhaps1 be quite sufficient were ,i to leave the matter after having placed that assertion on record4 ,to go farther may perhaps lay oneself open to the charge1 qui s'excuse s'accuse4 ,i trust not1 and that ,i may be deemed to be only doing my duty if ,i deal at some length with comparisons that have been made between her work and that of certain other artists4 ,the two names with whose productions those of ,mrs4 ,allingham are most frequently linked are ,frederick ,walker and ,birket ,foster3 the first in connection with her figures1 the latter with her cottage subjects4 ,as regards these two artists it must be remembered that both their and her early employment lay in the same direction1 namely1 that of book illustration1 and therefore each started with somewhat similar methods of execution and subject1 varied only by leanings towards the style of any work they came in contact with1 or by their own individuality4 ,that both had much in common is well known2 in fact1 ,mrs4 ,allingham used to tell ,mr4 ,foster that she considered him1 as did others1 the father of ,walker and ,pinwell4 ,in the case of ,frederick ,walker1 his career was at its most interesting phase whilst ,mrs4 ,allingham was a student4 ,her first visit to the ,royal ,academy was probably in #ahfh1 when his ,vagrants was exhibited1 to be followed in #ahfi by ,the ,old ,gate1 in #ahgj by ,the ,plough1 and in #ahgb by ,the ,harbour of ,refuge4 ,it must not be forgotten that the name of ,frederick ,walker was at this time in every one's mouth1 that is1 every one who could be deemed to be included in the small ,art world of those days4 ,the painter visitors to the ,academy schools sang his praises to the students1 and he himself fascinated and charmed them with his boyish and graceful presence4 ,as ,mrs4 ,allingham says1 everybody in the schools adored him and his work1 and on the opening of the ,academy doors on the first ,monday in ,may the students rushed to his picture first of all4 ,to contradict a dictum of ,walker's in those days was the rankest heresy in a student4 ,mrs4 ,allingham remembers an occasion when a painter was holding forth on the right methods of water-colour work1 asserting that the paper should be put flat down on a table1 as was the custom with the old men1 and the colour should be laid on in washes and left to dry with edges1 and if ,walker taught any other method he was wrong4 ,mrs4 ,allingham and her fellow-students were furious at their hero being possibly in fault1 and asked for the opinion of an ,academician4 ,his reply was3 ,and who is ,mr4 ----1 and how does he paint that he should lay down the law8 ,if ,walker is all wrong with his methods1 he paints like an angel4 ,mrs4 ,allingham's confession of faith is this3 ,i was influenced1 doubtless1 by his work4 ,i adored it1 but ,i never consciously copied it4 ,it revealed to me certain beauties and aspects of ,nature1 as du ,maurier's had done1 and as ,north's and others have since done1 and then ,i saw like things for myself in ,nature1 and painted them1 ,i truly think1 in my own way--not the best way1 ,i dare say1 but in the only way ,i could4 ,those1 therefore1 who discover not the reflection but the inspiration of ,walker in the idyllic grace of ,mrs4 ,allingham's figures1 and in her treatment of flowers1 place her in a company which she readily accepts1 and is proud of4 ,but it is with ,birket ,foster that our artist's name has been more intimately linked by the critics1 some even going to the length of asserting that without him there would have been no ,mrs4 ,allingham4 ,having had the pleasure of an intimacy with ,birket ,foster1 which extended to writing his biography 7,birket ,foster3 ,his ,life and ,work1 ,virtue and ,co41 #ahij71 ,i can emphatically assert that he never held that opinion1 but stated that she had struck out a line which was entirely her own1 and1 as he generously added1 with much more modernity in it than mine4 ,there are1 however1 so many similarities between their artistic careers that ,i may be excused for dwelling on some of them1 for they no doubt unconsciously influenced not only the method of their work but the subject of it4 ,drawing in black and white on wood in each case formed the groundwork of their education1 and was only followed by colour at a subsequent stage4 ,both1 having determined to support themselves1 were fain to seek out the engravers and obtain from them a livelihood4 ,birket ,foster at sixteen was fortunate enough to meet in ,landells one who at once recognised his capabilities1 whilst ,mrs4 ,allingham found a similar friend in ,joseph ,swain4 ,again1 book illustration was as much in vogue in #ahgj as it was in #ahdb2 and by another coincidence both years witnessed the birth of an illustrated weekly1 for ,birket ,foster1 in #ahdb1 was employed upon the infant ,illustrated ,london ,news1 while ,mrs4 ,allingham was the only lady to whom ,mr4 ,thomas allotted some of the early work on the ,graphic4 ,differences there were in their opportunities1 and these were not always in the lady's favour4 ,birket ,foster found in ,landells a man who looked after his youngster's education1 and1 convinced that ,nature was his best mistress1 sent him to her with these instructions3 ,now that work is slack in these summer months1 spend them in the fields2 take your colours and copy every detail of the scene as carefully as possible1 especially trees and foreground plants1 and come up to me once a month and show me what you have done4 ,a splendid memory aided ,foster in his studies all too well1 for he learnt to draw with such absolute fidelity every detail that he required1 that he never again required to go to ,nature4 ,that he did so we know from his repeated visits to every part of ,europe--visits resulting in delightful work2 but what the world saw was entirely studio work1 and this tended to a repetition which oftentimes marred the entire satisfaction that one otherwise derived from his drawings4 ,mrs4 ,allingham herself1 although living close to and engaged on the same subjects1 never came across him painting out of doors1 and only once saw him note-book in hand4 ,chance influenced the two careers also in another way1 which might have made any similarity between them altogether out of question4 ,the first commission to illustrate a book which ,miss ,paterson obtained was a prose work1 in which figures and household scenes entirely predominated1--in fact1 all her black-and-white work was of this homely nature1--and for some years she had no call for the delineation of landscape4 ,with ,foster it was not very different4 ,it is true that his first commission was ,the ,boys ,spring and ,summer ,book1 in which he had to draw the seasons1 and to draw them afield4 ,but this might not have attracted him to landscape work1 for his patron's next commission was quite in another direction4 ,i may be excused for referring to it at length1 for the little-known incident is of some interest now that the actors in it have each achieved such world-wide reputations4 ,certain of the young pre-,raphaelites1 including ,rossetti1 ,burne-,jones1 and ,millais1 had been entrusted with the illustration of ,evangeline4 ,the result was a perfect staggerer to the publisher ,bogue1 who was altogether unable to appreciate their revolutionary methods4 ,what shall ,i do with them8 he was asked by the engraver to whom he showed the blocks on which most elaborate designs had been most lovingly drawn4 ,this1 said ,bogue1 and wetting one of them he erased the drawing with the sleeve of his coat1 serving each in turn in the same way4 ,after this drastic treatment the ,evangeline commission was handed over to ,birket ,foster4 ,it can be easily imagined with what trepidation he1 knowing these facts1 approached and carried out his task1 and his delight when even the ,athenum could say1 ,a more lovely book than this has rarely been given to the public4 ,the success of the work was enormous4 ,his career was apparently henceforth marked out as an illustrator of verse in black and white1 for his popularity continued until it was not a question of giving him commissions1 but of what book there was for him to illustrate2 and he used laughingly to say that finally there was nothing left for him but ,young's ,night ,thoughts and ,pollok's ,course of ,time4#ae ,thus we see that ,birket ,foster's art work was for long confined to subjects as to which he had no voice1 but which certainly influenced his art1 and it says much for his temperament that throughout it warranted the term poetical4 ,in like manner it is much to ,mrs4 ,allingham's credit that her prosaic start did not prevent the same quality welling up and being always in evidence in her productions4 ,if ,i have not wearied the reader ,i would like to point out some further coincidences in their careers which are of interest4 ,birket ,foster became a water-colourist through the chance that he could not sell his oil-paintings1 which consequently cumbered his small working-room to such an extent that one night he cut them all from their stretchers1 rolled them up1 and sneaking out1 dropped them over ,blackfriars ,bridge into the ,thames2 water-colours cost less to produce and took up less space1 so he adopted them4 ,mrs4 ,allingham abandoned oils after a year or two's work in them at the ,royal ,academy ,schools1 because she gradually became convinced that she could express herself better in water-colours4 ,but she considered that it was a great advantage to have worked1 even for the short time1 in the stronger medium4 ,it was this practice in oils that made her for some time 7until1 indeed1 ,walker's lessons to her at the ,royal ,academy7 use a good deal of body-colour4 ,both artists aspired to obtain the highest rank which then1 as now1 is open to the water-colourist1 namely1 membership of ,the ,royal ,water-,colour ,society1 but whilst ,birket ,foster only attained it in #ahfj1 in his thirty-fifth year1 and at his second attempt1 ,mrs4 ,allingham followed him in #ahge1 when only twenty-six1 and at her first essay4 ,both promptly at once gave up a remunerative income in black and white1 and having done so1 never had cause to regret their decision4 ,the coincidences do not end even here1 for both within a year or two of their election found themselves1 the one on the invitation of ,mr4 ,hook1 ,r4,a41 the other1 twenty years later1 for reasons we have mentioned1 settled near the same village1 ,witley1 in the heart of the country which they have since identified with their names4 ,here the selection of subjects from the same neighbourhood naturally brought their work still closer together4 ,both of them have been attracted to ,venice2 ,mr4 ,foster again and again1 ,mrs4 ,allingham only within the last year or two4 ,lastly1 few artists have been indulged with so many smiles and so few frowns from the public for which they have catered4 ,birket ,foster considered that he had been almost pampered by the critics1 and ,mrs4 ,allingham has never had the slightest cause to complain of her treatment at their hands4 ,having dwelt at such length upon the interesting concurrences in their careers1 ,i now pass on to a comparison of their methods of work2 and here there are many resemblances1 but these are no doubt due to the times in which they lived4 ,birket ,foster found himself1 when he commenced1 the pupil of a school which had some merits and more demerits4 ,composition and drawing were still thought of1 and before a landscape artist presumed to pose as such1 he had to study the laws which governed the former1 and to thoroughly imbue himself with a knowledge of the anatomy of what he was about to depict4 ,mrs4 ,allingham1 as ,i have pointed out1 was also fortunate enough to commence her tuition before the fashion of undergoing this needful apprenticeship died out4 ,but ,birket ,foster came at the end of a time when landscape was painted in the studio rather than in the field4 ,he went to ,nature for suggestions1 which he pencilled into note-books in the most facile and learned manner1 but content with this he made his pictures under comfortable conditions at home4 ,the fulness of his career1 too1 came at a time when ,art was booming1 and the demand for his work was such that he could not keep pace with it4 ,it is not surprising1 therefore1 that in the zenith of his fame his pictures were1 in the main1 studio pictures1 worked out with a marvellous facility of invention1 but nevertheless just lacking that vitality which always pervades work done in the open air and before ,nature4 ,mrs4 ,allingham's work at the outset was very similar to this4 ,for her subject drawings she made elaborate preliminary studies from ,nature in colour1 but the drawing itself was thought and carried out in the house4 ,fortunately this method soon became unpalatable to her1 and she gradually came to work more and more directly from ,nature1 and when1 at ,witley1 she found her subjects at her doors1 she discontinued once and for ever her former method4 ,since then she has painted every drawing on the spot during the months that it is feasible1 leaving actual completion for some time1 to enable her to view her work with a fresh eye1 and to study at leisure the final details1 such1 for instance1 as where the figures shall be grouped1 usually posing1 for this purpose1 her models in the open air in her ,hampstead garden4 ,her figures are1 however1 sometimes culled from careful studies made in note-books1 of which she has an endless supply4 ,fastidious to a degree as to the completeness of a drawing1 she lingers long over the finishing touches1 for it is these which she considers make or mar the whole4 ,every sort of contrivance she considers to be legitimate to bring about an effect1 save that of body-colour1 which she holds in abhorrence2 but the knife1 a hard brush1 a pointed stick1 a paint rag1 and a sponge are in constant request4 ,mrs4 ,allingham is above all things a fair-weather painter4 ,she has no pleasure in the storm1 whether of rain or wind4 ,maybe this avoidance of the discomforts inseparable from a truthful portrayal of such conditions indicates the femininity of her nature4 ,doubtless it does4 ,but is she to blame8 ,her work is framed upon the pleasure that it affords her1 and it is certain that the result is none the less satisfactory because it only numbers the sunny hours and the halcyon days4 ,i ought perhaps to have qualified the expression sunny hours1 for as a rule she does not affect a sunshine which casts strong shadows1 but rather its condition when1 through a thin veil of cloud1 it suffuses all ,nature with an equable light1 and allows local colour to be seen at its best4 ,in drawings which comprise any large amount of floral detail1 the leaves1 in full sunshine1 give off an amount of reflected light that materially lessens the colour value of the flowers1 and prevents their being properly distinguished4 ,mr4 ,elgood1 the painter of flower-gardens par excellence1 always observes this rule1 not only because the effect is so much more satisfactory on paper1 but because it is so much easier to paint under this aspect4 ,as regards sky treatment1 both he and ,mrs4 ,allingham1 it will be noted1 confine themselves to the simplest sky effects1 feeling that the main interest lies on the ground1 where the detail is amply sufficient to warrant the accessories being kept as subservient as possible4 ,for this reason it is that the glories of sunrise and sunset have no place in ,mrs4 ,allingham's work1 the hours round mid-day sufficing for her needs4 ,to the curiously minded concerning her palette1 it may be said that it is of the simplest character4 ,her paint-box is the smallest that will hold her colours in moist cake form1 of which none are used save those which she considers to be permanent4 ,it contains cobalt1 permanent yellow1 aureolin1 raw sienna1 yellow ochre1 cadmium1 rose madder1 light red1 and sepia4 ,she now uses nothing save ,o4,w4 7old water-colour7 paper4 ,mrs4 ,allingham's method of laying on the colour differs from that of ,birket ,foster1 who painted wet and in small touches4 ,her painting is on the dry side1 letting her colours mingle on the paper4 ,as a small bystander once remarked concerning it1 ,you do mess about a deal4 ,mrs4 ,allingham has been a constant worker for upwards of a quarter of a century1 during which time1 in addition to contributing to the ,royal ,society1 she has held seven ,exhibitions at ,the ,fine ,art ,society's1 each of them averaging some seventy numbers4 ,she has1 therefore1 upon her own calculation1 put forth to the world nearly a thousand drawings4 ,in spite of this1 they seldom appear in the sale-room1 and when they do they share with ,birket ,foster's work the unusual distinction of always realising more than the artist received for them4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the illustrations which adorn this closing chapter have no connection with its subject1 but are not on that account altogether out of place2 for they are the only ones which are outside the title of the work1 two being from ,ireland1 and two from ,venice1 and they are associated with two of the main incidents of the artist's life1 namely1 her marriage1 and her only art work abroad4 ,illustration3 #gh4 ,a ,,cabin ,,at ,,ballyshannon ,from a ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #ahia4 ,ballyshannon is the birthplace of ,mr4 ,william ,allingham1 who married ,mrs4 ,allingham in #ahgd4 ,it is situated in ,county ,donegal1 and was described by him as an odd1 out-of-the way little town on the extreme western verge of ,europe2 our next neighbours1 sunset way1 being citizens of the great ,republic1 which indeed to our imagination seemed little1 if at all1 farther off than ,england in the opposite direction4 ,before it spreads a great ocean1 behind stretches many an islanded lake4 ,on the south runs a wavy line of blue mountains1 and on the north1 over green1 rocky hills1 rise peaks of a more distant range4 ,the trees hide in glens or cluster near the river2 grey rocks and boulders lie scattered about the windy pastures4 ,here ,mr4 ,allingham was born of the good old stock of one of ,cromwell's settlers1 and here he lived until he was two-and-twenty4 ,the drawing now reproduced was made when ,mrs4 ,allingham visited the place with his children after his death in #ahhi4 ,many ruined cabins lie around2 money is scarce in ,donegal1 and each year the tenants become fewer1 some emigrating1 others who have done so sending to their relations to join them4 ,better times are indeed necessary if the country is not to become a desert4 ,illustration3 #gi4 ,,the ,,fairy ,,bridges ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of the ,artist4 ,painted #ahia4 ,the ,fairy ,bridges--a series of natural arches1 carved or shaken out of the cliffs1 in times long past1 by the rollers of the ,atlantic--are within a walk of ,ballyshannon1 and were often visited by ,mrs4 ,allingham during her stay there4 ,three of them 7there are five in all7 are seen in the drawing1 and a quaint and mythological faith connects them with ,elfindom--a faith which every ,irishman in the last generation imbibed with his mother's milk1 and which is not yet extinct in the lovely crags and glens of ,donegal4 ,the scene is introduced into two of ,mr4 ,allingham's best-known songs2 in one1 ,the ,fairies1 thus-- ,up the airy mountain1 ,down the rushy glen1 ,we daren't go a-hunting ,for fear of little men4 ,down along the rocky shore ,some make their home1 ,they live in crispy pancakes ,of yellow tide foam4 ,the only land which separates the wind-swept ,fairy ,bridges from ,america is the ,slieve-,league headland1 whose wavy outline is seen in the distance4 ,it1 too1 finds a place in one of ,mr4 ,allingham's songs1 ,the ,winding ,banks of ,erne3 the ,emigrant's ,adieu to his ,birthplace 7which in ballad form is sung by ,erin's children all the world over7-- ,farewell to you1 ,kildenny lads1 and them that pull an oar1 ,a lug-sail set1 or haul a net1 from the ,point to ,mullaghmore2 ,from ,killikegs to bold ,slieve-,league1 that ocean mountain steep1 ,six hundred yards in air aloft1 six hundred in the deep1 ,from ,dorran to the ,fairy ,bridge1 and round by ,tullen ,strand1 ,level and long and white with waves1 where gull and curlew stand1 ,head out to sea1 when on your lee the breakers you discern6 ,adieu to all the billowy coast1 and winding banks of ,erne6 ,by a curious coincidence ,mr4 ,allingham when here in the eighties sent an ,invitation to a ,painter#af-- ,o come hither6 weeks together let us watch the big ,atlantic1 ,blue or purple1 green or gurly1 dark or shining1 smooth or frantic2 but the first to come was his own wife4 ,illustration3 #hj4 ,,the ,,church ,,of ,,sta4 ,,maria ,,della ,,salute1 ,,venice ,from the ,water-colour in the possession of ,mr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,johnson4 ,painted #aija4 ,mrs4 ,allingham1 after an absence of thirty-three years1 visited ,italy again in #aija1 in company with a fellow-artist1 and the following year the ,exhibition of the ,old ,water-,colour ,society was rendered additionally interesting by a comparison of her rendering of ,venice with that of a fellow lady-member1 ,miss ,clara ,montalba1 to whose individuality in dealing with it we have before referred4 ,the drawing of ,mrs4 ,allingham's here reproduced shows ,venice in quite an ,english aspect as regards weather4 ,it is almost a grey day2 it certainly is a fresh one1 and has nothing in common with one which induces the spending of much time about in a gondola4 ,in selecting the ,salute for one of her principal illustrations of ,venice1 ,mrs4 ,allingham has respectfully followed in the footsteps of ,england's greatest landscapist1 for ,turner made it the main object in his great effort of the ,grand ,canal1 and there are few of the craft who have failed to limn it again and again in their story of ,venice4 ,but whilst most people are disposed to regard it as one of the most beautiful features of the city1 the church has fallen under the ban of those exponents of architecture that have studied it carefully4 ,mr4 ,ruskin classified it under the heading of ,grotesque ,renaissance1 although he admitted that its position1 size1 and general proportions rendered it impressive4 ,its proportions were good1 but its graceful effect was due to the inequality in the size of its cupolas and the pretty grouping of the campaniles behind them4 ,but he qualified his praise by an opinion that the proportions of buildings have nothing whatever to do with the style or general merits of their architecture1 for an artist trained in the worst schools1 and utterly devoid of all meaning and purpose in his work1 may yet have such a natural gift of massing or grouping as will render all his structures effective when seen from a distance4 ,such a gift was very general with the late ,italian builders1 so that many of the most contemptible edifices in the country have a good stage effect so long as we do not approach them4 ,the ,church of the ,salute is much assisted by the beautiful flight of steps in front of it down to the ,canal1 and its faade is rich and beautiful of its kind4 ,what raised the anger of ,ruskin was the disguise of the buttresses under the form of colossal scrolls1 the buttresses themselves being originally a hypocrisy1 for the cupola is of timber1 and therefore needs none4 ,illustration3 #ha4 ,a ,,fruit ,,stall1 ,,venice ,from the ,drawing1 the property of ,mr4 ,c4 ,p4 ,johnson4 ,painted #aijb4 ,a lover of gardens and their produce1 such as ,mrs4 ,allingham is1 could not visit ,venice without being captivated by the wealth of colour which ,nature has lavished upon the contents of the ,venetian fruit stalls4 ,even the most indifferent1 when they get into meridional parts1 cannot be insensible to the luscious hues which the fruit baskets display4 ,to look out of the window of one's hotel on an ,italian lake-side at dawn and see the boats coming from all quarters of the lake laden with the luscious tomatoes1 plums1 and other fruits1 is not among the least of the delights of a sojourn there4 ,mrs4 ,allingham's drawing bears upon its face evidences that it is a literal translation of the scene4 ,we have none of the introduction of stage accessories in the way of secchios and other studio belongings which find a place in most of the ,venetian output of this character4 ,she has evidently delighted in the mysteries of the tones of the wicker baskets1 for we recognise in them traces of the skill she achieves in ,england in the delineation of similar surfaces on her tiled roofs4 ,her figure1 too1 has nothing of the studio model in it4 ,this black-haired girl is a new type for her1 but it is a faithful transcript of the original1 and not one of the robust beauties which one is accustomed to in the pictures of ,van ,haanen and his followers4 ,the stall itself was located somewhere between the ,campo ,san ,stefano and the ,rialto4 99 99 99 99 99 ,with these illustrations of ,mrs4 ,allingham's painting elsewhere than in ,england our tale is told4 ,we trust that this digression1 which appeared to be necessary if a complete survey of the artist's lifework up to the present time was to be portrayed1 will not be deemed to have appreciably affected the appropriateness of the title to the volume1 nor invalidated the claim that we have made as to her work having most felicitously represented the fairest aspects of ,english life and landscape--,english life1 whether of peer1 commoner1 or peasant1 passed under its healthiest and happiest conditions1 and ,english landscape under spring and summer skies and dressed in its most beauteous array of flower and foliage--an ,england of which we may to-day be as proud as were those who lived when the immortal lines concerning it were penned3-- ,this royal throne of kings1 this sceptred isle1 ,this earth of majesty1 this seat of ,mars1 ,this other ,eden1 demi-paradise2 ,this fortress built by ,nature for herself ,against infection and the hand of war2 ,this happy breed of men1 this little world2 ,this precious stone set in the silver sea1 ,which serves it in the office of a wall1 ,or as a moat defensive to a house1 ,against the envy of less happier lands2 ,this blessed plot1 this earth1 this realm1 this ,england1 ,this nurse1 this teeming womb of royal kings1 ,this land of such dear souls1 this dear dear land1 ,dear for reputation through the world2-- ,england1 bound in with the triumphant sea1 ,whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege ,of watery ,neptune4 ,,the ,,end ,printed by ,r4 ,r4 ,,clark1 ,,limited1 ,edinburgh4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,clayton's ,english ,female ,artists1 #ahgf4 #b ,in the ,exhibition of #aijc1 #ccj out of #aahj1 or #bh per cent1 were ladies4 #c ,the first female gold medallist was ,miss ,louisa ,starr 7now ,madame ,canziani71 and she was followed by ,miss ,jessie ,macgregor1 a niece of ,alfred ,hunt4 #d ,the ,parish ,register shows that the plague reached ,chalfont later on4 #e ,see ,letters of ,dante ,gabriel ,rossetti to ,william ,allingham4 7,london3 ,fisher ,unwin1 #ahig47 #f ,a ,flat ,iron for a ,farthing1 or some ,passages in the ,life of an ,only ,son1 by ,juliana ,horatia ,ewing4 7,george ,bell and ,sons47 #g ,the model was a ,mrs4 ,stewart1 who1 with her husband1 sat to ,mrs4 ,allingham for years4 ,they were well known in art circles1 and had charge of the ,hogarth ,club1 ,fitzroy ,square1 when ,mrs4 ,allingham1 before her marriage1 lived in ,southampton ,row close by4 ,she introduced the models to ,mr4 du ,maurier1 who immediately engaged them1 and continued to use them for many years4 ,ponsonby de ,tompkins was ,stewart1 run to seed1 and ,mrs4 ,ponsonby de ,tompkins a very good portrait of ,mrs4 ,stewart4 #h ,lord ,tennyson quoted this line to ,mrs4 ,allingham one day when1 walking with him1 they passed ground covered with the fallen flowers of the lime trees4 #i ,i have been reminded by the artist that my first introduction to her was at ,trafalgar ,square1 ,chelsea1 whither ,i went to see the products of this ,shere visit1 and that ,i came away with some of them in my possession4 #aj ,another tree at ,hatfield also claims this distinction4 #aa ,see ,in ,wormley ,wood 7,plate #df71 in the description of which ,i have referred to the reasons for the disappearance of thatch as a roof material4 ,an additional one to those there mentioned is without doubt the risk of fire4 ,since the introduction of coal1 chimneys clog much more readily with soot1 and a fire from one of these with its showers of sparks may quickly set ablaze not only the cottage where this happens1 but the whole village4 ,that the insurance companies1 by their higher premiums for thatch-covered houses1 recognise a greater risk1 may or may not be proof of greater liability to conflagration1 but we certainly nowadays hear of much fewer of those disasters1 which even persons now living can remember1 whereby whole villages were swept out of existence4 #ab ,do not these lines rather refer to gorse8 #ac ,rightly perhaps1 for the local doctor pleasantly inquired while she was painting it1 why she had selected a house that had had more fever in it than any other in the parish4 #ad ,mrs4 ,allingham's friends sometimes say to her1 ,you paint so quickly4 ,her reply is1 ,perhaps ,i make a quick beginning1 but ,i take a long time to finish4 ,which is the fact4 #ae ,when will the day come that editions of the books illustrated by ,birket ,foster will attain to their proper value8 ,the poets illustrated by miserable process blocks find a sale1 whilst these volumes1 issued in the middle of the last century1 and containing the finest specimens of the wood-cutting art1 attract1 if we may judge by the second-hand book-sellers' catalogues1 no purchasers even at a sum which is a fraction of their original price4 #af ,irish ,songs and ,poems 7#ahhg71 p4 #dg4 ,transcriber's ,note3 ,plate images have been moved to the beginning of the text headers4 ,inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original4