Weaving, Harris

Weaving, Harris

ID: QZP99_94032_04_08 DESCRIPTION: Under a 1993 Act of Parliament 'Harris Tweed' is cloth that has been hand woven by the islanders of Lewis, Harris, Uist and Barra in their homes, using pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides.' The cloth is protected by law so that imitations cannot flood the market. In the early 1800s the Earl of Dunmore owned the Harris estate. His wife, the Countess of Dunmore, noticed the superior weaving skills of two sisters from Strond in South Harris. The sisters were known as the 'Paisley Sisters' because they had trained in Paisley. The Countess of Dunmore realised the market potential of the tweed and sent some other girls to Paisley to train. This was the beginning of the Harris Tweed industry. The hard-wearing cloth was very popular among people hunting, shooting and fishing on the estates. Its popularity soon spread and people on other islands also began weaving. The process of making the cloth was slow as everything was done by hand. Some of the processes began to be mechanised. The first carding (preparing the wool for spinning) mill opened in Tarbert, Harris in 1900 and a second in Stornoway in 1903. This increased the demand for tweed and spinning mills were built but the cloth was always woven by crofter-weavers in their own homes. Despite the name 'Harris Tweed', Stornoway emerged as the heart of the industry and most of the cloth is woven by Lewis crofters. The cloth would have originally been woven on wooden looms but these were being replaced in the 1920s by the steel framed Hattersley looms, which were more efficient. These looms are being replaced by the Bonas-Griffith double-width loom, introduced in 1996, which is capable of weaving a lighter and wider cloth. This image comes from a collection gifted to Edinburgh Central Library by Dr Isabel F. Grant. The collection includes photographs taken by a number of different photographers. PLACENAME: Harris DISTRICT: Harris OLD COUNTY/PARISH: INVERNESS: Harris SOURCE: Edinburgh and Scottish Collection, Edinburgh Central Library COLLECTION: I F Grant Photographic Archive Asset ID: 38573 KEYWORDS: