YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Bought with the income
of the
HENRY A. HOMES FUND

BIRKET FOSTER

In the same Series
KATE GREENAWAY BY
M. H. SPIELMANN AND
G. S. LAYARD
Price 20S. "et
Containing 80 full-page illustrations,
53 of which are reproduced in facsimile
from original water-colour drawings
by Kate Greenaway. There are also
numerous thumb-nail sketches with pen
and pencil throughout the text, many of
them from letters to Ruskin.

AGENTS
America The Macmillan Company
64 & 66 Fifth Avenue, New York
Canada The Macmillan Company of Canada, Ltd.
27 Richmond Street West, Toronto.
India . Macmillan & Company, Ltd.
Macmillan Building, Bombay
309 Bow Bazaar Street, Calcutta

From a photograph by Jlfessrs. C. /.". Fry & Son.

/^A^rJ^^r

BIRKET FOSTER
R.W.S.

BY

H. M. CUNDALL, I.S.O., F.S.A.

LONDON
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK
1906

DEDICATED TO
MYLES BIRKET FOSTER, F.R.A.M.
THE ELDEST SON OP THE ARTIST

DEDICATED TO
MYLES BIRKET FOSTER, F.R.A.M.
THE ELDEST SON OF THE ARTIST

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PREFACE
It may be asserted without fear of contradiction
that the dainty water-colour drawings executed by
Birket Foster, of which a large and representative
selection are reproduced in this volume, appeal to
the majority of the British public more than the
works of any other artist.
For many years during the early part of his
career he was engaged in drawing on wood-blocks
for the engraver, from which he acquired a minute-

viii BIRKET FOSTER
ness in detail that continued to pervade his paint
ings in later life. The result was that he produced
scenes from nature with an exactness that the
most uninitiated in art are able to understand and
appreciate. The chief features, however, in Birket
Foster's paintings are the poetic feeling with which
he indued them, and the care and felicity with
which his compositions were selected. These
qualities lend a great charm to his drawings, and
especially to those representing the homely scenes
so frequently selected from that picturesque part
of Surrey, where he lived for many years. He
revelled in sunny landscapes, with sheep roaming
in the distance and with rustic children playing in
the foreground ; he was also attracted by peace
ful red -brick cottages covered with thatch, and
enlivened by domestic scenes. It is perhaps by
these rural paintings that the artist is best known.
He, however, wandered far afield in search of the
picturesque ; he was an indefatigable painter, and
produced works selected from all parts of England,
Wales, and Scotland. Birket Foster was especially
partial to the Northern counties and the district
surrounding his native town in Northumberland.
His rambles were not confined solely to his own

PREFACE ix
country; he travelled frequently on the Continent ;
Venice, as well as the Rhine, had its charms for
him. The picturesque scenery of Brittany has also
been portrayed by his brush, and on one occasion
he went as far as Spain and Morocco in pursuit of
his art.
Birket Foster was of a most affable and genial
disposition, and I have vivid recollections of many
of his kindnesses in my younger days, when I
lived under my father's roof opposite to the artist's
residence in Carlton Hill East. It has afforded
me great pleasure to record these few remin
iscences of the events in his successful life, and
this pleasure has been greatly enhanced by the
renewal of a friendship with some members of his
family and relatives, of whom I had lost sight for
many years owing to our diverging paths in life.
I can hardly thank the artist's eldest son, Myles
Birket Foster, and the artist's niece, Mrs. Edmund
Evans, sufficiently, for all the kind assistance which
they have so readily given, not only by placing
many of the artist's drawings and sketches at my
disposal for the purpose of reproduction, but also
by supplying me with many interesting records
of his life.

x BIRKET FOSTER
My best thanks are also due to Mr. Robert
Dudley for many particulars respecting the artist's
method of painting, concerning which Mr. Dudley
is well qualified to speak, as he accompanied Birket
Foster on several of his tours, and the two artists
sketched side by side on many occasions. The
details of the dramatic performances at " The Hill,"
for which Mr. Dudley acted as stage manager at
each successive Christmas, have also been supplied
by him.
All the illustrations in this volume, excepting
the few photographic portraits and views, have
been reproduced from original water-colour draw
ings or pencil sketches, and all these, with the
exception of two of the latter by Frederick Walker
and one by Charles Keene, were executed by
Birket Foster. Some of the sketches in the pos
session of Mrs. Edmund Evans, and reproduced
in the early part of the volume, were drawn at
Landells' establishment by Birket Foster when he
was only sixteen years of age. These demonstrate
the facility with which he could use his pencil
even when quite a boy.
The publishers gratefully acknowledge the valu
able assistance given by Mr. W. Lockett Agnew

PREFACE xi
in procuring the loan of many of the original
paintings for the purpose of illustrating this book,
and also the very courteous manner in which
Mr. Barnet Lewis, Mr. Sharpley Bainbridge, and
Sir Charles Seeley have so readily permitted
the finest examples of the artist's works to be
selected from their respective collections, and
reproductions to be made from them. Sir John
D. Milburn, Mr. Jesse Howarth, Mr. Edward
Clark, and also the artist's two nieces, Mrs. Alfred
Cooper and Mrs. Black, have kindly lent their
water-colour drawings by Birket Foster for the
same purpose. Lieut. S. B. Boyd -Richardson,
R.N., Mr. Sharpley Bainbridge, and Mr. E. G.
Cundall have allowed sketches from the artist's
note -books in their possession to be reproduced.
To all of them the best thanks of the publishers
are rendered ; also to Miss Evans for her per
mission to copy the photograph of " The Hill,"
taken by herself, and to Mr. Croal Thomson for
his most obliging aid.
I have also to thank Mr. M. H. Spielmann
for kindly giving me information respecting the
early designs by Birket Foster executed for Punch,
and Mr. Algernon Graves for his assistance in the

xii BIRKET FOSTER
compilation of the list of water-colour drawings
exhibited by Birket Foster at the Royal Society
of Painters in Water-Colours, of which he was such
a distinguished member.
I must add one word of regret. Mrs. Atchison,
the artist's only sister, who was looking forward
with a lively interest to the appearance of this
volume, and who kindly lent one of her brother's
earliest water-colour drawings, "The Christmas
Holly Cart," for reproduction, did not live to see
her wish realised, as she died in her eighty-sixth
year, a few days before the publication of the book.
H. M. C.
October 1906.

life '.H I ''' J^i^A^'i'iM

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PAGE

MANTES, LOOKING SOUTH.
CONTENTS
Preface . . ... vii
List of Illustrations . xv
CHAPTER I
The Foster Family ... 3
CHAPTER II
At Landells' . . . 17
CHAPTER III
"Punch" and "The Illustrated London News" . 33
CHAPTER IV
Book Illustrations .... 53
CHAPTER V
Travels on the Continent .... 73
xiii b

xiv BIRKET FOSTER
CHAPTER VI
First Visit to Venice . .87
CHAPTER VII
Further Travels on the Continent . . .109
CHAPTER VIII
Water-Colour Painting .... .123
CHAPTER IX
At Witley ...... . 145
CHAPTER X
Christmas Festivities at "The Hill". . . . 157
CHAPTER XI
Dramatic Performances .... .173
CHAPTER XII
Last Years at Witley ... 183
List of the Principal Books containing Illustrations
by Birket Foster . . . . . . .193
List of Water-Colour Paintings Exhibited at the
Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours . 201
List of Oil Paintings Exhibited at the Royal Academy 209
Index ... ...... 211

CHARTBES.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

IN COLOUR

Owner of Original

FACING PAGE

1.

At the Spring .

Barnet Lewis, Esq.

4

2.

Shelling Peas .

Mrs. Edmund Evans

6

3.

The Bird's Nest

Barnet Lewis, Esq.

10

4.

Gleaners

» 7i

14

5.

Stepping Stones

Mrs. Edmund Evans

18

6.

Arundel Park .

7) 3)

20

7.

Primroses

Barnet Lewis, Esq.

22

8.

Sketch for "The Milk

maid "
Mrs. Edmund Evans
24
9.
The Milkmaid .
Victoria and Albert Museum 24
XV
BIRKET FOSTER

Owner of Original facing page

10.

Playmates

Barnet Lewis, Esq.

26

11.

Tynemouth from Culler-

coats ....
Mrs. Edmund Evans
28
12.
A Moonlight Effect .
.. »
30
13.
Tynemouth
Mrs. Alfred Cooper
34
14.
Going Home
Barnet Lewis, Esq.
36
15.
The Christmas Holly Cart
The late Mrs. Atchison
44
16.
Shelling Peas .
Barnet Lewis, Esq.
58
17.
Feeding Time .
33 33
62
18.
Designs for Book Covers .
Mrs. Edmund Evans
64
19.
Evening on the Yare
Barnet Lewis, Esq.
66
20.
Young Gleaners Resting
Bethnal Green Museum
68
21.
Manchester Cathedral
Bamet Lewis, Esq.
70
22.
Stirling from the Abbey
Craig ....
u 33
74
23.
Crossing the Ford
33 33
76
24.
Pass of Killiecrankie
33 33
7S
25.
Loch Leven Castle
33 33
so
26.
Dunfermline Abbey .
33 33
82
27.
Hawthomden .
33 33
84
28.
Venice from the Steps of
San Giorgio Maggiore .
Sir Charles Seeley .
88
29-
Shrine at the Entrance of
the Courtyard of the
Ducal Palace, Venice .
33 33
90
30.
Library in the Piazzetta,
Venice
33 33
92
31.
Well in the Courtyard of
the Ducal Palace, Venice
33 J)
94
32.
In the Vestibule, St. Mark's,
Venice
>3 33
96
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Owner of Original facing page

33.

Palazzo Gussoni

Sir Charles Seeley .
98
34.
Burano, Venice
Barnet Lewis, Esq,
100
35.
Entrance to the Grand
Canal, Venice
33 33
102
36.
Pisa .
33 33
104
37.
Birthplace of Burns,
near
Ayr .
33 33
106
38.
A Highland Cottage
33 33
108
39-
Ben Venue and Ellen's
Isle,
Loch Katrine
33 77
110
40.
Lichfield Cathedral .
33 33
112
41.
At Quimper
Sharpley Bainbridge, Esq.
114
42.
Market Place, Rouen
Barnet Lewis, Esq.
116
43.
Burgos
37 33
118
44.
The Way down the Cliff .
33 33
120
45.
Sunset with Cattle .
Bethnal Green Museum .
122
46.
Children Paddling .
Mrs. Edmund Evans
124
47.
Cowslip Gatherers
Edward Clark, Esq.
126
48.
In Full Cry
Barnet Lewis, Esq.
128
49.
Children by the Sea .
Jesse Haworth, Esq.
130
50.
Summer Time .
Barnet Lewis, Esq.
132
51.
Windsor Lock .
33 33
134
52.
Eton College .
33 33
136
53.
By the Thames
33 33
138
54.
The Meet
33 33
140
55.
Witley Church .
Mrs. Edmund Evans
144
56.
Cottage at Wheeler Street,
Witley
Barnet Lewis, Esq.
148
57.
A Village Inn
33 33
152
58.
Sketch for "The
Old
Curiosity Shop " .
Sharpley Bainbridge, Esq.
156
xvin

BIRKET FOSTER

59. Going to Market
60. Burying the Favourite
61. Waterfall, Loch Achray .
62. A Surrey Cottage
63. The Donkey that would
not go .
64. Coffee Room of the Feathers
Inn, Ludlow
65. Passing the Flock
66. The Weald of Surrey
67. Children Paddling .
68. Near Godalming
69. The Blackberry Gatherers
70. The Pet of the Common
71. A Surrey Landscape
72. The Happy Time of Life
73. Crossing the Brook .

Owner of Original
Sir John D. Milburn
Barnet Lewis, Esq .

facing page158 160162
. 164

Sharpley Bainbridge, Esq. 166

3?

yy

170

Garnet Lewis

, Esq.

172

??

?;

174

5J>

-u

176

!>

?J

178

•?

JJ

180

;?

,v

182

>>

7)

184

}j

JJ

186 188

IN BLACK AND WHITE
1. Birket Foster . . . From a Photograph by
Messrs. Fry fy Sons, Frontispiece
2. Myles Birket Foster, Senior Myles Birket Foster,
Esq. . . . facing 8
3. Holograph Letter dated
March 20, 1835 . . „ „
4. Birket Foster when a
Young Man ... „ .,
5. The Mayor of Portsmouth
Presenting the Address
to the Queen . . Mrs. Edmund Evans
6. The Village Waits

11 and 12
facing 16
3, 38
„ 40

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

xix

The Mistletoe Seller
Christmas Eve.

Owner of Original
Mrs. Edmund Evans

facing 42

The

Cottager's Return from

9-
10. il. 12. 13. 14.

15. 16. 17.
18. 19-
20.

Market

J-e )>

33

46

May ....
Newcastle-on-Tyne .

Mrs. Black .
Mrs. Edmund Evans

33

48 50

The Lollard's Tower, Lam
beth Palace .

3> 33

33

52

Peace Illuminations .

33 33

33

54

A Landscape .
Christmas Time. Dis
tributing Gifts to the
Poor ....

33 33
33 j>

3333

5660

Birket Foster .

From a private Photograph ..

142

Tigboume Cottage, Witley
1862 .

33 73

33

146

Distant View of The Hill,
Witley, when first built
The Hill, Witley .

33 77
From Photograph by

33
Miss

150

Evans

154

Myles Birket Foster, Esq. 1 63

21

Birket Foster Sketching,
drawn by Charles Keene
Christmas Festivities. Bir
ket Foster and Friends
in Sixteenth Century
Costume . . . From a private Photo
graph . . . facing 168
to 78. Fifty-eight smaller illustrations, mostly reproduced
from Pencil Drawings in Birket Foster's Sketch-books,
throughout the Text, viz. —
Four from Sketches — two by Birket Foster and two by
Frederick Walker, A.R.A. — in the possession of Myles
Birket Foster, Esq. (pp. 36, 125, 135, 161).

xx BIRKET FOSTER
Ten from Sketches in the possession of Mrs. Edmund Evans
(pp. 14, 20, 22, 24, 25, 54, 131, 136, 139).
One from Sketch in the possession of Miss Evans (p. 147).
Thirty-one from Sketch-books in the possession of Lieut. S.
B. Boyd -Richardson, R.N. (pp. vii, xiii, xv, 68, 73,
78, 81, 82, 87, 93, 100, 101, 104, 109, 112, 113, 114,
116, 119, 120, 123, 140, 145, 152, 157, 168, 173, 179,
183, 189).
Seven from Sketch-book in the possession of Sharpley Bain
bridge, Esq. (pp. 3, 17, 29, 33, 49, 53, 127).
Four from Sketches in the possession of E. G. Cundall.
Esq. (pp. 65, 129, 133, 137).
Two from Book-plates (title page and p. 210).
One Birket Foster Monogram as used on his pictures (p. 139).

THE FOSTER FAMILY

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0)1 i ;
CHAPTER I
THE FOSTER FAMILY
Birket Foster, as he is generally known, or
Myles Birket Foster, to give him his full name,
was born at North Shields on the 4th February
1825. He was the youngest of seven children,
six boys and one girl, all of whom have now
passed away.
The name of Myles Birket can be traced back
for many generations, and from the pedigree of the
Sandys family, which anciently settled at Rathen-
4 BIRKET FOSTER
bury Castle near St Bees, Cumberland, we learn
that Esther Sandys of Hawkshead married James,
the son of Myles Birket of Birket House, Cartmel,
in 1637. Their great-grandson Myles Birket was
owner of Hebblethwaite Hall, in the County of
York, and Sarthwaite in the County of Lancaster,
and his daughter Elizabeth, the sole heiress, married
Dodshon Foster, a merchant at Lancaster, who
was born in 1730 at Hawthorne, near Sunderland.
He was the great-grandson of Robert Foster of
Cold Hesledon. In the Pedigree ofthe Forsters of
Cold Hesledon in the County Palatine of Durham,
written by Joseph Foster in 1862, he states that
" the name of Foster is spelt at the beginning of
the book Forster, and as the descent is clearly
proved by the Registers of the Society of Friends,
there is, of course, no doubt that it is correct, but
how or why the spelling was changed I have no
means of ascertaining."
Dodshon and Elizabeth Foster had one surviv
ing son, Robert, and the following account of his life
is extracted from a memoir written by his son and
the father of our artist : —
" When about eighteen years old he went to sea,
and after making three voyages to the West Indies
with Captain Roper in the Marquis of Rockingham,

AT THE SPRING
{Size of original picture 6| x 5 inches.)

THE FOSTER FAMILY 5
he was appointed storekeeper in Antigua by his
grandfather and great -uncle, Myles and James
Birket, who were then West India merchants."
"About the end of May 1776 he entered on board
the brig Endeavour, Lieut. Francis Tinsley com
mander, carrying 4 guns, which was fitted out in
Antigua to cruise against the American privateers.
On 20th June 1778 he left the Endeavour at
Spithead and went on board the Defiance, 64 guns,
Samuel Cranston Goodall, Esq., commander. On
8th July he entered as master's mate on board the
Jupiter, 50 guns, Francis Reynolds commander.
From an entry in his log-book we learn that on
21st October 1778 the Jupiter had a severe
engagement with the Triton, 64 guns. Mr.
Roberts, the master, and three men were wounded.
Mr. Roberts died the following day, and Robert
Foster succeeded him. On 21st April 1779 he
received Capt. Reynolds' acting orders as lieutenant
of the Pelican, 24s guns, Henry Lloyd commander,
in the room of Mr. Sumpter deceased."
" In August 1779, his only brother Myles died
at Ulverston. In September he obtained leave to
visit his friends at Lancaster, which visit brought
forth the following letter supposed to have been
written by the Vicar of Lancaster : —

6 BIRKET FOSTER
Last Sunday, the Quakers at their meeting-house were
thrown into a state of great surprise by the appearance of a
young man in the uniform of a lieutenant of a man-of-war.
This young man's father and grandfather are Quakers, and
being the principal merchants of the place, bred him to the
sea, and afterwards appointed him their storekeeper in the
West Indies, where he was when the American Dispute
began ; and being moved by the spirit (not the peaceable
one of a Quaker, but the true spirit of an Englishman) he
made up his accounts, quitted his store, collected together a
few men from the Lancaster ships, laid aside the Quaker,
mounted a cockade, and joined a Lieutenant Tinsley, then
fitting out a small armed vessel against the Americans, in
which he had several severe actions ; and coming over in her
to Portsmouth, got himself recommended to Captain Rey
nolds as an officer likely to show him some business, was with
him in the Jupiter of 50 guns when they went close along
side the Triton, a French 64, at the very time she saw her
consort going off; and in the heat of that close and desperate
action, on the master being killed, Captain Reynolds im
mediately sent for Foster from his quarters, and appointed
him master ; and managing the ship for the remainder of
the action, as well as acquitting himself afterwards to the
satisfaction of the captain, upon a vacancy happening lately
at Lisbon, where Captain Reynolds had the command, from
that just and honest principle of rewarding merit Captain
Reynolds deprived himself of a useful officer by appointing
Foster Lieutenant of the Pelican.
Foster got leave on the Pelican coming to England to
visit his friends at Lancaster for a few days, where he has
withstood all the remonstrances and solicitations to quit the
service, and has gone back to his ship. I hope he will gain
preferment and be a credit to the place, as well as an
example to some others of that society to break through the

SHELLING PEAS
(An unSnished painting)
~e of original 2ncture S X 5 inches.}

THE FOSTER FAMILY 7
principle established by them 'to enjoy all the advantages
of peace, but to leave it to others to fight their battles.1
" On his return to Portsmouth the Pelican had
probably gone to sea without him, as it appears
from his log-book that he went on board the
Hornet, sloop-of-war, 14 guns."
" He remained in the navy a very short time
after his visit to Lancaster. His friends, who had
been greatly distressed by his desertion from those
peaceable principles in which he had been carefully
educated, no doubt laboured earnestly while he
was with them to induce him to leave the service ;
and their labours, seconded by his own convictions,
seemed to have wrought a wonderful change in the
young officer. He became a man of peace, and in
after life avoided conversation about his naval
career, and certainly never gloried in his former
exploits. Soon after he left the navy, his maternal
grandfather wanting a manager for his estate near
Sedbergh in Yorkshire, which Robert Foster after-
wards inherited, he went to reside at Hebblethwaite
Hall and settled down as an agriculturist. He
erected a mill on the estate for the better employ
ment of the poor, established a school for their
education, and became a sort of father, physician,
lawyer, and judge among his dependents and

8 BIRKET FOSTER
country neighbours. He continued an active,
useful, and benevolent life at Hebblethwaite, in the
enjoyment of domestic happiness and with social
intercourse with the worthies around, who were
attracted, by his accomplished mind and genial
disposition, to his retired but hospitable dwelling,
till the autumn of 1812, when he removed to
Newcastle to be near his children, who had most
of them removed to that locality. In 1824 he had
a slight attack of paralysis, after which his bodily
powers gradually gave way."
The following is an extract from a letter of
Robert Southey to Richard Duffa, Esq., on 23th
February, 1806, respecting this extraordinary man : —
" Oh, Wordsworth sent me a man the other day, who was
worth seeing ; he looked like a first assassin in Macbeth as to
his costume — but he was a rare man ; had been a lieutenant
in the navy ; was a scholar enough to quote Virgil aptly ;
had turned Quaker or semi-Quaker, and was now a dealer in
wool somewhere about twenty miles off. He had seen much
and thought much ; his head was well stored, and his heart
was in the right place. It is five- or six-and-twenty years
since he was at Lisbon, and he gave me a vivid description of
the Belem Convent, as if the impression on his memory was
not half a day old. Edridge's acquaintance, Thomas
Wilkinson, came with him. They had been visiting an old
man of a hundred in the vale of Lorton, and it was a fine
thing to hear this Robert Foster describe him. God bless
you- R. S."

MYJ.F.S BIRKET FOSTER, SENIOR.

THE FOSTER FAMILY 9
Robert Foster married Mary Burton in 1784.
and his eldest son, born 4th January 1785 at
Hebblethwaite Hall, was named Myles Birket
Foster after his maternal great-grandfather, who,
was still alive at the time.
Myles Birket Foster married Ann King, who
was also a member of a Quaker family, at New
castle on 11th April 1811, and afterwards went to
reside at North Shields, where, as has already been
stated, Birket Foster was born.
It will thus be seen that our artist's ancestors
held good social positions for many generations in
the North Country, and were staunch members of
the Society of Friends. One, Sarah Forster,
married a descendant of Margaret Fell of Swath-
moor Hall, who, after the death of her first husband,
Judge Fell, was united to George Fox, the founder
of the Quakers.
In 1830 Mr. Foster migrated with his family to
London, voyaging all the way by sea. He took
up his residence at 40 Charlotte Street, Portland
Place, and founded the well-known firm of M. B.
Foster and Sons. His youngest son, Birket, was
sent to a school kept by two sisters, the Misses
F. S. and P. Coar, at Tottenham, and from the
letter written from there to his father, of which a

10 BIRKET FOSTER
facsimile is given, we learn that he received his
earliest instruction in drawing at this academy, as
he says he has "begun to draw the geometrical
figures in a book," and he had also finished a map of
South America, of which he was evidently proud.
The boy was fond of drawing from his earliest
childhood, and his " Sister Mary," afterwards Mrs.
Atchison,1 well remembered that, if ever their
mother wanted to keep him quiet, she had only
to supply him with a piece of paper and a pencil,
and he would amuse himself for hours.
It is curious to note that, in spite of his in
structresses being Quakers, the boy was already
beginning to break away from the conventional
" thou " and " thee," and uses the pronoun " you "
once in his letter.
When the time arrived for his removal from a
dame's establishment, the boy was transferred to
a school for children of the Society of Friends
at Hitchin, where he remained until nearly six
teen years of age, when, according to the
custom of those days, a boy's scholastic educa
tion was considered to be complete. He re
ceived some rudimentary instruction in drawing
at Hitchin from a master named Charles Parry,
1 Mrs. Atchison, who died on 7th October 1906, survived all her
brothers.

THE BIRD'S NEST
(Sfee of original picture 4T\ X 3ft incites.)

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^Ot^tI

THE FOSTER FAMILY 13
a man of some ability, for in 1843 a painting by
him was exhibited in the Suffolk Street Galleries.
About this period Mr. Foster, senior, changed
his residence to Stranraer Place, Maida Vale, and
his son Birket continued to live under the family
roof. " The Christmas Holly Cart," drawn for the
Illustrated London News in 1848, was an actual
scene from a window of a front room in the house,
which was set apart as a studio for him.
Two years later, Birket Foster was married at
Earsdon in Northumberland, on 13th August 1850,
to his cousin, Ann Spence, a twin and tenth
daughter of Robert Spence of North Shields,
whose wife was a daughter of Robert Foster oi
Hebblethwaite Hall.
Mr. Foster, senior, removed to 12 Carlton Hill,
St. John's Wood, and the newly-married couple
took up their residence close by, at Marsden Villa
in Clifton Road, now called Clifton Hill. The
two houses stood back to back, with their gardens
abutting, and a gateway was made in the wall to
allow of easy communication between the two
families. Subsequently Birket Foster removed to
12 Carlton Hill East. It was during his residence
at these two abodes that his children, three sons and
two daughters, were born, and while at the latter

n

BIRKET FOSTER

that he had the great misfortune to lose his first
wife. She died at Littlehampton on 4th July 1859.
It was also whilst Birket Foster was living in
Carlton Hill East that his father died on 21st
January 1861 at the good old age of seventy-six.
Owing to their names being the same, and their
addresses being very similar, the death of the father
was mistaken for that of the son, and in The
Athenaeum of 2nd February of that year was the
following notice : — " Mr. Birket Foster, an artist
whose delicate pencil has been the delight of
Christmas homes for many years, died at his house
in St. John's Wood last week." We are glad to
add, however, that the mistake was duly rectified
in the next week's issue. His eldest son Myles well
remembers the
look of surprise
on the faces of
two worthy
ladies, who had
called to condole
with the children
at their sad loss,
when his father
himself opened
the door to them.

GLEANERS
(Size of original picture G{ X 5 inches.)

_

{ft* if
* . 1

AT LANDELLS'

KIRKET FOSTER WHEN A YOUNG MAN.
From a Daguerreotype portrait.

¦"•^K-J., *< V.-,-'

K-l- .. . '.feVi,.

CHAPTER II
AT LANDELLS'
Quitting school at an early age, young Birket
Foster was at first placed in his father's business ;
but owing to an accident, he did not remain
long in that position. In a speech made by the
late Mr. John Foster a few years ago at an annual
meeting of the shareholders, he stated : "It may
be interesting to you to know that my brother,
the celebrated water-colour artist, served for ten
months in this business, but he cut his thigh in
drawing a cork, and he found subsequently that
his talent lay in another direction of drawing."
17 3

18 BIRKET FOSTER
As the youth showed a decided tendency
towards art, his father consulted a Mr. Stone,
a die-engraver, with whom he had a slight
acquaintance, and it was arranged that the son
should be apprenticed to him. Before, however,
the articles of apprenticeship could be signed,
Mr. Stone unfortunately committed suicide. In his
dilemma the father next sought the assistance of
his fellow-townsman, Ebenezer Landells, who at
that time had established his reputation as a wood-
engraver. He offered to take the boy into his
business to see whether the work would suit him.
The offer was accepted, and the day on which
Birket Foster entered Landells' office may be said
to be the commencement of that artistic career
in which he was afterwards to become so famous.
Ebenezer Landells was born at Newcastle-on-
Tyne in 1808, and was apprenticed by his father to
Thomas Bewick, with whom he became a favourite
pupil. On the death of his master Landells came
to London, and after some time set up in business
on his own account as a wood-engraver. Landells
was a fine tall man of genial disposition and had a
generous heart. He possessed considerable enter
prise, and started several illustrated newspapers,
but, like most pioneers, he never made a fortune.

STEPPING-STONES
(An unfinished painting)
(Size of original picture 6J- x 5 inches.)

' ¦ -

AT LANDELLS1 19
Amongst his friends he was known as " Daddy "
Landells, owing to the length of his legs, whilst
amongst his employes he went by the sobriquet
of " Tooch-it-oop," from his strong Northumbrian
accent. Landells at first set young Birket Foster
to work at trying his hand in cutting wrood-blocks,
but he did not make much progress in this direc
tion, and Landells, soon discovering that the boy's
ability lay in drawing, employed him henceforward
as a draughtsman, and from that time onwards
many hundreds of wood-blocks were destined to be
drawn upon by his pencil. He, however, whilst with
Landells, continued to do some wood-engraving, and
many of his own small drawings were cut by himself.
At Landells' office, which at that time was at
76 Fleet Street, Birket Foster first met amongst his
fellow-workers John Greenaway, the father of Kate
Greenaway, and Edmund Evans, who afterwards
became the well-known colour-printer. Between
Birket Foster and the latter a close intimacy sprang
up, which existed without interruption during the
remainder of their lives. Evans was a year younger
than Birket Foster, and had been apprenticed to
Landells some little time before the latter's arrival.
He lived in early youth on the south side of the
Thames between Bermondsey and Rotherhithe. He

20 BIRKET FOSTER
had a vivid recollection of a picturesque old farmyard
on the south side of the Old Kent Road with grey
barns and a straw-yard with cows and chickens ;
and near to it was the " Green Man " toll-gate,

FN \r a

EDMUND EVANS AND JOHN GREENAWAY.
through which in the evenings he saw four-horsed
coaches pass on their outward journey bearing the
mails, and with " Tonbridge Wells," " Dover," and
"Paris" on their panels. Evans left school before
he was fourteen years of age, and was placed in
Samuel Bentley's printing office, Bangor House,
Shoe Lane, with the intention of becoming a
compositor, this being considered a suitable
occupation for him as he was a thin and delicate
boy — so thin, that amongst his relatives " As thin

ARUNDEL PARK
(Unfinished)
(Sine of original picture 8 X 12 inches.)

AT LANDELLS' 21
as Edmund " was a common expression. The first
step towards becoming a compositor was to be a
reader's boy, but as he had a nervous impediment in
his speech it was soon found that he was of no use
for the post, and he was accordingly transferred to
the warehouse department, where he became little
more than an errand-boy. The firm had a good
reputation for printing from wood-engravings, and
it was here that the boy first saw a wood-block,
and he was greatly interested in it. He made
an attempt to copy one which was being printed
for a book for John Van Voorst of Paternoster
Row. It was a mule engraved by Vasey for
Yarrell's Natural History ; he scratched this
animal on a thick piece of slate, and then tried to
take impressions from it during the dinner -hour
when the presses were unoccupied, the result being
that he was summoned before one of the heads of
the firm for meddling with the printing press.
Fortunately his master did not look upon the crime
in a very severe light, but discovered that there was
latent talent in the small boy. A letter of intro
duction to Ebenezer Landells was given to young
Evans, and he was at once apprenticed to him as
a wood-engraver. Soon after Birket Foster's arrival Landells moved

22

BIRKET FOSTER

his establishment to Bidborough Street, and having
plenty of work in hand his staff was frequently
kept till the early hours of the morning, executing
wood-blocks for the illustrated newspapers. The
long hours told upon the deli
cate young Evans, and he was
often incapacitated for engraving
the next day. Landells, however,
was a good-hearted man, and on
these occasions sent Evans with
Birket Foster on his sketching-
expeditions near and around
London. The two young men
had many tastes in common, and
these rambles together helped
considerably to cement their
friendship. They went to Blackwall by the rail
way when the carriages were drawn by ropes and
stationary engines. From Blackwall they visited
the Isle of Dogs in search of picturesque scenery,
which was then to be found there. There were
pleasant meadows with cattle grazing, surrounded
with dykes. On one occasion Evans remembered
that they wasted the whole day rambling about,
and all sketching was forgotten. As Landells
required the next morning to see the result of the

EDMUND EVANS.

PRIMROSES
(Size of original picture 7 X 5 iMte.)

¦

AT LANDELLS1 23
day's work, Birket Foster when he returned home
made some sketches from E. W. Cooke's Etchings
of Shipping and Craft. When Landells saw them
he exclaimed, " Capital, Foster ! There is nothing
like going to nature." Evans added this was the
only incident of the kind, for Birket Foster was a
most conscientious worker, and loved his drawing
too well to shirk it.
On other occasions they took the train to
Croydon, which was then a terminus, and walked
to Waddon, Beddington Park, Saunderstead, and
other surrounding villages in search of the pictur
esque. They also journeyed to Rochester, where
they found much to engage their attention, and on
their visiting the old church at Swanscombe on
a very wet day the clayey soil was so sticky that
it pulled the soles off their boots, and they had to
tie them on with string.
Once they extended their travels by going in
an excursion train as far as Dover. The third-
class carriages in those early days of railways
were simply open trucks with seats, having no
protection against the weather. It happened to
be a rainy day, and the water which collected on
the floor of the carriage from the dripping of the
umbrellas made the journey most uncomfortable,

24

BIRKET FOSTER

4±- «W-*-fc< *-Atr>u S<Arf /
and the dust and grime from the engine which
they experienced in passing through the tunnels
did not add to their comfort.
Whilst they were at Bidborough Street the two
youths frequently took their mid-day meals in the
fields close to St. Pancras Church ; it was then
quite open country all the way to Hampstead
and Highgate.
Owing to increase of work and the desirability
of being close to the newspaper offices, Landells
removed his establishment to St. Bride's Court,
Fleet Street. The engraving-room here overlooked
the churchyard of St. Bride's Church, where the
staff witnessed some gruesome sights. An old
grave-digger used to explore the small burying-

SKETCH FOR "THE MILKMAID"
(Sis. of original picture 10. X I.i -n-fceo.)

THE MILKMAID
(Size of original picture 10. X 171 i«oRe».

AT LANDELLS1

25

ground with a long iron, with a cross piece for a
handle at the top, which they nicknamed the
cheese - taster. He progged this iron in the
ground until he found a sufficiently clear space to
dig a grave, and then erected a screen to hide from
public view the r    ,
large amount of
skulls and bones
which he dug up.
The life of em
ployes and ap
prentices sixty
years ago was very
primitive com
pared with the
ordinary living of
the present time,
which would have
been considered
luxurious in those tl-~
days. Notwithstanding this, the young men en
joyed themselves with their frugal repasts. Evans
was appointed cook, and in that capacity had
frequently not only to buy a joint of meat but to
peel potatoes, which were taken to a neighbouring
bakehouse to be cooked. Evans was also some- 4

7,

26 BIRKET FOSTER
times deputed to cook a chop or steak for Lan
dells' lunch. On one occasion in turning the steak
on the gridiron it fell into the ash-pan ; in an
instant it was under a tap, washed with cold water,
and then back on the gridiron again. Landells
declared it was the best-cooked steak he had ever
tasted. Whilst they were at St. Bride's Birket Foster and
Evans frequently went to the river- side, and into
the yards of the wharfingers, which were entered
from the bottom of Salisbury Court and Bouverie
Street. Here they used to watch the barges with
brown-coloured sails on their way to and from
Hungerford Market, and make sketches of these
as well as the picturesque windlasses and tackle
on the wharves.
From St. Bride's Court Landells again moved
his establishment, in 1846, to Holford Square,
Pentonville. About this time Birket Foster had
completed his engagement with Landells, and com
menced to take commissions for drawings for book
and newspaper illustrations on his own account,
whilst Evans, to his great regret, had to serve the
last year of his apprenticeship without his boon
companion. Early in the summer of that year, how
ever, he had a most delightful holiday with Birket

PLAYMATES
(Size of original picture 6J X 5 inches.)

AT LANDELLS' 27
Foster and his elder brother Dodshon. These three
young men took a steamboat from a wharf near
the Tower, and made a trip by sea to Berwick-
on-Tweed. Here they stayed for some little time ;
Birket Foster and Edmund Evans enjoyed them
selves by making sketching tours in the vicinity,
whilst Dodshon Foster devoted himself to collect
ing sea birds' eggs, of which he found a great
quantity on the rocks of the neighbouring islands,
including those of the guillemot, puffin, eider-duck,
and many other varieties. They hired a boat and
visited in turn Holy Island, where they were
delighted with the old grey ruins of the Priory
Church and Monastery, and the Fame Islands.
Here they went over Longstone Lighthouse, then
kept by old Darling, and saw the rooms in which
Grace Darling had lived — she had died of consump
tion a few years previously. They extended their
visits to Bamborough Castle, and farther south
as far as the river Coquet to see the hermitage of
Sir Bertram and the remains of old Warkworth
Castle, both charmingly situated above the river.
The two artists were greatly impressed with the
beauty of the Northumbrian scenery, and especially
with some wonderful sunsets which occurred during
their stay. Our travellers next took a steamboat

28 BIRKET FOSTER
to Leith and explored Edinburgh ; thence they
went to Stirling, Loch Katrine, and the Trossachs.
On their way back to London they visited Birket
Foster's native town, North Shields, where they
stayed with his uncle, Mr. Robert Spence, a member
of the Society of Friends, who warmly entertained
the young men. This was the first visit Birket
Foster had made to the North since his father had
brought him to London sixteen years previously,
and the first occasion on which he had crossed the
Border. Scotland had a peculiar attraction for
him, and he visited the country north of the
Tweed again and again, as is evinced by the
numerous drawings of Scottish scenery by his
hand which are in existence.
Shortly after this first tour Birket Foster paid
his second visit to Scotland with his brother
Dodshon, the former to make sketches, and the
latter to collect birds' eggs as on the former
occasion. This time they extended their travels
as far as the Shetland Isles. On their way back to
the mainland they got into conversation with the
captain of the steamboat, and sat down on a
large case marked " Eggs with care," listening to
his yarns. Amongst other tales he told them that
a great benefactor to the islands had recently died

TYNEMOUTH FROM CULLERCOATS
(Size of original picture 7 x 16 inches.)

AT LANDELLS'

29

there, and he was bringing the body back to
Scotland for burial in the family vault. On their
enquiring where it was, he explained in a hoarse
whisper, " You are sitting on it noo ! " and went on
to explain that owing to the prejudice of the
sailors against having dead bodies on board the
ship, he was obliged to conceal it from their
knowledge.

W:" '

!'~pfi, ¦ >:v;#'- - _ ._

A MOONLIGHT EFFECT
(Size of original picture 3J X 6^ inches.)

"PUNCH" AND "THE ILLUSTRATED
LONDON NEWS"

CHAPTER III

" PUNCH AND " THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON
NEWS "
Although Ebenezer Landells started several illus
trated newspapers, which had but an ephemeral
existence, he was the original projector of a weekly
paper, the name of which is still a household word
at the present time. Landells was attracted by the
French comic paper Le Charivari, and he conceived
the idea of an English publication on similar lines.
He communicated his scheme to a printer named
33 5

34 BIRKET FOSTER
J. Last. These two men called in the aid of some
literary men, and eventually on the 17th July 1841
the first number of Punch appeared. It was a
joint undertaking, Landells having one share,
Henry Mayhew, Mark Lemon, and Stirling Coyne
a second share, and J. Last a third share. The
name Punch is supposed to have originated from
the fact of Mark Lemon being connected with it as
its first editor, and Birket Foster remembered that
when Landells announced the title to his appren
tices they considered it to be a very silly one, and
it was little thought that it would become such
an important publication.
Landells retained his interest in Punch for
about two years only, when Messrs. Bradbury and
Evans acquired his share, and eventually became
sole proprietors. Most of the early wood-cuts were
engraved in Landells' office, and Birket Foster,
although but still a youth, was employed to draw
and cut numerous initial letters and some small
illustrations. The following is a list of the initial
letters which were executed by him : —
Volume I
Page 85, letter O. A life-guardsman jumping through a wreath.
„ 142 ,, O. Wreath of flowers surrounding a hay cart,
and sunset.

TYNEMOUTH
(Size of original picture 7 x 12J inches.

to.

" PUNCH " 35
Page 166, letter L. A tree and a log of timber.
„ 168. A ship — a slow movement in C.
171, letter S. Ornamented with trailing leaves.
„ 180 „ P. A tree with a branch being pulled down
by two boys.
Floral design.
Trellis -work with flowers, and a distant
landscape.
Floral design, with a heron flying.
Formed by two fishes.
Volume II
Floral design.
In a landscape.
Floral design, with landscape.
Floral design, with landscape.
A peacock on a wall.
Landscape, with horses at a pool.
A sign-post. Volume III
Floral, with two cupids ; and a headpiece.
A marshy landscape, with a heron.
Lion preparing to spring on an antelope.
Floral design, with figures.
With vine and grapes.
The letter G, p. 263, and a lady praying, p. 262, both copies
of drawings by Gavarni, were also drawn and cut by Birket Foster.
Also many other small engravings were produced in silhouette
by him; they were technically called "blackies."
Most, if not all, the initial letters, were at first executed for a
projected journal called Cosmorama, which Landells intended to
publish, but he abandoned it when Punch was issued. The initial
letter T, with shipping, of the introduction in the first number of
the latter was drawn by H. G. Hine and cut by Birket Foster
for the Cosviorama.

183

)7

M.

206

J}

H.

219

JJ

C,

250

9 7

S.

86

77

T.

145

D,

S.

162

.,

P.

166

Ii

G.

235

77

I.

243

77

C.

258

"

T.

11

I.

31

77

E.

181

77

F.

190

.j

S.

207

,7

E.

36

BIRKET FOSTER

For these little drawings the magnificent remunera
tion of eighteenpence apiece was paid. On one
occasion Birket Foster was entrusted with a full
page cartoon, which appeared on the 11th December
1841, "Punch's Pencillings, No. xxii, Jack cutting
his Name on a Beam." It represented Lord John
Russell, and was a parody on an etching by George
Cruikshank of Jack Sheppard.
During this period many literary men and
artists connected with Punch, including Mark
Lemon, Douglas Jerrold, Henry and Horace
Mayhew, G. a Beckett, John Gilbert, Alfred
Forrester (A. Crowquill), H. K. Brown (Phiz),
and William Harvey, frequently called at Landells1
establishment and all had a cheery word to say to
his employes ; but Thackeray, who drew on wood
blocks as well as wrote for Punch, used to march

pyt; "-.. -ir-'rv-- -~.

'(rV_,-^-J

GOING HOME
(Size of original picture 7| x finches.)

"THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS" 37
past them with his long strides without uttering
a word. After Landells had lost his interest in Punch, he
brought out Mep/mtopheles and other comic papers
as rivals to it, but none of them were successful
enterprises, and were soon discontinued. Landells
also started The Illuminated Magazine, which was
edited by Douglas Jerrold. They were intimate
friends, and on one occasion Jerrold, whilst staying
at Greenwich, sent the following invitation to
Landells :
Come where the gas lights quiver
Down by the muddy river ;
Bring Mrs. L. and the kids as well,
And lots of tin we'll disciver.
" Lots of tin " evidently referred to the projected
publication. About this period The Illustrated London News
was started by Herbert Ingram, and the first
number appeared on 14th May 1842. Landells
was engaged to produce many of the illustrations,
and Birket Foster was employed by him in making
drawings for them. This he continued to do for
many years after he left Landells' establishment.
He drew illustrations of the popular events of the
day, such as the Oxford and Cambridge boat race,
but to these he rarely added his name or initials ;

38 BIRKET FOSTER
whilst on the rural scenes, which he executed with
such poetic feeling, the name B. Foster is generally
to be found. The first illustration on which his
name occurs is a small one ; it appeared in July
1846, and was a view of the ruins of Tynemouth
Priory, close to his native town, North Shields.
The name of Foster may be discerned on one of
the gravestones.
Two years later, in March 1848, he drew "A
Rush for the Daily Newspapers," representing The
London Telegraph Office, a picturesque old house,
two doors from St. Dunstan's Church on the north
side of Fleet Street, which had escaped the Fire of
London, but has long since been pulled down. A
mob of news-vendors are crowding at the entrance
to the office to get their supplies, containing the
latest news of the Revolution in Paris. This
paper was published every day at twelve o'clock,
" with all the news received by the post of the
same morning, and the amazing quick intelligence
received by Electric Telegraph, which conquers
Time and Space. The Electric Telegraph, with
communications completed to the most important
districts will revolutionise all our social relations,
and with it the Daily Press of London." So
stated the Prospectus of The London Telegraph,

- "p

i- ¦<.

"THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEAVS" 39
priced threepence. A very different state of affairs
from those of the present day, when every one reads
the latest news at his breakfast table : truly the
Daily Press of London has been revolutionised by
telegraphy since that date.
In June of the same year Birket Foster was sent
to Portsmouth to make sketches of the opening
of the new steam basin by H.M. Queeu Victoria.
Two wood-cuts appeared from his drawings, " The
Mayor of Portsmouth presenting an Address to the
Queen," and " The Fairy entering the New Basin."
A reproduction of his original sketch for the
former faces p. 38.
The Queen came in The Fairy from Osborne
to attend this ceremony, and an additional eclat
was given to the event, as this was the first occasion
on which Her Majesty "had presented herself to
her loyal subjects in so public a manner since the
memorable 10th April (the Chartist Meeting),
when the security of the Throne received so
remarkable and decided a guarantee from the
conduct of the nation at large." A little incident
nearly gave rise to a very awkward consequence.
Whilst the Queen was standing on the platform,
and the ceremony which she had come to witness
was proceeding, a police inspector was instructed

40 BIRKET FOSTER
to go and tell the band to play " Rule Britannia."
This official in the violence of his zeal rushed
forward with such headlong haste to give the
necessary order that he very nearly knocked Her
Majesty down.
In 1849 Birket Foster, who had left Landells
three years previously, and was working on his
own account, was commissioned by the proprietors
of the Illustrated London News to visit the
different watering-places in England, and to make
a series of drawings of their chief features, which
were subsequently reproduced in their journal.
The first to appear was a view of Worthing in
August of that year, and it was followed by
Hastings in the next month, and Bridlington
Quay in October. Birket Foster was accompanied
by his friend Edmund Evans on these tours, and
most, if not all, of the wood-blocks were engraved
by him. These commissions gave them many very
delightful journeys, and although their remunera
tion did not include the travelling expenses, both
these young men considered that they were amply
repaid in consequence of the great enjoyment they
obtained from these visits to the sea-coast. In
1850 the two friends went to Folkestone and
Dover, likewise to Budleigh Salterton, illustrations

^a

THIS VILLAGE WAITS.
From an original sketch for the "Illustrated London News" Christmas, 1853.

"THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS" 41
of these places appearing in July and August.
They also went to Birket Foster's native town,
and a view of Tynemouth Harbour from the
Priory was the result. On their way back to
London they stayed at Doncaster to witness the
races, and two drawings by Foster, " The Road to
the Course " and " The Race Course," were re
produced in September. For the latter drawing
they selected a position about midway down the
course to see the horses sweep round the bend. In
one of the races, a horse came too close to the rails
and fell ; the jockey was thrown and the horse
nearly rolled over him. The accident caused con
siderable commotion, and some horsemen quickly
rode up to ascertain what injuries had been
sustained. Much to our artists' disgust the first
inquiry was, " Is she hurt ? " referring to the
horse, no notice being taken of the jockey. In
the next year, 1851, no less than six illustrations
of different sea-side resorts appeared ; two from
the south coast, Sidmouth and Star Cross ; three
from Kent — Margate, Broadstairs and Sandgate ;
and another view of Tynemouth.
In 1852 Eastbourne was reproduced, and in the
same year the first of the inland spas, Matlock-
Bath, appeared. It was followed by Buxton in
6

42 BIRKET FOSTER
1854, and Harrogate in 1856. In this, the last, year
of the appearance of these views, Birket Foster and
Evans visited the Lancashire coast, and illustrations
of Blackpool, Lytham, and Southport were the
result of their genial labours. All these holiday
resorts in the middle of the nineteenth century
were primitive places, as may be seen from the
illustrations, and very different from the large
towns which most of them have now become.
The most characteristic works of Birket Foster
in the Illustrated London News were the charming
engravings which appeared in the musical supple
ments and the Christmas numbers. The first of
the former was issued in June 1848, entitled
"Peace at Home." The lines were written by
G. Douglas Thompson, and the music by Edward
J. Loder. For this Birket Foster drew a head-piece
in three compartments, the centre representing a
harvest scene, and on either side cottagers seated
by a fire, and labourers lading a ship in a dock.
In the following year there were four musical supple
ments, entitled "Spring," "Summer," "Autumn,"
and " AVinter." The poetry for these was written
by Charles Mackay, and Birket Foster executed
head-pieces for all of them. " Spring — the Invita
tion to the Fields," represented by children gathering

THE MISTLETOE SELLER.
Original sketch for the engraving in the "Illustrated London Kerns." Christmas, 18

"THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS" 43
wild flowers in a wood beside a road ; " Summer
Shades," by cattle in a stream and a boy asleep on
a bank ; " An Autumnal Lyric," illustrated by men
working in the harvest-field ; and " Winter," by a
snow scene. There was also another supplement
in the month of May of this year, entitled " May
Lyrics," with verses by C. Mackay, and illus
trated by five engravings after drawings by Birket
Foster ; and in May 1850 "A Song of Spring," by
Desmond Ryan, with a heading of some milkmaids
talking to a seated ploughman by our artist.
These were followed by "The Cuckoo" and "The
Light of Love " in December 1851 ; and in the next
month, January 1852, "The Mother's Lament"
and " The Green Lanes of England " ; in May
" Wild Flowers " ; and June of the same year,
"The Dreams of Youth." For all these musical
pieces Birket Foster supplied illustrations.
The Christmas numbers of the Illustrated
London News were without rivals during the
middle of last century, and the most popular illus
trators of the time were commissioned to make
drawings for them. John Gilbert, John Leach,
Kenny Meadows, and others drew the jovial scenes
of the festive season, whilst it was reserved to
Birket Foster to supply those country and domestic

44 BIRKET FOSTER
scenes which appeal to the poetic feelings of the
Yuletide. His first drawing for a Christmas
number appeared in 1848. A reproduction of it
faces this page. At this period of his life he
was residing with his parents at Stranraer Place,
Maida Vale, where one of the rooms was given up
to him to serve as a studio. Looking out of the
window one winter's morning his attention was
attracted by their servant purchasing some holly
from a cart drawn by a donkey. The subject
pleased him, and he made a hasty sketch, which
he afterwards drew upon a wood-block. His
sister admiring the rough sketch, Birket Foster
worked upon it with water-colours, and presented
it to her at Christmas. This is probably one of
his earliest water-colour paintings. The editor
of the Illustrated London News, by way of a joke,
inserted beneath the engraving, "The Christmas
Holly Cart drawn by B. Foster," and the artist
had to accept a bushel of good-natured chaff from
his friends, respecting this title for many a day.
A similar scene under a different garb, entitled
" Spring Time in London," appeared in April 1850.
There are the same donkey and cart, but with
flowers " all a-blowing and a-growing," which a man
is exchanging for old clothes with his customers.

THE CHRISTMAS HOLLY CART
{Illustrated London News, Christmas 1848)
(Size of original picture 5 X 6_ inches.)

"THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS" 45
On the following Christmas his contribution was
the winter scene already mentioned — the musical
and Christmas supplements being combined.
There were five engravings in the Christmas
number for 1850, four representing town life — one
the distribution of coals to the poor, and another
"The Grocer's Shop at Christmas," and two,
"Frozen -out Gardeners" and "Snow-Sweepers."
These, however, were subjects hardly so suitable
to his pencil as the fifth — a country road in winter
with a coach, laden with boys going home for the
holidays, overtaking a carrier's cart. In the follow
ing year he made a drawing for a full-page illus
tration, entitled "The Christmas Hearth," and a
smaller one, "Gathering Mistletoe." On the next
Christmas he gave a landscape entitled " A Winter
Scene," and in the three following years appeared
wood -engravings of "The Village Waits," "The
Cottager's Return from Market," and " The Mistle
toe Seller," of which reproductions of the original
sketches are given.
In 1855 the first coloured engraving appeared
in the Illustrated London News, and on the follow
ing Christmas Birket Foster supplied a drawing for
a coloured plate, entitled " Winter." At Christmas
1857 a large double-page illustration was given,

46 BIRKET FOSTER
entitled " The Happy Homes of England — Christ
mas Holidays." The stately Homes of England, —
How beautiful they stand,
Amidst their tall ancestral trees,
O'er all the pleasant land.
The deer across the greensward bound
Through shade and sunshine gleam,
And the swan glides past them with the sound
Of some rejoicing stream.
The drawing was by Birket Foster, and the en
graving printed in colours by Leighton Brothers.
" Christmas — the cottage door," appeared in
1859, and after this period Birket Foster gradually
ceased his connection with the Illustrated London
News. In addition to the musical supplements and
Christmas numbers, engravings after his drawings
are to be found dispersed throughout the journal.
For instance during the year 1851 "Hot Cross
Buns," " Maying," " Please to remember the Grotto,"
" Guy Fawkes Day — burning a Guy," all char
acteristic engravings, appeared. In 1853 there
was a large double-page panoramic view of Con
stantinople from the Tower of Galata drawn by
Birket Foster from a sketch by Samuel Read, this
city at that time, just before the Crimean War,
was attracting much attention; and in 1856 the

CHRISTMAS EVE. THE COTTAGERS RETURN FROM MARKET.
Original sketch for the. engraving in the "Illustrated London News." Christwas, 1855.

"THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS" 47
illuminations in celebration of the Peace took place,
and an illustration is given of Birket Foster's pre
liminary sketch for these at the Royal Exchange.
In 1845 The Illustrated London Almanack was
brought out by the proprietors of the Illustrated
London News. The first issue, besides having
numerous wood-engravings, contains general infor
mation for the benefit of the public, and some of
the paragraphs form curious reading at the present
time. For instance, under New Railway Regula
tions it states that by an Act passed by Parliament
during the late session, known as Mr. Gladstone's
Railway Bill, the following additional provision is
made for the accommodation of the public by
railway conveyance : — " The carriages in which
passengers shall be conveyed by such trains shall
be provided with seats, and shall be protected
from the weather in a manner satisfactory to the
Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for
Trade and Plantations." Consequently our artist
had no longer to suffer uncomfortable journeys,
such as on the occasion of his trip to Dover with
his friend Edmund Evans three years previously,
when umbrellas afforded them the only protection
from the rain.
Particulars setting forth the amount to be paid

48 BIRKET FOSTER
annually for the Window Tax are also given, and
we learn in that year there were only nine theatres
in London. In the Almanack for the year 1848 there were
twenty- four wood -engravings of country scenes,
two for each month, after drawings by Birket
Foster, accompanied by descriptions by Thomas
Miller. They are all charming illustrations of
rural occupations carried on during the various
months, and are by far the best in the Almanack ;
but our artist, being still a youth at this time, it
was not deemed necessary to mention his name,
although that of Kenny Meadows, who drew
some vulgar heads representing the months, is
given in the index of contents.
These drawings were followed in the next year
by another set of country scenes, two for every
month, which are equally charming, and on this
occasion the name of B. Foster appears as the
artist. For the Almanack for the year 1853 Birket Foster
designed the title page, on which the four seasons
are represented by small pictures of " Children
gathering Wild-flowers," "Haymaking," "Harvest,"
and "An Old Man carrying Faggots." He also
made a drawing for each month, but instead of

//;

*££?

— 1 ^- --^

From an original sketch Jor the "Illustrated London Almanack," 1848.

"THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS'

49

rural scenes he gave the recreations enjoyed by the
residents of London at various periods during the
year. Fifty-three years ago life was much more
simple, and the ordinary Londoner was content with
much quieter enjoyments, than at the present day,
as shown by these illustrations, such as " Skating
on the Ice in the Parks " ; " An Evening Party " ;
"A Trip to Gravesend "; "A Visit to the Zoological
Gardens"; "Acting Charades"; and "A Christ
mas Tree."

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BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS

IHE LOLLARl/s TOWER, LAMBETH .'ALACK.
From a fiencil and wash sketch.

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CHAPTER IV
BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS
Whilst Birket Foster was at Landells' office he
assisted in making drawings for wood-engravings
for books as well as for illustrated newspapers. The
first book with which he was connected was Ireland :
Its Scenery, Character, etc., by Mr. and Mrs. S.
Carter Hall, published in 1841 by Messrs. How and
Parsons ; it is a curious coincidence that this should
have been the only part of the British Isles Birket
Foster never visited. The engravings for Richmond
and other Poems, by C. Ellis, brother of Sir J.
53

54

BIRKET FOSTER

Whittaker Ellis, Bart., bear Landells' signature as
engraver, and were cut from Birket Foster's draw
ings, although his name is not recorded. Other
pictorial publications were similarly illustrated by
him at this period.
At Landells' recommendation Birket Foster
used to copy line engravings in pen and ink, so as

' pr-jyAAU by;, p.pff.

to learn how to represent colour by various strengths
of lines.1 Jacob Bell, the founder of the Pharma
ceutical Society and donor of the fine collection of
1 The illustration of Quilp and his wife, reproduced in pen and ink by
Birket Foster from an engraving after Hablot K. Browne's drawing in the
first edition of Master Humphrey's Clock in 1840, shows the precision with
which he could make these copies, and, if it were not for the B. F. in the
corner, it might easily be mistaken for the original engraving.

PLACE ILLUMINATIONS.
igiual sketch for the " Illustrated London News,'1 1S56.

BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS 55
paintings to the National Gallery, being a friend
of Birket Foster's father, lent the youth some of
the engravings after Landseer's paintings for the
purpose of making copies, and Mrs. Black, the
daughter of the late Mrs. Atchison, still possesses
a pen-and-ink drawing made from the engraving of
The Highland Breakfast.
Shortly before his apprenticeship expired with
Landells, an accident happened, which threatened
to put an end to his short career. Whilst on a
holiday tour in the Highlands with his brother
Dodshon, they were being driven in a carriage near
Aberfeldy when it overturned. Birket Foster's right
arm was broken in two places, and he received some
injury in his back. The use of the injured arm was
fortunately restored in a comparatively short space
of time, although it was badly set by a local surgeon,
and he refused to allow it to be re-set by a
specialist on his return to London. But for seven
months he was confined to his bed by the other
affliction. Grievous as the cessation from work
must have been, it still afforded him an opportunity
for mental study, and for learning to draw with his
left hand. With reference to this enforced idleness,
his own opinion was that a season of entire rest
from practice of his own defects in art is the most

56 BIRKET FOSTER
beneficial time for an artist. Upon his recovery
he went back to Landells for a short time to
complete the term he had agreed to serve him.
He finally left, not without feelings of regret, in
1846. Birket Foster had always in after life a
good word to say for his generous and kind-hearted
master. When our artist was free to work on his own
account he was not long in obtaining many com
missions. He was, at first, greatly assisted by
Henry Vizetelly, a well-known engraver and printer,
and through his introduction Birket Foster made
the drawings for The Boys Country Book, written
by Thomas Miller, and published in 1847, by
Chapman and Hall, in four parts. From the small
illustrations in these books it may be seen that
Foster was then greatly under the influence of
Bewick, whose engravings he was accustomed to
copy in his juvenile days.
His first great success was the illustrations to
Evangeline by Longfellow, published by David
Bogue in 1850. In reviewing this work The
Athenaeum stated, " A more lovely book than this
has rarely been given to the public ; Mr. Foster's
designs in particular have a picturesque grace and
elegance, which recall the pleasure we experienced

A LANDSCAPE.
A pencil and icnsh Drawing

BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS 57
on our first examination of Mr. Roger's Italy
when it came before us illustrated by persons of no
less refinement and invention than Stothard and
Turner. Any one disposed to carp at our praise
as overstrained is invited to consider the ' Boat on
the Mississippi,' which, to our thinking, is a jewel of
the first water." This book was followed in the
next year by Voices of the Night and other Poems
by Longfellow, and Christmas with the Poets, with
fifty illustrations by Birket Foster, engraved by
Vizetelly and printed in tints of grey, brown,
and brownish pink, with a gold line border : in
the two following years Bogue published Long
fellow's Poetical Works, illustrated by upwards of
one hundred engravings on wood from drawings
by Birket Foster, Jane L. Benham (afterwards
Mrs. Benham Hay), and others ; and Hyperion,
for which Foster paid his first visit to the Rhine
accompanied by Henry Vizetelly, who engraved the
illustrations. Birket Foster evidently laid great
store on these early drawings made on the Continent,
for they were still in his possession at the time of
his death. They were afterwards sold at Christie's.
About the same time as Foster was apprenticed
to Landells, Joseph Cundall came up from Norwich
and entered the establishment of Messrs. Tilt and

58 BIRKET FOSTER
Boecue ; whilst there he first made Foster's ac-
quaintance. He was one of the pioneers of the improvement
in illustrated books for children, which at the
early part of the nineteenth century were crudely
printed and coarsely illustrated. The first book he
brought out on his own account, when a young man
of twenty -three years of age, and still employed by
Tilt and Bogue, was Robin Hood and his Merry
Men, with illustrations by John Gilbert ; these
were coloured by hand. Afterwards, when he
entered business on his own account at 12 Old
Bond Street — where there still exists a reminiscence
of his artistic taste in two brackets on the exterior,
executed by John Bell the sculptor — he published,
in conjunction with Sir Henry Cole, who wrote
under the nom de plume of Felix Summerly, "The
Home Treasury," a series of books for children.
These little volumes were well printed in fine old-
faced type by Charles Whittingham ofthe Chiswick
Press, and were illustrated by the best artists of
the day, amongst them being J. C. Horsley, T.
Webster, C. W. Cope, Richard Redgrave, and John
Absolon. In Frasers Magazine for April 1846
Thackeray writes : "As there is no person ofthe late
Mr. Fielding's powers of writing in this magazine,

SHELLING PEAS
(Size of original picture 5ft X *i «"*«s-)

BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS 59
let me be permitted humbly to move a vote of
thanks to the meritorious Mr. Cundall. The mere
sight of the little books published by Mr. Cundall,
of which some thirty now lie upon my table, is as
good as a nosegay."
Joseph Cundall next turned his attention to
illustrating volumes of poems, which were much in
demand as Christmas gift-books for many years.
The first of these appeared in 1849, entitled
Songs, Madrigals and Sonnets : A gathering of
some of the most Pleasant Flowers of Old English
Poetry. It bears the name of Longman and Co.
as publishers, and contains a preface written by
J. C. from Camden Cottages. Each page is sur
rounded by a coloured border ornamented with
arabesques in double lines of different colours, many
of them enclosing vignettes. The whole is designed
in an old Italian style to suit the supposed origin
of the sonnet or madrigal, and in a note it is stated
that the ornamental borders in this book have been
printed by means of wood-blocks.
The next books published by Joseph Cundall
were Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith (1851)
and Gray's Elegy written in a Counti^y Churchyard
(1854) : both these volumes were illustrated by
Birket Foster. In the former the illustrations were

60 BIRKET FOSTER
elaborately printed in colours. Birket Foster first
made his drawings direct on the wood in the usual
manner, and after Evans had engraved the design
he pulled a proof of the block on drawing-paper for
Birket Foster's use ; the latter then coloured it, and
Evans made the various blocks required for the
different colours. The same colours were employed
in the printing, as the artist had used in making the
coloured drawings in order to obtain a faithful repro
duction. During the following ten years J. Cundall
brought out many other gift-books adorned with
engravings after drawings by Birket Foster and other
artists. Although they were published for him by
such firms as David Bogue, Bell and Daldy, and
Sampson Low and Co., still his monogram of J. C.
may be found at the back of the title pages of many
of them. The most important of these works, with
illustrations by Birket Foster, were Rhymes and
Roundelays in Praise of a Country Life (1856) ; Mia
and Charlie, by Harriet Myrtle (1856), published
by Bogue ; Sabbath Bells chimed by the Poets, with
illustrations in colour (1856), and Burns' Songs and
Poems (1857), published by Bell and Daldy ; The
Pleasures of Hope, by Thomas Campbell (1856) ;
The Farmer's Boy, by Robert Bloomfield (1857) ;
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1857) ; The

BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS 61
Poetical Works of Edgar Allen Poe (1858) ; Pas
toral Poems, by Wordsworth (1859) ; Favourite
English Poems (1859) ; The Hamlet, an ode written
in Whichwood Forest, by Thomas Warton (1859) ;
Poetical Works of Thomas Gray (1859) ; and
The Merchant of Venice (1860) — all published by
Sampson Low and Co. ; and A Book of Favourite
Modern Ballads (1860), by Kent and Co. After
Foster had relinquished drawing for wood-engrav
ing Cundall produced Sumvier Scenes, a series of
photographs from some of Birket Foster's choicest
water-colours ; it was published by Bell and Daldy
in 1867. When Edmund Evans' term of seven years with
Landells expired in May 1847 he commenced
business as a wood-engraver, at first at his private
residence, and afterwards at Wine Office Court,
next to the "Old Cheshire Cheese." At the latter
place he started a hand -printing press, but the
early hours of his workmen and the noise of the
press annoyed a quiet lawyer who had rooms
beneath. He consequently removed to 4 Racquet
Court, Fleet Street, where "The Racquet Press,"
so well known for its colour-printing, existed until
the house was pulled down a few years ago and
the business removed to Southwark.

62 BIRKET FOSTER
The first wood-block which Evans engraved on
his own account was a vignette for a book written
by a Mr. Fisk — " A View of Bethany," drawn by
Birket Foster — and the first commission received
from the proprietors of The Illustrated London
News was a view of Rydal Mount, where the poet
laureate Wordsworth lived, and two other small
engravings. To his regret, however, Nathaniel
Cooke, who was partner with Herbert Ingram,
told Evans that he was willing to give him more
work, but his engraving was not quite good enough
— the fact being that he engraved the blocks in
a too fine manner, fitted only for books and not
bold enough for newspaper work. Fortunately, at
the time he had a commission in hand to cut the
block for " The Christmas Holly Cart," drawn by
Birket Foster, as already mentioned. This he
executed in a much broader manner, and it was
quite a success ; afterwards nearly all of the wood
blocks drawn by Birket Foster for The Illustrated
London News were engraved by Evans.
Ingram, Cooke and Co. carried on a publishing
business, called the "Universal Library," in the
Strand, not far from the offices of their journal, of
which Ebenezer Ward, afterwards a partner in the
firm of Ward and Lock, was manager. Evans stated

FEEDING TIME
(Size of original picture 5£ X 4| inches.)

>..

BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS 63
that he received much kindness from Nathaniel
Cooke, and through him was given plenty of work
in engraving for book illustrations. Amongst the
first were the illustrations to Madame Ida Pfeiffer's
Travels in the Holy Land, Egypt, and Italy
(1851), by Birket Foster. These he must have
copied from other drawings, as there is nothing
characteristic of his own style in them, and he never
went as far as Palestine or Egypt. The engravings
were printed in a grey and warm tint. This was
followed by Fern Leaves from Fannys Portfolio
(1853), and Little Ferns for Fannys Little Friends
(1854), both written by Miss G. P. Willis under
the pseudonym of " Fanny Fern," with illustrations
by Foster printed with tints. The engravings
for The Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith, by
Birket Foster, already mentioned, were also printed
in tints by Evans.
Soon afterwards Edmund Evans originated the
idea of printing coloured illustrations on book
covers. The first — "Letters Left at a Pastry
Cook's," for Ingram, Cooke and Co. — was simply a
letter with several re-directions, some in red letters,
some in black, and the background consisting of
a dark blue printed over red. The second was
more pictorial in character, " The Log of the Water

64 BIRKET FOSTER
Lily," drawn by Birket Foster, and effectively
printed in a dark grey blue mingled with strong
warm tints. These two were printed on white
paper, and several similar book covers followed.
The trade, however, required a toned paper so that
the covers should not soil too readily, and yellow
enamelled paper was used, the books thus bound
becoming popularly known as " Yellow Backs."
Messrs. Routledge and Co., and other firms, brought
out a large number of books with these covers,
and the most popular artists of the day were
engaged to execute the designs, including Birket
Foster, John Gilbert, H. K. Browne (Phiz), George
Cruikshank, Charles Keene, and a host of others.
The drawing was first cut on a wood-block in the
ordinary manner, then two "transfers" from the
block, i.e. impressions whilst wet laid down on
plain blocks, then passed through a press so that
the wet impressions were "set off" on the plain
blocks. These were then cut, one being used for
the red and the other for the blue printing. The
former was engraved in gradations so as to obtain
light tints for faces and hands, whilst the latter
was cut so as to get the best result of texture
patterns or sky, and by crossing the blue over the
red effects of light and shade were obtained. In

DESIGNS FOR BOOK COVERS
(Each co.ffl' 6J X 4 wci.es.)

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3 x
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BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS 65
some cases green ink was used instead of blue.
These covers attracted the public taste so much
at that time that publishers frequently gave orders
for an illustrated cover for a remnant they had in
stock, and not only were they able to sell off the
remnant by this means, but often a reprint was
demanded. Three specimens of these covers, de
signed by Birket Foster, are given facing page 64.
The publishers of the present volume, Messrs.
A. and C. Black, employed Birket Foster to draw
the illustrations for four of Sir Walter Scott's
works, The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1853) ; The
Lady of the Lake (1854) ; Marmion (1855) ; and
The Lord of the Isles (1857). For these works
Foster went specially to Scot
land to make his drawings, and
was accompanied on each occa
sion by his friend Edmund Evans.
John Gilbert also drew some of
the illustrations for these
books. Our artist like- ;
wise executed for this
firm the illustrations for ¦¦'" -'
Black's Picturesque
Guide to the Trossachs, etc. (1853) ; The Shipwreck,
a poem by William Falconer (1858) ; The Grave, 9

66 BIRKET FOSTER
a poem by Robert Blair (1858) ; and Black's Pic-
turesque Guide to the English Lakes (1858).
The drawings for the engravings for these books
were mostly small and represented landscapes, but
many had domestic incidents introduced into them
and a large number were vignetted.
For nearly all the books Birket Foster made his
drawings on wood-blocks, but in a few cases he
etched the subjects himself on steel. These were
Milton's L' Allegro and II Penseroso, with twenty-
nine etchings (1855) ; The Traveller, by Oliver
Goldsmith, with thirty etchings (1856) ; The Rhine
and its Picturesque Scenery in two volumes with
twenty etchings (1856) ; all published by Bogue; and
The Hamlet, by T. Warton, with fourteen etchings
(1859), Sampson Low and Co. These dainty etch
ings are quite small, and are especially interesting
as showing his work at that period without the
intervention of the engraver. Owing to the hard
ness of the material on which they were etched
they have a resemblance to fine engravings.
At the suggestion of the present writer Birket
Foster was induced to make his first etching on
copper in the year 1880 for a publication entitled
The Etcher, as may be seen from the following
letter : —

EVENING ON THE YARE
Size of original picture 11| X VI% inches.)

BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS 67
The Hill, Witi.ev, Suhrey,
12.A April 1880.
Dear Mr. Cundall — I tried my hand at an etching, but
it is so long since I did anything of that kind, I am rather
diffident about sending it to you. I had intended throwing
it on one side and trying again, but my painting engage
ments are so increasing that I fear I shall not have time to do
anything more at present, and if you think it will suit you
well and good. The printer will be able to do more for it
I daresay than you see in this proof. — Believe me, very sin
cerely yours, Bll.KET F0STER.
I send proof by this post.
Although the first proof of this etching, " Sheep
Feeding," was not quite to Foster's satisfaction, he
was much pleased with the proofs printed by Mr.
Goulding, for in a subsequent letter he says, " 1
think the printing admirable."
The success of this plate naturally brought
requests from other publishers for etchings, and
Foster, although his time was fully occupied in
water-colour painting, was persuaded to execute a
few more of them— "An Old Mill" (1881) and
"The Little Shepherds" (1890) appeared in The
Art Journal. He also etched a few other plates,
amongst which may be mentioned : " The Wander
ing Minstrel " (1881), published by Messrs. Dowdes
well ; "Crossing the Brook" (1883), by Messrs.
Tooth ; a reproduction of the painting " The Street,

68

BIRKET FOSTER

Cookham," by Fred. Walker, A.R.A., for Mr. T.
Maclean (1888) ; and " Home, Sweet Home "
(1891), by the Fine Art Society.
After the year 1858 Birket Foster accepted very
few engagements for black and white drawings for

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MONT ST. MICHEL.

book illustrations, as he was now turning his
attention almost solely to water-colour painting.
He had, however, agreed with the Dalziel Brothers
to make a series of drawings larger than usual to
be thoroughly representative of rustic English
scenery, and after a lapse of nearly five years
Messrs. Routledge and Co. published Birket Foster's
Pictures of English Landscape in 1863. The

YOUNG GLEANERS RESTING
(Size of original picture 12x18 inches.)

BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS 69
illustrations were beautifully engraved by the
Dalziels and were accompanied by verses by Tom
Taylor and his wife. Many other books were issued
after this date containing wood-engravings after
drawings by Birket Foster, but in nearly every case
they were old blocks which had been used in previous
publications. Birket Foster himself published a
series of thirty -five views in Brittany, produced by
lithography by Messrs. Maclure and Macdonald in
1878, after a recent trip to that part of France.
The sketches were drawn on prepared paper and
transferred to stone, so that the pictures may
be said to have been printed from the actual
drawings ; and Some Places of Note in England,
with twenty-five drawings also transferred to stone,
with descriptive notes by the artist, was published
by Messrs. Dowdeswell in 1888.

MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL
(Size oforigmeilvictwre _| X Bft inches.)

TRAVELS ON THE CONTINENT

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CHAPTER V

TRAVELS ON THE CONTINENT

Although the rural scenery of his native country
had its peculiar charms for his pencil, still Birket
Foster was greatly attracted by the grander views
to be obtained on the Continent. His early visits
were made to the Rhine, but subsequently the
Italian lakes and Venice were his favourite hunting-
grounds in search for " bits " to sketch. The word
" bits " is particularly applicable in the case of Birket
73 10

74 BIRKET FOSTER
Foster, for he almost invariably preferred to make
a drawing of some detail rather than a broad land
scape. He used to say that the mountain scenery
of Switzerland was too panoramic and had no
attractions for him. It is somewhat remarkable
that whilst he relied to a great extent on lanes and
fields, and hedgerows and rustic children for his
English drawings, the views for his Continental
paintings were largely selected from towns with
architectural details introduced into them.
The first visit made to the Continent by Birket
Foster was in 1852, when he was accompanied by
Henry Vizetelly, the printer and engraver, and by
another companion named Fry.
David Bogue, the publisher, had determined to
bring out an illustrated edition of Hyperion by
Longfellow, and commissioned our artist to follow
in the footsteps of Paul Flemming, and to depict
on the spot the varied scenes, amid which the
poet had laid the incidents of his story. Paul
Flemming, as is well known, was Longfellow him
self, and the romance a passage in the author's
own life.
The result of the journey was nearly one
hundred drawings, which were afterwards trans
ferred to wood-blocks and engraved by Vizetelly.

STIRLING FROM THE ABBEY CRAIG
(Size of original picture 6 X S inches.)

TRAVELS ON THE CONTINENT 75
Hyperion with these illustrations was published
in the following year, and in a note at the
end of the volume Vizetelly, gives particulars
of the route taken by them. He says, " Thanks
to railways and the power of steam, the morning
following our departure from London found us
breakfasting by an open window, overlooking the
magnificent Rhine, and a few hours afterwards
brought us face to face with the ruins of Roland-
seek and the Kloster Nonnenwerth." These soon
sketched, the Round Tower at Andernach was
visited. Next object the Crucifix, known as the
" Christ of Andernach," which had formerly stood
outside the church, was found after a search inside
the building, whither it had been removed some
years previously. Sketches of Liebenstein and Ster-
nenfels were made from the river, whilst passing
by in the steamer. Halts were made at Bingen
and Mainz ; afterwards Frankfort — Goethe's birth
place, Weinheim and Heidelberg were visited.
Thence they proceeded to Switzerland and the
Alps, stopping at Interlaken. Continuing in the
footsteps of Paul Flemming, they travelled into the
Tyrol, and sketches were made at Waidering, " the
little white village " of St. Gilgen, and adjacent
places. At St. Wolfgang they were rowed in a

76 BIRKET FOSTER
boat by two peasant women, and passed under the
mighty precipice of Falkenstein. Birket Foster
and Vizetelly returned by way of Salzburg, Munich,
Augsburg, Uim, and Stuttgart, and reached Lon
don after an absence of six weeks, greatly more
familiarised with the romance of Hyperion.
In the next year Birket Foster travelled through
Belgium and up the Rhine, as far as Constance,
stopping at many places en route to make sketches.
He was accompanied on this occasion by his wife
and a relative, Dr. R. Spence Watson. The result
of this trip was The Rhine and its Picturesque
Scenery, illustrated by engravings on steel after
Foster's drawings and published in two volumes
by David Bogue. In October of the year 1859,
shortly after the death of his first wife, Birket
Foster took his wife's niece, Miss Brown, now
Mrs. Edmund Evans, who had nursed her aunt
through the fatal illness, a trip through Belgium to
the Rhine and back by way of Paris. They were
accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Cundall, the
father and mother of the author of the present
volume. At this time Birket Foster and his
children were residing at 12 Carlton Hill East,
St. John's Wood, and as we lived nearly opposite
to them in the same road, an intimacy had sprung

r,;.0'.

CROSSING THE FORD
(She of original picture IS X 271 inches.)

TRAVELS ON THE CONTINENT 77
up between the two families. Birket Foster and
my father were great friends, and the latter brought
out numerous illustrated gift -books, so fashionable
at that period, the majority of which contained
engravings from Birket Foster's drawings.
An account of this tour on the Continent was
afterwards written in doggerel rhyme by Joseph
Cundall, privately printed as a small brochure, with
an illustration of the Rhine by Birket Foster, as a
frontispiece. It commences with the following
lines : —
We took a cab from Carlton Hill
(A very sorry hack we had)
And drove away to Kath'rine's Wharf,
Where all the scene look'd very sad ;
For round the quays, and o'er the ships,
A dense smoke-smelling fog there hung.
And when we got on board our boat
We scarce could see which way she swung,
and from these verses we learn that they went by
steamer from London to Ostend, where they
stopped the night. The following morning they
were all up at six o'clock and took the train
to Bruges ; visited the sights in that old town
and continued their journey to Ghent. After
having explored that place, the next day they pro
ceeded to Antwerp, crossing the Scheldt in a
steamboat, as in those days " No bridge was there

78 BIRKET FOSTER
across the stream." After visiting Brussels they
went on to Cologne, and thence to Rolandseck, of
which Byron sings —
And peasant-girls, with deep-blue eyes,
And hands which offer early flowers,
Walk smiling o'er this Paradise ;
Above, the frequent feudal towers
Through green leaves lift their walls of grey,
And many a rock which steeply lowers,
And noble arch in proud decay,
Looks o'er this vale of vintage bowers,
but they were not so fortunate as to meet any
peasant-girls. Here they took the steamboat up
the Rhine past Andernach and Coblenz to St Goar
where Bad beds, bad smells, and noises loud
Keep us awake for many an hour.
Afterwards they continued
>"' \':f:pA their journey up the river
Af:'-''Ap: by boat to Mainz. Here
?$jjjff\ they left the Rhine and
- A proceeded by the train
to Saarbruck, where they
stopped the night, and on
the following day travelled
ST. GERMAIN, LOOKING SOUTH. ° J
by way of Metz and Eper-
nay to Paris. Here they stayed for some days
and returned home by Boulogne and Folkestone.

PASS OF KILLIECRANKIE
(Size of original picture 6X8 inches.)

TRAVELS ON THE CONTINENT 79
Being late in the autumn, the weather was not
suitable for out-door sketching, and Birket Foster
did very little work.
In the autumn ofthe following year Birket Foster
again travelled over the greater part of the same
ground. He started from Newcastle-on-Tyne and
was accompanied by his niece, Miss Brown, her
uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Watson, and
Dr. R. Spence Watson. On this occasion the
trip was not recorded in verse, but Dr. Watson
on his return home contributed no less than
sixteen articles entitled " A Three Weeks' Ramble
in the Autumn of 1860 " to the Newcastle Journal,
giving an interesting and detailed diary of all their
doings, "recalling the beauties of the Rhine,
the glories of Switzerland, and the pleasures of
France." The party left Newcastle by steamboat
and crossed the North Sea to Rotterdam ; thence
went by rail to Dentz, and from Cologne to Coblenz,
where they took the steamer up the Rhine to
Castel. After visiting Frankfort and Heidelberg
they proceeded to Switzerland, stopping at Basle and
Lucerne. From the latter place they ascended the
Righi ; and afterwards crossed the Grimsel to In-
terlaken. All the party were on horseback with
the exception of Dr. Watson, who was a good

80 BIRKET FOSTER
pedestrian and preferred to trust himself to his
own legs. In his narrative in dealing with the
mode of progression, he lets a little side-light into
Birket Foster's equestrian prowess, as he says " the
only drawback to the perfect happiness of the party
was the horses. They were certainly quiet animals ;
but I have always observed that, however excellent
in this respect, they can tell immediately whether
he who straddles them is accustomed to his posi
tion. If he is not, they at once conceive a cool
contempt for him, and evince it by looking round
in a sneering manner, standing still to eat grass
by the wayside ; nay, Mr. F.'s brute even went so
far as to commence to lie down, and but for the
timely assistance of one of the men engaged to
look after them, would doubtless have accomplished
its intention." They continued their journey to
Geneva by way of Berne, Freyburg and Vevay,
and afterwards returned home through Macon and
Paris. This being a pleasure-trip to see as much
as possible in three weeks, Birket Foster had little
or no time in which to make many drawings, but
his spare moments were always engaged in making
pencil notes in one of his sketch-books without
which he never travelled.
Birket Foster was again in Switzerland in 1865.

LOCHLEVEN CASTLE
{Size of original pictivre 6x8 inches.)

^ / i.\ *

TRAVELS ON THE CONTINENT 81
On this occasion he was accompanied by his second
wife, whom he had married in the previous year,
and Miss S. Edmondson, now Mrs. Heseltine.

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S. GIOVANNI, LAKE COMO.
For some time our artist had been desirous of
feasting his eyes upon the beauties of Venice, and
in the following year Mr. and Mrs. Birket Foster
with his niece, Miss E. Brown, now Mrs. Alfred
Cooper, and a Mr. Bridger, who acted as his
secretary, left England with the full intention of
reaching the "Queen of the Adriatic." They
travelled through Belgium by way of Ghent and
Antwerp to Luxemburg ; thence to Treves, where
they remained for three days exploring the beauties 11

82

BIRKET FOSTER

of that old town. Then down the Moselle to
Coblenz and up the Rhine to Mainz. Next to
Heidelberg and Strassburg, where they stopped dur
ing the Whitsuntide to witness the festivities ; after
wards through the Black Forest to Schaffhausen
and Zurich ; over the Spliigen Pass to Bellagio and
Como, and thence to Milan. Here, in consequence
of the Austrian and Italian war, they were not

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allowed to proceed any farther, and they had to
abandon all hope of seeing Venice in that year. Nor
could they return home for some little time as the

DUNFERMLINE ABBEY
•(Size of original picture 6X8 inches.)

TRAVELS ON THE CONTINENT 83
military authorities would not permit any one to
leave the town lest information as to the move
ments of the Italian troops might be conveyed to
the enemy. Eventually, however, our party were
allowed to quit Milan, and they returned home
by the St. Gothard Pass after an absence of six
weeks.

HAWTHORNDEN
(Size of original picture 6x8 inches.)

mm

FIRST VISIT TO VENICE

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CHAPTER VI
FIRST VISIT TO VENICE
In the early summer of 1868 Birket Foster set
off again for Venice and arrived there on this
occasion without any contre-temps. He was accom
panied by Mrs. Foster, Mrs Brown, Miss E. Brown,
and Mr. W. Q. Orchardson, R. A. They travelled
there through France and returned by way of
Switzerland and the Rhine. The following account
of their tour is extracted from a diary kept by
Mrs. Brown.
11th May, London. — On our arrival at Waterloo
87

VENICE FROM THE STEPS OF SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE
(Size oj original picture 8f x 12 inches,)

¦ . ¦

88 BIRKET FOSTER
Station from Witley, De Heer, our courier, met
us and took charge of all our bags and baggage.
We drove to St. James's Restaurant, where Mr.
Orchardson was waiting and our dinner ready.
We had plenty of time at Charing Cross as our
train did not start till 8.30 p.m.
12th May, Calais. — Landed, after a delightful
crossing, at 12.30 a.m., and on reaching our hotel
found our supper and beds ready. This morning,
after looking at the church, market-place, etc, we
set out for Paris.
13th May, Paris. — We arrived here yesterday
evening by a new route vid Boulogne and the coast
to Amiens, and went to Meurice's Hotel. After
dinner we looked at Paris by gaslight. Directly
after breakfast we start for Macon, and to-morrow
we hope to sleep at the foot of the Alps.
15th May, Marseilles. — Yesterday we dined at
Dijon and reached Macon about 8 o'clock. Here I
first saw the pretty lace bed-curtains, of which I
had heard so much. This morning we were up at
4 o'clock to catch the train. After we had started
Birket gave us a surprise by telling us that Mr.
Orchardson and he had changed their plans a little,
and that we were going to Marseilles. We stopped
at Lyons for a short while, and then passed along for

VENICE FROM THE STEPS OF SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE
{Size oj original picture 8§ x 12 inches.)

4 f^
_> _-£l

.

FIRST VISIT TO VENICE 89
some time amongst vines and groves of mulberries ;
next we came to olives and fig-trees and then to
a fine river, which I discovered to my surprise was
the Rhone. At last the Mediterranean lay before
us. The gentlemen had long wished to come this
way and found it feasible only when we were in
Paris. We reached Marseilles in time for table-
d'hote. In the evening we walked about the town,
which was very picturesque with the costumes of
the Oriental people.
16.:/- May, Nice. — Whilst dressing this morning I
heard a great commotion in the courtyard, and was
greatly amused in watching all the passengers who
had just arrived by the Indian mail. Directly
after breakfast we drove in an open carriage by the
sea, which was intensely blue. At 1 o'clock we
again set out by train and passed groves of olives,
which went right down to the sea. As we neared
Cannes the scenery was magnificent, the mountains
at the back were covered with snow, and whilst we
passed amongst groves of orange-trees and hedges
of roses and geraniums, the air was quite luscious
with their scent.
12th May, Mentone. — We spent a quiet Sunday
at Nice, and yesterday we left there at 10 a.m. in
a carriage drawn by four horses, in which we are to
12

90 BIRKET FOSTER
drive all the way to Genoa. We soon began to
ascend till we were nearly 3000 feet above the sea,
and reached a village, where women in such primi
tive costumes were washing clothes at a fountain.
We stayed whilst the two gentlemen made
sketches. As we got lower down the vegetation
was more wonderful than ever. There were palm-
trees, huge aloes, and cacti, whilst the air was
redolent with the scent of the lemon-trees, which
abounded on every side. We are delighted with
this mode of travelling, and as our road lies all
the way by the coast, the heat is tempered by the
sea breezes, but sometimes blue spectacles are
indispensable as everything is so intensely bright.
21st May, Savona. — Soon after leaving Men-
tone we entered Italy, where we left our carriage
to walk up a steep hill, whilst the baggage
was examined ; our courier manages matters so
cleverly that not a single box has yet been
unlocked. We kept along the high cliffs above
the Mediterranean for a long while. The palms
and other tropical trees were very fine here, and
each day we see some fresh wonder in vegetation.
We continued as far as San Remo, where we
stopped for the night. After dinner we set out
for a walk amongst the fire-flies, which flashed

SHRINE AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE COURTYARD OF
THE DUCAL PALACE, VENICE
(Size of original picture 11 x 8 inches.)

FIRST VISIT TO VENICE 91
about in every direction. We had not been long
at our hotel when Prince Fiistenberg, two ladies,
and servants drove up to stay the night, and as
we had secured the best rooms, they had to be
content with the floor above us. The next day's
drive was very fine — still along the shores and
rocks of the Mediterranean to Alassio, where
we slept. We went on the sea-shore in the
evening, but were so soon surrounded by a mob of
wildly shouting children that we were glad to beat
a retreat. The following day we arrived at this
place, Savona, where we are stopping the night.
26th May, Venice. — After leaving Savona we
reached Genoa, where our wonderful drive along
the Corniche Road came to an end, and joined the
railway once more, travelling by it to Bologna.
Genoa is a very fine city, and the situation is
beautiful, but I think we were all more pleased
with Bologna. It is a very ancient city, and the
churches, paintings, and everything are so fine.
We found the narrow streets and colonnades very
essential to our comfort. It was so intensely hot
that we were glad to set out in the cool of the
evening on the last part of our journey to Venice.
Here we are really at Venice. No one can form
any idea of the grandeur of the place without

92 BIRKET FOSTER
really seeing it. My first impressions were those
of awe, for we arrived in the twilight and the
gondolas came stealing past us in such a mysterious
manner. After our baggage had been examined, we
entered our gondolas, and away we went in capital
style, with the gondoliers standing up and making
long Sweeps with the oars. It is wonderful how
they escape collisions, as the gondolas are propelled
through such narrow spaces. We soon reached
the Hotel de l'Europe, and after a late dinner we
felt it impossible to wait until the morning to look
at some of the far-famed places, so we wandered
about till we had seen the Bridge of Sighs and
other sights. We are highly favoured. Owing
to Prince Humbert and his bride being here, the
city wears its very gayest aspect. The following
morning we set out for a general inspection of the
place and were on the water for hours. In the
evening we witnessed the illuminations. St.
Mark's Square was magnificent, and the people
of all nations, tongues, and climes promenading
about made it a wonderful sight. We all agreed
that Venice far exceeded our most sanguine
expectations. The next evening we saw a most gorgeous
spectacle in honour of the Prince and Princess

THE LIBRARY IN THE PIAZZETTA, VENICE
(Size of original picture 8\ x 12£ inches.)

-'^^SBs5-

FIRST VISIT TO VENICE 93
from the balcony of our hotel. The view was
unequalled. First came two immense barges
(about twice as large as our steam ferries at North
Shields) entirely covered with lamps of every
conceivable colour, hung on domes and towers and
all over them. These were followed by about
three thousand gondolas with every imaginable
device of illumination. They all stopped opposite
our hotel to serenade, with most exquisite music,

VENICE FROM THE LIDO

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cAl^ ,_¦,:., i ¦ ,'A

the Prince and Princess who were on board one of
the barges ; then they all swept away down the
Grand Canal, the whole of which was lit up with
a blaze of rockets and red and blue lights. I can
give no adequate idea of the grandeur of the whole
scene. This morning Birket and Mr. Orchardson went
off in the gondola, which we have hired during our
stay, in search for subjects to paint, whilst our
courier took us ladies into St. Mark's and to look
at the shops. I am now writing this diary in the

94 BIRKET FOSTER
gondola, which is fastened up to enable Birket to
sketch, and whilst I write I can hear the Italian
National Anthem stealing over the water, as the
Prince, who has been to see the fisheries, has just
passed us in a steamboat.
I must not forget to mention that we have met
Freddy Walker, who has been here a week.
[Frederick Walker, or rather Fred., as he was
called by all his friends, in a letter dated 26th May
1868, says : —
" The Fosters and Orchardson are here in this very hotel.
Yesterday morning I was coming in to lunch, when I found
the whole party on the steps. They had arrived on Sunday
night without my knowing anything of it ; the other hotel
they intended putting up at was full. The Fosters are very
jolly and kind, and all going first-rate.1]
28th May, Venice. — Yesterday morning was
devoted to sight -seeing. We visited the Doge's
Palace, the Bridge of Sighs, and other places.
After dinner we witnessed a serenade on the Grand
Canal. Freddy Walker joined us in our gondola.
We got a capital position, so that when Prince
Humbert and his bride came out, we were almost
close to them. She is a beautiful young creature.
It is quite impossible to give any idea of the
1 Life and Letters of Frederick Walker, A.R.A., by John George
Marks, — Macmillan and Co.

WELL IN THE COURTYARD OF THE DUCAL PALACE, VENICE
(Size of origiiud picture 8\ x 12£ inches. )

FIRST VISIT TO VENICE 95
gorgeous spectacle. Hundreds of gondoliers were
dressed in most magnificent costumes ; some in
blue and gold, and some very curiously with one
leg red and the other white ; and the gondolas
were decked out with the utmost elegance. Then
the music commenced, and the whole mass moved
gently on, the speed increasing as we went. At
the Rialto Bridge the gondola with the Royal party
turned, and all the procession went down the Grand
Canal again. It was almost dark before we reached
our hotel. The whole scene was lit up by coloured
lights from the banks and the gondolas around us.
This morning the gentlemen are away at work.
30th May, Venice. — The day before yesterday
I went in the morning with Birket in the gondola.
We looked into Sta Maria della Salute, and were
much pleased with the paintings, particularly " The
Marriage in Cana," by Tintoretto, and " The Descent
ofthe Holy Spirit," by Titian. In the evening we
all attended a fete in the public gardens, which were
wonderfully lit up with lamps of every colour.
The Royal party twice passed us closely. The
young bride looked so sweet and smiling : she is
more lively than her sister, the Queen of Portugal,
who has been here with her. Our gondolier,
Antonio, kept us in view of the place where they

96 BIRKET FOSTER
would re-embark, and we had a grand row back to
the hotel, keeping alongside the Royal gondola all
the way. Yesterday morning the gentlemen were
away at work again, and in the afternoon we went
with Birket who is sketching down the canal.
31st May. — This being Sunday we went early
to St. Mark's. We were just in time to see a
cardinal and nine bishops make their entry. The
scene was most gorgeous, and the music finer than
any we have yet heard ; one voice was wonderful.
The dressing and undressing of the Cardinal was
very curious ; his feet were washed with great
solemnity ; bowing, ringing of bells, and waving
of incense went on all the time.
1st June, Venice. — I was up at six o'clock this
morning, and joined Birket and Freddy Walker
at an early breakfast, after which we went down
the lagoon in our gondola to catch a steamboat
which was going to Chioggia, a fishing town about
twenty miles away on the shores of the Adriatic.
We had a lovely voyage and I enjoyed nursing a
lovely baby, but it was so queerly swaddled up that
it was not easy to keep hold of it. The costumes
of the inhabitants of Chioggia are very picturesque.
The women wear a garment which looks most
becoming ; it is like a large muslin apron, put on

IN THE VESTIBULE, ST. MARK'S, VENICE
(Size of original picture 115 X 8J inches.)

FIRST VISIT TO VENICE 97
behind and then thrown over the head, just leaving
the face to be seen, many of which are very
lovely. We visited a church almost filled with
women in these costumes, and also went into the
fishmarket. I really did feel a foreigner, and was
never so much stared at in my life. The people
stood in crowds to look at us. It is a very
picturesque place, but so queer and dirty that I
was glad to return to the steamboat. The wind
had freshened, so we had a brisk voyage on our
way back and we reached our hotel in time for
table d'hdte. During our absence the others had
been with Mr. Orchardson on the Lido and had
visited numerous churches. Yesterday was devoted
to going over churches and the Academy of Fine
Arts. The Scalzi is a very gorgeous church. In
the evening we were out in the gondola till nearly
ten o'clock. It was such a still moonlight night,
the reflection of the moon being almost perfectly
round. To-day we have been in the gondola to the
Church of the Jesuits, an old disused palace, but
still splendid. Now and then we stopped, whilst
Birket made some sketches, but he found it
impossible to do much work, as the heat was so
overpowering. 13

98 BIRKET FOSTER
Mh June, Venice. — We are all ready to leave
here to-morrow morning. Though a little cooler,
it is still too hot for any work. This morning we
went on the Rialto, then to luncheon at our
favourite restaurant, Baur's, and afterwards had a
long pull in the gondola to the Lido. We walked
across it, and strolled along the sea-shore. The
fishing-boats on the Adriatic are most picturesque.
5th June, Verona. — It was quite a pinch for us
to leave Venice this morning. The city looked so
beautiful as our gondoliers, Angelo and Louis,
rowed us down the Grand Canal for the last time.
We thoroughly enjoyed our fortnight there.
Freddy Walker left with us.
[Frederick Walker wrote on the 6th June from
the Hotel Cavour, Milan :
" I left Venice early yesterday morning with the Fosters,
and went with them to Verona. We got there about
two, and spent the afternoon in quietly driving about
the place. The Fosters had telegraphed for rooms and we
were very comfortable. In leaving Venice with them I
avoided a world of discomfort, for getting away is notoriously
dreadful ; the confusion and bother quite maddening at the
station, where they are awfully strict in searching all
baggage, etc., and although I left the hotel with them I had
my own gondola, for poor Antonio would insist upon my
being served by himself and the lad up to the last, although
I had settled our little matters the night before. So I

PALAZZO GUSSONI, VENICE
(Size of original picture Sf X 111 inches.)

FIRST VISIT TO VENICE 99
followed the Fosters up the canals, and tipped the lad
through the curtain of the boat. Of course their courier
managed everything at the station, and so my departure
from Venice was a very different affair from what it might
have been, had I left the place alone.
We left Verona this morning, and I took leave of them
finally at Bergamo, where they had to change carriages, for
they are going to the Lakes, and cross the Alps at St.
Gothard, and finish up with the Rhine. They were all very
sorry to lose me, I think, and I am sure I was to leave them,
for they have been most jolly.]
. It seemed very odd once more to come to a
region of cabs, omnibuses, and horses again, after
not seeing any for so long, but Venice with its
three hundred and six waterways has no use for
such things. We passed through Padua and
Mantua. Some of the distant views were beautiful,
both of the Apennines and the Alps ; the latter
had snow on their summits.
This afternoon we had a drive round the town,
and saw some of the churches and an amphitheatre,
which is considered more perfect than the Coliseum
at Rome though not quite as large. This is the
oldest-looking town we have visited, with narrow
streets like all Italian towns.
7th June, Bellagio. — We left Verona about
10 a.m., and very soon the country became very hilly.
There is a lovely view of Lago di Garda, as the

100

BIRKET FOSTER

railway runs along the side of the lake for many
miles. It is the largest of the Italian lakes and
very beautiful. We saw snow in the distance,
where is the highest pass into Switzerland. At
Bergamo we parted company with Freddy Walker,

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LECCO, LAKE COMO.
who proceeded to Milan, whilst we turned north
wards, and on reaching Lecco, we and our baggage
were transferred into a boat and we had a delightful
sail up Lake Como. As we neared Bellagio the
sunset lit up some of the highest peaks, which were
covered with snow. I never saw any water such
a lovely colour as this lake, so green and so
exquisitely clear. I think its beauty can hardly

BURANO, VENICE
(Size of original picture 13 x 10. inches.)

FIRST VISIT TO VENICE 101
be exceeded, the rocks being so very fine and
clothed down to the water's edge with vines, olives,
figs, and other trees.
9th June, Bellagio. — We did not expect to be
here still, but for the first time since leaving England

i 1 ¦="•

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BELLAGIO, LAKE COMO.
we have had stormy weather. We had, however,
seen a good deal of this place before it came on.
We took a boat to Villa Julia, where are splendid
views both up and down the lake ; on rowing back
we passed close to the rocks to gather maidenhair,
which grows down to the water's edge. We went
yesterday to see a waterfall, which rushes out of a
cavern about half-way up one of the mountains.

102 BIRKET FOSTER
As we were returning the wind sprung up and we
had a rough passage back to our hotel. Towards
the evening the storm increased to a gale with
thunder and lightning. We are now storm-bound,
as the boats cannot run, and the lake is like an
angry sea.
11th June, Lugano. — The storm so far abated
yesterday that we were able to leave Bellagio and
cross the lake in a steamboat to Menaggio with
about forty other travellers, several of whom had
intended to cross the Spliigen or the Simplon
Passes, but were obliged to change their routes, as
we learnt that a great amount of snow had fallen.
To our dismay, on arrival at Menaggio we found
that all the carriages had been bespoken, and that
we must either walk six miles over the mountains
or wait until the afternoon. Mrs. Foster and my
daughter at once started off with Mr. Orchardson,
Birket and I following not quite decided what to
do, when Admiral Lambert and his party overtook
us and kindly invited us into their carriage. The
road was so hilly that we did not overtake the
walkers until they had gone nearly four miles ;
soon after we had passed them they fortunately
met an empty carriage, so we all managed to catch
the steamer to Lugano. During the passage

ENTRANCE TO THE GRAND CANAL, VENICE
(Size of original picture 23£ X 36 inches.)

~f*

FIRST VISIT TO VENICE 103
another thunderstorm came on with torrents of
rain, but it now looks like fine weather again.
This is a lovely place and a delightful hotel.
14-7. June, Lucerne. — Here we are safely over
the St. Gothard, after a most pleasant journey.
The drive from Lugano to Bellinzona, where we
slept the night, was very fine, with beautiful views
of Lake Maggiore. We started the next morning
at 8 a.m. and stopped to rest the horses at Faido,
where there is a grand waterfall. We saw it to
the best advantage owing to the recent snowfall
on the mountains.
Yesterday we reached Airolo, which is about
4000 feet above the sea. The mountains covered
with snow towering above the little village are
very grand.
This morning we left at 7 a.m. and commenced
climbing St. Gothard at once. We all walked
for about two-thirds of the way up. During the
descent we left our carriage to walk across the
Devil's Bridge. It was magnificent indeed, the
scenery all the way being very grand.
We passed through Hospenthal, Armsteg, and
Altorf with its statues of William Tell and towers.
Here we took the steamboat to Lucerne, which we
reached in about two hours, all very tired after

104

BIRKET FOSTER

twelve hours travelling through such exciting
scenery. It is so very nice to settle down for a quiet
Sunday here in such delightful rooms in the most
perfect of hotels.
18th June, Heidelberg. — After a peaceful Sunday,
which was most refreshing, the next morning we
looked about Lucerne, and went on to Zurich.

".M'

Here we spent the evening in a boat on the lake.
It was so beautiful and still that we were reminded
of our evenings at Venice. On Tuesday we left
for Schaffhausen, where we visited the falls, which
were wonderfully fine owing to the recent snow.
Yesterday we had a long day's journey to Strassburg.

PISA
(Size of original picture 8H X 5. imshes.)

FIRST VISIT TO VENICE 105
This morning we wandered about the town ; some
of the old parts are very picturesque, and the
storks flying about or seated on the chimneys give
the place a very peculiar appearance. We saw
the wonderful clock performance at noon, when
the twelve apostles came out and bowed, and the
cock crew thrice. What a beautiful tower and
spire to the cathedral, but it is difficult to believe
it is more than one hundred feet higher than our
St. Paul's. We reached here (Heidelberg) in time
for dinner.
Here the diary ends. After leaving Heidelberg
the party went down the Rhine, stopping at
Coblenz and Cologne, and thence back to England
by way of Ghent.

14

BIRTHPLACE OF BURNS, NEAR AYR
(Size of original picture H X 7| indies.)

FURTHER TRAVELS ON THE
CONTINENT

A HIGHLAND COTTAGE
(Size oforigiruA picture 7. X 9J inches.)

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CHAPTER VII

FURTHER TRAVELS ON THE CONTINENT

In 1869 Messrs. Moxon and Co. arranged to
publish an illustrated edition of Hood's Poems,
and commissioned Birket Foster to make the
necessary drawings, which were afterwards beauti
fully engraved on steel by William Miller, who at
that time was nearly eighty years of age. For this
purpose Birket Foster visited Belgium, Holland, and
the Rhine, and as he always preferred to have com
panions with him during these tours abroad — in fact
he never went on the Continent alone — he was
109

110 BIRKET FOSTER
accompanied by his eldest son Myles, and his friend
Alfred Cooper, the son of Abraham Cooper, R.A.
On this occasion they naturally went vid Ostend
where Hood resided for nearly three years, from
May 1837 to the spring of 1840, when he returned
to England. From there the party travelled to
Bruges, Ghent, and Antwerp ; next they went to
Rotterdam, where Hood landed in 1835. They
made excursions from here to The Hague, Amster
dam, and other towns in Holland ; afterwards went
up the Rhine to Coblenz, and Birket Foster made
sketches for Hood's poem " Up the Rhine," which
the poet wrote during his residence of two years
in that town.
Our artist was no great linguist, and often failed
to grasp the meaning of a foreigner's attempt at the
English language. Mr. Cooper narrates that whilst
they were at dinner on one occasion at a German
hotel, the proprietor, noticing that Birket Foster
was not relishing a beefsteak which had been dished
up with sauce and various flavourings, approached
him and said in broken English, " To-morrow the
bifstek shall be cooked in the best English manner."
Birket Foster looked puzzled and inquired of
Cooper what the fellow meant by wanting to cook
a steak in English manure.

BEN VENUE AND ELLEN'S ISLE, LOCH KATRINE
(Size of original picture 6 x S inches.)

FURTHER TRAVELS ON TELE CONTINENT 111
In 1874, having a commission to paint a series
of pictures at Venice, Birket Foster again travelled
on the Continent. This time his companions were
Robert Dudley, the artist, and Captain Frank Cole
ridge. They left London on 11th May and went by
way of Ostend and Brussels to Spa, where they
stopped for some days on a visit to Monsieur E.
Gambart, the well-known London picture-dealer
at that time, who had a country residence near to
the town.
On leaving Spa they went to Cologne, and up
the Rhine through Alsace, stopping to sketch at
Strassburg, Basle, Laufenburg, Schaffhausen ; then
down to Lucerne and to Villeneuve and Chillon
on the Lake of Geneva, up the valley of the
Rhone and over the Simplon Pass to Stresa on
Lago Maggiore. After stopping there for a short
time the party proceeded by way of Milan to
Venice. Here a long stay was made to enable
the two artists to paint many subjects. They had
intended afterwards to visit Florence, but the
weather became so hot that they directed their
steps homewards, making a short stop at Verona,
then over the St. Gothard Pass to Zurich, and by
Basle to Paris.
In the next year, 1875, Birket Foster was again

112 BIRKET FOSTER
in Venice to complete many of the drawings com
menced in the previous year, and also to find
numerous other irresistible subjects. On this
occasion he took his second son William, and
Robert Dudley again was one of the party. They

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went by the Riviera and Genoa, and returned by
Milan to Lake Como, making a long stay at Bellagio
to sketch in the neighbourhood. They met with
a carriage accident on the hills above Menaggio on
the opposite side of the lake, but fortunately no
one was seriously hurt. Thence they proceeded
over the St. Gothard Pass to Lucerne, staying at
the Schweizerhof Hotel, where more sketches were

LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL
(Size of original picture 3§ X 5J inches.)

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FURTHER TRAVELS ON THE CONTINENT 113
made, then home by Basle and Paris as in the
previous year.
During the summers of 1876 and 1877 Birket
Foster made two sketching tours in Normandy and
Brittany. He was accompanied by Robert Dudley

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MONT ST. MICHEL.

on both occasions, and by his friends, Captain F.
Coleridge in 1876, and Captain C. Nelson, R.N.,
in 1877. The latter was Captain of H.M.S.
Galatea when the King, then Prince of Wales,
and his brother, the late Duke of Coburg, visited
Australia. On the first trip they left England on
20th May, and Amiens was their first halting-place. 15

114

BIRKET FOSTER

From there they went to Beauvais and Rouen,
then to Honfleur, Caen, Falaise, Avranches, and
Mont St. Michel, where they stayed some time
making numerous sketches. Afterwards they pro
ceeded farther west to St. Malo, Dinan, and

Quimper. Next they directed their steps south
ward to Nantes, and up the river Loire, stopping at
Angers, Saumur, Tours, Amboise, and Blois. From
the last town they returned home through Paris.

AT QUIMPER
(Size of original picture S X 11 inches.)

w.

FURTHER TRAVELS ON THE CONTINENT 115
The second trip was commenced on the 30th
July in the following year, and the first stay of the
little party was at Rouen, and the next at Caen.
From there they went to the small town of
Vitrei and stopped at a quaint hotel which was
formerly a country residence of Madame de
Sevigne. Afterwards they visited Dol, Guingamp,
Morlaix and Quimper. The return voyage to
England was made by way of St. Malo and
Southampton. The result of these two sketching tours was the
book on Brittany already mentioned, which Birket
Foster himself published at The Hill, Witley, in
1878. It consisted of thirty -five sketches made
at Vitre, Morlaix, Quimper, Pont l'Abbe, Dol,
Dinan, and St. Malo, which were reproduced by
lithography. In the preface to the work Birket
Foster states : " I have been induced to publish
this series of sketches in the hope that it may
be acceptable as the exact reproduction of my
drawings made in a recent tour in Brittany. A
prepared paper was used, and Messrs. Maclure and
Macdonald by their delicate process transferred
the sketches to stone, so that the pictures in the
volume may be said to be printed from the actual
drawings. . . . They were not drawn with a view

116 BIRKET FOSTER
to publication, but were merely the jottings of a
rambler in some of the picturesque old towns
of that picturesque country." The volumes
were dedicated to "my two friends, Captain C.
Nelson, R.N., and Robert Dudley, without their
permission."

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THE MARKET PLACE, ROUEN.
In the spring of the year 1883 Birket Foster
made a visit to Spain and Morocco. He, with
William, his second son, and Robert Dudley, took
the Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Rohilla, on
the 2nd of April, to Gibraltar. Here, they were
detained a week owing to bad weather in the Straits

MARKET-PLACE, ROUEN
(Size of original picture -3 x . inches.)

FURTHER TRAVELS ON THE CONTINENT 117
preventing them from crossing to Tangier, but they
were most hospitably entertained during their en
forced stay by the Governor, Sir John Adye, and
his family. Eventually they were able to cross in a
tug-boat, and they put up at Broussaud's Hotel, just
outside the town beyond the camel-market. Here
the party remained for some time making many
sketches, the bright colours of the barbaric cos
tumes affording many subjects for Birket Foster's
pencil. On their return to Gibraltar they took a
steamboat to Cadiz, and from there they went by
train to Seville, where a stay of some days was made.
Thence to Granada to see the Alhambra. Here
Birket Foster made many sketches, and on one day
he climbed up the building to copy some Moorish
ornament, but he was obliged to abandon it, saying
that he thought Moresque patterns must have
been the invention of the devil. Robert Dudley
states that this was the only occasion on which
he ever saw him fail to accomplish a task he
had set himself to do with his pencil. From
Granada the party proceeded to Cordova, thence to
Madrid ; afterwards to Avila and Burgos. From
the latter town Birket Foster wrote the follow
ing letter, on 26th May 1883, to his eldest son
Myles :—

118 BIRKET FOSTER
We have had a most delightful trip. I say have, for we
are coming home at full speed. Granada is perfect. The
Alhambra, the woods full of nightingales, the glorious back
ground of snow mountains, a good hotel and nice people
make a thing not to be forgotten. Tangier was another
delight. Moors, Arabs, Jews, camels, mosques — no mosquitos
— and a good hotel with Arab waiters, the hotel being the
only European thing in the place. The music awful. We
went to a caf_i to hear Moorish songs, and we did not get over
it for days. Gib. was nice, and the Governor, Sir John Adye,
and his family also. Seville was wet, and in consequence we
did not see much life, but we went to a cafe and saw gypsies
doing fandangos and singing awful ditties — so long that
Dudley said he was sure it was the 119th Psalm.
After Seville came Granada, then Cordova with its fine
mosque. A magnificent looking organ at Seville, but very
brassy ; singing nothing much — beautiful mantillas, kneeling,
etc. Cordova organ very fine and well played. From
Cordova to Madrid, a Spanish Paris. On Sunday we went
to a bull fight. The King and Queen were there. Oh, my
goodness ! of all the beastly exhibitions of cruelty. . . .
There was such a squash of humanity I couldn't get out, or
I shouldn't have been there long. One light-coloured bull
went at a horse and man and buried and wriggled his horns
in the inside of the horse, emerging with a head bright
crimson, the entire inside of the horse hanging down to
to the ground, and yet the poor thing stood a minute before
he toppled over dead. There are men to stop up small holes
with wadding — but oh ! never again so long as I live. From
Madrid we went to Toledo ; charming old place. Inn of
a very primitive character. After dinner we sat in the old
courtyard amongst the diligences. The landlord and his
wife also, while the chambermaids danced to the guitars of
two blind men for the amusement of the guests. Even the

BURGOS
(Size of original picture _/„ x 3| inches.)

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FURTHER TRAVELS ON THE CONTINENT 119
stout landlady danced (castanets of course) a real bit of old
Spanish. Organ at Toledo and singing very fine. Back to
Madrid to see the Corpus Christi fete. Magnificent procession.
Madrid to Burgos, almost the best of all. We leave to
morrow for San Sebastian and so into France.
Myles Foster, having taken up the musical
profession and become organist at the Foundling

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Hospital, his father naturally refers in his letter to
a subject which he knows will interest his son ;
but, in addition to this, Birket Foster himself was
very fond of hearing good music, especially on the
organ, hence he was attracted by the musical per
formances in the various cathedrals which he visited.
From Burgos the travellers crossed over the
120

BIRKET FOSTER

Santillanos range of mountains to San Sebastian
and Fuentarabia ; then over the Bidassoa into
France, stopping a short time en route at San Jean
de Luz and Biarritz, and then home by way of
Bordeaux and Paris, after an absence of two months.
Birket Foster made many subsequent trips to
the Continent, especially to Italy ; and from Bellagio
he wrote, on the 15th May 1887 : " We are having
very cold weather here at the Lakes. I hope it
won't last, as we have had a good roasting at
Naples and Sorrento. I suppose we shall be
here for a few days more, then move to Lago
Maggiore."

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GRAVEDONA, LAKE COMO.

THE WAY DOWN THE CLIFF
(size of original picture s§ X 13$ inches.)

WATER-COLOUR PAINTING

16

SUNSET WITH CATTLE
(Size of original picture 8 X 12 inches.)

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PARIS  PONT NEUF, LOOKING EAST.
CHAPTER VIII
WATER-COLOUR PAINTING
As has already been stated, Birket Foster aban
doned the production of pencil-drawings for wood-
engravings shortly after the year 1858, and devoted
himself almost entirely to water-colour painting.
Like most children, he must have had a box of
paints in his young days, for there are still in
existence some very early attempts at painting
when he was not more than five years old. The
dainty water-colour drawing of "The Christmas
Holly Cart," executed in 1848, shows that he was
no novice at that time, whilst the two views of
123

124. BIRKET FOSTER
Tynemouth and Cullercoats and of Arundel Park,
as well as the coloured sketch of children, rapidly
made on the inside of a used envelope, at Little-
hampton, were certainly executed sometime before
the year 1858. The sketch and finished drawing
of "The Milkmaid" were painted in the Hamp
stead fields, whilst he was still residing at Carlton
Hill East, and his niece, Mrs. Evans, well remem
bers standing as a model for it.
Birket Foster received little or no instruction in
water-colour painting, and in later years when he
was frequently pestered by persons asking him to
give them lessons in painting, he used to say that
he never received any lessons, so he never gave
them, believing the best instruction to be obtained
from studying the great masters. He was a pro
found admirer of Turner and Clarkson Stanfield,
and it is probable that he was more influenced by
the latter's works than by those of any other artist,
especially with regard to composition. He delighted
to surround himself with paintings by these and
other artists in his home at Witley, to which we
shall have occasion to refer later.
With regard to his method of working, Birket
Foster's early training, as has been seen, was almost
exclusively directed towards drawing for wood-

CHILDREN PADDLING
(Sketch on an envelope)
(Size of original picture 4x7 inches.)

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WATER-COLOUR PAINTING 125
engraving, and it considerably influenced his later,
almost entirely water-colour work, which was
very dissimilar to the "wash" methods of the
early school of water-colour painters. Birket
Foster, indeed, worked with his brush as dry as
it well could be, and probably no artist in using
the medium of water-colours ever used so little
water. Of course all painting may ^
be said to be drawing with a brush, V+ J ,
but Birket Foster's was practically / ^
drawing to a peculiar degree, not /A J/N^— .
washing with a brush. He used a 'A}\-yAs -^V^
very fine brush with very little paint ^ _ ^
in it, and owing to his habit of
frequently putting it between his lips to make
the point of it as fine as possible, it used to
be said that the paint came out of the artist's
head.1 He usually used thick solid cardboards to work
on ; those which were called Chalon-boards, after
the once popular artist J. Chalon, were very con-
1 The foregoing remarks refer more particularly to the stippling method
which he employed in finishing most of his paintings. In the early draw
ings, such as "Arundel Park," "Tynemouth," " Cullercoats," and the
little sketch produced on an envelope, the colour was freely washed on ;
also in the two unfinished figure subjects and a later sketch of Witley
Church a full brush was evidently used ; whilst the charming little moon
light effect at sea, rapidly produced by a few lines of Chinese white on a
blue ground, belongs quite to the Impressionist School.

126 BIRKET FOSTER
venient to pack when travelling, or to carry in a
sketching bag, and there was no anxiety in straining
paper. Birket Foster worked very rapidly in his own
way of obtaining the effects he desired, and his
remarkable gift for composition enabled him to
people his scenes with wonderful facility and
felicity. With regard to the vexed question of body-colour
— that old artistic tilting arena — Birket Foster was
too good a free lance to hold other than broad and
liberal views. Although a " purist " in the use of
transparent colour, he could yet admit, under any
necessity, the useful means of recovering the paper
without injuriously soaking and rubbing and spong
ing the surface into roughness. But he used
body-colour, when at all, very sparingly, being
nevertheless a most appreciative admirer of the
work of Fred. Walker, A.R. A., who certainly must
have held very practically that the artist should
be the best judge of how or by what means he
himself can, or may, best obtain the effects for
which he is striving ; and that whatever may be
the case in ethics, or at all events in art, the end
justifies the means.
It may be said that Birket Foster never engaged

COWSLIP GATHERERS
(S-ize oferriginal picture 8J X 13J inches.)

WATER-COLOUR PAINTING

127

a professional model ; his children were all sketched
from the rustic boys and girls whom he found in
the course of his wanderings, whilst in the earlier
days when he was accustomed to paint what may
perhaps be called figure subjects, Mrs. Evans and
her sister Mrs. Cooper stood for
him, as, for example, in the illus
trations facing pages 4 and 14.
It was at this period that he
aspired to be connected with the
Old Water-Colour Society, and in
the autumn of 1858 he became a
candidate for associateship and
submitted three drawings with
that view, but the minute stip
pling style, which he had acquired,
was not appreciated on this oc
casion, and he was not successful
in being elected. He received,
however, some compensation by
having a small water-colour painting "A Farm:
Arundel Park in the Distance," hung, on the
walls of the Royal Academy in the spring of the
following year.
In 1860 Birket Foster Avas unanimously elected
an Associate of the Old Water-Colour Society, and

128 BIRKET FOSTER
became a full member two years afterwards. He
greatly appreciated the honour which had been
conferred upon him, and thoroughly gave his best
interests to the Society. In the spring of 1863 he
came up from Witley and stopped at the Bedford
Hotel to hang the paintings for that year. In a
letter dated 14th April 1863, he wrote to Miss
Brown —
The first day's work is over, thank goodness. I am nearly
worn off my legs ; however, I think we have got on tolerably
well. I found my companions very agreeable, and we have
had great fun ; we dined in the Haymarket together. This
evening I have been to see Holland, who has sent such a
lovely drawing that I went up directly and bought it — one
of the finest he has ever done. We invited the President to
come and see where we had placed his drawing, for he cannot
come without our permission. We have been most bothered
with Carl Haag's drawing — a most uninteresting one, like
London in a fog ; the subject is the Ruins of Palmyra ; it has
taken us half a day to hang it. Hang it ! We meet at
breakfast to-morrow at eight for another hard day. — Yours,
B. F.
Three days later he added : —
We have done hanging, and to-morrow we are going to
put the finishing touches to it, and to hang a few others we
have got as the gallery is not full. If I have not mentioned
getting the letters, it has been that from utter prostration
after my work, I have hardly known what I have heen about.
B. F.

IN FULL CRY
(Size of original picture 38 x 28 inches.)

WATER-COLOUR PAINTING

129

Birket Foster was a most prolific &%
worker, and beside the large number of
water-colour paintings exhibited at the
Old Society, of which a list is given
at the end of this book, many of his
drawings were bought by the picture-
dealers straight from his studio, and in
some cases he received direct commis
sions for paintings from collectors.
Sir Charles Seeley possesses a very fine
collection of forty-four Venetian sub
jects, reproductions of six of which are given in
this volume. They were all commissioned by the
owner's father, and have never been exhibited to
the public.
In 1882 Messrs. J. and W. Vokins held a special
loan exhibition of Birket Foster's drawings at their
establishment in Great Portland Street, at which
one hundred and eighteen examples were shown ;
and in 1896 Messrs. Tooth exhibited a series of
Scottish scenes, which Birket Foster executed
specially for that firm.
Whilst Birket Foster was residing at Witley, his
water-colour paintings became so popular that
there was a rush made by the dealers to secure them.
A propos of this, an amusing story is told, how the
17

130 BIRKET FOSTER
principals of two well-known art firms were on the
platform of Waterloo Station waiting for the train
to take them to Godalming. In those days some
of the trains ran only as far as the terminus station,
Old Godalming, now used entirely for goods traffic.
A. catching sight of B., and knowing that there
were but few public vehicles to be hired at Godal
ming, telegraphed to secure one before entering the
train. On arrival at their destination, B., who had
seen A., immediately jumped out and rushed to
secure the only carriage at the station, but to his
disappointment, he found it was already engaged.
Shortly afterwards A. sauntered up and exclaimed,
" Holloa, B., you here ! If you are going to Witley,
can I give you a lift ? " The offer was readily
accepted, but as soon as they had started off together
A. made it a stipulation that he should have first
visit to the studio. It is needless to add that B.
did not obtain many drawings on that occasion.
Another story is told showing the phenomenal
demand for Birket Foster's drawings. It is said that
on one occasion at a private view of the Old Water-
Colour Society, when the doors were opened there
was an immediate rush made by the dealers for the
screen on which his drawings were hung, but whilst
they were making their selections, one of them

CHILDREN BY THE SEA
(Size of original picture 7f X 10| inches.)

V

WATER-COLOUR PAINTING

131

quietly walked up to the secretary's desk and
purchased the whole screen of drawings.
Accounts have been given of numerous visits
which Birket Foster made to the Continent in search
of subjects to paint, but it would be impossible in
one volume to present an adequate description of all
the numerous tours he made in the different parts of
England and Scotland. He rarely, even in his own
country, travelled alone ; his genial disposition was
adverse to solitude. His comrade Edmund Evans,
who has already been mentioned, went on many of
his early tours with him and considered them to be
the greatest treats of his
life ; and Robert Dudley,
his fellow-artist and com
panion on many later trips,
says, " Any one who knew
Birket Foster intimately,
and as an artist, would
know how indefatigably
and steadily he worked ;
he would also know that
his geniality and quick
perception ofthe humorous __
in any social surroundings
was so simple-hearted and

_- '^
¦fr 4-

132 BIRKET FOSTER
genuine as to render any travels made in his friendly
company full of delight and charm. Add the
artistic element and they became seasons of joyful
anticipation and happiest realisation. So they were
to me, and are still so in retrospect."
The sketch-books, of which Birket Foster was
never without one in his pocket, were filled with
many charming little sketches ; a few of them are
reproduced in the text of this volume. No less
than sixty-eight of these small books were sold at
Christie's after his death, and in addition there was
a considerable number retained for distribution
amongst his family. With regard to the former
it is to be regretted that some of the rapid sketches
in colour in these books have fallen into the hands
of unscrupulous persons, who have caused them to
be faked up into finished drawings and have sold
them as originals.
As may be seen by glancing through the titles of
his exhibited paintings, the neighbourhood around
Witley had a great charm for Birket Foster, and
drawings made on Hambledon Common and in the
village of Chiddingfold, with their picturesque
cottages roofed with thatch or red tiles, now fast
disappearing, and their leafy lanes with happy
children gathering wild-flowers, or the beautiful

SUMMER TIME
(Size of original picture 15 x 12 inches.)

WATER-COLOUR PAINTING 133
view from his own residence overlooking the Surrey
Weald, with Hindhead and Blackdown in the
distance and glimpses of the Brighton Downs
beyond, are most appreciated by the public and it
is by these paintings he is best known.
"Aldworth," on Blackdown, the home of the
late Lord Tennyson, was no great distance from
Witley, and it is not „--,
surprising that there
should have been a
friendship between
the poet and the
artist. The last occa- Wi :'i<^\^>?^
sion on which they
-_r~- - ' ' ' /
met was at Fresh
water, where Tennyson was residing shortly before
his death. Whilst walking together they dis
cussed various phases of art, and Tennyson put
the following question to Birket Foster : " Why
do you painters always prefer a tumble -down
cottage to others ? " " Because no one likes an
unbroken line," was the artist's reply.
Birket Foster, paid many visits to Scotland,
and when his children grew up he was accom
panied by various members of his family. In the
summer of 1869 Myles Foster went with his father

134 BIRKET FOSTER
on one of these sketching tours. They visited on
their way Ely, Grantham, Lincoln, York, and
Durham. After stopping a few days at the artist's
native town, North Shields, they continued their
journey to Melrose, Abbotsford, and Edinburgh.
At Lanark he painted the Falls of the Clyde, and
afterwards sketched Dunblane Cathedral. A halt
was made at Pitlochry, which was a favourite
centre, and here Birket Foster converted a cottage
opposite to Fisher's Hotel into a studio. Whilst
there he made a large water-colour painting of
the Falls of the Tummel. On one occasion,
whilst he was at work at the Falls, Archdeacon
Thorpe, coming to the opposite bank to inquire
how he was progressing, slipped and nearly fell
into the water. Birket Foster, with his keen sense
of humour, immediately shouted out, " Holloa ! the
Church in danger" — a popular cry at the time
owing to the demonstrations of the ritualistic
party. Afterwards he painted another lovely
subject of the bridge at Clunie, and then returned
through the Trossachs.
Birket Foster was also fond of the scenery of
the Thames, and during the next summer he was
staying at "Black Pots," a house on almost an
island just below Windsor railway bridge, when

WINDSOR LOCK
(Size of original picture 13 x 28 inches.)

¦ .

WATER-COLOUR PAINTING

135

Fred. Walker sent the following amusing sketch
in a letter to Myles Foster, in which he says,
"Your description of your own favoured isle is
indeed refreshing, especially that referring to the
number and quality of crabs caught by certain
members of your family, but their recent nautical

experience has been great." The fish is supposed
to represent Freddy himself, " Well, I never,"
being one of his favourite expressions. Black Pots,
as Walker says, was a " favoured isle," and Birket
Foster stayed there with his family on more than
one occasion in order to make sketches on the
silvery Thames.
Although Birket Foster was not what may be

136

BIRKET FOSTER

termed a seascape artist, he was fond of making
drawings of children playing on the sea-shore. Later
in life he revisited many of the watering-places
which he depicted for The Illustrated London News
in his early days, and instead of sketches for wood
blocks, he painted many charming little scenes
similar to those facing pages 120, 130, and 176.
One of his last visits to the coast was in 1894,
when he went for the benefit of his health to
Southwold, the favourite resort of Charles Keene
and his friend Edwin Edwards, before the diminu
tive branch line, which now connects the little
town with the main line of the Great Eastern
Railway, was constructed.
Another phase of Birket Foster's art was his love
for painting fruit and flowers. He
was greatly attracted by William
Hunt's work, and his drawing-room
at Witley was adorned by eight of
the latter's pictures. As may be ex
pected, the same stippling in Hunt's
paintings appears in Foster's works ;
but whilst the former nearly always
painted his fruit pieces the same
size as in nature, the latter produced
almost miniature representations of them. In fact,

ETON COLLEGE
(Size of original picture 3fJ x 5£ inches.)

lit

WATER-COLOUR PAINTING

137

most of his water-colour drawings were very small,
and amongst the illustrations of his work in this
book many of them are the exact size of the
originals, and it is marvellous
how he could put so much
detail in such small draw
ings as "The Market Place,
Rouen," facing p. 116; "Pisa,"
facing p. 104 ; or " Burgos,"
facing p. 118.
Birket Foster painted a
few large landscapes in water-
colours. "The Meet," belonging to Mr. Barnet
Lewis, is one of the largest ; it measures 59| inches
by 27_f inches. See illustration facing p. 140. There
was not, however, the same demand for them as
for the smaller ones, which were more suitable for
his style of painting ; besides, from a commercial
point of view, they were not so successful. During
the past summer four large pictures, about 46 inches
by 30 inches each, entitled "Near Dalmally,"
"Loch Maree," "Ben Nevis," and "The Market
place, Verona," were sold at Christie's for £2010,
thus averaging about £500 each ; whilst at the
same sale a small painting, " The Hayfield," measur
ing only 9 inches by 14^ inches, fetched one hundred 18

N>^

•*>

138 BIRKET FOSTER
and seventy-five guineas, or more than three and a
half times the price in comparison as to size.
As the pockets of many who were ardent admirers
of Birket Foster's art were not sufficiently deep to
completely cover his drawings with sovereigns in
order to acquire them, the art publishers naturally
sought means to bring out reproductions, as nearly
like the originals as possible, to meet the public de
mand, and many of his paintings were reproduced
with great fidelity by means of chromo -lithography.
In 1874 a charming set of twelve, entitled " Gems
of Art by Birket Foster," were chromo-lithographed
by Thomas Keil, and published by G. P. M 'Queen,
and Messrs. Rowney and Co., issued from time to
time many single reproductions by the same means
of our artist's most favourite subjects. Messrs.
Vincent Brooks, Day, and Sons, and other litho
graphers also printed many excellent copies. Some
critics have complained that Birket Foster's own
work was too much like chromo-lithography, which
was an unjust inversion of the case, the fact being
the reproductions were made as like the originals as
possible. Five-and-twenty years ago these chromo-litho-
graphs were most popular, and so admirably pro
duced that they were often mistaken for the original

BY THE THAMES
(Size of original picture 11 x 16 inches.)

WATER-COLOUR PAINTING

139

drawings. On one occasion Birket Foster himself
failed at a casual glance to detect the difference.
He had sold a small drawing to a private individual,
who, he thought, wished to keep it to hang on his
own walls. Some time after
wards, whilst walking in the
Strand, he noticed what he
supposed to be this drawing
in a shop window. Curiosity
led him into the shop to in
quire the price of it, and on
asking the shopman how much
was the Birket Foster drawing

displayed in the window, the
man explained that it was only a chromo-litho-
graph. The number of these chromo- lithographs led
persons to copy them and afterwards sell them as
drawings by Birket Foster, who was continually
worried by paintings being submitted to him with
inquiries as to their genuineness, so much so that
he was at last compelled to charge a fee of a
guinea ; but still these inquiries did not cease,
and, in order to try and stop this nefarious practice
of forging his works and signature, he registered
his monogram ^&" , but without avail.

140

BIRKET FOSTER

Although Birket Foster painted a large number
of his drawings direct from Nature, still he produced
many of them in his studio, which at Witley was
the first room on the left side of the entrance hall.
This had only an ordinary window, overlooking

iTn]};^''';1':'','^'" ''''(\,i' ' V[^W-~^^V pnA-i1 ' A$'p

a bank of wild-flowers, which were not allowed to
receive any attention from the gardener. Here
Birket Foster frequently worked close to the win
dow, but he had such a love for his work that not
infrequently in the evening he would paint in the
drawing-room surrounded by his family, with a
drawing on his knees. He used a restricted

THE MEET
(Sue of original picture - . J- X 59J inches.)

WATER-COLOUR PAINTING 141
palette, and knew his colours so well that he could
work by lamplight.
After the addition had been made to " The Hill "
at Witley, Birket Foster, like many other water-
colour artists, turned his attention to painting in oils,
and used the billiard room, which had been erected
as a studio. For the nine years, 1869 to 1877, he
regularly contributed oil-paintings, fourteen in all,
to the Exhibitions at the Royal Academy, but after
that period Birket Foster abandoned this medium,
as he found that his little water-colour gems were
far more appreciated by the public.
In 1876 Foster was elected a member of the
Royal Academy of Berlin, an honour which he
greatly appreciated.

BIKKK I' FOSTER.
Fioiu a private photograph.

AT WITLEY

#

WITLEY CHURCH
(A sketch)
(Size of original pictv/re _ x 9£ i'aches.)

»!£'

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In-

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*^%M'¥l' ¦!.- ^>70 -,

CHAPTER IX
AT WITLEY
When Birket Foster abandoned the drawing on
wood-blocks for book illustrations, and took
seriously to water-colour painting, he at first
selected his subjects from the fields about
Hampstead and Highgate. He soon, however,
wandered farther afield, and was attracted by the
picturesque scenery of Surrey. During his wander
ings in this delightful county he found himself at
Witley, near Godalming, and he resolved to have
a residence there. 145 19

146 BIRKET FOSTER
It cannot be said that Witley was " discovered "
by Birket Foster, for other artists were there before
him. J. C. Hook, R.A., had already built himself
a residence and studio upon an eminence with a
beautiful view overlooking the Weald of Surrey,
and on an adjoining piece of land that early pro-
motor of art education and founder of the Victoria
and Albert Museum, then called the " Brompton
Boilers," Sir Henry Cole, K.C.B., had erected a
quaint house with an inscription running round it.
There can, however, be no doubt that the genial
disposition and the liberal hospitality of the owner
of " The Hill " afterwards attracted many of his
fellow-artists to the neighbourhood.
Witley station stands at a spot where the railway
emerges from a deep cutting with pine woods on
either side, and at this period there were but few
houses or even cottages in the vicinity, for the
village itself lies a mile and a quarter to the north
ward ; but Birket Foster managed to secure the
possession of a picturesque cottage called "Tig-
bourne," situated by the corner of the road leading
to Hambledon at the foot of Wormley Hill, and
resided there during the summer months.
The accompanying illustration shows the cottage
as it was at that time, being reproduced from a

u «

AT WITLEY

147

photograph taken shortly after he had obtained
possession of it. Birket Foster may be seen stand
ing near the entrance ; at his side is his niece Miss
Brown (Mrs. Edmund Evans), who acted as a
mother to his young children after his first wife's
death, whilst seated within the porch are her sister,
Miss E. Brown (Mrs. Alfred Cooper), and Mrs.
Cundall, the mother of the present writer. In the
background may be discerned the heads of the five
young Fosters, three boys and two girls, lying full
length on the lawn.
Birket Foster became so pleased with the
neighbourhood that he determined to take up
his permanent abode at Witley. After lengthy
negotiations, he secured
the beautiful site, between
Wormley Hill and the rail
way station, on which he
eventually erected a house,
and finally quitted St. John's

Wood. The land being more
extensive than his require
ments demanded, later on
he disposed of a portion of
it to Edmund Evans, who "P
also built himself a home ;

148 BIRKET FOSTER
thus these two comrades further cemented their
life-long friendship by becoming close neighbours
to each other.
Birket Foster was practically his own architect,
and residing near by he was enabled personally
to superintend the erection of the entire building.
In order that its newness should not offend the
artistic eye, he purchased as many weather-worn
tiles off the old cottages in the neighbourhood
as possible, and placed them on the roof of his
house. A great amount of care was bestowed
on the internal decorations. William Morris was
consulted, and Burne-Jones painted seven canvases
illustrating the legend of St. George and the
dragon, which formed a frieze round three sides
of the dining-room. This interesting series of
pictures are very fine examples of the painter's
early work. They represent — 1st, The King's
daughter walking in her garden ; 2nd, The petition
of his people to the King to free the land from the
ravages of the dragon ; 3rd, The drawing of the lot
as to which of the maidens of the land should be
sacrificed to the dragon, and showing how the
choice falls on the King's daughter; 4th, The
King's daughter, followed by her companions, led
out to sacrifice ; 5th, The Princess left tied to a

COTTAGE AT WHEELER STREET, WITLEY
(Size of original picture 0x9 inches.)

A. /_

AT WITLEY 149
tree ; 6th, The dragon slain, and the Princess
delivered by St. George ; and 7th, The Princess led
home, amidst rej oicings of the people. Four of these
paintings, now the property of Mr. C. S. Goldman,
were shown at the Old Masters' Exhibition at the
Royal Academy at the beginning of the present
year. Birket Foster also possessed a large screen of
eight folds, upon which were sixteen events of
the life of St. Frideswide painted by Burne-Jones.
These scenes have since been reproduced in the
windows of Christ Church Cathedral at Oxford.
Burne-Jones was also commissioned to make
many other designs for adornment of "The Hill," and
numerous reminiscences of this great painter may
still be found in various parts of the house. Around
the fireplace in the room next to the billiard-
room are decorated tiles with the following legend :
" This is the story of the maid with the shoe of
glass, and how she became Queen that was before
called Cinder Wench." In the bedrooms are similar
tiles illustrating fairy tales, one set representing
" A certain prince who delivered a King's daughter
from sleep of a hundred years, wherein she and all
hers had been cast by enchantment," and another
" How a prince, who by enchantment was under

150 BIRKET FOSTER
the form of a beast, became a man again by the
love of a certain maiden." Many of the windows
in both the sitting-rooms and bedrooms, as well as in
the passages and on the staircases, are decorated
with panels of stained glass by Burne-Jones, those
representing " Painting," " Architecture," " Music,"
and " Sculpture" being specially characteristic works
of this painter. In some of the rooms the upper
lights of the windows are inscribed with musical
scores of madrigals and carols. These were carried
out at the suggestion of Charles Keene, a frequent
visitor, so that at any moment the occupants,
feeling inclined, could break out into part-singing
without the trouble of searching for books.
Birket Foster was no egotist, and did not believe
in the beauty of his own paintings alone, but was a
great admirer and collector of his brother-artists
works ; consequently the walls of " The Hill " were
adorned by many pictures. Amongst them may be
mentioned — "A Pastoral Scene,"boys tending sheep,
and " The Barley Harvest," both specially painted
for Birket Foster by J. Linnell, senior; "Venice:
Under the Rialto " and "Venice," by James Holland ;
" The Mendicant," the interior of a Turkish house,
and " The Harem," by J. F. Lewis, R. A. ; " The
Morning of Life," by Sam. Palmer ; " The Princess

DISTANT VIEW OF "THE HILL," WITLEY, WHEN FIRST BUILT.

AT WITLEY 151
and the Ploughman," by G. J. Pinwell ; four small
drawings by Millais, and eight by William Hunt,
including " May Blossom and Eggs," " Primroses,"
and " Wild Rose and Egg," all specially painted for
the owner. A work entitled "The Chaplain's
Daughter," by Frederick Walker, A.R.A., was
greatly prized by him. The gems, however, of
his collection were a series of eight drawings by
Turner, over which he was never tired of revel
ling, including "Sidon," engraved in the Bible
Series, " In the Rhone Valley," " Luxemburg," and
" Ehrenbreitstein." There was also a set of panels, representing
scenes from nursery rhymes, by H. S. Marks, R.A.
These were originally executed for Joseph Cundall,
who issued a series of children's books of rhymes
illustrated by Marks, G. D. Leslie, R.A., J. D.
Watson, and others.
Marks likewise painted seven panels with gold
backgrounds, representing Shakespeare's Seven
Ages, for the summer-house at " The Hill."
Birket Foster had a great admiration for blue
and white porcelain, and was fortunate in acquir
ing many fine specimens, some being obtained
from the collection of D. G. Rossetti, at reason
able prices, before the craze for collecting had set

152 BIRKET FOSTER
in and made it almost prohibitive excepting to
millionaires to procure the finest examples. He
was also a bibliophile, and his library contained
many early editions. The illustration facing
page 150 shows "The Hill" as it was when first
finished, but its hospitable owner soon found
the accommodation too limited for entertaining

,a --x-" qM^HW

THE SEINE — SEVRES PROM ST. CLOUD.
his many friends. Accordingly in the year 1866
considerable alterations were made. An addition
with a large gable was erected at the east end of
the house, and a billiard-room beyond it. In the
latter J. D. Watson commenced two large frescoes
in white and gold, " The Feast of the Peacock "
and " The Raising of the Maypole," but they were
never completed.
As the name of the house implies, it stands on a

A VILLAGE INN
(Size of original picture IS x 28 inches.)

AT WITLEY 153
hill, and it is protected by a pine- wood at the back.
The view from the front windows looking towards
Blackdown, Haslemere, and the Sussex Weald, with
the Brighton Downs beyond, is magnificent. " Ley-
bourne," the house built by Mr. Edmund Evans,
stands in close proximity to " The Hill," and is
similar in style. Its principal feature is a large
conservatory or " flower-room " as it was called,
fitted up as a sitting-room, where George Eliot,
whose strong love for flowers constituted a bond
of friendship with its owners, was a frequent visitor.
Kate Greenaway, and many other artists, were also
wont to assemble there.

20

a ki

//

SKETCH FOR THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP
(Size of original picture 13 X IS inches.)

I

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1

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r y^'-'A'

HONFLEUR.

CHAPTER X
CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES AT "THE HILL "
Shortly after taking up his residence at " The
Hill," Birket Foster married, on the 25th of
August 1864, his second wife, the daughter of
Mr. Dawson Watson of Sedburgh, and a sister of
J. D. Watson, a member of the Old Water-Colour
Society. Two days previously Foster's niece, Miss
Brown, who for many years had had the care of
his children, had become the wife of Edmund
Evans, and the mistress of "Leybourne."
"The Hill" was an open house to all Birket
Foster's friends, and particularly to his brother-
157

158 BIRKET FOSTER
artists. He was never more pleased than when he
was entertaining his guests, and being specially
fond of music, many of the social gatherings were
enhanced by musical performances.1
One of the most frequent visitors was Frederick
Walker, A.R.A. ; he was a special favourite, at all
times welcome, and was one of the few who had an
influence on Birket Foster's painting, especially his
figures. He was in the habit of going to Witley
whenever he felt inclined without waiting for an
invitation, a bedroom known as " Freddy's room "
being reserved for him. Walker had an immense
love for the place, which he called " Paradise," and
greatly regretted that he had not sufficient money
to purchase a cottage which J. C. Hook, R.A., had
built near his house, the situation of which he
considered "romantic — such a sweep of glorious
country." In his letters to his sister he referred to
his visits to Witley with the greatest rapture. In
one he wrote : " To-day here is a fine spring one ;
the Downs in the far horizon tinted with gold by
the setting sun at this moment. F. and one of the
little girls are on the charming lawn playing at
1 He always had a great love for melody, and he used to narrate how, on
one occasion when he was sent by The Illustrated London News to make a
sketch of Jenny Lind whilst she was rehearsing Mendelssohn's ' ' Hear My
Prayer " at Exeter Hall, he became so absorbed that he forgot to carry out
his commission, and was obliged afterwards to execute it from memory.

GOING TO MARKET
(Size of original picture 11 X 18. inches.)

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES AT "THE HILL" 159
bowls, and the birds are going it like mad." And in
another letter : " I wish I could tell you how dainty
this place is, from the delightful little drawing-
room we're now in, with its walls covered with
water-colours — little gems by old Hunt, Millais, etc.,
etc., to the bedroom I occupy and in which I paint,
for the subject is the window, which is a large
recess, with stained glass and diamond - shaped
panes, and I am doing a woman brushing her hair.
It is just the house you would revel in, nay Poll.
Part of the garden is a gentle slope, with its shrubs
and bushes covering the beautiful lawn, on which
blackbirds promenade in the sun in the morning.
There are two smaller flat lawns, on which we play
bowls or croquet, and around, down below, planta
tions of firs and pines, and so many evergreens that
one forgets that it is the leafless season, and from
my bedroom as I sit on the cushions in the recess
I can see across to the Brighton Downs and
' Devil's Dyke ' thirty miles off." And again in a
letter to Mr. Phillips he stated : " I am staying with
Birket Foster ever since Sunday week, and shall, I
expect, remain a week longer, for I am at work
and am happier here than I have been for a long
time. . . . This place is the most lovely and snug
that I have ever stayed at; all the horrors of

160 BIRKET FOSTER
winter and all discomfort of every kind seem done
away with. I can see thirty miles from my bed
room window across the most beautiful part of
Surrey. The house (which B. F. built himself) is
the most perfect : the eye is continually refreshed
by good colour." Walker painted several pictures
whilst staying with the Fosters. In addition to
" The Bedroom Window," to which reference has
already been made, he produced in water-colours
"Two Girls at a Fireside," the two daughters of
Birket Foster, also " The Well-Sinkers," a lady and
little girl looking down a well in course of con
struction and three labourers standing near, a
subject taken from work actually in progress in
the grounds at the time. The idea for his famous
picture, " The Harbour of Refuge," was first given
to Walker by Birket Foster and Orchardson, who
was staying at " The Hill." One Sunday in church
they noticed a group of bent old labourers on a
long bench, reposing in the gleams of sunlight
that lingered in the gloom of the place. It occurred
to them that it was a subject in which Walker
would delight. He was sent for, and a re
occurrence of the scene on the following Sunday
took hold of him, and eventually from it "The
Harbour of Refuge " was evolved. Walker had an

BURYING THE FAVOURITE
(Size of original picture 17 X 26J inches.)

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES AT "THE HILL" 161
idea that there should be a statue of the founder
in the picture, and wandered about London in
search of one. Meeting Birket Foster one day he ex
claimed in an excited manner, " I've got a founder."
"Where ? " was the inquiry. " In Soho Square." A
statue of King Charles II. formerly stood in the
Square. It was removed in 1876, and came into the
possession of Mr. F. Goodall, R. A., who re-erected it
in the grounds of his house, Graeme's Dyke, Harrow
Weald, now the residence of Mr. W. S. Gilbert.
Walker, the "Little Billee" in Trilby, was
very fond of playing the flute, and frequently
assisted in the musical entertainments at Witley.
The following is an extract from a characteristic
letter to Myles Foster : —

Bisham, Aug. 16/70.
Dear Myles — The above being a correct but melancholy
representation of the instrument with which in bygone and
21

162 BIRKET FOSTER
happier times I was wont to " give breath " (though I may not
perhaps — not even when assisted by you on a nobler instru
ment — have " discoursed most eloquent music "), the above,
I say, being the sad state into which, through neglect my
once cherished flute has fallen. . . . My sister, the companion
of ray exile, appears to have had a letter from Mrs. B. F. in
which she mentions the possibility of a visit from Mr. Jones.
Would I were with you ! Shall I launch my frail bark — yea,
and wipe the fungous growth from off my flute ? ... Is
there a chance of Mr. Jones and myself once more trying the
trio with you ? — Yours disparingly and deboshed, F.
Another constant visitor was Charles Keene.
After Birket Foster had removed from Tig-
bourne Cottage he still rented it that he might
make sure of the presence of an agreeable and
congenial occupant, and persuaded Keene to be
come a tenant. Keene was greatly delighted with
this retreat, of which he wrote to Mrs. Edwin
Edwards :
The stillness here after London is delicious. The only
sound is the ring of the village blacksmith's hammer in the
distance or the occasional cluck of a hen, and the wind roars
through the trees of a night, which lulls me pleasantly to
sleep. In another letter he wrote :
This is a pleasant retreat to fly to for a day or two from
the row and turmoil of London, and gives my friends too
the opportunity of calling it my " country house," and the
pleasure of making me wince by hinting at the wealth that

WATERFALL, LOCH ACHRAY
(Size of original picture 12 x 101 inches.)

*^^^&

X~. " -v. .-*. C.'f

BIRKET FOSTER SKETCHING
Drawn by Charles Keene

164 BIRKET FOSTER
enables me to afford such a luxury ! It's a bosky-copsy
country, very picturesque and English, with just a suggestion
(compared to Scotland) of hills on the horizon (the Hog's
Back), but from there being so many trees, when the glass
does fall the rain comes down with a vengeance. My
couch is a hammock, which wraps round me very comfortably,
it's like "poppies and mandragora." We have a small
aristocracy of artists too down here — Birket Foster, Burton,
Watson, and Jones — and amongst our surroundings there is
a good deal of fun to be picked up.
The cottage was shared by Keene with another
artist, W. H. Hammond Jones. They were an
incongruous couple. The former was a regular
Bohemian and unconventional, whilst the latter was
most punctilious in all little matters of etiquette,
and was anxious to shake hands with Keene every
morning on his coming downstairs to breakfast,
and again before retiring for the night ; but Keene
resented this little politeness, and endeavoured to
prevent it by having his hands engaged by carrying
a candlestick, books, or parcels.
When Birket Foster's lease of " Tig-bourne "
expired, Jones renewed it without consulting
Keene, who happened to be abroad at the time.
This gave great offence to Keene ; he considered
that he had been badly treated and never entered
the cottage again. He, however, still continued
to be a frequent visitor at " The Hill," especially

A SURREY COTTAGE
(Size of original picture 1- X IS inches.)

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES AT "THE HILL" 165
in the month of April, as he was particularly
fond of hearing the nightingales. In 1875 he
wrote :
I went down to Witley on the 12th purposely to hear the
nightingales; they have arrived for the last four years on
the 13th at about 11 p.m. This year they did not come on
the 15th ! and I had to come to town the next morning — a
backwardness unknown to the oldest inhabitant.
It became an understood thing that he should
go every year to " The Hill " to welcome the first
nightingale, and he continued to do so for many
years. On 4th April 1886 he wrote :
I hope to run down to Surrey to the B. Fosters about
13th and hear the coming of the nightingales.
Charles Keene was greatly devoted to music.
He belonged to several choral societies, and assisted
at the festivities at " The Hill " by taking part in
glees. The following is an amusing letter written
by him when living at 55 Baker Street : —
Dear Myles — I send you a " screaming " melody that I've
lately become acquainted and am much taken with. It seems
to me so quaint and characteristic with all its " tipsy jollity,"
the way in which the tune never swerves from a sort of
timorous dependence on the key-note. I think it very
funny. It is very peculiarly " Newcastle," so I want you to
keep it to yourself till some evening when your father is
quietly at work to play it on the piano and note the effect

166 BIRKET FOSTER
on him. 1 think it must strike on his early recollections and
please him. I hope to be down at Christmas. — Yours very
sincerely, Charles S. Keene.
Christmas time was a period of much merry
making at " The Hill," when Birket Foster de
lighted to collect his friends around him, and a
big house party assembled each year. A descrip
tion of one of these festive occasions is vividly
given by Keene in a letter to his old friend Edwin
Edwards, written on New Year's Day 1869 : 1
My joviality has been of a more vulgar character; for
instance, the pleasant sensation of not being very hard at
work after several weeks of " fog," the being in the country,
not seeing any newspapers and with no means of knowing
what day of the week it is, and therewithal the regular
festivities of the season carried on by my friends down here
with an old-fashioned vehemence that carries you away and
fatigues you very effectively. I got down here on the
Monday before Christmas Day, and kept quiet and did a
little work, and on Christmas Eve the guests came in a body
down by the afternoon train, and we all dined at " The Hill "
at six o'clock in the big room.
The fiddle and 'arp came at the same time, and soon after
dinner we set 'em to work, and danced till about three in the
morning, including supper, which is a sine qua non at " The
Hill " whatever time you dine. I had heard from the
Chaplain of the King Edward School that they were going
to sing " Noels " on Christmas morning. The schoolmaster
1 Life and Letters of Charles Keene, by G. S. Layard. Sampson Low and Co.

THE DONKEY THAT WOULD NOT GO
(Size of original picture 17J x 28 inches.)

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES AT "THE HILL" 167
had coached up a quire from among the bovs, and I
volunteered as a bass, so I was up again at 5.30, and we started
at six to sing carols under our friends' windows. Such a
sluggard as I may be allowed to boast of this feat. It was
pitch dark, so we had to read our parts by the light of our
lanterns, and it was very picturesque. The bovs, wrapped
up in their bed-blankets, were in high spirits, and, ve gods ! how
they did sing ! I shan't forget the sound of those sturdy
young trebles in the still morning in a hurrv ; it was splendid !
Everybody was delighted. It was said we were heard a mile
off. We had lots of music at " The Hill " ; can t sav much
for the vocal, though we did our best. Little Walker with
his flute, and Long Jones with his violin, and another friend
of Foster's with his tenor — it was a perpetual '• consort of
viols." A general tuning was very effective, and then Cooper
used to come out with " apples, oranges, ginger-beer, bill of
the play " — very excellent fooling ; and so it went on,
breakfast, lunch, dinner, dancing, supper, and then dancing
again ; a comic song between whiles, followed by a violin
concerto. Cooper was verv great. It was very funnv, one
day, when the three instrumentalists were talking serious
shop, he took up the violin and played very slowlv and
laboriouslv and out of tune about half a page of the
Kreutzer Sonata. On Saturday we all dressed in costume, down
to the children, and so to dinner and then dancing again ;
but now the fiddle and 'arp got the best of us ; at twelve
o'clock thev looked at their watches, pleaded religious
scruples, and gave in ! Then there was a comparative lull
for a few davs, broken only by the fitful scrapings of Jones
and Walters in some remote apartment. We flared up
again last night, and hailed the New Year with the usual
ceremonies, and to-day all the guests have departed, and I've
come back to mv hermitage here ; and now leap year is gone,
and I'm a bachelor still. . . .

168

BIRKET FOSTER

As Keene mentions, one of the amusements at
Christmas time was for the whole party to dress
up in early costumes. The illustration on the
opposite page shows the genial host and a few of
his friends in sixteenth -century attire. The two

^¦r-"A^'

fencing are J. D. Watson, in white, and Alfred
Cooper, in black ; behind the former is Edmund
Evans, whilst Birket Foster and W. Lindsay
Watson, leaning against the window-sill, are
watching the bout. The last named was a nephew
of the first Mrs. Birket Foster and a frequent
visitor at " The Hill." He died when still a young

CHRISTMAS FEMINITIES. BIRKET Fi»TEK AND FRIENI'S IN SIXTEENTH CENTCRY COSTUME.
From a pr:~-a:c plotografr;.

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES AT "THE HILL" 169
man, and Fred. Walker, who did not long survive
him, thus touchingly refers to him in one of his
letters :
Birket Foster and I went for a beautiful walk yesterday
morning, finishing up by visiting a little church. In the
churchyard thev laid poor Lindsay Watson, who first came
with the news of my election to the Water-Colour Society,
and which I remembered as I stood there yesterday.

22

COFFEE ROOM OF THE FEATHERS INN, LUDLOW
(Size of 'original picture 6 x 10 inches.)

DRAMATIC PERFORMANCES

PASSING THE FLOCK
(Size of original picture 20£ x 32 inches.)

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-¦*__.
_S- ' . v '- ' <-
CHAPTER XI
DRAMATIC PERFORMANCES
The Christmas merry-makings at Birket Foster's
hospitable house received fresh zest in 1871 when
it was decided to give dramatic entertainments.
The large open-roofed billiard room was turned
into a picturesque theatre with a good stage at
one end of it. Robert Dudley was invited to take
part in the plays and to act as general manager.
The first performance, " Whitebait at Greenwich,"
173
174 BIRKET FOSTER
met with such hearty approval that it was deter
mined to renew these theatricals on a more extended
scale at the next Christmas ; and eventually they
became a regular institution for many years.
In the following year Fred. Walker entered
heartily into these "histrionics," or, to quote his
own words : " The Fosters intend to have another
jollification at Christmas, and entre nous something
on a complete scale in the theatrical line is contem
plated, into which your humble servant is drifting."
Not only did he paint the scenery for two plays, a
cottage in Lambeth with a view of chimney-pots
seen through a window for " The Birthplace of
Podgers," and a library scene with a fire-place with
pictures hanging over it and book-shelves on either
side most admirably depicted, but he also took the
part of Mr. Erasmus Maresnett, a literary en
thusiast in the first piece. Walker showed great
power of assuming a character with little aid from
"make-up." Birket Foster had a strong appreciation of
dramatic art, and he thoroughly delighted in the
preparations incidental to these festivals. There
was something that fell in with his strong kindly
love of old-world hospitalities ; he even enjoyed the
rehearsals going on, and worked hard with Walker

THE WEALD OF SURREY
(Size of original picture 13-£ x 28 inches.)

8 ¦

DRAMATIC PERFORMANCES 175
at the admirable and varied scenery required in the
pieces. After one of his sojourns in Venice he
painted a very charming drop scene with a Venetian
view for its subject.
After the Christmas of 1874 Birket Foster was
obliged to obtain help from other artist friends in
the preparation of the scenery, for in the follow
ing June Frederick Walker passed away, to the
bitter grief of all at " The Hill," by whom he was
greatly beloved.
These performances lasted for two nights in each
year. To the first many of the villagers and all
employe's of the Fosters were invited. The replies
to the invitations were sometimes curiously worded
and afforded much amusement to the recipients.
One ran as follows : " The Misses  have much
pleasure in accepting Mr. and Mrs Foster's kind
invitation, and We will be there." Mr. Dudley
remembers that on one of these first nights, when
it was close upon the time for the performance to
commence, peeping from behind the curtain to see
if the audience were all seated, to his dismay there
was not a single person in the room. He hastened to
Birket Foster to inquire whether some mistake had
not been made in the date on the invitation card,
and it was suggested that some one should rush off

176

BIRKET FOSTER

to the village to find out the cause of the non-
arrival of the guests. He had, however, not far to
go, for on opening the hall door a crowd was dis
covered in the carriage drive. They were waiting
for the doors of the theatre to open ! The writer is
indebted to Mr. Dudley for the following list of the
plays with the various casts which were acted each
Christmas continuously from the year 1871 to 1878.

1871. " Whitebait at Greenwich.'

1872.

"Fish out of Water.
Lunn.)

Characters sustained fit
Robert Dudley.
Myles B. Foster.
J. D. Watson.
Mrs. Birket Foster.
Tit. Dudley.
A. Cooper.
Fred. Walker.
Myles B. Foster.
.Mrs. Birket Foster.
(R. Dudley.
A. Cooper.
R. Nevill.
Myles B. Foster.
Mrs. Birket Foster,
Scenery by Fred. Walker.

'The Birthplace of Podgers."
(By J. Hollingshed.)

(By Joseph

(R. Dudley.
Myles B. Foster.
Mrs. Birket Foster.
Miss Alice Foster.

Jerrold.)

" Only a Halfpenny.

(R. Dudley.
1 Miss , Reeves
[ Horsfall).
Scenery by Fred. Walker and Birket Foster.

(Mrs.

CHILDREN PADDLING
(Sue oj original picture 9_j- X 13g inches.)

DRAMATIC PERFORMANCES

177

1874. "A Peculiar Position." (By J. R.
Planche.)

1875.

Characters sustained by
R. Dudley.
Myles B. Foster.
A. Cooper.
Mrs. Birket Foster.
iMiss Alice Foster.

Scenery by Fred. Walker. (By.

;Cool as a Cucumber."
Blanchard Jerrold.)

'R. Dudley.
Myles B. Foster.
Wm. Foster.

Miss Margaret A.
Foster.

Scenery by Birket Foster. p. Dudley
"A^7^1 ™atch'\ (By j-'m.^t:;
Maddison Morton.)

'Delicate Ground." (By Charles
Dance.)

Miss Margaret A.
Foster.
.Miss Alice Foster.
'R. Dudley.
Myles B. Foster.
Miss Margaret A.
Foster.

Scenery by Birket Foster.

1876. "Our Wife." (By J. Maddison
Morton.)

R. Dudley.
A. Cooper.
Miss Margaret A.
Foster.
.Miss Ellen Foster.
Scenery — 1st Act by Birket Foster; 2nd Act, an old scene
by Fred. Walker adapted.
"ASy)Pair''' (ByS-ThHM'i2UMayr'garet A.

[ Foster.
Scenery by Birket Foster.

23

178

BIRKET FOSTER

1877. " A Blighted Being."

" A Cosy Couple."

Characters sustained by
(R. Dudley.
A. Cooper.
I Dr. G. Vivian Poore.
[R. Dudley.
1 Dr. G. V. Poore.
Miss Ellen Foster.

Scenery by Birket Foster.

1878. "Woodcock's Little Game.''

" Which is Which.'

(R. Dudley.
1 Guildford Dudley.
I Miss Ellen Foster.
'R. Dudley.
Myles B. Foster.
Miss Ellen Foster.
Miss Alice Foster.
Scenery by Birket Foster.
Also Lecture by Colonel Fogey, F.R.G.S. — Robert Dudley.
Thus these dramatic entertainments were carried
with much spirit for eight consecutive years, and
at the expiration of that time, much to the regret
of Birket Foster and his family, they had to be aban
doned. They were only once renewed, namely, on
the nights ofthe 30th and 31st of January 1883, when
two plays were acted with the following casts : —
Characters sustained by

'Cut off with a Shilling."

'¦ Slowtop's Engagements.'

fR. Dudley.
\ Guildford Dudley.
[Miss Ellen Foster.
;R. Dudley.
Guildford Dudley.
Miss Ellen Foster.
Miss C. M. Chandler
(daughter of the
Vicar).
Scenery by Birket Foster.

NEAR GODALMING
(Size of original picture 8J x 13£ inches.)

DRAMATIC PERFORMANCES

179

As an instance of the generous disposition of
Birket Foster, Mr. Dudley tells the following
little incident : — After one Christmas dinner, the
host, having Mrs. Dudley and Mrs. Nelson, the
wife of Captain Nelson, R.N., on either side of him,

-¦¦s^prr vior,

cracked two nuts in both of which were double
kernels, and gave one to each of the ladies. The
next morning there was great excitement on the
part of the ladies to say " Bon jour Philippine " to
him before he could utter the words. They were
both successful in gaining a forfeit from him, but,
having received so much hospitality at his hands,

180 BIRKET FOSTER
they thought nothing more of the incident. But
Birket Foster did not forget them ; on the follow
ing Christmas each lady on her arrival at " The
Hill " found a charming water-colour drawing on
her dressing-table in her bedroom — the forfeits of
the previous year !

THE BLACKBERRY GATHERERS
(Size of original picture 8 £ X 6§ inches.)

LAST YEARS AT WITLEY

THE PET OF THE COMMON
(Size ofanginal picture 7£ x 10£ inches.)

I', V
.''.I. '

-¦«.' .• " ft _.-¦.: < -.-<!-%

.Vi I r

i ¦ ¦"• .. •i-'1 .: i.^Ul1:'!*'' 1.1.- . , i.

^MQpf^C^'.r ;y?

CHAPTER XII
LAST YEARS AT WITLEY
After Birket Foster took up his residence at
" The Hill " quite a small coterie of artists and
artistic people gathered around him. As we have
already seen, Edmund Evans was his neighbour at
" Leybourne," whilst Charles Keene and Hammond
Jones shared Tigbourne Cottage at the bottom
of Wormley Hill. W. P. Burton the water-colour
183

184 BIRKET FOSTER
painter lived in another cottage, half-way up it. On
the other side of the railway, Birket Foster's elder
brother John had a charming residence, "Fern-
side," with a beautiful garden and grounds running
down to the line ; the next house, "The Heights,"
built by Sir Henry Cole, George Eliot purchased
with the profits of Daniel Deronda, and dwelt for
some years, first as Mrs. Lewis and afterwards as
Mrs. Cross ; beyond was J. C. Hook's residence,
"Pine Wood," and at a little distance farther
Mrs. Allingham lived at " Sandhills," whilst Kate
Greenaway, although not a resident, was a frequent
visitor at " Leybourne."
Alas, all has now changed, and what was once
the favourite haunt of artists is now deserted by
them. Tigbourne Cottage is now only a gardener's
residence attached to Tigbourne Court, a quaint
fortress-like edifice. Burton's cottage after his
death was rebuilt and has become a modern resi
dence. Here, it may be mentioned, H.R.H. the
Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, stayed during
one summer and honoured the Birket Fosters with
a visit. J. C. Hook left " Pine Wood " because a private
retreat was started nearly opposite to his house :

A SURREY LANDSCAPE
(Size of original picture 11£ x 18£ inches.)

LAST YEARS AT WITLEY 185
it has been greatly enlarged and is now a country
seat of Lord Knutsford, G.C.M.G., whilst Lord
Edward Pelham-Clinton occupies " The Heio-hts."
The late Mr. Edgar Home purchased "The
Hill " and resided there. He was a man of con
siderable taste, and preserved the integrity of the
house as far as possible, many of the paintings put
up for sale at Christie's in 1894 finding their way
back again to "The Hill." The garden was kept
in nearly the same state as when Birket Foster
used to delight to roam in it, and there still re
mains a small piece of the ground surrounded by
a hedge, with a sun-dial in the middle, bearing
the inscription, "Horas non numero nisi serenas
MDCCCLXXXIV." This was his special little
garden where he was wont to grow wild-flowers.
Both Mr. Home and his wife died within a few
weeks of each other at the commencement of the
present year, and the property now belongs to
her grandson Lieutenant S. B. Boyd- Richardson,
R.N. The Foster family were all fond of the little
village of Witley a mile away, where traces of
their liberality may be found. Birket Foster, in
conjunction with Alfred Cooper, painted the sign
board which still swings outside the village inn,
24

186 BIRKET FOSTER
"The White Hart." The parish church was
restored at the sole cost of Mr. John Foster, who
also gave the stained-glass east window, the reredos,
and the oak roof to the nave. He likewise erected
an Institute in the village at a cost of £2000.
In 1893 Birket Foster was attacked by a
serious illness, and yielding to the pressure of
medical advice he was obliged to abandon much
of his work and reluctantly to give up "The
Hill." He removed to "Braeside," Weybridge,
where there was a charming garden. Here he
continued to reside quietly, devoting himself to his
painting as much as possible. At the beginning
of 1895 Birket Foster received a congratulatory
letter from the Royal Academy of Berlin, on his
reaching the age of seventy. It was touchingly
expressed, and he was much gratified at its receipt.
" Seventy," he said, " used to seem an awful age,
but somehow it does not seem so now." In a
letter to his old friend Edmund Evans, dated 9th
February of the following year, he says : " We
are getting old, but with care I hope we may both
of us have a few more years to enjoy this beautiful
world. I have managed with the greatest care to
escape as yet catching cold, but it is not summer
yet. I enjoy my work, I think, more than ever, but

THE HAPPY TIME OF LIFE
(Size of original picture 9 x 14 inches.)

LAST YEARS AT WITLEY 187
of course I don't do so much as I used to ; I take
my time about it. . . . Herkomer told me he had
been enlarging several of my pictures of English
landscape to illustrate a lecture on composition.
I said to him I thought composition was ignored
nowadays. He said, 'Ah ! it is coming back again.'"
In another letter to Evans, dated 21st February
1898, he refers to a visit to the Winter Exhibition
at the Royal Academy. He says, " I wish you
could have seen the Gilberts — they were really
magnificent. The Millais collection is really a
wonderful one-man show. Though one was
familiar with most of them, they seemed to have
improved ; he was indeed a great painter." He had
also seen the Exhibition at the New Gallery, which,
he adds, "is interesting, but I confess I don't care
for the Rossettis. I thought he was better than
what is shown. Freddy's ' Plough ' looks fine,
and I was interested in seeing Millais' celebrated
'Chess-players,' which was painted in an hour or
two, and fetched some thousands of pounds once
at Christie's." Birket Foster finishes this letter in
saying, " You speak of Hastings — they are spoiling
every place ; we have just lived in time. ... I have
got a bit of a cold, just come on, but I don't think
it is anything. We hope to get away to Torquay at

188 BIRKET FOSTER
the end of March, which I shall enjoy. I am hard
at work completing forty drawings of Scotland for
Tooth, who will exhibit them."
Early in the following year Birket Foster was
taken seriously ill, and died at Weybridge on the
27th March 1899. In a letter to his daughter two
days later Edmund Evans says : " I feel lonely this
morning, for I went to ' Fernside ' and found Willie
Foster there talking with his uncle about the
funeral of Birket, who died on Monday evening
after three attacks of haemorrhage following sharp
after each other ! Another link of my chain of life
gone. I cannot help feeling the loss, for I have
known him since I was fifteen. He came to
Landells' in his sixteenth year, and we took to
each other at once." Birket Foster was buried on
1st April on the north side of Witley churchyard.
A Celtic cross, with the simple inscription, " In
memory of Birket Foster. Born Feb. 4th, 1825.
Died March 27th, 1899," marks the spot where
lie the remains of that great water-colour artist,
who painted English landscape with such a pure
feeling and high perception of the beauty of
Nature. The artist's eldest son, Myles Birket, as has
already been stated, belongs to the musical pro-

CROSSING THE BROOK
(Size of original picture 17£ x 28 inches.)

LAST YEARS AT WITLEY

189

fession, and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy
of Music ; the second son, William, is following
in his father's footsteps as an artist ; and the
youngest, Henry, is an engineer in the North of

CHURCH OP ST. VINCKNT, ROUEN.

England. Ofthe two daughters, the elder, Margaret
Ann, is now Madame Stadnitski, and resides abroad ;
whilst the younger, Ellen, is the wife of Mr.
L. T. Glasson.
It only remains now to add that very shortly
after Birket Foster's death his old comrade Edmund

190 BIRKET FOSTER
Evans left " Leybourne " and retired to Ventnor.
Here he spent his halcyon days basking in the
sunshine of that favoured watering-place, often
employing his leisure hours in his favourite pursuit
of making small water-colour sketches from nature.
This famous colour-printer, to whom so many
artists were indebted for the faithful reproductions
of their works, passed away on the 21st August
1905 in his eightieth year.

LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL BOOKS
ILLUSTRATED BY BIRKET FOSTER

LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL BOOKS ILLUSTRATED
BY BIRKET FOSTER FROM THE TIME HE
COMMENCED WORK ON HIS OWN ACCOUNT
UNTIL HE CEASED TO DRAW UPON WOOD
BLOCKS.
New editions of many of these publications were issued
during this period, and numerous wood-engravings appeared
in other volumes in subsequent years.
Those marked by an asterisk were entirely illustrated by Birket Foster.
1847
*The Boy's Country Book, in four parts : Spring, Summer, Autumn,
and Winter. By Thomas Millar. Chapman and Hall.
1850
Evangeline : a. Tale of Acadia. By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
David Bogue.
1851
?Christmas with the Poets. A collection of Songs, Carols, and descriptive
Verses relating to the festival of Christmas from the Anglo-Norman
period to the present time, embellished with 50 tinted illustra
tions. David Bogue.
*The Illustrated Book of Songs for Children. W. Orr and Co.
Voices of the Night and other Poems. By H. W. Longfellow. David
Bogue.
The Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith. Cundall and Addey.
193 25

194 BIRKET FOSTER
1852
Poems by H. W. Longfellow, illustrated with upwards of 100
engravings by Birket Foster, Jane E. Benham and others.
David Bogue.
*The Story of Mount Blanc and various ascents from the time of De
Saussure to the present day. By Albert Smith. David Bogue.
1853
""Hyperion : a Romance by H. W. Longfellow. Nearly 100 engravings.
David Bogue.
*Fern Leaves from Fanny's Portfolio. By Fanny Fern (Miss G. P.
Willis). 8 illustrations printed with a tint. Ingram, Cooke
and Co.
Poetry of the Year. Passages from the poets descriptive of the seasons
with 22 chromolithographs. George Bell.
* Visit to the Holy Land, Egypt, and Italy. By Madame Ida Pfeiffer,
translated from the German by H. W. Dulcken. 8 tinted
illustrations. Ingram, Cooke and Co.
*A Picturesque Guide to the Trossachs, etc. A. and C. Black.
The Lady of the Lake. By Sir Walter Scott. 28 illustrations by
Birket Foster, and others by John Gilbert. A. and C. Black.
The Poetical Works of James Thomson. Routledge's British Poets.
G. Routledge and Co. 1854
The Lay of the Last Minstrel. By Sir Walter Scott. 44 illustrations
by Birket Foster, and others by John Gilbert. A. and C. Black.
*Little Ferns for Fanny's Little Friends. By Fanny Fern (Miss G.
P. Willis). With tinted illustrations. Nathaniel Cooke and Co.
Proverbial Philosophy. By Martin Tupper. Hatchards.
An Elegy written in a Country Churchyard. By Thomas Gray.
Joseph Cundall.
The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. Routledge's British Poets.
G. Routledge and Co.
The Golden Legend. By H. W. Longfellow. 60 illustrations by
Birket Foster and Jane E. Hay. David Bogue.
1855
*L' Allegro and II Penseroso. By John Milton. 29 etchings on steel.
David Bogue.

BOOKS ILLUSTRATED BY BIRKET FOSTER 195
Marmiou. By Sir Walter Scott. 45 illustrations by Birket Foster
and others by John Gilbert. A. and C. Black.
The Pleasures of Hope. By Thomas Campbell. Sampson Low and
Co.
The Poetical Works of Mark Akenside and John Dyer. Routledge's
British Poets. G. Routledge and Co.
The Poetical Works of William Cowper. Routledge's British Poets.
G. Routledge and Co.
The Task. By William Cowper. James Nisbet and Co.
1856
?The Traveller. By Oliver Goldsmith. SO etchings on steel. David
Bogue.
?Mia and Charlie. By Harriet Myrtle. David Bogue.
The Poetical Works of George Herbert. James Nisbet.
Sacred Allegories. By the Rev. W. Adams. Rivington and Co.
?Sabbath Bells chimed by the Poets. Coloured illustrations. Bell
and Daldy.
Early Lessons. By Maria Edgeworth.
?The Rhine and its Picturesque Scenery. By Henry Mayhew. 20
etchings on steel. David Bogue.
Willy's Country Visit. By B. Goldfinch.
Songs of the Brave : The Soldier's Dream and other Poems and Odes.
By various poets. Sampson Low, Son and Co.
1857
Gertrude of Wyoming. A Poem by Thomas Campbell. G. Routledge
and Co.
The Lord of the Isles. By Sir Walter Scott. 37 illustrations by
Birket Foster, and others by John Gilbert. A. and C. Black.
?The Farmer's Boy. By Robert Bloomfield. Sampson Low and Co.
The Rime ofthe Ancient Mariner. By Samuel T. Coleridge. Sampson
Low and Co.
?The Sabbath : Sabbath Walks and other Poems. By James Grahame.
Nisbet and Co.
Rhymes and Roundelays in praise of a Country Life. David Bogue.
The Poets of the Nineteenth Century. Selected and edited by Rev.
R. A. Willmott. G. Routledge and Co.

196 BIRKET FOSTER
The Course of Time : a Poem. By R. Pollok. William Blackwood
and Sons.
Ministering Children : a Tale. Seeley Jackson and Halliday.
Poetical Works of Robert Bloomfield. Routledge and Co.
1858
?A Picturesque Guide to the English Lakes. By John Phillips, M.A.
A. and C. Black.
?The Grave : » Poem. By Robert Blair. With a preface by Rev. F.
W. Farrar, M.A. A. and C. Black.
*The Shipwreck : a Poem. By William Falconer. A. and C. Black.
Kavanagh : a Tale. By H. W. Longfellow. Kent and Co.
The Upper Rhine : the Scenery of its Banks and the Manners of its
People. By Henry Mayhew. G. Routledge and Co.
Birds, Bees, and Blossoms. By T. Miller. G. Routledge and Co.
English Country Life. By T. Miller. G. Routledge and Co.
I Comus : a Mask. By John Milton. G. Routledge and Co.
Poems and Pictures from Thomas Moore. Longman, Brown, Green
and Co.
Pastoral Poems. By William Wordsworth. Sampson Low and Co.
Songs and Poems. By Robert Burns. Bell and Daldy.
The Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Sampson Low aud Co.
Home Affections portrayed by the Poets. Selected by Charles Mackay.
G. Routledge and Co.
Lays of the Holy Land : from Ancient and Modern Poets. James
Nisbet and Co.
Summer Time in the Country. By R. A. Willmott. G. Routledge
and Co. 1859
A Country Book. By W. Howitt. G. Routledge and Co.
The Merrie Days of England. Sketches of the Olden Time. By
E. Macdermott. Kent and Co.
?Odes and Sonnets. Illustrations in colour. G. Routledge and Co.
The Hamlet : an Ode, written in Whichwood Forest. By Thomas
Warton. 14 etchings on steel. Sampson Low and Co.
Pastoral Poems. By William Wordsworth. Sampson Low and Co.
The Deserted Cottage. By William Wordsworth. G. Routledge
and Co.

BOOKS ILLUSTRATED BY BIRKET FOSTER 197
The White Doe of Rylstone, or the Fate of the Nortons. By William
Wordsworth. Longmans.
Poems. By William Wordsworth. Edited by R. A. Willmott. G.
Routledge and Co.
Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. Sampson Low and Co.
Favourite Euglish Poems. Sampson Low and Co.
The Poems of Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by R. A. Willmott. G.
Routledge and Co. 1860
The Scottish Reformation : a Historical Sketch. By P. Lorimer,
D.D. R. Griffin.
Poems by J. Montgomery. Selected and edited by R. A. Willmott.
G. Routledge and Co.
Favourite Modern Ballads. W. Kent and Co.
Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare. Sampson Low and Co.
The Tempest. Shakespeare. Bell and Daldy.
?Common Wayside Flowers. By Thomas Miller. 22 illustrations in
colour. G. Routledge and Co.
Lallah Rookh. By Thomas Moore. G. Routledge and Co.
The Carewes. By Mai-garet Gillies. Kent and Co.
1863
Pictures of English Landscape. 30 engravings by Bros. Dalziel, with
pictures in words by Tom Taylor. Routledge, Warne and
Routledge.

The following publications were illustrated by means of
photography and lithography : —
1867
?Summer Scenes. A series of photographs from some of his choicest
water-colours. Bell and Daldy. 1871
?Poems. By Thomas Hood. Illustrations engraved on steel by W.
Miller. 2 volumes. E. Moxon, Son and Co.

198 BIRKET FOSTER
1878
?Brittany. A series of 35 sketches reproduced by lithography.
Published by the artist. The|Hill, Witley.
1888
?Some Places of Note in England. A series of 25 drawings reproduced
by lithography. Dowdeswell and Dowdsell.

LIST OF WATER-COLOUR PAINTINGS
EXHIBITED AT THE ROYAL SOCIETY
OF PAINTERS IN WATER-COLOURS

LIST OF WATER-COLOUR PAINTINGS EXHIBITED
AT THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN
WATER-COLOURS.

(1) Summer Exhibitions

1860 Feeding Ducks.
View in Holmwood Com
mon.
Children going to School.
View on the river Mole.
1861 Wark's Burn, Northumber
land.
Gleaners.
Down Hill.
Cattle in Stream.
A Cottage.
Burnham Beeches.
1862 A Lock.
The Bird's Nest.
Fishing.
The Little Nurse.
Water-Lilies.
The Dairy Bridge, Rokeby.
On the Shore, Bonchurch,
Isle of Wight.
A Fisherman's Cottage, Isle
of Wight.
1863 The Ferry.
A Village Maiden.
Lane Scene, Hambledou.
At Hambledon.
Hay-Carts. Near Peterborough.
Collier Unloading.
Cottage at Chiddingfold.

River Scene — Evening.
1864 Flying a Kite.
The Donkey Ride.
River Scene.
Cattle Drinking.
Morning. Evening.
Sunset. The Wooden Bridge.
Sand-Cart.
1865 On the Beach, Hastings.
Primroses.
The Shrimper.
Expectation.
The Lesson.
The Bird's Xest.
'•' To gather kingcups," etc.
The Swing.
1866 River Scene — Evening.
Winterbourne, Bonchurch,
Isle of Wight.
1867 Bellasrio, Lake Como.
The Old Breakwater.
Old Shoreham Bridge.
The Dead Jav.
The Way down the Cliff.
1868 The Mole, near Betch-
worth.
The Convalescent.
Snowdrops.
201 26

202

BIRKET FOSTER

The Donkey.
The Little Chickens.
1869 The Meet.
A Breakwater.
A Mill Pool.
Village Children.
A River Scene.
1870 The Weald of Surrey.
Burnham Beeches.
1871 The Valley of the Tyne.
Greta Bridge, Yorkshire.
River Scene with Barges.
On the Thames, Eton.
Rabbits. Hay Barges.
River Scene with Sheep.
Old Walton Bridge on the
Thames.
Cowslips.
1872 Haymakers.
The Village Inn.
St. Michael's Mount.
1873 Melrose, Dryburgh, Ab-
botsford.
Bereft.
1874 Lausanne, Lake Geneva.
The Spring.
The Return ofthe Lifeboat.
Antwerp.
Bridge over the Moselle,
Coblenz.
1875 A Cottage.
Fish Stall at Venice.
A Shrine, Venice.
Alsatian Flower-Girl.
1876 A Donkey that wouldn't go.
In the Market at Toulon.
Exercising the Hounds.
Fountain at Toulon.
1877 The Capture of a 32-
pounder.
A Chair Mender.
1878 Venice.A New Purchase.
1879 The Wandering Minstrels.
The Falls of the Tummel.
1880 Venice from the Guidecca.

188118821883
1884

18851886

1887 18881889

1890

1891

West Portal of Rheims
Cathedral.
The Cornfield.
The Stepping-Stones.
An Old Water-Mill.
Turnberry Castle, Ayrshire,
Early home of Robert
Bruce.
The Watering-Place.
A Surrey Landscape.
Clovelly.
A Lane near Dorking.
Passing the Flock.
A Windfall.
An Itinerant Musician.
Gypsies. The Dipping-Place.
The Hermitage Bridge,
Dunkeld.
Seville.Sandpits, Hambledon Com
mon.
Buttercups.
The Lock.
In the Market - Place,
Verona.
Ruined Cottage at Gair-
loch.
A Surrey Lane.
Ben Venue and Ellen's Isle,
Loch Katrine.
A Surrey Farm.
A Cottage on Hambledon
Common.
Cottages at Gairloch, Ross-
shire.
In the Cathedral of S.
Sauveur, Dinan, Brittany.
Washing-Place, near Quim
per, Brittany.
Arrival of Hop-Pickers,
Farnham.
A Surrey Lane.
Runswick, Yorkshire.
A Knife-Grinder.
Ben Nevis.
In a Garden at Sorrento.

LIST OF WATER-COLOUR PAINTINGS 203

1892 Loch Maree.
The P'ootpath by the Water
Lane.
Oranges and Lemons, Medi
terranean.
1893 "To gather kingcups in
the yellow mead,
And prink their hair with
daisies."
In Glencoe.
Fast Castle, "The Wolf's
Crag" of The Bride of
Lammermoor.
An Old Fiddler.
1894 A Cottage at Taynuilt.
A Market at Seville.
In a Wood, Witley.
In a Garden at Sorrento.
Fisherman's Cottage, North
Berwick.
Freshwater Bay.
Near Freshwater, Isle of
Wight.
On Hambledon Common.

Cottage at Ballater.
1895 Horning- Ferry, Norfolk.
Near Ballater.
Procession on Pardon Day,
Quimper, Brittany.
A little Court-yard in the
Alhambra.
At Walberswick, Suffolk.
1896 Walberswick.In a Garden at the Alham
bra.
Schrachan, Taynuilt.
A Girl at a Stream.
On Hambledon Common.
Waiting for the Ferry.
Southwold from the Black
Quay.
1897 Wild Flowers.
Near Connel Ferry.
Crofters' Cottages at Strath,
Gairloch.
1898 Ben Ledi from Callen-
der.
1899 A Milkmaid, Arisaig.

(2) Winter Exhibitions

1862-63 Edinburgh Castle.
Studies of Skies.
Studies of Skies.
1863-64 1. At Pinner; 2. Rocks;
3. Lobster Pots ; 4.
Brighton Boats ; 5. At
Bonchurch ; 6. Ryde ;
7. Queensferry ; 8.
Rock ; 9. The Spring.
1. Near Littlehampton ;
2. Marsden ; 3. Dun-
stanboro' ; 4. New-
haven, Firth of Forth ;
5. Queensferry ; 6. At
Bonchurch.
1. Craigmillar Castle ; 2.
Dunblane ; 3. Craig
millar.

1864-65 1. Hitchin Market Place ;
2. Near Streatley,
Haslemere.
1. A Tree Stem; 2.
Preston, Sussex.
1. Streatley ; 2. Rich
mond Park ; 3. The
Ferry ; 4. Barnburgh
Castle.
1. River Mole ; 2. River
Mole.
1. Old Barn; 2. On
Hampstead Heath ; 3.
Saltburu-on-Sea.
Study of Ferns.
1. Ingleton ; 2. Lucerne ;
3. Cottages at Hamble
don.

204

BIRKET FOSTER

Near Dorking.
1. Ben Lomond ; 2. Near
Barnard Castle ; 3.
Ben Venue.
1. River Scene; 2. A Barn
Roof ; 3. Sheep ; 4.
Cottages at Chidding-
fold : 5. Chiddingfold
Church ; 6. The Mill.
1865-66 Four Studies of Village
Children.
1866-67 Cottagers.
Trees.Skies.
1867-68 1. Rocks at Barnard
Castle ; 2. Tees' High
Force ; 3. Weir at
Barnard Castle.
1. At Marsden ; 2. New-
biggin by the Sea.
1868-69 Study of Sea, Northum
berland Coast.
1. Study of Hay ; 2.
Timber.
A Lock, Stratford-on-
Avon.
1. The Peacock ; 2. The
Rabbit Hutch.
In the Wood.
Beech Stem — Autumn.
1869-70 1. Grand Canal ; 2. Study
of Pots and Girl at a
Well, St. Remo; 3.
House on the Grand
Canal, Venice.
1. Edinburgh Castle ; 2.
Basket of Cowslips ; 3.
Barrasford, North
Tyne.
Pangbourne.
Autumn Studies.
Richmond, Yorkshire.
1. Loch Lomond ; 2.
Creels ; 3. Cottage at
Cullercoats.
Haughton Castle, North
Tyne,

The Brook at Barrasford.
1870-71 The Greta at Rokeby.
Houses at Eton.
Burnham Beeches.
In the Woods at Burn-
ham.
Eton College.
1. Beech Tree; 2. A
Cottage Door.
Eel Pots.
Cottage at Bray.
On the Thames, near
Eton.
1. Roses; 2. Nasturtiums.
1871-72 1. Stratford-on-Avon ; 2.
Morecambe Bay ; 3.
Dunstanboro' ; 4. The
Thames at Eton.
The Falls of theTummel.
Edinburgh. 1. Dead Gull; 2. The
Bass Rock.
1. Newcastle, from Gates
head Fell; 2. New
castle and the River
Tyne.
1. River Bank; 2. The
Punt.
On the Garry.
Cottage at Tarbet.
1 . Lancaster ; 2. High
land Cottage, Loch
Tummel.
Dunblane. 1. Sunflowers ; 2. Nas
turtiums.
1872-73 St. Andrews.
At Salisbury.
1873-74 Turin. Study.
Shoreham. At Verona.
A Fruiterer's Shop.
A Well at Hastings.
Flowers.Study of Fish.
A Pike.

LIST OF WATER-COLOUR PAINTINGS 205

1874-75 Calais ; St. Andrews ;
Rye.
Studies of Fish.
Cologne. In a Farmyard.
On Lake Como.
1875-76 Study of Sea.
Woodland Scene.
A Foot-Bridge.
A Pig Stye.
On Hambledon Com
mon.
1876-77 Dunbar Castle.
1877-78 1. Market at Dinan ;
2. Women Washing on
the Loire.
Loch Leven.
In the Church of St.
Melaine, Morlaix, Brit
tany.
On the Thames at Cavers-
ham.
St. Andrews.
1. Thames near Eton ;
2. On the Stour ; 3.
The Thames at Ship-
lake.
1878-79 TheFountainofDrannee, Brittany.
Rouen Cathedral.
On the Common, Ham
bledon.
A Sketch at Haddon
Hall.
Fruit Stall near the
Rialto, Venice.
The Letter.
1879-80 On the Coquet at Wark-
worth.
The Thrum, on the
Coquet at Rothbury.
A North-Country Stile.
Riverside near Wark-
worth.
1880-81 Cattle in Water.
On Hambledon Common.
Stepping-Stones.

Bridge near Dartmouth,
Devon.
Dittisham on the Dart.
Feeding Geese.
Stream at Bedgellert,
North Wales.
Shelling Peas.
Cottage near Tenby.
1881-82 St. Gervaise, Falaise—
Market Day.
Falls of the Tummel,
Perthshire.
A Welsh Stile.
Lyme Regis (two views).
1882-83 An Old Water-Mill.
Fish and F'ruit.
Lancaster.
The Brook.
David Cox's Cottage,
Bettwys-y-Coed.
1883-84 Cottage at Banavie, In
verness.
Highland Bridge, Loch-
earnhead.
Ben Nevis.
The Angler.
The Kingfisher.
1884-85 In the Western High
lands (three draw
ings).
A Surrey Cottage.
1885-86 Ben Venue from Loch
Achray.
Highland Scene near
Dalmally.
A Highland Cottage.
1886-87 Girl at aBrook— Western
Highlands.
Loch Awe.
A Highland Cottage.
Bridge near Dalmally.
1887-88 Autumn Leaves.
1. Highland Cottage
near Connel Ferry ;
2. In Canty Bay.
A Spanish Gypsy.
Cottage at Sidmouth.

206

BIRKET FOSTER

Flowers and Fruit (three
subjects).
1. Runswick ; 2. Crab
and Lobster ; 3. The
Old Pier.
A Cottage.
A Farm.
1888-89 A Lacemaker.
1. Abandoned ; 2. Study
of Rocks — Gairloch.
1. Study of Rocks ; 2. A
Boat — Gairloch.
1. Old Cottages, Ham
bledon ; 2. Sheep and
Lambs.
Crofters' Cottages, Gair
loch.
Sketch in Hambledon,
Surrey.
Cottage in Talladale,
Loch Maree.
A Cottage, Hambledon.
At Gairloch.
1889-90 A Highland Village,
Loch Alsh.
Cottage near Balmacara.
Collier unloading.
Haytime.
Harvest-Time — Loch
Duich.
A Highland Burn, Bal
macara.
Oats, Balmacara.
A Highland Cottage,
Loch Alsh.
A Misty Day, Loch Alsh,
Ross-shire.
At Balmacara, Skye in
the Distance.
1891-92 Fisherman's Cottage,
Gairloch.
On the Shore, Gairloch.
Rocks at Gairloch.
Cottages at Gairloch.
Near Loch Etive.
A Fisherman's Garden,
Runswick.

A Surrey Lane.
The Sun-Dial.
1892-93 A Highland Stream.
Bridge over the Cluny,
Braemar
A Highland Water-Mill.
On Hambledon Common.
On the River Cluny,
Braemar.
Near Bonchurch, Isle of
Wight.
An Old Mill near Brae
mar.
A Girl at the Spring.
Cottage near Bonneavie.
Old Pier, St. Andrews.
1893-94 The Model.
Near Braemar.
At Calborne, Isle of
Wight.
Barking. Under the Beech Tree.
Fraser's Bridge, Brae
mar.
Milton's Cottage, Chal-
font St. Giles.
Cottages, Dalmally.
Downey's Cottage, Brae
mar.
Cottage at Braemar.
1894-95 Cottage at Kimbolton.
A Suffolk Well.
The Stream at Worn-
ditch, Kimbolton.
" June " — In a Cottage
near a Wood.
The old Pier, Walbers
wick.
On the Beach, South-
wold.
A Windlass, Southwold.
At Wornditch, Kimbol
ton.
Walberswick, Suffolk.
1895-96 Near Connel Ferry.
An Orphan.
Butterflies.

LIST OF WATER-COLOUR PAINTINGS 207

The Village Tree.
The Island of Mull from
Oban.
Cottages at Taynuilt.
A Highland Cottage.
Cottage near Connel
Ferry.
1896-97 On the Canal, Weybridge.
Highland Cottage near
Taynuilt.
Burano, Venice.
Loch Etive from near
Connel Ferry.
A Farm, Connel Ferry.
Ben Cruachan.
Near Taynuilt.
Roses.
1897-98 A Highland Cottage.

The Alhambra.
A Roadside Shrine near
Genoa.
A Rest by the Way.
Haytime.A Stream.
At Connel Ferry.
1898-99 On the River Spean.
The Pet Lamb.
Roy Bridge, Inverness-
shire.
Loch Etive.
Highland Cottage near
Taynuilt.
Old Cottages, Loch Etive.
Cottage near Taynuilt.
Cottage near Connel
Ferry.

LIST OF OIL PAINTINGS EXHIBITED AT THE
ROYAL ACADEMY
1 859. A Farm : Arundel Park in the Distance
(Water Colour).
1869- A Surrey Lane.
1870. Dustanborough Castle.
1871. The Thames near Eton.
The Bass Rock.
1 872. Over Sands.
The Ford.
1873. In the Isle of Wight.
A Pedlar.
1874. A Lifeboat: a Return from the Wreck.
The Brook.
1875. On the river Mole — Evening.
1876. A Peep at the Hounds.
1877. A Brook.
1881. The Wandering Minstrel (Etching).

209 27

INDEX

Abbotsford, 134
a Beckett, G., 36
Absolon, John, 58
Adye, Sir John, 117, 118
Airolo, 103
Alassio, 91
Allingham, Mrs., 184
Alps, 75, 99
Alsace, ill
Altorf, 103
Amboise, 114
Amiens, 113
Amsterdam, 110
Andernach, 75, 78
Angers, 114
Antwerp, 77, 81, 110
Apennines, 99
Argyll, H.R.H. the Duchess of, 184
Armsteg, 103
Art-dealers, 130
Art Journal, The, 67
Atchison, Mrs., 10, 55
Atherumim, The, 14, 56
Augsburg, 76
Avila, 117
Avranches, 114
Bamborough Castle, 27
Basle, 79, 111, 113
Beauvais, 114
Beddington Park, 23
Belgium, 109
Bell, Jacob, 54
,, John, 58
Bell and Daldy, 60, 61
Bellagio, 82, 99, 100, 102, 112, 120
Bellinzona, 103

Benham, Jane L., 57
Bentley, Samuel, 20
Bergamo, 100
Berlin, Royal Academy of, 141, 186
Berne, 80
Berwick-on-Tweed, 27
Bewick, Thomas, 18, 56
Biarritz, 120
Bidassoa, 120
Bingen, 75
Birket, Elizabeth, 4
„ James, 4, 5
Myles, 4, 5
Black, A. and C. , 65
„ Mrs., 55
Black Forest, 82
" Black Pots," 134
Blackdown, 133
Blackpool, 42
Blackwall, 22
Blair, Robert, 65
Blois, 114
Bloomfield, Robert, 60
Bogue, David, 56, 60, 66, 74, 76
Bologna, 91
Bordeaux, 120
Boulogne, 78, 88
Boyd -Richardson, Lieut. S. B.,
R.N., 185
Bradbury and Evans, 34
Bridger, Mr., 81
Bridlington Quay, 40
Brittany, 113, 116
Broadstairs, 41
Brooks, Vincent, Day and Sons,
138
Browne, Hablot K., 36, 54, 64

211

212

BIRKET FOSTER

Brown, Mrs., 87
,, Miss. See Evans, Mrs.
Edmund
„ Miss E. See Cooper, Mrs.
Alfred
Bruges, 77, 110
Brussels, 78, 111
Budleigh Salterton, 40
Burgos, 117, 119
Burne-Jones, Sir E., 148, 149
Burns, R., 60
Burton, Mary, 9
„ W. P., 164, 183, 184
Buxton, 41
Cadiz, 117
Caen, 114, 115
Calais, 88
Campbell Thomas, 60
Cannes, 89
Cartmel, 4
Castel, 79
Chalon, J., 125
Chandler, Miss C. M., 178
Chapman and Hall, 56
Chiddingfbld, 132
Chillon, 111
Chioggia, 96
Chiswick Press, 58
Christie's, 57, 132, 137
" Christmas Holly Cart," 13, 44
Chromo-lithographs, 138
Clunie, 134
Clyde, Falls of, 134
Coar, Misses, 9
Coblenz, 78, 79, 82, 105, 110
Cold Hesledon, 4
Cole, Sir Henry, K.C. B. , 58, 146, 184
Coleridge, Captain Frank, 111, 113
Cologne, 78, 79, 105, 111
Como, 82, 100
Cooke, Nathaniel, 62
Cooper, Abraham, R.A., 110
Alfred, 110, 167, 168, 176,
177, 185
Mrs. Alfred (ne'e E. Brown),
81, 87, 127, 147
Cope, C. W., R.A., 58
Cordova, 117, 118
Corniche Road, 91
Cosmorama 35

Coyne, Stirling, 34
" Crowquill, A," 36
Croydon, 23
Cruikshank, George, 36, 64
Cundall, Joseph, 57-61, 76, 77, 151
Mrs., 76, 147
Dalziel Brothers, 68
Darling, Grace, 27
Dentz, 79
Dijon, 88
Dinan, 114, 116
Efol, 115, 116
Doncaster, 41
Dover, 23, 40
Dowdeswell, Messrs., 67, 69
Dudley, Guildford, 178
Robert, 111, 112, 113, 116,
118, 131, 173-179
Mrs., 179
Duffa, Richard, 8
Dunblane, 134
Durham, 134
Earsdon, 13
Eastbourne, 41
Edinburgh, 28, 134
Edwards, Edwin, 136, 166
Mrs. Edwin, 162
"Eliot, George," 153, 184
Ellis, C, 54
Ely, 134
Epernay, 78
Etcher, The, 66
Evans, Edmund, 19, 22, 26, 40, 61,
62, 63, 131, 147, 152, 157, 168,
183, 186-189
,, Mrs. Edmund (nte Mary
Brown), 76, 79, 124, 127, 128,
147, 157
Faido, 103
Falaise, 114
Falconer, Wilham, 65
Falkenstein, 76
Fame Islands, 27
Fell, Judge, 9
Fell, Margaret, 9
Fine Art Society, 67
Fisk, Mr., 61

INDEX

213

Florence, 111
Folkstone, 40, 78
Forrester, Alfred, 36
Forster, Sarah, 9
Foster, Alice, 176, 177, 178
Foster, Birket, birth, 3 ; at Char
lotte St., 9; Education, 9;
at Stranraer Place, 13 ; first
marriage, 13 ; at Clifton Road,
13 ; at Carlton Hill East, 13 ;
at Landells', 19 ; first visit to
Scotland, 27 ; draws for Punch,
34 ; draws for Illustrated Lon
don News, 37 ; book illustra
tions, 53 ; accident, 55; etchings,
66 ; visits to Continent, 73 ;
first visit to Venice, 87 ; further
travels abroad, 109 ; water-
colour painting, 123; Old Water-
Colour Society, 127 ; oil paint
ing, 141; at Witley; 145;
second marriage, 157 ; removes
to Weybridge, 186 ; death, 188.
Foster, Mrs. Birket, 81, 87, 176
„ Dodshon, 4, 27
,, Elizabeth, 4
„ Ellen (Mrs. Glasson), 177,
178, 189
„ Henry, 189
,, James, 5
„ John, 17, 184, 186
,, Joseph, 4
, , Margaret A. (Madame Stad-
nitski, 177, 189
,, M. B. and Sons, 9
„ Myles B., 110, 117, 119,
133, 135, 160, 165, 176, 177, 178,
188
„ Myles Birket, Sen., 9, 14
„ Robert, 4, 9, 13
„ WiUiam, 112, 116, 189
Fox, George, 9
Frankfort, 75, 79
Freyburg, 80
Friends, Society of, 9, 10
Fuentarabia, 120
Fiistenberg, Prince, 91
Gambart, E., Ill
Garda, Lago di, 99
Gavarni, 35

Geneva, 80, 111
Genoa, 90, 91, 112
Ghent, 77, 81, 105, 110
Gibraltar, 116, 118
GUbert,Sir John, R.A., 36, 43, 58,
64, 65, 187
Gilbert, Mr. W. S., 161
Goldman, Mr. C. S., 148
Goldsmith, Oliver, 63. 66
Goodall, F., R.A. 161
Goodall, Samuel Cranston, 5
Granada, 117, 118
Grantham, 134
Gray, Thomas, 61
Greenaway, John, 19
„ Kate, 19, 153
Grimsel, 79
Guingamp, 115
Haag, Carl, 128
Hague, The, 110
HaU, S. Carter, 53
Hambledon Common, 132
Hampstead, 145
Harrogate, 42
Harvey, William, 36
Hastings, 40
Hawkshead, 4
Hawthorne, 4
Hay, Mrs. Benham, 57
Hebblethwaite HaU, 4, 7, 9
Heidelberg, 75, 79, 82, 104, 105
Herkomer, Prof, von, R.A., 187
Heseltine, Mrs., 81
Highgate, 145
Hindhead, 133
Hine, H. G., 35
Hitchin, 10
Holland, 109, 110
HoUand, James, 128, 150
Holy Island, 27
Honfleur, 114
Hood, Thomas, 109, 110
Hook, J. C, R.A., 146, 158, 184
Home, Mr. E., 185
Horsley, J. C, R.A., 58
Hospenthal, 103
How and Parsons, 53
Humbert, Prince and Princess, 92-
95
Hunt, William, 136, 150, 159

214

BIRKET FOSTER

Illuminated Magazine, 37
Illustrated London Almanack, 47
Illustrated London News, 13, 37,
42-47, 62, 136, 158
Ingram, Cooke and Co., 62, 63
Herbert, 37, 62
Interlaken, 75, 79
Isle of Dogs, 22
Jerrold, Douglas, 36, 37
Jones, W. H. Hammond, 164, 167
183
Katrine, Loch, 28
Keene, Charles, 64, 150, 162-168, 183
Keil, Thomas, 138
Kent and Co., 61
King, Ann, 9
Kloster Nonnenwerth, 75
Knutsford, Lord, 185
Lambert, Admiral, 102
Lanark, 134
T SK TI ("*_-_ ^t-^T* ^
Landells, Ebenezer, 18-26, 33, 53-
56, 188
Last, J., 34
Laufenburg, 111
Leach, John, 43
Lecco, 100
Leith, 28
Lemon, Mark, 34, 36
Leslie, G. D., R.A., 151
Lewis, Mr. Barnet, 137
„ J. F., R.A., 150
Liebenstein, 75
Lincoln, 134
Lind, Jenny, 158
Linnell, J., 150
Littlehampton, 14
Lloyd, Henry, 5
Loder, Edward J. , 42
Loire, 114
London Telegraph, 38
Longfellow, H. W., 56, 57, 74
Longman and Co., 59
Longstone Lighthouse, 27
Low, Sampson and Co., 60, 61, 66
Lucerne, 79, 103, 104, 111, 112
Lugano, 102
Luxemburg, 81

Lyons, 89
Lytham, 42
Mackay, Charles, 42, 43
Maclean, Mr., 67
Maclure and Macdonald, 69, 116
Macon, 80, 88
M'Queen, G. P., 138
Madrid, 117, 118
Maggiore, Lake, 111, 120
Mainz, 75, 78, 82
Mantua, 99
Margate, 41
Marks, H. S., R.A., 151
MarseiUes, 88, 89
Matlock-Bath, 41
Mayhew, Henry, 34, 36
„ Horace, 36
Meadows, Kenny, 43, 48
Melrose, 134
Menaggio, 102, 112
Mentone, 89
Mephistopheles, 37
Metz, 78
MUan, 82, 83, 111, 112
MiUais, Sir John E.,P.R.A., 159,187
MiUer, Thomas, 56
„ WiUiam, 109
Milton, John, 66
Morlaix, 115, 116
Morocco, 116
Morris, William, 148
Moxon and Co., 109
Munich, 76
Myrtle, Harriet, 60
Nantes, 114
Naples, 120
Nelson, Captain C, R.N., 113, 116
Mrs., 179
NeviU, R., 176
Newcastle-on-Tyne, 8, 18, 79
Nice, 89
Normandy, 113
North Shields, 9, 28, 134
Old Water-Colour Society, 127, 130
Orchardson, W. Q., R.A., 87, 88,
93, 94, '97, 102
Ostend, 77, 110, 111
Oxford, Christ Church, 149

INDEX

215

Padua, 99
Palmer, Samuel, 150
Paris, 76, 80, 88, 111, 113, 114, 120
Parry, Charles, 10
Pelham-Clinton, Lord Edward, 185
Pfeiffer, Madame Ida, 63
" Phiz," 36, 64
Pinwell, G. J., 150
Pitlochry, 134
Poe, Edgar AUen, 60
Pont l'Abbe, 116
Poore, Dr. G. Vivian, 177
Portsmouth, 7, 39
Portugal, Queen of, 95
Punch, 34
Quakers, 9, 10
Quimper, 114, 115, 116
Rathenbury Castle, 3
Read, Samuel, 46
Redgrave, Richard, R.A., 58
Reeves, Miss, 176
Reynolds, Captain Francis, 5, 6
Rhine, the, 73, 75, 76, 78, 79, 105,
109, 110, 111
Rhone, the, 89, HI
Righi, the, 79
Riviera, 112
Roberts, Mr., 5
Rochester, 23
Rolandseck, 75, 78
Roper, Captain, 4
Rossetti, D. G., 187
Rotterdam, 79, 110
Rouen, 114, 115
Routledge and Co., 64, 68
Rowney and Co. , 138
Royal Academy, 127, 141, 149, 187
Saarbruck, 78
St. GUgen, 75
„ Goar, 78
„ Gothard, 83, 103, 111, 112
„ Malo, 114, 115, 116
„ Michel, Mont, 114
,, Wolfgang, 75
Salzburg, 76
Sandgate, 41
Sandys famUy, 3
,, Esther, 4

San Jean de Luz, 120
„ Remo, 90
,, Sebastian, 119
Sarthwaite, 4
Saumur, 114
Saunderstead, 23
Savona, 90, 91
Schaffhausen, 82, 104, 111
Scotland, 133
Scott, Sir Walter, 65
Sedbergh, 7
Seeley, Sir Charles, 129
Sevign_, Madame de, 115
Seville, 117, 118
Shetland Isles, 28
Sidmouth, 41
Simplon Pass, 111
Sorrento, 120
Southampton, 115
Southey, Robert, 8
Southport, 42
Southwold, 136
Spa, 111
Spain, 116-119
Spence, Ann, 13
Robert, 13, 28
Spliigen Pass, 82
Stanfield, Clarkson, R.A., 124
Star Cross, 41
Stemenfels, 75
Stirling, 28
Stone, Mr., 18
Strassburg, 82, 104, 111
Stresa, 111
Stuttgart, 76
Summerly, Felix, 58
Sumpter, Mr., 5
Surrey Weald, 133
Swanscombe, 23
Swathmoor HaU, 9
Switzerland, 75, 80
Tangier, 116, 117, 118
Taylor, Tom, 68
TeU, Wilham, 103
Tennyson, Lord, 133
Thackeray, W. M., 36, 58
Thames, the, 134
Thompson, G. Douglas, 42
Thorpe, Archdeacon, 134
Tilt and Bogue, 57

216

BIRKET FOSTER

Tinsley, Lieut. Francis, 5, 6
Tooth, Messrs., 67, 129, 188
Tottenham, 9
Tours, 114
Treves, 81
Trossachs, 28, 134
Tummel, FaUs of, 134
Turner, J. M. W., R.A., 124, 151
Tynemouth, 38, 41
Tyrol, 75
Uim, 76
Ulverston, 5
Venice, 73, 81, 82, 88, 91-98, 111, 112
Verona, 98, 111
Vevay, 80
Victoria, H.M. Queen, 39
ViUeneuve, 111
Vitre, 115, 116
VizeteUy, Henry, 56, 57, 74, 75, 76
Vokins, J. and W., 129

Waddon, 23
Waidering, 75

Walker, Frederick, A.R.A., 94,96,
98, 100, 126, 135, 151, 158-162,
167, 169, 174, 175, 176, 187
Ward, Ebenezer, 62
Warkworth Castle, 27
Warton, Thomas, 61, 66
Watson, Dawson, 157
J. D., 151, 152, 157, 168,
176 Mr. and Mrs. Joseph, 79
Dr. R. Spence, 76, 79
W. Lindsay, 168, 169
Webster, T, R.A., 58
Weinheim, 75
Weybridge, 186, 188
Whittingham, Charles, 58
WiUis, Miss G. P., 63
Witley, 128, 132, 140, 145
Wordsworth, W., 8, 60, 62
Worthing, 40
" YeUow Backs," 64
York, 134

I Zurich, 82, 104, 111

THE END

Most of the -illustrations in colour in this volume have been engraved and printed
by Messrs. Geo. W. Jones, Ltd., and the remainder by Mr. Edmund Evans.
The letterpress has been printed by Messrs. R. and R. Clark, Ltd.

YALE UNIVERSITY

.a 3 9 00 2 0020B 1 5 i. 6 b