World," one of its chief features was meant to be the contrast drawn
between the English, Scotch, and Irish heroes; thanks to her wide
sympathy she was as keenly able to appreciate the rugged virtues of
the dour Scotch race, as the more quick and graceful beauties of the
Irish mind.

[Illustration: AMESBURY]

The Autumn Military Manoeuvres in 1872 were held near Salisbury
Plain, and Major Ewing was so much fascinated by the quaint old town
of Amesbury, where he was quartered, that he took my sister afterwards
to visit the place. The result of this was that her "Miller's
Thumb"[21] came out as a serial in _Aunt Judy's Magazine_ during 1873.
All the scenery is drawn from the neighbourhood of Amesbury, and the
Wiltshire dialect she acquired by the aid of a friend, who procured
copies for her of _Wiltshire Tales_ and _A Glossary of Wiltshire Words
and Phrases_, both by J.Y. Akerman, F.S.A. She gleaned her practical
knowledge of life in a windmill, and a "Miller's Thumb," from an old
man who used to visit her hut in the South Camp, Aldershot, having
fallen from being a Miller with a genuine Thumb, to the less exalted
position of hawking muffins in winter and "Sally Lunns" in summer!
Mrs. Allingham illustrated the story; two of her best designs were Jan
and his Nurse Boy sitting on the plain watching the crows fly, and
Jan's first effort at drawing on his slate. It was published as a book
in 1876, and dedicated to our eldest sister, and the title was then
altered to "Jan of the Windmill, a Story of the Plains."

[Footnote 21: Letter, August 25, 1872.]

Three poems of Julie's came out in the volume of _Aunt Judy's