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In 1996, my husband, Larry, AKA the world-famous professor, was writing a book with a couple of professors at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Geostatistics for Petroleum Engineers and Geoscientists -- I'm sure Ruth Kern can get you a copy of this must-have top-seller! Nora Roberts is not, however, quaking in her boots at the competition.) In order to facilitate the writing of the book, they offered him an opportunity to teach for a quarter there, sort of like an exchange professor.
He tentatively asked if the kids and I would like to go. WHAT a silly question! I was ready to leave on the spot. The kids were rather another story, but we bribed them shamelessly. So after much planning and arranging (not to mention research and packing of multiple stitching projects), off we went. We stayed in an 1832 Georgian townhouse just off the main bus line rented to us by a professor at Heriot-Watt University who was on holiday. It was an adventure! No refrigerator, dryer or microwave, but we learned to make do with a teeny washer and a contraption for hanging clothes to dry in the dining room. My husband says Great Britain is just Disneyland for adults, and he's right! There were castles and tours and museums and collections... we went somewhere every single day, rain or shine. But the most amazing thing of all could not have been planned. Here we were, four relatively rowdy, gawking Americans plopped down on this little quiet street, and the neighbors had us over for tea to be hospitable. Who should be living across the street but Margaret Swain? I could barely keep my tongue between my teeth.
I had, of course, read Margaret's The Needlework of Mary Queen of Scots and Historical Needlework A Study of Influences in Scotland and Northern England and Scottish Embroidery, Medieval to Modern.
I later discovered her book Figures on Fabric Embroidery Design Sources and Their Application, and her Shire volumes Embroidered Georgian Figures, Embroidered Stuart Pictures and Ayrshire and other Whitework.
We spoke over tea of Margaret's books and of Mary. Everyone else politely ignored us, especially my family. Even so, everywhere we went, I began to see bits and pieces of Mary. Where she stayed, where she hunted, what she wore, and, yes, what she stitched. I became entranced (okay, obsessed!) with this woman whose needlework was still attributed to her after four hundred years. Of course, she was a queen and a romantic, tragic figure -- but at least her needlework didn't end up in a garage sale! So I started taking pictures of everything to do with Mary. And all of a sudden, I was buying books ... and taking notes ... and seeing symbols and imagery and becoming more and more fascinated with the sixteenth century and the Tudor era, particularly in Scotland.
I am interested in the continuing history of people and places. I like to put everything together. I don't believe you can extract one item of memorabilia -- say, a pair of embroidered gloves -- and talk about it without talking about history and symbols. Who might have worn those gloves? Why? Why was this particular pair preserved? What symbols are in the embroidery and what do they say about the politics, the religion, the social standing of their original owner? Where might that owner have lived? Where might she have worn the gloves? I began to look for items, needlework and otherwise, that were attributed to Mary. There are more than you can imagine because a sort of cult romanticizing Mary grew up after her untimely death and anything said to have been hers became valuable. In fact, there is quite a lot of needlework in Scotland attributed to Mary. In order to do even a tenth of it, she would have had no time to do anything else! However, even if she did not herself stitch these pieces, it is interesting to look at pieces contemporary to her. You can see images and styles that would have been familiar to her eye. You can visit Linlithgow Castle where she was born, Stirling Castle where she was crowned, as well as dozens of other castles and manor houses where she lived and visited -- and you can use your imagination to populate the rooms with costumes and hangings from in the styles of her lifetime.
Mary lived in a world where visual imagery and symbol was critically important -- not everyone could read and write. Many symbols were important to her, but when I decided to design a piece based on my research and obsession, I first selected the crown because she was a queen from the time she was 6 days old. Then I chose the thistle of Scotland, the lily of France and the Tudor rose of England, all countries of which she was queen or heir to the queen during her lifetime. In the center, I put the cipher of her name MARIE STUART (you can see all the letters if you remember that a U looked like a V in the sixteenth century). The cipher is adapted from one of the most famous needlework pieces attributed to her during her long captivity in England, now kept at Oxburgh Hall.
In America, we call her the anglicized name 'Mary Queen of Scots'. She always called herself Marie Stuart. She was born in Scotland, but lived much longer in both France and England. She was the queen of France. She always felt she was the rightful heir to the throne of England, but Elizabeth I never acknowledged her as such. It is, however, as queen of Scotland that we remember her. Even though she was never acknowledged by Elizabeth, her dream of ruling England came true through her son James.
Through studying Mary and her life and times, you can branch out into a delightful array of topics. For a bookaholic like me (Ruth Kern salivates when I walk into the bookstore at a seminar!), tracing the history of sixteenth century needlework through the lens of Mary's life has filled a small room with books of all sorts. I don't have everything, I suppose, but it's not for lack of trying: books on architecture, on the history of Scotland, books on the Protestant reformation, biographies of John Knox, Marie de Guise, Mary herself. I have books on costume and jewelry and symbols. There are some interesting books on the life of women in that era. I have novels, magazine articles, movies, music, books of poetry and portraits and, most importantly, books on needlework in the sixteenth century.
I have a very lengthy bibliography that I have posted elsewhere on this Website, for those of you who want to delve into the obsession. However, for those of you who are normal (picture me laughing), here are a few essential books that I recommend
This article first published in Ruth Kern Books' newsletter.
