Sma' Shot Cottages
Introduction Today, I am reporting on the Sma' Shot cottages in Paisley which have links with the town's historic weaving industry. Sma' Shot Cottages, Paisley, Scotland Information on Sma' Shot Cottages Paisley in the West of Scotland has historic links with the weaving and textile industries dating back to the 18th century, and earlier. From this town emanated the eponymous Paisley Pattern and Paisley Shawl. Today, I am focusing on a small row of cottages which provide a tangible link with the weaving industry of days past. Sma' Shot is Scots-English for Small Shot which in turn was a cotton thread which bound all the colourful weft (thread or yarn drawn through warp yarns to create cloth) threads into the warps of the Paisley Shawls. Because the sma’shots were invisible to the eye in the finished product the manufacturers refused to pay weavers for the particular thread. This triggered a long commercial dispute between manufacturers ...