Bonnet making
Early textiles in general do not survive in any quantity but
several early examples of knitted bonnets, in excellent condition,
have been found preserved in the silt and mud of the banks of the
River Thames in London. These are retained in the Museum of London.
The National Museums of Scotland has at least one early Scottish
bonnet.
In Scotland the earliest knitters were not women but 15th century
craftsmen - Bonnetmakers. Dundee's famous bonnet industry had
developed earlier than most and to such an extent that a trade
guild had been formed by 1496 to promote the craft and regulate
standards. Sadly no example or even an image exists of an early
Dundee bonnet - all the evidence to be had exists in the written
word. Over a hundred-year period, incorporations of Bonnetmakers
and Dyers were established in Aberdeen, Perth, Stirling, Edinburgh,
Glasgow, Stewarton in 1590 and
Kilmarnock in 1646.
The craftsmen worked exclusively with wool and may have produced a
variety of other items of apparel like stockings, gloves and
nightcaps but it is the production of bonnets for which they are
famed. Bonnets were flat in shape and were similar in style to a
French 'beret' or Scottish 'tammie' or 'Tam o' Shanter'. They were
not neat little items of headgear. They were large, round, serious,
non-frivolous and heavy, made to keep out the Scottish weather.
Vanity was never the issue. A man would wear his bonnet inside and
outside, from morning till night. It became part of the character
of its owner, developing its own characteristics and shape. In
Dundee it is recorded that 'Bothy men' would keep their horn spoons
inside the rim of their bonnet ready to use at the next meal! It is
fun to speculate on what else may have been secreted inside the
headgear!
Originally bonnets were blue. Local 'skin' wool was used which was
dyed with woad or scabious plants with urine used as a mordant.
Later indigo was introduced and occasionally they were dyed a
russet / brown colour. Black was worn by clerics, merchants and
professional men and was considered more respectable. This was
probably due to the fact that producing a good quality black dye
was a more complicated process, therefore more expensive.
Inevitably the higher the cost the higher the standing of the
owner. Blue bonnets were worn by ordinary working people such as
servants, agricultural labourers and soldiers.
The wool was heated in urine and dye, often in small dye houses
located at the backs of houses, then rinsed in baskets in the river
until the water ran clear and the wool was sweet smelling.
Afterwards it was dried and spun into yarn. Bonnets were hand
knitted on three wooden 16" needles which produced a circular
garment without seams. One of the pins was tucked securely into a
leather belt that was worn around the waist. The equivalent now
would be a circular metal and plastic knitting pin which allows the
yarn to be knitted round and round creating a cylinder shape. The
whole process was originally done at home but later wool was sent
to mills for spinning.
The bonnets were then waulked or milled to raise the nap then
sheared. This thickened and helped to waterproof the
bonnet.
Perhaps because of the relative simplicity of the tools needed,
there was a need to keep the number of people employed in the trade
to a manageable level since many were keen to take up the craft.
The trade guilds produced sets of rules that had the effect of
keeping the industry within certain families. One rule was that no
daughter of a bonnetmaker was permitted to go into the trade unless
married to a bonnetmaker's son. Another kept strangers to a town
from joining or taking up the trade. There were strict rules on the
quality and standard of the goods being produced. Trade could on
occasion be slow. The craftsmen met and agreed prices and if
necessary withheld bonnets for up to several weeks called
'Idlesetts' in order to maintain market prices. In Stewarton
'Sichters' or sighters were employed to check the standard of the
work being produced and it is said that if the work was not up to
expected standards the goods would be forfeited and
burnt!
Prior to the eighteenth century, troops did not wear standard
uniforms and since almost every man had a bonnet even if he owned
very little else, this would have been worn if he were called to
bear arms. At this time although bonnets had been the archetypal
headgear of the Scottish working man for over two hundred years
they were still occasionally referred to as French bonnets. In the
Scottish Highlands gentlemen wore feathers in their bonnets
attached with silver ornaments. The poor adorned theirs with sprigs
of heather or leaves. It has been suggested that this is where the
idea came from for the regimental cockade, first worn in the mid
18th century by the Jacobites. But, in fact, Montrose had issued
blue ribbons to be attached to blue bonnets in 1639 in order to
identify his own non-uniformed troops.
Bonnets developed into a variety of shapes like the 'Glengarry'
and the 'Atholl' for various military regiments. The large bonnet
was purchased, then shaped, pressed, blocked and stitched into
shape by tailors and kilt makers.
Stewarton took over the lead in manufacturing bonnets during the
19th century due to success in securing government orders for the
armed forces. Today there is one survivor of this industry in
Stewarton, Mackies. This was one of the original companies from the
17th century which is still making headgear for military use and
for the fashion industry. Although everything is now produced by
machine, Stewarton or Kilmarnock bonnets can still be made to
order. Skipped woollen caps are still made and many a man still
feels his head bare unless he is wearing his 'bunnet'.
