Harris Tweed fabric, mid-20th century Harris Tweed (Clò Mór or Clò na Hearadh in Gaelic), is a luxury cloth that has been handwoven by the islanders on the Isles of Harris, Lewis, Uist and Barra in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, using local wool. Harris Tweed is a luxury textile, hand-made on the Isle of Harris, Western Isles, Scotland. ...
Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
// Scottish Gaelic (GÃ idhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. ...
It has been suggested that Textile be merged into this article or section. ...
Tweed loom, Harris, 2004 Woven sheet Weaving is an ancient textile art and craft that involves placing two sets of threads or yarn called the warp and weft of the loom and turning them into cloth. ...
An Cliseam from the Abhainn Mharaig, just off the main road to Lewis. ...
For other uses, see Lewis (disambiguation). ...
The Uists are the central group of islands in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. ...
Castlebay, Barra Traigh Eaig beach This article is about the island of Barra in Scotland. ...
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) redirects here. ...
This article is about the country. ...
For other uses, see Wool (disambiguation). ...
Traditional Harris Tweed was characterized by subtle flecks of color achieved through the use of vegetable dyes, including the lichen dyes called "crottle" (Parmelia saxatilis and Parmelia omphalodes which give deep red- or purple-brown and rusty orange respectively).[1] These lichens are the origin of the distinctive scent of older Harris Tweed.[2] Parmelia is a genus of lichen (strictly, a genus of fungus) with around 1000 species world wide. ...
Parmelia is a genus of lichen (strictly, a genus of fungus) with around 1000 species world wide. ...
Production The original name of the cloth was tweel, the Scots for twill, the cloth being woven in a twilled rather than a plain pattern. A traditional story has the current name coming about almost by chance. About 1830, a London merchant received a letter from a Hawick firm about some tweels. The London merchant misinterpreted the handwriting understanding it to be a trade-name taken from the name of the river Tweed which flows through the Scottish Borders textile areas, subsequently the goods were advertised as Tweed, the name has remained so ever since.[3] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 Ã 590 pixelsFull resolutionâ (1,356 Ã 1,000 pixels, file size: 377 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 Ã 590 pixelsFull resolutionâ (1,356 Ã 1,000 pixels, file size: 377 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 212 KB) Harris tweed loom Author: Wojsyl, 2004 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Weaving Harris Tweed ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 212 KB) Harris tweed loom Author: Wojsyl, 2004 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Weaving Harris Tweed ...
For other uses, see Loom (disambiguation). ...
Scots refers to the Anglic varieties spoken in parts of Scotland. ...
A twill weave can easily be identified by its diagonal lines. ...
, Hawick (IPA []) is a town in the Scottish Borders in the south east of Scotland. ...
There are other rivers with this name: see Tweed River The River Tweed at Abbotsford, near Melrose The River Tweed at Coldstream The River Tweed (156 kilometres or 97 miles long) flows primarily through the Borders region of Scotland. ...
Scottish Borders (often referred to locally as The Borders or The Borderland) is one of 35 local government unitary council areas of Scotland. ...
Scotland was the second country to experience the Industrial Revolution, very shortly after England. The mainland turned to mechanisation but the Outer Hebrides retained their traditional processes of manufacturing cloth. Until the middle of the 19th century the cloth was only produced for personal use within the local market. It was not until between 1903 and 1906 that the tweed-making industry in Lewis significantly expanded. Production increased until the peak figure of 7.6 million yards was reached in 1966. However, the Harris Tweed industry declined along with the textile industries in the rest of Europe. The only major promotional success of Harris Tweed in recent years has been the Nike "Terminator". A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world. ...
For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...
Mechanization refers to the use of powered machinery to help a human operator in some task. ...
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) redirects here. ...
Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...
For other uses, see Lewis (disambiguation). ...
This article is about the unit of measure known as the yard. ...
Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ...
For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...
Promotion may mean: Promotion (chess), a term used in the game of chess Promotion (marketing), a marketing term Promotion (rank), an increase in position in a hierarchy Promotion (academic), German academic degree that is roughly equivalent to the Ph. ...
Nike, Inc. ...
Every length of cloth produced is stamped with the official Orb symbol, trademarked by the Harris Tweed Association in 1909, when Harris Tweed was defined as "hand-spun, hand-woven and dyed by the crofters and cottars in the Outer Hebrides". Queen Elizabeth II held a globus cruciger, called the Sovereigns Orb, for her coronation portrait in 1953. ...
â(TM)â redirects here. ...
Machine-spinning and vat dyeing have since replaced hand methods, and only weaving is now conducted in the home, under the governance of the Harris Tweed Authority, established by an Act of Parliament in 1993. Harris Tweed is now defined as "hand woven by the islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the islands of Harris, Lewis, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and Barra and their several purtenances (The Outer Hebrides) and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides."[4]
Contemporary expansion
The Nike Harris Tweed Shoe The American company Nike recently used the fabric to update a trainer called The Terminator, a basketball shoe from the 1980s. They ordered 10,000 metres of cloth from mills on the Isle of Harris, using a design by Donald John Mackay, who lives and works in Luskentyre on the island. The latest project DJ is working on is with the American company ‘The Healthy Back Bag Company’ who will be launching a new range of Harris tweed and leather bags in August 2007. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Sneakers Sneakers are footwear of flexible material, typically featuring a sole made of rubber. ...
This article is about the sport. ...
The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ...
This article is about the unit of length. ...
An English businessman has recently (Dec 2006) bought control of Scotland's renowned Harris tweed industry. Yorkshire entrepreneur Brian Haggas bought KM Group which produces 95% of Harris Tweed and was on the market for four years. Mr Haggas, 75, who owns textile firm the John Haggas Group, also bought Parkend, a tweed mill on the outskirts of Stornoway on Lewis in the Western Isles. The industry employs around 100 mill workers and 150 home-based weavers and makes the world's only commercially produced hand-woven tweed. Business has been in decline for a number of years and the KM Group recently shut one of its two mills, with all work being transferred to Stornoway. Look up Yorkshire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
This article is about the town in Scotland: for other uses, see Stornoway (disambiguation) , Stornoway (Steòrnabhagh in Scottish Gaelic) is a burgh on Lewis (Leòdhas), in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. ...
The Western Isles are an archipelago in Scotland. ...
The fictional character Robert Langdon from the DaVinci Code wears Harris Tweed, as does the fictional detective Miss Marple, and Glasgow University Rugby Football Club. Vivienne Westwood is a fan of Harris Tweed - her brand logo is very similar to Harris Tweed's logo. Robert Langdon (June 22, 1964 in Exeter, New Hampshire, United States) is a fictional professor of religious iconology and symbology at Harvard University who appeared in the Dan Brown novels Angels and Demons (2000) and The Da Vinci Code (2003). ...
The Da Vinci Code book cover The Da Vinci Code is a novel written by American author Dan Brown and published in 2003 by Random House (ISBN 0385504209). ...
Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple Jane Marple, usually known as Miss Marple, is a fictional character appearing in twelve of Agatha Christies crime novels. ...
Glasgow University Rugby Football Club is a rugby football club formed in 1869 to promote buggery. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
See also Catherine Murray, Countess of Dunmore (31 October 1814, London â 12 February 1886, Inveresk), was a British peeress and promoter of Harris Tweed. ...
The Lewis Loom Centre is the heart of the Harris Tweed industry. ...
The following are the principal native vegetable dyes used in Scottish Gaeldom, with the colours they produce. ...
Tweed is a rough, unfinished woolen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. ...
A twill weave can easily be identified by its diagonal lines. ...
Notes - ^ Fraser, Jean: Traditional Scottish Dyes, Canongate, 1983
- ^ J.C.T. Uphof, Dictionary of Economic Plants, Hafner, New York, p. 210, cited at Bibliographical database of the human uses of lichens retrieved 20 May 2007
- ^ Dunbar cites Scots philologist W. F. H. Nicolaisen's suggestion that this "too plausible" explanation may be folk etymology, noting a use of "twedlyne" in 1541, and suggesting "tweedling" in parallel to "twilling" as the origin of "tweed"; see John Telfer Dunbar, The Costume of Scotland, p. 150.
- ^ Harris Tweed Authority, "Fabric History", retrieved 21 May 2007.
Folk etymology is a term used in two distinct ways: A commonly held misunderstanding of the origin of a particular word, a false etymology. ...
External links References - Dunbar, John Telfer: The Costume of Scotland, London: Batsford, 1984, ISBN 0-7134-2534-2 1984 (paperback 1989, ISBN 0-7134-2535-0)
- Fraser, Jean: Traditional Scottish Dyes, Canongate, 1983, ISBN 0-8624-1108-4
|