The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy Winkle by Beatrix Potter

As a child Beatrix Potter had known a charming old Scottish country washerwoman called Kitty MacDonald. In The Tale of Mrs. TiggyWinkle the heroine, Lucie, meets a similar small, round, twinklyeyed washerwoman; but this one has prickles under her cap and does the laundry for some surprising customers.