Home Using Content Gallery Names City tours Themes

    Page En français : French version
 

Farmer and his daughter going to Town

Ancient traditional costumes of Madeira

Em português : Portuguese version of this page

A farmer and his daughter going to Town in Madeira around 1820 - engraving reproduced and restored by © Norbert Pousseur
Madeira - ~1820 - A farmer and his daughter going to Town

 

engraving and text extracted from
History of Madeira - 1821 (from my library)
Madeira was then under British domination


A farmer and his daughter going to Town


The rent which a farmer in this island pays to his landlord is a third of the produce of his farm, and he pays frequent visits to Funchal to make his proportioned offerings to the proprietor of the land which he cultivates. According to their quantity he is generally accompanied by his wife or daughter. The plate is supposed on this occasion to represent the latter. The agricultural tenure is of a peculiar character in Madeira : when the farmer dies, his son inherits the tenancy or occupation of land, which continues in regular and heritable succession.
The females of this class are fond of dress, and particularly disposed to decorate their persons, not only with flowers, but with chains, ear-rings, buttons, etc. Whenever they can make a reserve of money, they never fail to purchase such articles ; and when money happens to be wanting, they are represented as being equally ready to sell them.

The cottage, plac’d beneath the hill,
The bridge that stretches o’er the rill,
The rock that lifts its head on high,
And blends its stature with the sky ;
While groves and woodlands intervene
To form the charming pictured scene ;
From these the farmer's steps are bent,
To seek the town, and pay his rent ;
To bear the produce of the soil,
Rear'd by his busy, daily toil,
To feed, by his laborious hands,
The wants that smiling wealth demands
But ’tis to wealth that labour owes
The comforts its own lot bestows.
Joy oft depends on little things ;
The farmer’s happy when he sings ;
And feels as he returns from town
All his arm’s burthen is his own.
His fond girl, too, in smiles appears,
When ringlets decorate her ears.
And who knows but the dangling chain,
May give her pride its pleasing reign,
And wake her to a sprightly strain.
Perhaps he feels, when he was young,
He tripp’d with lighter steps along ;
But now, if he should want her aid,
Close by his side the duteous maid,
Or with her arm, or with her lay,
Now helps him on, or cheers his way :
Thus do our pleasures and our cares
Go hand in hand, and march in pairs.

 

Costumes : The farmer wears a white shirt over his first one, another one with the traditional blue and red stripes, plus an open jacket. He has a sort of loosely knotted tie around his neck. He wears calf-high boots and carries a basket in his hand, presumably carrying what he wants/needs to give to the owner of his land. On his head the traditional pointed beret hat.
His daughter has put on a floral dress and you can see her pumps and the bottom of her white socks.
On top she has a kind of jacket with two long strips like the priests' stoles. She has a gold necklace and a black hat

Translated with DeepL

 

Previous : Paesants cultivating the ground
Traditional costumes Next :
Women grinding corn

Vignette : Madère, le port - Gravure  de 1820 reproduite puis restaurée par © Norbert Pousseur
Introduction of the book
Vignette : Travaux ruraux à Madère vers 1820  - gravure reproduite et restaurée par © Norbert Pousseur
Rural works
Vignette : Paysans allant au marché à Madère vers 1820  - gravure reproduite et restaurée par © Norbert Pousseur
To the market
Vignette : Manière de ciltiver le sol à Madère vers 1820  - gravure reproduite et restaurée par © Norbert Pousseur
Farmers at work
 
Vignette : Activités rurales féminines à Madère vers 1820  - gravure reproduite et restaurée par © Norbert Pousseur
Domestic work
Vignette : Couple de paysans avec guitare à Madère vers 1820  - gravure reproduite et restaurée par © Norbert Pousseur
Young couple
Vignette : Couple d'habitnts de l'Ouest de l'île de Madère vers 1820  - gravure reproduite et restaurée par © Norbert Pousseur
Couple / West
Vignette : A Madère, pêcheur à la ligne, et son compagnon  - gravure de 1821  reproduite et restaurée par © Norbert Pousseur
Fishermen
Vignette : A Madère, musiciens itinérants  - gravure de 1821  reproduite et restaurée par © Norbert Pousseur
Travelling musicians
Vignette : A Madère, transport du vin clair en ville - gravure de 1821  reproduite et restaurée par © Norbert Pousseur
Claret wine
Vignette : A Madère, transport du vin avec un attelage de bœufs  - gravure de 1821  reproduite et restaurée par © Norbert Pousseur
Transport of wine
Vignette : A Madère, un outre de vin qui profite au transporteur  - gravure de 1821  reproduite et restaurée numériquement par © Norbert Pousseu
Accidental wine

Vignette : A Madère, un gros franciscain et son frère lai  - gravure de 1821  reproduite et restaurée numériquement par © Norbert Pousseur
2 Franciscans
Vignette : A Madère, un gros franciscain récoltant des dons, tendrementi  - gravure de 1821  reproduite et restaurée numériquement par © Norbert Pousseur
Collecting gifts

This engraving of Madeira people can be enlarged by zoom,
the original measuring 17x22 cm

 

Up

This site only has a few pages in English - the rest are in French

Rghts deposited
Copyright deposit against any commercial use
photographs, texts and / or reproductions published on this site
See explanations on the "Using" page

SIte Map Researchs Links e-mail