Mary Lee 1786 - The Scarlet Letter

An English sampler made in 1786

35ct Linen - design measures 12.5" x 21.5"
At the age of fourteen, Mary Lee stitched this beautiful band sampler with a good assortment of flowers, birds, swans, squirrels, and other traditional motifs.  Worked into the center of a band in tight, precise stitches, is the cautionary aphorism “In thy youth fear the god of truth.”  There are three more couplets stitched on her sampler:
Happy are they who hath a Friend indeed But they more happy is who none do’s need
 See how the Lillies flourish white and fair see how the Ravens fed from Heaven are
 Happy’s that soul that is content alone And needs as Entertainment but its own
 Stitches used in the sampler are cross stitch (over one and two threads of linen), eyelet over one thread, counted satin, and double running.