Wet Sma' Shot.

           Well Paisley's Sma' Shot Day passed without its bands, drums banner, flags, march and burning of the "Cork", as I stated in a previous post, the town fathers had decided to cancel it, well, they didn't say that in words, but did in deeds. The said it would be an online affair, which just means that it was cancelled. How do crowds march through the streets with banners, music and noise, end up in a flat bit of town and carry out the annual ceremony of burning the "Cork", while sitting at home looking at a screen?
        However this working class struggle and victory was marked on the street in Paisley by a small group of die-hard working class warriors. The "Cork" turned up, with his ill gotten money sticking out of his hat, pockets and sleeves, but wasn't burnt on this occasion, literature was handed out, but the weather decided not to be on their side and it poured buckets. Undeterred the event went ahead, the stall, the "Cork" and leaflets, explaining about the Sma' Shot Day and the Radical Paisley got distributed. If you missed the event, enjoy the photos.

 

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Sma' Shot Day, Burning The Cork.

 

       Paisley was a famous weavers centre producing intricate patterns that became world famous. Like all workers, the bosses tried to get as much profit out of them as they could, and pay them as little as possible. In Paisley this came to a head with a long and bitter strike in 1856, in which the strikers won their battle. Each year now the strike is celebrated on the first Saturday of July with a march and a celebration of the burning of the "Cork".

 Photo courtesy of Paisley.org.uk

    
 This from Radical Glasgow History Project.

THE PROBLEM.

      In the 19th century the intricate patterns of the Paisley weavers work was held together by an unseen strong thread called the Sma' Shot. This secret stitch held together Paisley's famous shawls and without the stitch the patterns would come apart. The weavers had to pay for the thread but the fact that it was unseen meant that the manufacturers who purchased the patterns would not pay for the cotton in the sma' shot.

CONFRONTATION.

       By the middle of the century the Paisley weavers were fed up with the bosses tight-fistedness and decided to take strike action. In 1856 after a long and bitter dispute the bosses caved in and the weavers won their claim to be paid for the hidden thread.

CHARLESTON DRUM.

    The original Charleston, (a district in Paisley) drum which historically was used to rally weavers in times of disputes, is now in the Paisley Museum, a copy of the original drum is now used to rally the masses on Sma' Shot Day. The climax of the celebrations on Sma' Shot Day is the burning of an effigy, in top hat and tails, representing “the Cork” who was the despised boss in the days of the dispute.

LONGEST RUNNING CLASS WAR CELEBRATION.

      From 1856 the first Saturday in July, a traditional Paisley holiday was named “Sma' Shot Day. This celebration of the weavers victory continued until 1975. For a few years it seems to have been dropped but in 1986 the tradition was revived and continues today.

 The loom that drove the weavers from cottages to factories.

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