Colonialism acknowledgement
While we celebrate Paisley’s radical past tangled up in its textile heritage, we must also
acknowledge the role of colonialism and empire in the success of the town. The very invention
of the “Paisley shawl” (and thus the “Paisley pattern”) has its roots in colonialism, with the
design being lifted directly from traditional shawls from Kashmir, India. Their historic popularity
stemmed from their existence as status symbols for those who had business in the colonies,
which then trickled down to more ordinary consumers throughout Britain and allowed the
Paisley shawl trade to become as prosperous as it once was. Paisley’s once-flourishing thread
industry also owes itself to colonialism and slavery, having been based upon the trade and
refinement of cotton, which was originally cultivated and harvested using slave labour in the
British-ruled Americas; meaning that the money from the Clarks and Coats families used to
construct Paisley as we recognise it today owes itself to such imperial and unethical practices. It
is thus impossible to nod towards Paisley’s textile heritage without recognising the overarching
role of colonialism in the town’s material and financial fabric, as is true across much of the UK,
and we at ReMode hope to educate on such issues within textile practices and histories while
using our voice and our resources to work towards creating brighter, more ethical futures.Paisley has been a hotbed for radical politics and protest for centuries. Long before the
famous Clarks and Coats mills were established, the town was already full of hardworking and
highly skilled weavers and textile workers who were renowned for their intelligence,
intellectualism and radical-leaning politics.
Paisley’s Radical Heritage
These weavers and textile workers were hit hard by the aftermath of the Napoleonic
Wars which ended in 1815 and caused a massive decline in the demand for textiles, in turn
leading to widespread unemployment throughout the UK. Paisley’s reliance on the textile
industry meant that it was hit particularly hard by this decline, and poverty was on the rise due to
decreased demand and lower sale prices. Many people hoped that the end of the Napoleonic
Wars would bring about parliamentary reform and a change in conditions for workers, but the
British government resisted such change. There was also a massive influx of workers to
industrial towns in the central belt from the Highlands due to the Highland clearances and later
from Ireland as a result of economic decline, resulting in an over-saturation of labour which led
to lower rates of pay. Thus the industrial town of Paisley became a breeding ground for radical
politics that centred labour rights and wellbeing, becoming the home of political debate clubs
and societies and fostering the careers of radical thinkers and artists such as political reformer
Thomas Muir and weaver-poet Robert Tannahill.
Paisley is often considered to be at the centre of the 1820 Radical War in Scotland, a
testament to the deep-rooted radical and rebellious spirit of the town. In the lead-up to the
Radical War, many textile workers met secretly in taverns and backrooms to discuss their
working conditions and organise together to fight against them, many even using their textile
skills to create early banners, perhaps similar to what we now recognise as trade union
banners.
The Peterloo Massacre of 1819, where 18 workers were killed and another 700 injured in
a clash with police in Manchester while protesting for political reform, only further stoked the
flames of revolt in Paisley. Around a month later, roughly 15,000 workers gathered on the
outskirts of Paisley at Meiglemoss Moor to protest against the massacre, where protesters
played music and flew flags and banners in an impressive display that mirrors political and
industrial protests we see today. Riots followed this protest for days in Paisley and similar
protests had lingering effects all over Scotland.
Following these riots, a “provisional government” was formed by political activists from
across the UK who called for a general strike to fight for workers’ rights. Around 60,000 people
in Paisley and Glasgow immediately joined the protest. Though the uprising was ultimately
quelled by the British government and many of its leaders were publicly executed as a result,
the lingering sentiments of radicalism held strong in Paisley.
Paisley’s textile industry saw various other strikes throughout its lifetime, including the
so-called “Paisley Weaver’s Strike” of 1928 which also saw the involvement of many of Paisley’s
mill lassies. Another strike occurred in 1959, which saw as many as 1,700 of J&P Coats’ 6,000
workers in Paisley and nearby Kinning Park striking over a five-and-a-half week period. Though
sometimes forgotten in favour of their male weaver counterparts, the mill lassies of Paisley were
often just as passionate in their fight for workers’ rights and were at the forefront of much of
Paisley’s industrial past, the success of the city’s thread trade owing an inconceivable amount to
these women workers right up until the final mill closure in 1993.
Perhaps the most well-known example of industrial protest in Paisley is the root of the
town’s celebratory Sma’ Shot Day. When Paisley was still widely populated by weavers, these
weavers utilised a fine thread which ultimately served as the backbone of the fabric, colloquially
known as the sma’ (small) shot. These weavers were overseen by figures known as “Corks”,
who were the middleman between the weavers and the owners; a kind of early manufacturer.
The Corks refused to pay the weavers for the sma’ shot as it was invisible in the end product,
even though the tiny thread could be used as often as every second pass while weaving. The
workers were rightfully angry at this undervaluing of their labour, and fought for their work to be
recognised and financially rewarded. The weavers won this battle in 1856 – when there were
over 7000 of them in the town – and the new table of prices was published on the 1st of July,
thus Paisley has celebrated on the first Saturday of July for over 150 years. Though interest in
the march declined after the Second World War, it was revived again in 1986 and continues to
this day.
The first ever Sma’ Shot Day saw weavers and other workers gather at one end of the
city and march to the sound of the Charleston drum while songs were sung, banners were flown
and an effigy of the Cork was burnt to symbolise the victory of the workers over their oppressive
overseers. Sma’ Shot Day in this present age looks much the same; the Charleston drum still
beating strong, the Cork still being burnt, and people from all over Renfrewshire marching while
carrying banners representing various radical traditions, including trade unions like Unison,
causes such as nuclear disarmament, and figures like Paisley mill worker turned Holocaust hero
Jane Haining.
By Elise Prentice
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