Manufactures and Trade.--The grant of erection of Paisley as a burgh of barony is interesting, as giving us some knowledge of the commoner articles then bought and sold in the place, but we have little more indication of them till the close of the 17th century. In 1695 the population is given as 2200, and about the same time Principal Dunlop tells us in his Description of Renfrewshire that by the river `boats came to Paisley with Highland timber and slates--6000 in a boat--fish of all sorts, and return with coal and lime.' There must too have been manufactures by this time, for Crawford, whose History of Renfrewshire was published in 1710, says that `This burgh has a weekly mercat on Thursday, where there is store of provisions. But that which renders this place considerable is its trade of linen and muslin, where there is a great weekly sale in its mercats of those sorts of cloath; many of the inhabitants being chiefly employed in that sort of manufactory.' About the same time Hamilton of Wishaw described Paisley as `a very pleasant and well-built little town; plentifully provided with all sorts of grain, fruitts, coalls, peats, fishes, and what else is proper for the comfortable use of man, or can be expected in any other place of the kingdome.' The town then consisted of one principal street (High Street), about half a mile in length, with a few lanes branching off from it.
     The free-trade with England opened up by the Union in 1707 tended to develop the manufactures, and considerable quantities of imitation striped muslin and linen checks called Bengals were made and disposed of, the latter, however, only in small quantities. By 1730, when the first disastrous effects of the Union had passed off, and the benefit of the free-trade with England and the Colonies had begun to be felt, the linen trade increased greatly, and the maker, instead of selling to wholesale merchants in Glasgow, began to make journeys into England on his own account; while the manufacture of handkerchiefs was mostly replaced by that of goods of lighter texture, some of them plain lawns, others striped with cotton, and others richly figured. This manufacture had, for 1786, a value of £165,000, but it is now extinct. The manufacture of white sewing thread made from linen yarn and known as `ounce' or `nuns thread' was introduced in 1722 by Christian Shaw, famous for her connection with the Renfrewshire witches [see BARGARRAN], and Paisley soon became the chief seat of its production. By 1744 there were 93 thread mills, and by 1791 137 mills turning out goods valued at £60,000 a year, a sum which was afterwards exceeded. Through the action of competition, however, and the introduction of cotton thread, it fell off almost as rapidly as it had risen, and by 1812 Paisley had only 12 mills fully at work making linen thread alone. As, however, the use of linen fell off, that of cotton grew, and the manufacture of cotton thread is now one of the staple industries of the place, giving employment to over 5000 persons. About the middle of the 18th century a considerable amount of linen gauze was manufactured, and in 1759 a beginning was made with silk gauze in imitation of that of Spitalfields. The success of this new departure exceeded all expectation, and being vigorously prosecuted, the whole silk-gauze trade was soon centred here, and considerable quantities of goods sent not only to England and Ireland, but also to the Continent. Within the next twenty years silk gauzes had become the chief manufacture, not only in Paisley but also in Renfrewshire, and this state of matters lasted till 1784, when changes in fashion led to a rapid falling off, very soon ending in the total extinction of the trade for some time. It revived in 1819, but has again declined, and is almost extinct. During the decay of this trade after 1784 the manufacture of muslins was set agoing as a substitute for it, but after a short time of prosperity it too fell off by the removal to Glasgow of the principal manufacturers engaged in it. It is, however, still carried on in one or two establishments.
     The manufacture of the shawls known as Paisley shawls, for which the town had long been celebrated, was introduced during the best period of the muslin trade, and though at first limited and confined to the manufacture of soft silk shawls, it at length outstripped the muslin, and, branching out in various lines, became for many years one of the leading industries of the town. In consequence, however, of the change of fashion, Paisley plaids are not now worn, and the trade is consequently not in its former thriving condition. Imitations of India shawls were made in soft silk, in spun silk, in cotton, and in mixtures of the three. Ladies' dresses also were made of the same materials, in the same style of raised work on white grounds with small figured spots. Imitations, likewise, were made in silk of the stripped scarfs and turbans worn by the natives of oriental countries, and called zebras. Closer imitations of real India or Cashmere shawls were next produced from mixtures of fine wool and silk waste. Yet notwithstanding the energy and enterprise displayed, the Paisley manufacturers found to their great astonishment that France could produce shawls superior in quality to those of home manufacture, a result obtained by the use of genuine Cashmere wools. Thus set on their mettle, the home producers also imported their wool, much of it in the form of yarn, while the improved Jacquard loom enabled them to turn out better work. Much cloth, also, for Cashmere shawls and plaids was imported from France and from England merely to be filled up and finished in Paisley. The patterns of the Paisley shawls were contrived with reference to the best patterns of India and France, but with individually characteristic details. Besides these, there are several very extensive starch and corn-flour works, bleach works, machine works, chemical works, soap works, dye works, print-works, brick works, preserves works, a brewery, a distillery, shipbuilding yards, and the extensive works of Doulton & Co.
     Between 1786 and 1791 the Cart was rendered navigable for ships drawing not more than 5 feet of water; and between 1835 and 1842 attempts were made to deepen and improve it still farther, at a cost of over £20,000, but not very successfully, a reef of rocks across the bed of the river preventing any great depth from being reached. A scheme for the further improvement and deepening of the river was begun in 1885, when borrowing powers for £100,000 were obtained from Parliament, and since then commodious quays have been erected and the river made navigable for vessels drawing 15 feet of water. Further works are in progress, and it has been decided to provide railway connections, &c. Between 1838 and 1844 shipbuilding was vigorously carried on, the swiftest river steamers then on the Clyde having been built at Paisley; and for the Cart must be claimed the honour of having definitely settled the advantage of iron over wood in the construction of ships. The Cart Trust consists of 6 representatives from the town council and 3 from the ratepayers, including a chairman and a deputy-chairman.
      As in all weaving towns, the fluctuations of trade and the consequent disastrous change in the condition of the working-people connected with the manufactures have been very great. The causes may be inferred from what has been said as to the changes in the industries. So many persons were thrown out of employment about 1840 that for a considerable time nearly one-third of the entire population became dependent on public charity, and the depression continued so long and looked so hopeless that many of the artisans emigrated. The number of inhabited houses in 1841 was 10,133, and in 1846 only 9694, showing a decrease of 439, which must have represented about 2000 persons, and in 1847 and 1849 the mortality rose from fever and cholera to nearly 1000 above the average. The whole state of the weavers and the weaving trade has, too, since then been almost totally changed by the introduction of steam-power and of large factories. `Previous to 1818,' says Mr. David Gilmour, `when the shawl branch of our local industry was in its infancy, so to speak, both weavers and their boy-helps must have had comparatively easy lives; but onward for many years, so long, indeed, as the weavers remained masters--for latterly the boys ruled them--things assumed a very different aspect. As the shawl trade waxed, the trade in silk, gauze, and other fine fabrics waned; and the manners and general bearing of those engaged appeared to me then, and still appear to my mind, as different as the goods they manipulated. At the (late just named, the inhabitants numbered 34,800, of whom there were from 6000 to 7000 weavers, and of these not fewer than from 4000 to 5000 required the assistance of a drawboy; now [1874], when the population has reached 50,000, the weaving body is reduced to 1750, only 750 of whom are on the electors' roll, and there is not one drawboy in town. New industries, steam-power, and the Jacquard machine have all contributed to the changed character of the people-in some respects for the better, and in others for the worse. In old times every weaver, being his own master, came and went at his convenience; when he took a day's pleasure--fishing, curling, bowling, or berrying, as the case may happen--he made up work for it before or after, as pleased him; the loom was his own property; and he was answerable to his employer only. The introduction of the Jacquard has changed that condition of the weaver entirely. With only 1750 looms in town, there are not, I presume, over 750 owners of looms, all the other hands being but "journeymen," who are not responsible to the manufacturers but only to the master weaver. With the loss of social standing, the old spirit of independence and much of the greedy intellectual research have vanished; what these have been replaced by I will leave others to name and designate. Handloom weaving factories have no doubt done much to destroy that peculiar individuality of character for which the class was noted, when the town was one huge weaving factory of master weavers, and the well-being and comfort of the whole population were directly or indirectly dependent on the produce of the "shuttle e'e." The picture had its shade as well as its sun, however. When trade failed, which from its fancy nature and other causes it did frequently, want and its accompanying wail were all but universal; it was only the provident that escaped destitution. Many of these having saved some money were induced to feu a piece of ground, and had a house built for themselves, which, from ever recurring stagnations of trade, fell into the hands of the superior. At this day not one of whole streets of houses built from the savings of weavers remain in the possession of the original feuars or their descendants.'
     Of a total population in 1891 of 66,425, no fewer than 14,806 males and 10,152 females were engaged in industrial handicrafts, or were dealers in manufactured substances, and of these 3008 males and 7453 females were connected with work in textile fabrics. Of these, 610 men and 118 women were connected with the manufacture of wool, 17 men and 25 women with that of silk, 539 men and 5144 women with the manufacture of cotton and linen (including thread), and of these totals, 373 men and 4468 women were connected with thread works alone; while 1718 men and 2015 women were undefined weavers, factory hands, scourers, dyers, etc., of whom 206 men and 1139 women were factory hands-and 35 men and 51 women were connected with the manufacture of fancy goods, tapestry, etc.
     Public Buildings, etc.--The Municipal Buildings, formerly the County Buildings, which stand along the side of an open area in the centre of the town, were built in 1818 at a cost of about £28,000, and enlarged about 1850 at a cost of £10,000. They form a quadrangular castellated pile, with projecting hexagonal turrets on the front. The new County Buildings, Italian in style and opened in 1890, are situated in St. James Street, and cost about £25,000. They contain the county hall, with committee rooms and sundry other apartments for the various county officials, police cells, and justice of peace court hall. The Sheriff Court House, in the same street, and contiguous to the new County Buildings, forms another magnificent edifice in the Italian style, and was opened in 1885, having cost about £15,000. The court hall can accommodate about 300 persons. The Post Office, in County Square, was opened in 1893, and took the place of that in St. Mirren Street. Its style of architecture is Tudor or Domestic Gothic, which has been adopted so as to have the office in harmony with the Municipal Buildings and those of the Joint-line station. From ground floor to the ridge of the roof the height is 40 feet. The public office, on the ground floor, is 40 feet long by 20 wide, and 15 feet from floor to ceiling. The sorting room, immediately behind this, is 57 by 25 feet, and is lighted from the roof. The telegraph room is on the floor above the public office. When the late premises were opened in 1876 there were 6 clerks and 17 postmen; on the opening of the present premises, 17 clerks and 59 postmen. The Central (Gilmour Street) railway station, which has been entirely reconstructed, possessing separate platforms with distinct lines for the Caledonian and Glasgow and South-Western railways, is close to the Municipal Buildings. The platform is, as has been already noticed, high above the level of the town streets. The George A. Clark Town Hall, one of the most magnificent halls in Scotland, was erected in the New Town from a bequest of the late George A. Clark of New Jersey, connected with the firm of J. & J. Clark, thread manufacturers, who left £20,000 for the purpose--the difference between this sum and the actual cost of the hall (£100,000) having been subscribed by the three surviving brothers of the Clark family, and the organ, a splendid instrument costing £3500, erected at the expense of the venerable mother of the family. The hall was designed by Mr. Lynn of Belfast; and its foundation stone, at the corner of Abbey Close and Smithhills Street, was laid in October 1879. The main front to Abbey Close somewhat resembles St. George's Hall, Liverpool, and shows a pediment with six Corinthian columns, each 30 feet high, over massive square piers, between which are the entrances. On the N side is a small portico with Ionic pillars. Rising above the side next the river are two square towers, of which that to the N contains a clock and bells, and that to the S is used as a ventilating shaft. The large hall indicated by the chief portico has floor space of 80 by 60 feet, and the total space is 130 by 60 feet. It is seated for 2000 persons, and has galleries, cloakrooms, orchestra, etc. The organ is in a richly-carved oak case, designed in the Ionic style, and measuring 45 feet high, 32 wide, and 15 deep. There are 49 sounding stops and 11 couplers, and the instrument is remarkable for its balance of tone. The N portico indicates a smaller hall, with accommodation for 300 persons. The clock in the N tower is a very fine one, with a double gravity escapement, and the quarter-hours and hours are chimed and struck on a peal of six bells with the notes D, C, B flat, F flat, F, and E flat, the last weighing 20 cwts. and being used for striking the hours. There is also a carillon of bells, with the notes F, E flat, D, D flat, C, B flat, A flat, G, F, and E flat, which ring a different tune for each day of the month. They are played by keys, and are the finest in Scotland. The statues in the niches of the bell tower represent the seasons. They were executed by Mr. James Young, Glasgow. The hall was opened on 30 Jan. 1882 amid great rejoicings, and the smoking and reading-rooms, which are on the S side, on 20 June of the same year. In close proximity to the hall is a bronze statue (1885), by Mr. John Mossman, of its founder. The Free Public Library and Museum, on the N side of High Street, was erected in 1869-71, at a cost of over £15,000, the whole expense of the building having been defrayed by the late Sir Peter Coats, on condition that the town adopted the Free Libraries Act. In 1877 a large collection illustrative of the natural history and manufactures of India was presented to the museum by Mr. R. M. Adam of Agra, and a large addition had to be made to the museum, Sir Peter Coats giving the additional ground required, and also ultimately the sum needed for the new building; while his brother, the late Mr. Thomas Coats of Ferguslie, undertook the erection of portions behind the main structure to be used as an observatory, entrance by Oakshaw Street. Opened in 1883, it contains an excellent transit instrument, a good telescope, and other appliances. It is under the management of the Philosophical Society, and is open to strangers on any day by ticket obtainable from a member of the Society, and to the people of Paisley thrice a week at a small charge. The structure is Ionic in style, with a tetrastyle portico and wings. The principal entrance is from High Street, and is reached by a flight of steps leading to an entrance hall, and the other portions of the building contain a lecture hall (50 by 35 feet), a reading-room and library, a museum, a picture gallery, a reference library, and committee and cloak rooms. The reading-room and library contain about 20,000 volumes, of which over 9000 were received from the old Paisley library established in 1802, while the reference library contains nearly 10,000 volumes. The nucleus of the contents of the museum and over 5000 of the books in this valuable reference library were presented by the Paisley Philosophical Society, which was originally established in 1808. Other public buildings are the Baths, the Good Templars' Hall (1881), the Masonic Hall (1883), the Liberal Club, the Conservative Club (1880), the Neilson Institution (1852), and the Drill Hall. The Barracks in the suburb of Williamsburgh, to the E of the town, on the S side of the Glasgow road, erected in 1822, and with accommodation for a battalion of infantry, are now disused and empty. On the opposite side of the road are the militia barracks. The Coffee-room buildings at the Cross, erected in 1809, Ionic in style, are now occupied by the Savings Bank. The Exchange Buildings on the E side of Moss Street, erected in 1837, and occupying the site of a former flesh market, are now partly used as a theatre. The Infirmary, in Bridge Street, dates from 1784, but the present building was erected about 1850. There is a dispensary attached. The new infirmary at Calside, Neilston Road, was built in 1896-97. Towards its erection a sum of £15,000 was given by the trustees of the late W. B. Barbour, formerly M.P for the burgh. In connection with the new infirmary a Nurses' Home, to accommodate thirty inmates, was presented by Peter Coats, jun., Esq., its cost to be £10,000. Gleniffer Home for incurables is at Corsebar Road. The poorhouse for ABBEY parish, about a mile SSW of the town near Riccartsbar, is an Elizabethan structure (1850), with buildings disposed round two courts, and with accommodation for 655 inmates. Beside it is the parochial lunatic asylum, which has accommodation for 98 inmates; and further W is the burgh lunatic asylum, erected in 1876. This has a main building of T shape, with a large entrance-hall and kitchen, dining-hall, etc., in the central portion. The wards for male and female patients are on each side, and the engine-house, washing-house and laundry, are behind the main building. The cost, exclusive of site, was £12,500, and there is accommodation for 203 patients. Paisley Burgh Poorhouse has accommodation for 283 inmates. The Cemetery, laid out in 1845, is on Woodside ridge in the Old Town, and includes the old Broomlands churchyard, which was laid out about 1779. It is beautifully situated and laid out, and contains some good monuments, including that to Algie and Park already noticed; one erected by public subscription in 1867 in memory of the Chartists Hardie, Baird, and Wilson, who were executed at Stirling and Glasgow in 1820; one to Fillans, with a fine figure of Rachael weeping for her children; one to the Rev. Patrick Brewster (1788-1859), long minister of the Abbey church; one to Andrew Park (1807-63), a local poet; one to Brodie, the donor of the Brodie Public Park; and a memorial cross at the grave of the late Mr. Thomas Coats, which with basement and what may be described as the pedestal, stands 22 feet high. The cross, elaborately carved, is sculptured out of a single stone, and its dimensions are 11 1/2 by 3 1/2 feet across the arms. There is a fine new cemetery at Seedhills, and there are also burying-grounds at several of the churches. Belonging to the town are also the Peter Brough Bequest Fund and the Duncan Wright Endowment.
     Three bridges cross the river Cart (exclusive of the railway bridges), and connect the old and new towns. The old stone bridge at the end of High Street used to be very narrow and inconvenient, as were also the other two, but under the Improvement Act of 1877 they have all been greatly widened and improved, the old Sneddon (Sneddon was acquired by the town in 1655 and feued in 1749. The name is supposed to be a corruption of Snowdoun.) bridge (now known as Abercorn Bridge) and Seedhill or Abbey Bridge having been reconstructed with iron girders, and the Old Bridge itself again further improved in connection with the erection of the Clark Hall. When the first tolbooth was erected is not exactly known--seemingly by Abbot Tervas in the 15th century--but by the middle of the 18th century the existing one had become very insecure, and in 1756 the magistrates resolved to erect a new one at the Cross, on the same site, at a cost of £325. It had a steeple of considerable height, which remained till 1870. It was perfectly sound till 1868, but in that year a deep drain dug near it injured the foundation, which had already become somewhat insecure in consequence of the street level having been lowered, and it began to lean over in a dangerous manner. It was at first shored up, but was ordered to be taken down in 1869. An unsuccessful attempt was made to interdict the magistrates from removing it, and it disappeared completely in 1870. It was at the Cross steeple that public executions latterly took place, and the bats to which the gibbet was fastened are now in the museum. The Abbey grounds were first feued in 1757 by Lord Dundonald, and a considerable portion of the Abbey ruins were used as building material by the feuars in the erection of the houses adjoining the Abbey. Some of these were removed in 1874, including the town houses of Abercorn and Dundonald, but others still remain. A house in High Street in the old Scottish style, with the arms of the Sempills on its front, was erected in 1862 on the site of Lord Sempill's old town mansion. In 1618 the town council erected a Town's Hospital on the N side of High Street with materials taken from the old chapel of St. Roque, and part of the building became subsequently a school. In 1723 the old building was taken down, and a new one erected, which contained a public hall and a clock steeple known as the `Wee Steeple,' in which there was a bell which was rung when funerals were passing. On one part of it was the inscription

and on another--

The school was removed to a building in School Wynd in 1788, and in 1807 the whole buildings were disposed of, and the house No. 82 High Street erected on the site. The house in which Professor Wilson--Christopher North--was born, on the S side of High Street, and another house in which he spent his boyhood, also in High Street immediately to the W, both still remain directly opposite the Free Library, though the first has been altered. The position of the house in which the poet Tannahill was born, in Castle Street, is marked by a tablet placed on the house that now occupies the site; and the house in which he spent most of his life and wrote most of his songs--a cottage built by his father still stands in Queen Street further to the W. The house, in Seedhill, in which the poet and American ornithologist, Alexander Wilson, was born, was demolished in 1841, but the house by which it was replaced is marked by a marble tablet with the inscription--`This tablet was erected in 1841 by David Anderson, Perth, to mark the birthplace of Alexander Wilson, Paisley, poet and American ornithologist.' A statue of Wilson was erected within the Abbey grounds in 1874 at a cost of about £700. It consists of a bronze statue 7 feet 6 inches high, resting on a pedestal of grey granite 10 feet high. The figure, which was modelled by J. G. Mossman, Glasgow, shows the naturalist leaning against the stump of a tree with a bird in his hand, while his gun is behind him, his hat and portfolio at his feet, and his favourite blue parrot close at hand. Not far distant is the bronze statue erected in 1883 as a memorial of Tannahill the poet. The statue is 7 feet 6 inches high, and is set on a red granite pedestal. The motive is furnished by a bronze bas-relief affixed to the front of the pedestal. This shows three country girls, of whom the centre one is singing from a ballad which she holds in her hand, while her companions listen. There is a tradition that Tannahill during a solitary country walk once heard a group of girls thus intently occupied with one of his own songs, and the statue here represents the poet in the supposed attitude of an unseen listener. The statue and bas-relief were designed and executed by D. W. Stevenson, A.R.S.A., Edinburgh. The total cost was about £1200, and the funds were provided by a series of annual concerts which had been given on the braes of GLENIFFER. By a continuation of the same open-air concerts a sum of money was acquired sufficient for the erection of a bronze Burns statue. It is from the design of Mr. F. W. Pomeroy, stands in the Fountain Gardens on a red granite pedestal, with a panel containing a scene from Tam o`Shanter, and was unveiled by Lord Rosebery on 26 September, 1896. In 1894 statues were erected to the memory of Sir Peter and Mr. Thomas Coats at a cost of about £2000 each, and it was agreed to erect one to the memory of Mr. W. B. Barbour. The Fountain Gardens, on the N side of the town, between Love Street and Caledonia Street, and extending to over 7 acres, were acquired and laid out, at a cost of about £20,000, by the late Mr. Thomas Coats of Ferguslie, and handed over by him to the town in 1868. The ground was originally laid out early in the century by an old citizen, Mr. John Love, and was named Hope Temple Gardens. It was acquired by Mr. Coats in 1876. The site was then well laid out and belts and clumps of trees planted between the walks, which converge on a central fountain, while there is a smaller fountain at each of the four angles of the gardens. One of the trees is an oak grown from an acorn taken from the celebrated Wallace Oak of Elderslie. In 1877 an additional place of recreation for the public was provided at Carriage Hill to the S of the town. This was the ground known as the Brodie Park, which was bequeathed for that purpose by Mr. Robert Brodie in 1871. It covers about 22 acres, and, inclusive of the sum spent in laying it out, cost about £19,000. The central part of the racecourse, to the NW of the town, about 40 acres in extent, has by Act of Parliament become the property of the community, and is now named St. James's Park. Dunn Square is an ornamental open space presented to the town in 1892 by William Dunn, M.P. for the burgh. It adjoins the Town Hall, and cost over £4000. In 1894 the Quarry Grounds, Mill Street, were reserved and converted into a public park or open space for the benefit of the inhabitants of the east end of the town.