[Proc IoM Nat History & Antiquarian Society vol 6 no 1 pp39/45 1960]

The Manx Woollen Industry through the Centuries

J. W. Cowley, B.Sc.

In talking of 'Industry'. we need to remember that until the nineteenth century there were not the mills and large works, which we now associate with this word, in England or elsewhere. Also, until the Industrial Revolution, the manufacture of woollens was the most important and the most widely diffused industry in England. It was protected and encouraged, along with that of cotton, by very stringent laws and restrictions, which, as far as the Isle of Man was concerned, were intensified by the smuggling of the eighteenth century. No export whatever of woollen or cotton goods was permitted from the Island until well into the nineteenth century — an exception was made for linen — so that all manufacture of woollens was entirely for home consumption.

All our Manx industries have had sharp 'ups' and 'downs'. The once flourishing Ship-building and Linen industries have completely vanished, and Mining, Fishing, and Brick-making are now at a very low ebb. As we all know, in recent years, serious efforts have been made to supplement our two main occupations of Agriculture and Catering for tourists, by establishing various 'light industries'. This is not a new idea in our Manx history, As long ago as the end of the seventeenth century, William, ninth Earl of Derby, prepared a memorandum of light industries to promote the welfare and prosperity of the Manx people. This memorandum has a surprisingly modern outlook,

One of these 'light industries', the manufacture of woollens, has been carried on in the Island for centuries; indeed the manufacture of cloth material is one of mankind's most ancient industries. Until the period of the Industrial Revolution at the end of the eighteenth century, the processes of manufacture of woollens remained almost unchanged from primitive times. (Interestingly enough, for the making of fine linens, many of the hand-processes were retained in the nine teenth century). In that century the processes of manufacture were transferred from the home to the mill. Water-wheels provided the power for Manx mills which were thereby necessarily small.

Prior to the nineteenth century, washing, carding, and spinning of wool was done at home by the women of the family, and in each district there was one, or more, 'fidder' — weaver — with his hand loom, and also frequently a dyer, who made his own vegetable dyes from herbs,

In the Manx Museum there are displayed the hand 'machines' for these crafts of carding, spinning, and weaving, and there are many beautiful samples of woollen fabrics, including very fine carpets, made long ago in the Island. Canon Quine in his succinct history (1911), says that these home industries have quite disappeared, and that the spinning-wheel is no longer found, except as an ornament in the drawing-rooms of the wealthy. To day this is not true; these hand crafts are again practised by many people, and taught in schools and colleges. In recent years, Mrs. Taggart has given demonstrations at the Manx Agricultural Shows and she made on her small hand-loom a coat-length of 'loghtan' wool for Major Brownsdon from the wool of his own Manx flock.

Manx hillside farms are suitable for sheep-rearing: over 400 years ago. Bishop Meyrick reported on the many good flocks of sheep on the Island, Sacheverell in his account of the Island, 250 years ago, says, 'They have a remarkable breed they call "laughtown," and the wool when carefully dressed makes a cloth near a Hair colour, which is one of the greatest natural rarities of the country'.

The origin of this Manx breed of sheep has been ascribed to castaways from vessels of the wrecked Spanish Armada, but like similar tales about Manx cats, rumpy hens, and the inhabitants of Cregneash there is no supporting evidence for the theory. The breed more probably came much earlier from Scandinavia; there were somewhat similar sheep in the Shetland Islands The name 'loghtan' refers to their distinctive brownish colour.

In 1945 a Viking grave at Cronk Mooar, Jurby, was excavated and in it were found fragments of a woollen cloak; these fragments were examined by an expert on very early textiles. There was little doubt. that the wool resembled that of the present-day loghtan. This suggests that the breed had been present in the Island for a thousand years. Following the evidence obtained from other excavations on older sites, Mr. Megaw thought that the breed was much older still. Mr. Thomas Quayle in his View of the Agriculture of the Island (1812), feared that, owing to the influx of foreign breeds, the loghtan would be lost. Thus in 1812 permission was given for the importation of 300 sheep. Quayle says, 'Much mischief has been, and still is done to the quality of Manx wool, by the importation of a Scottish breed with much coarser wool'. He also says that the esteem in which cloth and stockings made from loghtan wool is held is a sort of national distinction.

Blundell in his account of the Isle of Man, 1650, says, 'I did see the late Lord of Man, James, Earl of Derby, to wear an entire suit of this wool'. This Lord of Man, the Great Stanley — beheaded at Bolton in 1651 — brought over English artisans to teach improvements and refinements in cloth-making. In his grandson's time a system of prizes for the encouragement of good work was established. Whoever in each sheading should spin the best yarn or produce the best web of cloth should receive 20/- in addition to the value of the yarn or cloth, and the best weaver in the Island should receive £4 additional.

In modern times the loghtan was saved from extinction by Mr. Bacon of Seafield (now Arragon); he wore a suit of this wool woven, at Moore's Mills, St. John's. Lady Butler also had a costume of the same material from the same firm. After Mr. Bacon's death in 1916 several people acquired his Manx sheep, among them were Mr. E. T. Christian, Ballacallin, Patrick, Mr. Quirk, Ballawattleworth, German, Sir Mark Collett, Mrs, Lascelles and Major Brownsdon . .. In my early boyhood, I remember the thrill of the wool-washing in the shallow mill-dam at Ballig bridge

Carding is so called from the name of a thistle head or teasel. In essence the process consists of combing the wool to disentangle the tussocks and to lay the fibres in parallel order ready for spinning. A special form of wire brush was originally used, in which the teeth were inserted obliquely through a piece of leather backed with wood. The first carding machine was apparently invented by Lewis Paul in Birmingham in 1748, but Hargreaves brought out a much better machine about 1760. Hargreaves had the backing of Mr. Robert Peel, grandfather of the famous Sir Robert Peel.

Arkwright soon introduced substantial improvements. In Arkwright's first mill at Nottingham the power was supplied by horses; but in his second factory at Cromford, near Matlock, power was provided by a waterwheel. Our Manx carding-mills consequently date from the nineteenth century,

In the fourteenth century, continental weavers settled in England and it is thought that they may have brought a form of the spinning wheel. Its refinements are of a later date, particularly the addition of the treadle, which allowed the spinner to use both hands. The first spinning-jenny used in the Island was in the Ballasalla cotton factory of De La Prime, 1779-1791.

In the sixteenth century the Manx woollen yarn was as a rule unbleached; its brownish-grey colour is 'keeir'. When the yarn was woven by the 'fidder' the cloth was not milled in any way, but straight away made into clothing. This unmilled cloth was 'kialter'. Later the word 'kialter' was applied more particularly to a heavy flannel In the seventeenth century public taste was unsatisfied by this un dressed cloth and it was sent to the fulling-mill, In the Island these mills were usually called tuck-mills; though later a tuck-mill came to mean a small factory for weaving cloth and flannel. In the Manorial Roll (1515), only two fulling-mills are specifically listed, that of John Wode in Santon and of John Genor in Patrick,

By 1658 the existing fulling-mills were altogether inadequate, as cloth sent to be fulled was sometimes kept for a year before it could be treated. In that year Tynwald ordered the erection of several new fulling-mills, so by 1703 there are listed additional mills in Malew, Braddan, Patrick and German, Gill locates the German tuck-mill at Ballig bridge and he says that the noise of the milling 'freckoned' the fairies from their haunt in the then wild, desolate Glion Mooar up into Beary Mountain. He says, too, that the mill now stands roofless The present well-preserved building there, locally called the Tuck Mill, and used as a wool store, was built about 1820 by Ann Killey of Ballakilley, German. It was in use as the carding-mill for Moore's mills until about 1920. Its machinery was driven by a water-wheel,

Fulling involved two processes, the first being that of cleansing the cloth from oil and grease. (Cf. Fuller's earth, and fuller's herb — soapwort.)

For this purpose urine from farms was used till well into the nineteenth century, (Urine is rich in ammonia.)

The second process was that of thickening the cloth by pressure. In the early nineteenth century this process was achiieved by pounding the cloth with heavy wooden mallets in a special trough to which soap was added as a detergent (Grease tends to mar the felting action of the fibres).

In 1704, cloth-fullers were forbidden to deliver any cloth from their mills until four men of the Great Enquest of their parish had viewed the cloth and found it to be sufficiently dressed.

Feltham. a very acute and accurate observer, treats each parish in detail in his Tour (1708). Corn-mills and flax-mills were numerous, but he mentions only six tucking-mills, four in Lezayre which he does not locate, one in Laxey, and one in German, He gives details only of that in German; he locates the mill near St. John's; he names the proprietor, Mr. Craine. He says that the latter had also a bleaching ground and a beating-engine for calendering which was erected about 1790, and was the only one of its kind in the Island. Calendering is the process of pressing cloth between hot rollers to make it smooth and glossy. So it is evident that by this time considerable refinement in cloth-making had taken place.

An earlier Mr, John Craine had built, in 1728, a fine mansion-house at Ballahowin, now Glynmoar, and planted beech trees around it The trees still stand, but the house which remained intact was pulled down about 1920

Mr. Craine's up-to-date mill of 1790 was probably at Ballakilley, not at Ballig bridge. (Ballahowin corn-mill still stands; it was in use from 1515 until this century.)

I remember seeing in my boyhood, at a cottage sale, a length of 'linssy-wulssy'. a very hard-wearing cloth of linen and wool. It was said at the time that this piece of material was over 100 years old, and no doubt was made in Craine's mill.

Early in the nineteenth century the Craine family ended, and the business passed successively to Ann Killey of Ballakilley, the Crellin family of Ballig, and by 1843 to Mr. John Moore, who had married Jane Crellin, He enlarged and extended the dyeing and weaving business, and in 1846 built a large three-storeyed mill and dye-works midway between Ballakilley and Ballig bridge. The power was supplied by a water-wheel, still intact in position. His grandson built the extensive modern Tynwald Mill about 1920, and his great-grandson is now head of the firm. This mill is powered electrically. In it, unlike those of Yorkshire, all the processes are carried out from raw wool to high grade cloth, There has thus been a continuous woollen industry in this area for 200 years.

As already stated, the restrictions on exporting woollen goods from the Island were eased early in the nineteenth century, and subse quently a number of woollen mils were established where there was sufficient water-power. Mrs. Bullock in her history (1816) says that with the increased importation of sheep — up to 500 annually — it is hoped that the manufacture of woollens will soon be a staple industry. The earliest of the new woollen-mills was that of Mr. Wm. Kelly at Union Mills, adjoining the old corn-mill of Doway. Because of the shortage of silver coins at that time, Mr. Kelly issued cardboard money tokens for 5/- These had pictures of the old corn-mill and the new woollen-mill on its faces, resulting in the adoption of the name Union Mills, Mr. Kelly's trade mark was aptly 'Flail and Fleece'. His mill was completely burnt out in 1828. It was rebuilt and refitted by Messrs. Grellier of Ballasalla, By 1843 it had passed to Mr. Wm. Dalrymple, and later to Mr. Dalrymple Maitland, S.H.K. It closed down last century; the premises subsequently were adapted as a laundry; today there is a cotton factory there. The Memorial Chapel at Union Mills, built 1853, commemorates Mr. James Dalrymple

Through the efforts of Sir John Bowring, M.P., who took an active interest in Manx affairs, the stringent duties and licences imposed by Parliament were substantially relaxed by 1844 and virtually abolished by 1853.

This resulted in a large increase in Manx trade and manufacture, and from this date to the end of the century the larger Manx woollen mills really prospered

Moore says that the introduction of steam power from about 1850 also contributed to an expansion of their output.

But the smaller mills were adversely affected by the same factors, and many of them, which were mainly carding and cloth-scouring mills, closed down in the period roughly 1860-1880. Among these were such well-known mills as that of Robt. Mullen of Myllin-e-Kiarty (Silverdale), Hugh Bell of Castle Ward, Wm. Quayle of Creg-Willy Sill, Matthew Senior of Ballabrooie (Patrick) and Philip Kelly of Ballawyllin (Baldwin).

Southward's Mill at Sulby was established there before 1843, but it is not mentioned in an 1837 Directory. It was carried on by successive Southwards well into this century. About 1933 this mill was taken over by two former employees of the Tynwald Mills, It is now closed.

In 1881, Mr. Egbert Rydings established the St. George's Mill on the Morris-Ruskin plan in Laxey. Later this mill was ran by Mr. Holroyd; it has subsequently had several changes of ownership, There had been earlier dyeing, bleaching and carding mills in Laxey; Messrs Corlett and Southwood carried on such a business from 1830 to 1855 approximately. Both Feltham (1798) and Lord Teignmouth (1835) give vivid accounts of bleaching operations carried on in Laxey glen, Seaweed ashes were used for the purpose.

Also about 1860, Mr. George Lawton established a woollen-mill in Glen Auldyn; this closed between 1920 and 1930. The Bowring Mill of Mr. George Forster in Onchan is perhaps the most difficult to trace. His business was established in Bigwell Street, Douglas, by 1840. By 1846 Mr. Forster had, in addition, a warehouse in the New Road, Douglas, and the Bowring Mill in Onchan. In Wood's Atlas he owned a plot on the upper part of the stream from the Clypse. The address given in an 1857 Directory is New Road Hill and in 1882 simply Onchan. By 1889 there is no mention of the mill. About this time the skilled weaver in Moore's Mills, St. John's, was a Mr. Forster (and the latter's son was also named George).

Prior to the nineteenth century there was no wages' 'spiral'. Wages were fixed in the seventeenth century and they remained almost un changed for a hundred years or so. The system was called yarding. Woollen weavers and cloth fullers received ½d per yard of blanket cloth, Ploughmen received 13/4d. annually plus board and lodging, and carpenters and masons 4d. a day with meat and drink, i.e. £6 p.a. By mid nineteenth century men labourers received from 5/- to 8/ per week without rations

Apropos of money-tokens, book-keeping in the woollen trade (as in the brewing trade pacticularly) was done by tallies until mid nineteenth century. These were notched sticks which fitted into cach other, the farmer kept one, the mill the other. You may remember that this system was used by the British Treasury, and when it was abandoned by the Treasury the wooden tallies were used as fuel in the heating-stoves in St. Stephen's Hall, Westminster, resulting in its being burnt down in 1834.