Can you believe it? The sun is shining today and I have been able to get outside and do some of those little jobs around the garden that should have been completed (had the weather been kinder) several weeks ago. Sadly many of the apples in our little orchard have succumbed to the constant wind and rain but I was able to gather a basket of windfalls that I can cook and freeze for use later in the year.
This morning's apple picking episode brought to mind this little water-colour by Helen Allingham, the much loved painter of cottages and cottage gardens in the late Victorian era. The picture above was taken from an old book that I have about the artist that was published in 1903. It contains 80 coloured prints with information about each subject. This book is still available from sellers of antiquarian books.
The book below 'Victorian Flower Gardens' is a more recent publication and readily available. It contains a wealth of coloured pictures and information about many Victorian 'cottage artists'.
Helen Allingham was born Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson in Derbyshire in 1848. At the age of 17 she became a pupil at the Birmingham School of Design and just a year later was accepted into London's prestigious Royal Academy School. On completing her course she became a much sought after commercial artist and came into contact with many well known artists and writers. One of her greatest friends was Kate Greenaway. In 1874 she married renowned Irish poet William Allingham.
When the Allinghams moved to Sandhill near Whitley in Surrey, Helen began painting the old cottages she found in the area and her portrayals of country life and cottage gardens became much sought after by the Victorians.
An abundance of flowers in a summer garden was always a popular subject but so too were such subjects as cutting cabbages from a kitchen garden.
The 'cabbage cutting' picture above is by Helen Allingham, the one below was painted by Myles Birket Foster. He was not only Helen's close neighbour but had been her college tutor in London. Between them these two artists popularised country cottage life and Whitley quickly became a centre for the many artists who were inspired by the cottage theme.
Helen Allingham's husband William was born in Ballyshannon in Co. Donegal, Ireland. Her portrayal of a typical cottage in this remote area can be seen below.
William Allingham's home of Ballyshannon is close to the wild Atlantic on Ireland's west coast. It is a landscape of distant blue mountains, wild windy pastures that are scattered with boulders and tree-hidden glens that contain bubbling brooks. The picture below depicts the nearby coast where a series of arches have been carved in the rock by Atlantic breakers. These arches are known locally as 'The Fairy Bridges' and it is this feature and the surrounding wild countryside that inspired William to write his most famous poem 'The Fairies' which begins, 'Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen...' The full version can be found in my 'Poems and Wise Words' section, meanwhile the first two verses can be found below.
'The Fairy Bridges' near Ballyshannon inspired William Allingham to write his famous poem
The Fairies
William Allingham (1824-1889)
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And a white owl's feather!
Down along the rocky shore
Some make their home,
They live on crispy pancakes
Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
Of the black mountain lake,
With frogs for their watch-dogs,
All night awake.
I confess, I love Helen Allingham's work and that of other artists of that period who painted English country cottages and the peolpe who lived in them over a century ago. Their romantic images do not of course depict the widespread poverty that was found in rural areas at that time but today they are lovely to look at and allow us to fill our heads with dreams of our own rural idyll.
More information about Helen Allingham and illustrations of her many paintings can be found here
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