The National Trust for Scotland – Working Places Resource Pack

www.nts.org.uk/Learn1

The National Trust for Scotland – Working Places Resource Pack


Weaver's Cottage, Kilbarchan

Workshop and loom


Contents

About the Weaver’s Cottage Resource Pack

Practical information1.0 A Visit to Weaver’s Cottage1.1 Booking your Visit1.2 The School Programme1.3 The Visit

2.0 The National Trust for Scotland2.1 NTS Membership2.2 Learning with the National Trust for Scotland

3.0 The Curriculum for Excellence

Historical information4.0 Looms and Weaving4.1 Handlooms, Jacquard Looms and Power Looms4.2 Kilbarchan’s Cottage Industry4.3 Paisley and Paisley Shawls4.4 The Kilbarchan Weavers in the 1930s - an Article4.5 Weavers’ Wages4.6 Glossary

5.0 Weaver’s Cottage5.1 Introduction to the Cottage5.2 The Christie Family5.3 Mary Christie’s Story – A Child in 1875

Pupils’ ActivitiesGathering evidence at Weaver’s CottageClassroom and whiteboard work

6.0 Pupils’ Activities6.1 Activity 1. Primary Sources6.2 Activity 2. Object Hunt6.3 Activity 3. Weaving Words6.4 Activity 4. Sensory Mood Board

Contacts and Resources7.0 Contacts and Resources


About the Weaver’s Cottage Resource Pack

There are two elements to the pack:

1. Teachers’ NotesPractical information about visiting Weaver’s CottageHistorical information about Weaver’s Cottage and weavingA visit to Weaver’s CottageA set of activities for pupils (particularly for interactive lessons using whiteboards)

2. Folders of images and documents

Weavers’ Cottage Resource Pack was created by the NTS Learning Services Department.Teachers’ Notes: Fay BaileyModern photographs: NTS and Mike BolamArchive photographs: © Kilbarchan History SocietyIllustrations: Maggie Downer© 2014 the National Trust for Scotland

Using the pack

Teachers can:Print the Teachers’ NotesDownload the digital images and documents


Weaver’s Cottage – Practical information

practical

1.1 Booking your Visit

Please phone the property manager at Weaver’s Cottage to book your visit. There is aSchools Booking Form available but you may be able to arrange the visit over the phone –the form will then be sent to you as confirmation.

1.2 The School Programme

Aims1. To show the pupils a pre-Industrial lifestyle (without power looms and ‘mod cons’).2. To provide the pupils with an insight into the life of a working class Victorian family.3. To relate a 21st-century child’s lifestyle to his/her 19th-century counterpart.4. To demonstrate the work of a handloom weaver.5. To encourage pupils to understand the significance of handloom weaving within the

history of Renfrewshire.

Curriculum1. The programme complements Social Studies: people, past events and societies.2. It can also be used as a basis for classroom work across the curriculum.3. The school programme is suitable for First and Second Level pupils.4. It can be adapted for Early Years classes.5. Pupils above Second Level are welcome but the subject teacher should contact the

property manager to discuss requirements.

The Programme• The programme lasts approximately 1.5 hours.• Younger children may dress in costume for the tours.• Please split your class into three groups before arriving. It is helpful if each group wears

different coloured labels!

Activities1. The class will be divided into their three groups.

2. Each group will participate in the following:

• A tour of the cottageThe pupils will consider life in Victorian times (the cottage has a fully equipped kitchenwith the fireplace and swee, and several set-in beds).


1.0 A Visit to Weaver’s Cottage

• A visit to the weaving shopThe pupils will watch a handloom weaver at work (on an original Kilbarchan handloom).They will try some of the jobs performed by children in the past, including some weavingand spinning.

• Object handlingThe pupils will imagine a typical day in the cottage – they will look at and handle some ofthe objects that they might have used in the past. (The objects are mainly replicas forconservation reasons.) The handling box includes: a kettle, shortbread mould, butterpats, washboard, iron, candlestick, bellows, a Paisley shawl and a rag rug sample.

• If there is time, the class may visit the weaver’s garden which contains dye plants, herbsand vegetables that link into the cottage tour. There are also several interestinghistorical features within the garden.

3. Gathering evidenceAs part of your visit, your pupils can gather evidence for post-visit work.

Other ActivitiesIf you have particular requirements, please discuss these when booking your visit.

ContentThe pupils will learn about a pre-Industrial lifestyle by studying Weaver’s Cottage during the1870s (Victorian period). At that time, there were no modern conveniences (running water,gaslight, electric machines) in the cottage. In the weaver’s shop, a handloom was used tomake cloth.

Although most Scottish towns were in the middle of the Industrial Revolution, and hugeweaving factories had been established in places like Paisley, Kilbarchan concentrated onsmaller specialised orders (making fine woollen cloth with complicated patterns) and theweavers continued to use handlooms. Their lifestyle remained much the same as in earlierdays.

According to the census records, the Christie family lived at Weaver’s Cottage in 1871 andfor many years after this.



1.3 The Visit

ArrivalPlease knock on the main door (go up the steps) – a member of staff will greet your class.

Shop/ToiletsThere are some items for sale at Weaver’s Cottage. There is one toilet situated within thegarden.

Access and Additional SupportWe regret that there is no access to this small, historic cottage for wheelchair usersbecause of the number of steps and the narrow passageway at the entrance.

RefreshmentsThere are no refreshments for sale on site but, weather permitting, your class is welcome topicnic in the garden. The garden is a safe area for children. There are no wet weatherfacilities.

Pupil BehaviourTeachers are responsible for pupils and their behaviour.

PhotographyNo photography is allowed within the cottage – but photos can be taken in the garden.We can also arrange for the teacher to take a group photo (particularly if your pupils are incostume).

Risk AssessmentsThe site has been risk assessed. You may ask for a copy of the RA. Teachers are expectedto prepare their own RA for their visit.

More informationThere is more information about planning a visit to a Trust site on the NTS Learn website:www.nts.org.uk/Learn/schools

For more information about Weaver’s Cottage, please go to:www.nts.org.uk/Learn/schools/sitespecific



1.3 The Visit (continued)



Getting ThereWeaver's Cottage is in Kilbarchan, 12 miles south-west of Glasgow, 1⁄2 mile offthe A737.

Address: Weaver’s Cottage, The Cross, Kilbarchan PA10 2JG


The National Trust for Scotland is the conservation charity that protects and promotesScotland’s natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to enjoy. Withover 310,000 members it is the largest conservation charity in Scotland and depends for itssupport on donations, legacies, grants and membership subscriptions.

Established in 1931, the Trust acts as a guardian of the nation’s heritage of architectural,scenic and historic treasures. The NTS is not a government body. As an independent charity,it acts on behalf of everyone to safeguard our heritage.

The Trust is unique in that its activities cover the full range of cultural, built and naturalheritage. Our challenge is to make this heritage relevant to the people of Scotland and allthose who have an interest in Scotland’s magnificent heritage.

If you wish to find out more, then please visit our website:www.nts.org.uk/Charity/Reports/Strategy-And-Performance/ – where you can read anddownload the NTS corporate plan, policies and principles.

Registered Scottish Charity Number SCO 007410

2.1 NTS Membership

With NTS Educational Membership, your school will support the conservation of Scottishheritage.

There is an additional benefit of free entry to almost all Trust sites. Where there is an entryfee or a charge for a particular learning programme (to cover costs), these will be reducedfor NTS educational members.

Please remember to bring your membership card with you!

If your school does not have NTS Educational Membership, it is possible to join on the day.You can also go to the NTS website: www.nts.org.uk/Learn/schools – or phone the NationalTrust for Scotland’s central office and ask for the Membership Department.

2.2 Learning with the National Trust for Scotland

The school programme offers many opportunities for cross-curricular work and engagingwith the Curriculum for Excellence. Further information for teachers, and freeresources, can be found on the Trust website – www.nts.org.uk/Learn/schools

2.0 The National Trust for Scotland


The Curriculum for Excellence aims to provide a coherent, flexible and enriched curriculumfor pupils aged 3 to 18. It combines a totality of experiences for children and young peoplethroughout their school education, wherever they are being educated.

The purpose of the curriculum is encapsulated in the four capacities: to enable pupils to besuccessful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors.

Our school programmes aim to support the development of the four capacities. A visit to aNational Trust for Scotland site encourages enjoyable learning while developing new skillsand understanding.

A site visit takes learning beyond the classroom, offering teachers a broad range of learningopportunities. It allows their pupils to see the real thing (whether it is an historic building, a gardenor the countryside) and to interact with or use primary sources. Core curriculum elements suchas language and numeracy, and health and wellbeing, can be built into a visit. Different sitesoffer primary sources for Social Studies, Expressive Arts, the Sciences or Techologies.

More information about our policies (such as the Access, Enjoyment and Education Principles)can be found on the NTS website: www.nts.org.uk.

3.0 The Curriculum for Excellence

Spinning wheel, Weaver's Cottage, Kilbarchan





Weaver’s Cottage – Historical information

historical


4.1 Handlooms, Jacquard Looms and Power Looms

Handlooms have been used for centuries. In Scotland, handloom weaving was a cottageindustry with the loom installed within the home. Usually the father weaved the cloth and thefamily supported him by spinning yarn and filling the pirns, so that he had a constant supplyof different coloured yarn and could keep working. In some countries, this cottage industrystill continues.

Handloom weaving is laborious work. It could take a weaver three days to set up the loombefore weaving could begin. The more complicated the pattern, the longer the weaver took toset up the loom and weave the cloth. Good weavers earned high wages because it was difficultwork. Weavers tended to be very clever people. They were known for their literacy andlearning.

Some weavers used draw looms. Draw looms had extra drawstrings on a harness mechanismwhich was attached above and to one side of the loom. The weaver had to employ a drawboyor girl (usually a boy) to pull or draw the mechanism when required. Immensely complicatedpatterns could be produced on draw looms because the extra drawstrings multiplied theweft combinations.

In 1801, the Jacquard loom was patented. This used a chain of pattern cards (with punchedholes to indicate the pattern). Jacquard looms produced complex patterns without the use ofthe extra drawstring mechanism or the use of a drawboy. Handloom weavers would maketheir own designs and punch the cards themselves. They worked out the pattern and thenmade the cards using the binary system.

Jacquard pattern cards are the precursor to computer programming using the binary system!

Jacquard looms were marvellous machines (the original Paisley shawls were created usingthem) but few individual weavers could afford them. The looms were very expensive. Theywere also very tall so, though some were installed in homes, most were in factories.

Back in 1785, Edmund Cartwright had patented a power loom. Over a period of about 40years, its design was modified to increase its efficiency. By the early 1800s, the power loombegan taking over from the handloom. At first, the cotton weavers were more affected. Thewool weavers in Kilbarchan and Paisley could keep going because the power looms (withtheir heavy mechanical action) could not manage fine woollen yarn very well. (In the 1850s,woollen power looms were only a little faster than handlooms; cotton power looms were

4.0 Looms and Weaving


over four times faster.) As well as this, up until the 1860s, Jacquard power looms were lessefficient than handlooms for fancy weaving. This allowed the Kilbarchan handloom weaversa chance to continue and expand their work.

From the 1830s, however, the wages for handloom weavers decreased and, gradually, theirtraditional way of life began to disappear.

4.2 Kilbarchan’s Cottage Industry

By 1695, between 30 and 40 weavers were working in Kilbarchan, making cambrics,muslins and lawns. Expansion began in 1739, when the Barbours set up a linen factory,followed three years later by the Speirs, who made lawns. Striped and spotted muslins werebeing made in 1782 and, by 1791, there were 383 looms in the village. The Kilbarchanweavers produced fancy weaving (opposed to plain weaving) and their work was much indemand. Peak production was reached in the 1830s, when there were 800 looms in thevillage. Most of the looms were the same kind as the one at Weaver’s Cottage.

Even when the Jacquard handlooms and the power looms were taking over in some areasof Scotland, Kilbarchan maintained its tradition of handloom weaving. The Kilbarchanweavers managed to corner a market – they concentrated on smaller, specialised orders andmade high quality woollen cloth with especially complicated patterns, such as tartans. At onestage, the narrow muslin looms were widened so that the weavers could produce ponchosfor the South American market. Because of their expertise, and their willingness to diversify,the Kilbarchan handloom weavers continued to find work. In this way, Kilbarchan was unique.

Even so, Kilbarchan’s cottage industry declined eventually. By 1900, there were only 200looms left. By the 1930s, there were 20 looms, making tartans, and by 1950, there werefour. William Meikle was one of the last handloom weavers in Kilbarchan. His loom wasdismantled and set up at Weaver’s Cottage. This 200 year old handloom is still used today,producing tartans and blankets. The weaver works in exactly the same way as Mary Christieworked in the 1800s – a process which has not changed for hundreds of years.



4.3 Paisley and Paisley Shawls

Fancy weaving was established in both Kilbarchan and Paisley in the second half of the1700s, and expanded rapidly. The weavers produced fine products from linens, muslins,ginghams and, later, silks. Fine silk threads are particularly difficult to weave and requiredskilled craftsmen.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Paisley weavers developed their ‘pine pattern’shawl in ‘imitation of the Indian’. Indian and Persian shawls were highly prized – the bestcould sell for as much as £300, though cheap imitations could be bought for around £20.The Paisley shawls sold for less than the best Eastern ones but were still of a very finequality. They became immensely popular. Many women owned several Paisley shawls fordifferent occasions or seasons.

In 1766, there were 1,767 handloom weavers in Paisley. In 1803, with the new shawlmanufacture, there were 7,000 weavers in the town. The weavers used botany wool for thewarp threads and silk for the weft. At first, they used draw looms to produce the intricatereversible designs and could make individual shawls to order. However, it took two weeksfor a weaver to produce one shawl. On the new Jacquard looms, they could make the sameshawl in one day.

Factories were built to accommodate the Jacquard handlooms. Some factories held hundredsof looms. The factories attracted workers and many families moved to Paisley. Companionindustries were established around the same time, such as the threadmills, spinning millsand dye works. Paisley became a thriving industrial city.

The Paisley shawl industry was at its height between 1805 and 1870. Around 1870, however,fashions changed. Instead of women wearing fine muslin dresses or (later) big crinolinedresses, which suited the large Paisley shawls, they now began to wear dresses with bustles.These dresses were elaborately detailed at the back and women did not wish to hide thedetail with a shawl. Instead, they bought tailored jackets and stopped wearing Paisleyshawls. Paisley paid the price for over specialisation. However, the Paisley pattern itselfcontinued and remains very popular today.



4.4 The Kilbarchan Weavers in the 1930s: an Article(Taken from In Scotland Again by H.V. Morton, 1933)

‘...I turned off at Johnstone and came in time to a place where the Paisley tramcars end.There was a long steepish hill and on the top of it was the village of Kilbarchan, the lastplace left in Scotland where a colony of hand-loom weavers make clan tartans.

I looked through a window which, like most of the windows in Kilbarchan, was low and flushwith the street. Inside sat an old woman at a hand-loom. I heard the clack-clack of the flyingshuttle. The evening sun fell through the window and lit up a piece of red dress tartan whichthe woman was making. I watched her for a long time. She would consult a ticket whichhung on the loom in front of her, change a shuttle loaded with red wool for one loaded withgreen, and then – clackclack, clack-clack, clack-clack – a thin green line would grow on theedge of the red cloth.

I entered and talked to her. She looked at me over the rim of her spectacles and went onmaking the tartan, answering me as she worked. She told me that in Kilbarchan is the lastcolony of handloom tartan weavers in Scotland. Each one is over fifty years old, most ofthem are women and one old man is over eighty.

“And when we’re deid,” she said, “there’ll be nane to come efter us, for the young oneswilna learn the loom!”

Fifty years ago, she told me, there were eight hundred looms working in Kilbarchan, makingclan tartan as fast as they could. Today there are only twenty looms and no apprentices tofollow on.

My visit to the last twenty tartan weavers of Kilbarchan was one of the most delightfulexperiences I have had in Scotland. I would enter a small house. Looms filled the frontrooms. Although it was dusk, the shuttles were clacking like mad, for, as one old lady put it:“Nae weaver wastes daylight.” In some a white-haired woman sat at a spinning wheel andhanded the wool straight from the wheel to her companion at the loom.

The good nature and good humour of these old people went to my heart. They knewnothing except that they were weaving tartan for a cloth merchant. He would send down thematerial and the instructions for the sett. They simply had to follow out the regulationpattern: so many threads of red, so many of green, then so many white, and so on. A quickworker could make from seven to ten yards in a day.



4.4 The Kilbarchan Weavers in the 1930s: an Article (continued)

The pay is one shilling a yard. This seemed miserable to my mind when hand-made tartansells at fifteen or twenty shillings a yard – but the weavers refused to feel under-paid.

“It’s the best Botany wool,” they explained, “and it’s verra expensive. We havena onyresponsibility but to weave it...”

I met Sandy Grey, who is over eighty years of age. He started weaving seventy years ago.He stood in Shuttle Street and told me how Kilbarchan sounded in his youth when eighthundred looms were working from daylight to dark.

I also met William Meikle. Today, he is the only man in Scotland – probably in the world –who can weave two clan tartans at once. These are travelling rugs. On one side is thehusband’s tartan, on the other the wife’s. I watched him at work on a rug of Grant tartan, thereverse side of which was a MacLean. This is probably the most difficult hand-loom jobanyone could tackle.

“How on earth do you do it,” I asked.

“Well, my eye’s on the MacLean and my mind’s on the Grant.”

In a few years’ time loom after loom will become silent and a great and historic industry willbe dead.

“Aye, it’s a tragedy,” said William Meikle, “for there’s no other trade like weaving where aman can make his ain money in his ain hame and sit at the loom watching the flowers in hisgarden.”

William Meikle’s skills became well known and he was asked to weave a tartan for the royalfamily. In 1938, he demonstrated his skills at the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow and, in 1951,was asked to attend the Toronto Exhibition, Canada. He died in 1955.

William Meikle’s loom is now in Weaver’s Cottage – and the craft of handloom weavingcontinues there.



4.5 Weavers’ Wages

Weavers’ average weekly wage 1875 = 18 shillingsRent for a small house = 3 shillings a week

The Cost of Living 1875: Some of the basic items (cheapest brands)Bread, loaf 5d.Milk, pint 1½d.1lb. oatmeal 3d.5lbs. potatoes 4d.1lb. tea 2s. 0d.1lb. sugar 6d.1lb. butter 1s.6d.1lb. bacon 6d.Eggs, dozen 1s. 6d.1lb Jam 6d.1lb. candles 7d.1lb. soap 4d.2 bags of coal 1s.2d.

The cost of some basic items dropped when transport became more efficient (better roadsplus the new railway network).

Old Money – Symbols1 penny 1d.1 shilling 1/- or 1s.1 pound £1

How many?4 farthings (¼d) 1 penny2 halfpennies (½d) 1 penny (halfpenny pronounced hape-nee)12 pennies 1 shilling20 shillings £1



4.6 Glossary

Brassfinisher – industrial work – making brass pieces which could be for steam engines,train carriages and other machines

Draw loom - loom with an additional set of threads added above the main part of the device– this multiplied the variations of a pattern many times over. The loom required a drawboyto ‘draw’ the extra set of threads for the weaver (move them into place when required).These looms needed greater ceiling height so were not used in Kilbarchan. They were usedin special weaving sheds in Paisley

Fancy work - silk or wool woven in complicated, very fancy patterns

Flax dresser - someone who combed out (untangled) the flax threads so they could bewoven into linen cloth (Robert Burns became a flax dresser in Irvine briefly)

Handloom - loom where cloth is woven by hand by the weaver

Jacquard loom - could be a handloom (originally) or later a power loom. Used patterncards to dictate the pattern of the cloth, and greatly speeded up the weaving process.Weavers designed the patterns by punching holes into the cards, using the binary system

Lawn - fine woven linen

Linen - from the plant called flax, once grown and harvested all over Ayrshire and Renfrewshire

Loom - device in which warp and weft threads are woven together to form a fabric. Thebasic principles of a loom are the same now as they were in prehistoric times

Pirn - a reel or bobbin; the spool in a shuttle

Plain weave - simplest form of woven cloth – warp and weft threads being wovenalternatively over one and under one

Power loom - loom running on steam power (looms now run on electric power)

Shuttle - the pirn is put into the shuttle. The shuttle passes the weft thread between thewarp threads, and so weaves the cloth

Warp - the series of threads running up and down the cloth (longitude)

Weaving - the interlacing of two sets of threads over and under each other to form a fabric

Weft - the series of threads running across the cloth (horizontal)



5.1 Introduction to the Cottage

Weaver’s Cottage stands as a testimony to Kilbarchan’s handloom weaving industry. Thecottage was built in 1723 by the Brydein family (their names are on the lintel over the frontdoor). In 1801, William Christie bought the cottage, and his descendants lived there until theearly 1950s.The furnishings and fittings within the cottage are mainly Victorian and present aview of pre-Industrial life for a working class family – without electricity, gas or running water.In the weaving shop, tartans and blankets are still woven on the handloom, using a methodnot changed since the 1700s. The pretty cottage garden contains plants which the weaver’sfamily may have grown (including some suitable for making dyes).

5.2 The Christie Family

In the mid-1800s, there were two families living in the cottage, one on either side of theclose. The Christies rented out the rooms to increase their income. (The 1861 censusshowed twelve people – including the McIntyre family, consisting of husband and wife,grandfather and three children.)

In 1871, William Christie, his wife Janet and four daughters (Jessie, Mary, Joanne andAgnes) lived in the cottage. They were still living there in 1881.

On the census records 1871 1881Name Age Occupation Age OccupationWilliam 37 Brassfinisher 47 BrassfinisherJanet 35 45Jessie 10 Scholar 20 Wool weaverMary 8 Scholar 18 Wool weaverJoanne 4 Scholar 14 Wool weaverAgnes 2 12 Scholar

Mary Christie made a sampler which is on display in the cottage. Her sister Agnes nevermarried and remained in the family home. There is a photograph of her standing at thecottage door, also on display.

After the death of Miss Agnes Christie, the cottage passed to Mr and Miss Simpson, who wereWilliam Christie’s great-great-grandchildren. They offered it to the National Trust for Scotland in1953. In 1957 the Trust opened the cottage as a museum of the local weaving industry.

5.0 Weaver’s Cottage


5.3 Mary Christie’s Story - a Child in 1875

My name is Mary. I am twelve years old. I live with my family at Number One Shuttle Street,Kilbarchan.

I have three sisters. My elder sister is called Jessie. She is fourteen years old. She leftschool last year and is now a wool weaver. My two younger sisters are called Joanne andAgnes. Jo is eight and Aggie is six.

My parents are called William and Janet Christie. My father is a brassfinisher at the locomotiveyard where trains are built. My father makes brass pieces for the steam engines and thecarriages.

At one time, my father would have been a weaver. Fifty years ago, there were 800 handloomsin Kilbarchan. The weavers did fancy work which meant that they wove silk or woollen clothinto very fancy patterns. The weavers’ work was much in demand and they could earnbetween thirty and sixty shillings a week, which is an awful lot of money.

It is very different now though. Now there are about half that number of looms in the villageand many of the weavers are women and girls. The best handloom weavers might earn tenshillings a week.

My father says that the Jacquard [Jack-ard] looms and the power looms destroyed the fancyweavers’ trade. The Jacquard looms are handlooms but they use pattern cards to make thefancy patterns. In Paisley, an ordinary handloom weaver might take two weeks to weave aPaisley shawl but, using a Jacquard loom, it only takes one day. Paisley has factories full ofJacquard looms now – so lots of shawls are made.

The power looms are big machines. They are very noisy but they do the weaving for you!They are not handlooms. Instead, they are powered by steam. Many factories have powerlooms now.

We don’t have any weaving factories in Kilbarchan. We still have the old handlooms in ourhomes. My sister Jessie weaves woollen blanket cloth on our handloom. She does outwork.That means that she gets an order from the blanket manufacturer to make so many lengthsof cloth in a month, and she has to make sure that she does them. She works very hard butshe still only earns six shillings a week.



5.3 Mary Christie’s Story - a Child in 1875 (continued)

I go to school. Three years ago, there was a law passed which said that all children must goto school five days a week, except in the school holidays. We must attend school until weare thirteen years old. My mother was not very pleased when the law was passed. She saidthat, when she was a child, the boys went to work and the girls stayed at home and helpedout. I help out before and after school. I wind pirns for Jessie and I look after my youngersisters.

At school, I learn reading, writing and arithmetic. We also have drawing and nature studies.Every Wednesday afternoon, the girls have sewing and the boys have football. We all haveto do drill. My mother thinks that it is unseemly for girls to do drill.

Sometimes, I play out with my friends. We like playing peevers in the street. We get a stoneand mark out the scotch in the dirt. If a horse and cart comes along, we have to move out ofthe way though. The cartwheels sometimes run over our scotch so then we have to mark itout again.

If it rains, the street becomes very muddy. When Aggie was younger, she loved makingmud pies and jumping in the puddles. Aggie can be very naughty so I have to watch herclosely.

The boys often play football in the street. If they haven’t got a ball, they use a stone or a tin.I like football but when the boys go bird-nesting, I stay behind because I don’t enjoy that.

I love school but I know I will have to leave soon and find a job. I expect I will become awool weaver like Jessie. I really want to go to university but girls don’t do that sort of thing.


Mary’s account has been imagined, using information about the Christie family andKilbarchan in c1875.


The Christie family


Weaver’s Cottage – Pupils’ Activities

pupils’ activities

• Gathering evidence at Weaver’s Cottage

• Classroom and whiteboard work


6.0 Pupils’ Activities

6.1 Activity 1 – Primary Sources

Objectives:• Identify and analyse primary source material on a visit to Weaver’s Cottage.

• Demonstrate an understanding of the use of primary source materials forhistorical research.

• Use the photographs and census returns included in the Weaver’s CottageResource Pack for further information on the Christie family and life inKilbarchan in the Victorian or pre-Industrial period.

Curriculum for Excellence

Social Studies: People, past events and societiesLiteracy and EnglishTechnologies: ICT to enhance learning

Activity 1 – On site

• Look for primary (original) source materials in Weaver’s Cottage which giveyou information about the Christie family and life in Kilbarchan in the Victorianperiod. For example, the sampler created by Agnes Christie and thephotograph of Agnes Christie standing in the doorway of the cottage.

• Ask members of staff to identify further primary source materials during your visit.

• Ask pupils to list the primary sources they find on site.

• Think about how the National Trust for Scotland has represented life inWeavers Cottage during the Victorian or pre-Industrial period.



Activity 1 – In class

Download the photographs and census returns from the Resource Pack ontoan interactive whiteboard to complete the following activities.

Early & First Levels

Download the archive photographsfrom the folder onto your interactivewhiteboard.

Ask pupils to look carefully at thephotographs. Look at how the peopleare standing, what they are doingand what they are wearing.

Use the zoom, highlight, magic pen orcamera tools to help pupils pick out orselect and isolate some of the detailsfrom the photographs. Talk about, forinstance, clothes, houses and transport.

Use the split screen function tocompare two images (the two streetscenes or the photograph of the bellringer and the Stephenson family forexample). Discuss the images as a class orin small groups. Use the speech/ thoughtbubbles on the interactive whiteboardto note ideas.

Use the split screen function to comparea modern street scene with a streetscene from the archive photographs.

Second Level

Follow the activity suggestions for Early &First Levels.

Download the transcripts of the censusrecords for the district of Kilbarchan for1871 & 1881. Use the zoom, highlight ormagic pen tools to help pupils pick outsome of the details and answer thequestions on the census sheets.

Produce a table and ask pupils to use thepen tool towrite their answers on theboard.

Discuss whether photographs andcensus returns are reliable sources ofinformation for finding out about the past.

Ask pupils to consider what things we canlearn from photographs and censusreturns. What information don’t they tellus? Discuss other useful sources forinvestigating the past.

Ask pupils to consider how peoplein the future might find out about us.

Pupils could create a Facebook styleprofile page for Agnes Christie usingpower point and share it with theclass using the interactive whiteboard.

6.1 Activity 1 – Primary Sources (continued)



6.2 Activity 2 – Object Hunt

Objectives:• Identify and describe domestic objects from the past.

• Compare and contrast the materials used to make domestic items from thepast with modern materials.

• Explain the difference between original and replica objects.

• Examine the use of objects in historical displays.


Social Studies: People, past events and societiesLiteracy and EnglishTechnologies: Craft, design, engineering


Early & First Levels Second Level Third & Fourth Levels

Ask pupils to selectsignificant objects whichthey feel tell the story ofWeaver’s Cottage. Thinkabout the historicalsignificance of theobjects and how theymight tell the story of thepeople and their dailylives.

Ask pupils to consider whythe items on display havebeen chosen and whatother methods of displayor information sharingmight be used to tell thestory of Weaver’sCottage.

Learn the names of thehistorical objects in thecottage.

Remember the uses ofcertain objects in thecottage.




Download the photographs of the objects in Weaver’s Cottage onto aninteractive whiteboard.

Early & First Levels

Conduct a class ‘guessthe object game’. Whatcan they remember? Askpupils to say the name ofthe objects or to write theirideas on the whiteboardand then to reveal thecorrect answer.

Use the click to reveal,rub & reveal ‘show/hide’or screen shadefunctions on yourwhiteboard.

6.2 Activity 2 – Object Hunt (continued)

Third & Fourth Levels

Discuss the merits of usingreplica objects in historicaldisplays and describe theissues of reliability associatedwith this method ofinterpretation.

Search the internet forexamples of display orinterpretation methodsused at historic sites (e.g.panels and display boards,interactive games, onlinesources, hand-held guides).

Ask teams of pupils tochoose a selection ofdomestic objects andcreate a power pointpresentation showingcontent for a mobile app ora web page describingdomestic life in Weaver’sCottage.

Ask pupils to show theirpresentation to the classusing the interactivewhiteboard.

Second Level

Pupils could folow theactivity for Early & FirstLevels.

Use the pen tool and thelist of descriptive wordspupils generated duringtheir visit to create ‘clues’to each object.

Use the internet or galleryfunction to find pictures ofthe modern equivalent ofthe historical objects inWeaver’s Cottage. Drag &drop or cut and paste theimages onto yourwhiteboard and use thesplit screen function tocompare the objects.

Compare and contrast thematerials used to makemodern domestic objectswith the materials used inthe past.

Ask pupils to think aboutthe objects they would



Activity 2 – In class (continued)

Early & First Levels Second Level

need to include in a displayto show how a modernkitchen works. Create adisplay in class usingmodern domestic objectsalongside pupils’ drawingsand information about theirhistorical equivalent. Write‘museum’ labels.

6.2 Activity 2 – Object Hunt (continued)




6.3 Activity 3 – Weaving Words

Objectives:• Use careful observation in the weaving shop to analyse and describe the

handloom weaving process.

• Order the sequences in the spinning and weaving process and describe thekey pieces of equipment used by the weaver.

• Use the information gathered in the weaving shop to create a piece ofimaginative writing.


Social Studies: People, past events and societiesLiteracy and EnglishTechnologies: Craft, designExpressive Arts: Dance


• Watch the handloom weaver at work and try some of the jobs performed bychildren in the past.

• Ask pupils to observe the weaving process closely and then to identify andsequence the key pieces of weaving equipment shown.

• Imagine life as a handloom weaver.

• Identify and list words which describe the experience of being in the weaving shop.




• Download the photographs of weaving and spinning from the folders onto yourinteractive whiteboard. Ask pupils to use the pen tool to label the photographsof the equipment and drag the images into the correct order to show thestages of the weaving process. You can also download the illustrations andwatch the video clip of the spinner and weaver at work.

• You may wish to show pupils the film of The Weaver’s Talewww.nts.org.uk/ScotlandsStories/WeaversTale/

• Ask pupils to produce a list of adjectives which recreate the experience ofbeing in the weaver’s shop. Use the pen tool to write them on the whiteboard.Use the shape pen to draw a simple chart and ask pupils to drag the wordsinto categories, ‘I touch’, ‘I smell’, ‘I see’, ‘I hear’.

• Review the descriptive words produced in the weaving shop and use the pentools to write a class poem or Haiku about weaving on the whiteboard.

Extension Activities

• Record pupils reading parts of thepoem using the microphone tool

• Use the recording as the backgroundto a short dance performance.

• Split pupils into groups and ask themto pretend to be a part of the weavingprocess.

• Create a dance or use Strip theWillow (a weaving dance).

• Look at the photographs and readextracts of Mary Christie’s story.

Extension Activities

• Produce a job description, personspecification and advertisement for therole of handloom weaver in 1871.

• Look at the photographs and readMary Christie’s story. Ask pupilsto think about their typical day, theirhobbies, school life and hopes for thefuture. Ask pupils to create a journalisticpiece of writing describing a typical dayor a piece of imaginative writingdescribing a day as a Victorian child.

6.3 Activity 3 – Weaving Words (continued)




Extension Activities (continued)

• Ask pupils to describe the things theydo during a school day and then toimagine themselves as a Victorianschool child. What would be the same?What would be different? Use theinteractive whiteboard to create asimple chart and ask pupils to usethe pen tool to write their ‘same’ and‘different’ words on the board.

• Create a Victorian school day.

Extension Activities (continued)

• Use the information in the pack andgathered at the cottage. Consider thetasks of a weaver and the skillsrequired. Compare this with modernjobs.

The loom

6.3 Activity 3 – Weaving Words (continued)



6.4 Activity 4 – Sensory Mood Board

Objectives:• Use the sights, sounds and textures discovered on a visit to Weaver’s Cottage

to create a Weaver’s Cottage sensory mood board.

• Use the mood board as a stimulus to create a textile, art & design or ICT-basedinterpretation of the visit.

• (Second, Third & Fourth Levels) Create a guide to Weaver’s Cottage for other visitors.


Expressive Arts: Art and DesignTechnologies: ICT to enhance learning; TextilesHealth & Wellbeing


• Ask pupils to use their senses to gather evidence from the house and gardenat Weaver’s Cottage.

• Ask pupils to record their impressions using, for example, sketches, colour charts,photographs (garden only), rubbings (ask site staff for permission) and soundrecordings.


• Use the evidence gathered on site to create a mood board.

• Choose and explore textures, colours, design elements and materials.

• Explore a variety of media to produce a visual representation of your visit.

• Use the mood board to create a woven object, textured picture or, using ICT, acreative multi-media presentation or product design.




Early

Download the quiltand/or paisley patterndesigns from the folderonto your interactivewhiteboard. Ask pupilsto use their impressionsof the colours found atWeaver’s Cottage tocolour parts of the quiltand/or Paisley patternillustrations using thepaint bucket tool. Oruse the pen tool to drawa simple quilt or Paisleypattern and ask pupils tocolour the pattern bypicking appropriatecolours from the colourmenu.

Use the mood board andclassroom work to createa woven object using apaper plate, paper latticeor chicken wire frame.

First & Second Levels

Using the mood board forinspiration and a simpleframe, create a piece ofweaving.

Choose sound recordings,images, text effects andcolours to create an ICT-based Weaver’s Cottagepicture or presentation.

Ask pupils to use theinteractive whiteboardto show their presentationsto the class.

Create a guide for youngervisitors (which could bedownloaded) using simplewords, pictures and sounds.


Using the mood boardfor inspiration, create afabric design using ICT.

Design an item of clothingusing your mood boardand fabric design.

Create a sound guide toWeaver’s Cottage for avisually impaired visitor.You may wish to contactdisability groups in yourarea for advice andsupport with this activity.

Ask pupils to use theinteractive whiteboardto present their work to theclass.

6.4 Activity 4 – Sensory Mood Board (continued)


Contacts

The Property ManagerWeaver’s CottageThe CrossKilbarchanGreater Glasgow & Clyde Valley PA10 2JGTelephone: 01505 705588Email: [email protected]

The National Trust for ScotlandHermiston Quay5 Cultins RoadEdinburgh EH11 4DFTelephone: 0131 458 0200Email: [email protected]: www.nts.org.uk

The National Trust for ScotlandLearning ResourcesEmail: [email protected]: www.nts.org.uk/Learn/schoolsWeaver’s Cottage: www.nts.org.uk/Learn/schools/sitespecific

Database of Scottish weavers:Trades House of GlasgowTrades Hall85 Glassford StreetGlasgow G1 1UHwww.tradeshouse.org.uk/individual-crafts/weavers/database-of-scottish-weavers.aspx

The Worshipful Company of WeaversSaddlers' HouseGutter LaneLondon EC2V 6BRWebsite has a very useful history section and glossary about weavingWebsite: www.weavers.org.uk

7.0 Contacts and Resources


Resources

BookWeaving with children, Ute Fischer, Anna Cardwell (translator), Floris Books, 2011

NTS WebsiteThe Weaver’s Tale: http://www.nts.org.uk/ScotlandsStories/WeaversTaleHow to Set Up a Loom (part of a series of how to...):http://www.nts.org.uk/Multimedia/View/How-To-Set-Up-A-Loom

Other WebsitesWeaving: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/weaving

7.0 Contacts and Resources

Tatty champer, oatcake roller and butter pans


Wedding teapot

Building inscription

Documents

The National Trust for Scotland – Working Places Resource Pack