The Paisley Thread by Matthew Blair
Brian Hannan from Abbey Books in Paisley reviews The Paisley Thread by Matthew Blair
The worst thing about running a preloved operation like Abbey Books is that once a book is gone it’s gone. Although we have 40,000 books in stock, we only usually have one copy of a particular item. This is especially a problem when it comes to really old books – specifically ones about Paisley. If we ever get any publications about the history of Paisley in, it usually goes back out again in a flash. Or, it might be so old, it’s falling apart at the seams and in no condition to be sold.
So about a month ago, prompted by the arrival of an unsaleable but interesting old book about Paisley, I wondered if I could do something about it. The book in question was The Paisley Thread by Matthew Blair, originally published in 1907 and now well out of copyright. The fact that it was lavishly illustrated – over 100 photographs mostly taken in the 19th century – meant that it was particularly annoying just to have to throw it away.
Even if it had been in good condition, I would still have felt a feeling of loss once it was sold because anyone asking after that specific title would receive the uninspiring news that I did have a copy but now it’s gone.
Half-Timers School in Ferguslie
Wouldn’t it be a whole lot better if we had a ready supply of titles for which there was clear constant demand? While these thoughts passed through my head, I was rummaging through the book, marvelling at the photos and the history of the town they summoned up, and reading the informative words written by the Paisley author.
Suddenly I had the solution. Why not reprint the book? That proved impossible as the printed pages were in such poor condition they could not easily be scanned and photocopied – believe me, I tried. The photos came out well but not the text.
The only other idea that came to mind was for me to sit down and literally retype the book. So I did. It took a month. Then I packaged it together with the illustrations and sent it off to the printer. And in so doing, I turned into a publisher. Paisley Publishing was born. Since there were potentially a lot of other books out there that I could laboriously retype and reprint, I thought this little enterprise required a name. So I’ve called it “The Heritage Series.” And book No 1 is The Paisley Thread.
Ferguslie Mill
As Abbey Books is slap-bang in the middle of heritage Paisley, it seemed appropriate that we do something to preserve that history. Come out of our front door and a hundred yards to the right you will see the snail-in-the-bottle statue and the magnificent Coats Memorial Church. Directly across the road from the shop is the cobbled street leading to Oakshaw. Two hundred yards to the left of us we have Tannahill’s Cottage and the Witch’s Well. And if you glance up on the way you’ll spot the clock tower of Coffin En’.
The Paisley Thread covers the tale of the transition of the town from shawl-making to thread-manufacture. But that’s only half the story for the author who hadn’t lived in the town for some 40 years toured the area and made notes on all the changes. So it’s as much a history of the town as of its industry. And, as I said, it’s packed with many rare photographs.
I was astonished to discover that it was essentially a woman who was the driving force behind the thread business. And she was as infamous a name as you could find. Although herself innocent of malfeasance, Christian Shaw, as an 11-year-old girl, was at the centre of the Renfrewshire Witch Trials of the 1680s which resulted in six equally innocent people being burned at the stake. Quite how Christian overcame that ordeal to become one of the most prominent businesswomen of the era is anyone’s guess.
Hamills and Clark’s Mills 1882
The quality of her linen yarn was never in question, but she was unable to turn it into thread because there was no twisting machinery available in Scotland. However, in 1721, she imported a twisting mill from Holland which could accommodate twelve bobbins. Bargarran, the name of her estate, became a trademark. Sixty years later, the overall industry supported 25,000 people.
Cotton eventually replaced linen as the source of thread. That development was driven by the Clarks, one of the town’s most celebrated families, who set up their sewing thread business in 1812. Although the Clarks and the Coats came to dominate the Paisley industry, in fact over 100 such companies were at one time or another involved in the enterprise.
The benevolence of the big companies led to the building of the Town Hall, The Museum and Library, the Coats Observatory and the Coats Memorial Church as well as playing significant roles in the redevelopment of the town and other innovations.
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The book also contains chapters on Robert Tannahill and the Mill Girls. However, the author, who knew the town intimately, was able to wonder at the changes that had been made in his lifetime. In a tour of the town, he tells the story of buildings and areas like The Cross and Steeple, the Saracen’s Head, Coffin En’, the Tollbooth, the County Buildings, Commercial Hotel, the Hole in the Wa’, Peter’s public house, County Square, the Coffee Room, Water Wynd, Oakshaw Hill, Granny Kerr’s shop, the Di’el’s Elbow, Gordon’s Loan, the Tea Gardens, Hope Temple Gardens, Canal Railway, Crookston Castle, Carriagehill, The Linn, the Abbey, the Place of Paisley, Teetotal Tower, the Wee Steeple, Technical College and School of Art, Grammar School and the birthplaces of Professor John Wilson and Robert Tannahill.
The Paisley Thread is available at Abbey Books, 21 Wellmeadow Street, Paisley, PA1 2EF, and on Amazon and ebay. Price £12. To find out more about Abbey Books, visit their website.