The Flowerer of Linen

It was quite by accident that one sultry hazy afternoon, driving along a narrow road through green rounded drumlins, almost at the bottom of the Peninsular, near the 8-acre sandy beach of Knockinelder, that I stumbled upon an idyllic village,

hidden in the middle of nowhere and seemingly frozen in time.

Intrigued, wondering at first if I was trespassing, I ventured through a gateway, and came to a white-washed building where a discreet sign showed it to be a visitor's centre.

A tiny square window was set deep into the thick wall, through which a dim light filtered through the pane of glass bespattered with salty spray blown by the wind from the nearby sea. As my eyes adjusted from the contrasting bright sunshine outside to the shadowy interior light, I could just make out boards mounted upon the old stone walls that shed enlightenment on the history of this hitherto unknown place.

Once a former 19th Century traditional fishing village - this small settlement had fallen into a state of disrepair but has now been restored and preserved based on a plan as shown on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map.

Fishing was the main occupation of the men of the village, whilst the women carried out embroidery work. However one unusual fishing boat known as the "She-Cruiser", was crewed entirely by women of the village. A woman named Mary-Ann Doonan captained the vessel. Born in 1941, she lived until 99 years and served as the village mid-wife, layer out of corpses and Flowerer of Linen.

Leaving the dark little room, and venturing outside into the warm air again, I followed the path down the gently sloping hill to where the sea lay directly ahead, with the beach to the left.

I turned instead to the right,

by the tiny cottage closest to the shore,

and past the stone wall of the garden

belonging to the little cottage,

where a path had been mowed

through flower strewn tall grass

and over a slight hill.

The path led me alongside the shore,

(the mountains just visible in the distance)

through the wild beauty of lichen covered rocks

and coastal grassland studded with wildflowers

and valerian.

The sky was hazy in the intense heat and there was silence apart from the scream of sea-birds soaring high in the air;

the white yacht sailing along the coast-line was the only other sign of human habitation.

I watched the yacht slip smoothly past and tried to visualise "The She-Cruiser" returning to the shore with a catch of fish,

before her Captain and crew returned to their cottages and embroidery work.

As the sky grew hazier and a sea mist rolled in, I turned back towards home, and just as the crew of The Sea-Cruiser may have done, I would resume my latest stitching creation, stitched onto a piece of vintage linen, inspired by my visit last month to the Wildflower Meadows by the Sea, where red Valerian framed the view of

"The Tower and Beacon at Angus Rocks".

Maybe it is audacious to apply the quaint description of "Flowerer of Linen" to myself - as this title would be more deserving for Caroline Zoob or Nicki Franklin, but I rather like this term to describe my stitching.

I am intending upon doing an event later this year with my "Sewing and Soaping", but in the meantime I am still taking a limited number of commissions, so please feel free to contact me through the blog if you would like more details.

xxx