Domestic Industries and Out-door Labour. 139 



of Isobel Swan, a spinning mistress in Putachieside, 

 Aberdeen. 



Long before these laudable efforts had been put forth 

 the very prosperity of the trade, apparently, through 

 the strong export demand, had led to systematic attempts 

 being made to deteriorate the manufacture. So early 

 as the tenth year of Queen Anne, an Act was passed to 

 prevent " diverse abuses and deceits " in making linen 

 cloth, and for regulating the length, breadth, and equal 

 sorting of the yarn. A subsequent statute of George 

 II., applied directly to "serges, plaidings, and fingrams," 

 and " knit stockings." What we gather from various 

 " advertisements " issued by the Justices of Peace and 

 Deans of Guild of Aberdeen, is, that many of the spinners 

 and weavers contravened the statutes "by making serges 

 and fingrams of unequal wool and yarn ; and by work- 

 ing the same unequally, having three or four elns of 

 the first end of each piece considerable better than the 

 rest of the piece :" also that "they continued to draw 

 and overstretch the same after they are wrought, whereby 

 the cloth is much prejudged, and by shrinking after it 

 is bought, the buyers become losers ;" and they made 

 them of "unequal and irregular lengths," and too narrow 

 in the breadth. Their perverse ingenuity had even got 

 the length of thickening the cloth with batter, "whereby 

 the faults and thinness of the work cannot be so well 

 perceived." The practice with stockings had evidently 

 been none better: and so the statute of George II., 

 which provides under penalties that all serges and fing- 

 rams should be " of equal work and fineness from one 

 end of the piece to the other," the narrow fingrams to 

 be twenty-eight inches in width, and the broad thirty- 

 eight inches ; also provided that " all stockings that 

 shall be made in Scotland shall be wrought and 

 made of three threads, and of one sort of wool and 

 worsted, and of equal work and fineness through- 

 out, free of left loops, hanging hairs, and of burnt, 

 cutted, or mended holes, and of such shapes and sizes 



