PerthshireCrieffStrathearn Local History

your cloth that's made o woo. Ye wouldna hae your cloak neither black nor blue If it wasna for the wark o the weavers!f it wasna for the weavers, what would ye do? Ye wouldna hae In 1834 it was reported that in Scotland  800,000 people depended on hand-loom weaving for subsistence. Much of the evidence examined came from Scotland, especially Glasgow and Paisley.The reason for the large numbers employed in the weaving industry was given as the good wages earned after 1780 which, after the introduction of the fly-shuttle, had risen to nearly £100 a year. At this time weavers had risen to high places in society and many had entered the industry hoping those favourable conditions would return. The state of the industry had since been further depressed by the collapse of the Irish linen industry which produced a flood of immigrants into Scotland. Witnesses all agreed that the numbers entering hand-loom weaving should be reduced and those from Scotland said that wh...

The Story of Weaving and Textiles in Crieff If it wasna for the weavers , what would you do ? Ye wouldna hae your cloth that’s made o woo Ye wouldna hae your cloak neither black nor blue If it wasna for the wark o the weavers ! Linen had been a major industry in Scotland for hundreds of years; by 1684 an estimated 12,000 people were employed its manufacture. The industry was stimulated by an Act of Parliament of 1686 stipulating that everyone had to be buried in linen winding sheets made from materials which had been grown, spun and woven in Scotland. Further stimulus came from the Act of 1748 prohibiting the importing or wearing of French cambrics, "under severe penalties"; and that of 1751 which allowed weavers to work in all parts of Scotland "free of all corporation dues, conjoined with a bounty of 1 1/2 d. [0.6 pence] per yard on all linens exported at and under 18d [7.5 pence] per yard." Linen had by this time become ...