A day in the life... the wearer

David Fleetwood kicks start our new series looking at traditional Scottish lives with a report on the weaver.

Achill autumn wind is blowing down the muddy lane that leads to Knockando Mill. The small cluster of rusting tin huts and the eye-catching water wheel nestle into the valley, a curl of smoke and the gentle rattle of a shuttle moving back and forth are the only indications that anyone is here.

Knockando is one of a handful of surviving vertical mills in Scotland, and weaving has been carried out here for more than 300 years. The earliest weavers made linen from flax grown in the fields outside their homes, but by the 16th century, woollen cloth was being woven throughout Scotland.

The diversity of the Scottish landscape was represented in the many different types of cloth, from Harris Tweed (see page 74 for more info) through Highland Tartan to the Borders plaid of which Sir Walter Scott was so fond.

Massive factories soon developed in the Lowlands, yet, buried deep in the glens of the Highlands, local mills like Knockando were producing cloth within their communities.

These mills were involved in the whole of the manufacturing process, from the rearing and shearing of sheep to the final finishing.

The life of the weavers also involved managing their own crofts. Rural weavers often used their trade to supplement the meagre existence that they could scrape from a harsh and unimproved landscape. Mills like Knockando and Bridgend on Islay are the last remaining examples of this picturesque and ecologically sound rural industry. The life of the weaver was then, and still is t...

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• By : David Fleetwood
• In : Interview
• Issue : 36
• Page : 60
• Words : 1,378