The Bonnet Toun in 2006 I Was Invited to Curate a Small Mixed-Craft Show
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The Bonnet Toun In 2006 I was invited to curate a small mixed-craft show at the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock, a small town south of Glasgow. I went up to Scotland from London, expecting it to be all kilts and highland crags. I didn’t know that I was going to the enchanting lowlands of Ayrshire, with its rolling fields and beautiful coastline. The show I was working on included some textiles and knitting, and knowing that there was a history of woollen trade in the area, I decided to do a little research. My children’s grandmother had been to high school in Kilmarnock, where there had been a thriving business in knitting regimental bonnets. She was born in the rival town of Stewarton nearby, where her father was headmaster of the local school, while most of the rest of the village were involved in someway with the local woollen trade. Stewarton is still known as the ‘Bonnet Toun’, and knitted hats are still manufactured there, although the process has changed some since the sixteenth century. Most famous for its regimental, beret-style hats, modern fashions are also represented. Popular traditional designs include the Glengarry, the Balmoral (named when the Queen’s children wore them when holidaying there) and the Tam O’Shanter, all meeting with stringent Ministry of Defence requirements. [Stewarton headmaster William Waddell wearing a bonnet] While English bonnets were made from cloth or velvet, the Scots bonnet was knitted in the round. Usually dark blue, indigo dyed, with a red ‘torrie’ or pompom on top, there were several design variations. Highlanders generally had peaked hats with ribbons, while lowland bonnets were round and flat. Stewarton bonnets are distinguished by the checked dicing around the brim, while hats from rival bonnet-knitters in Kilmarnock were plain. The process Skin-wool from local sheep was used, rather than fleece wool, as it was thought to waulk (felt or thicken) more readily, meaning that the fibers were retrieved from slaughtered sheep. The wool would have been dyed with indigo, heated with a pungent mordant of urine collected locally, before being washed and spun in the river. Originally using the indigenous blue woad, dyers used Indian indigo once the trade routes allowed. There was much competition for business between the various bonnet towns, but after the Great Agreement of 1650, the dyers and bonnet makers of Glasgow and Stewarton came to be on an equal footing, and gained rights to sell in each other’s markets. Bonnets were knitted on three needles, or pins about 3/8 inch in diameter and 16 inches long, and the weight of the work was supported by a sticking one needle into a leather ‘picque’, or knitting belt. When completed, the bonnets were washed and milled to felt the yarn. The shaping was done within the pattern of the knitting, but while wet, the hats were stretched to a regulation size on a circular board or stretcher. This integrity meant that they wouldn’t lose their shape in the rain. Once dry, the pile was raised with a steel brush, and trimmed with specially made shears. The quality was managed by the Bonnet Court of Corsehill, named after the local river, which set the prices and imposed fines on those who produced bonnets of an inferior weight or color. Records date back to 1549, though the court itself probably dates from the 1400s or earlier. Strict rules were imposed by the Bonnet Court: Skills were handed down only through the family; women and girls were only allowed to knit at home; no daughter of a bonnet maker was allowed to go into the trade, unless married to a bonnet maker. The work would have been done mostly by men, some being farmers and labourers idle in the winter months. Workers would sitting outside their houses in fine weather, and from the account of the ex-provost Robert Mackie, some bravery was needed to run the gauntlet of their barbed comments if you happened to pass by. The industrial revolution changed everything, and soon bonnets were made by machine. One of the original manufacturers, Robert Mackie & sons, still exists today. The company employed many people from the town, and the Mackie family became an integral part of the community. Still making regimental bonnets as they have done since 1845, they also make a new fashion range available online at woollenscarves.com. The local industry was celebrated at the annual Bonnet Guild Festival. Established in 1933 to lift the gloom of the depression of those years, the festival had a queen picked from the local school, accompanied by a courtier for the day. Queens were selected for being top of the class. My mother-in-law Marion Gore was the Corsehill Queen of 1936 (pictured), while her sister and brother had their turns in other years. [Two bonnets in the Kilmarnock museum, where they have a whole gallery devoted to the local textile industry.] Far from being a leisure pursuit, knitting was the main industry, and still is financially significant, in this rural part of Scotland. The Stewarton Bonnet From and old song written 1859 (Taken from the 1934 Bonnet Guild Festival Guide) Noo as lang as oor bonnets are worn by us a’ We shall ne’er lei the pride o' our aold bonnets fa’, While we’ve heids tae baud up, may our molto aye. be, “0, the Stewarton bonnet's the bonnet for me.” 0, cover our heid wi’ a bonnet o’ blue, A bonnie blue bonnet o' quiet haimert woo, Than oor ain Scottish bonnet nae brawer can be— 0, the Stewarton bonnet's the bonnet for me. Glossary: Heid – head Toun – town Picque – knitting Bonnet – cap Waulk – felt Haimert – homemade Woo – wool The local area: Stewarton.org; www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk; www.craftayrshire.org/ Buy hats online: Robertmackie.com or Woollenscarves.com.