of the house at 34 High Road. Some people in the village have said there was

another common bleaching field at the Lady’s Well, now filled in, in the field

at the bottom of the village, although this field may not have been used for

bleaching linen, but only as a domestic drying green.

By the time of the first detailed census in 1841 handloom weaving was

already in decline nationally, although it increased in Strathkinness for several

years, before it began to decline fairly rapidly. Out of a population of 507 in

Strathkinness in 1841 there were 74 weavers, 31 of whom were women. Some

of the weavers were children between 13 and 15 years old. There were also 15

yarn winders; all were women and all except 2 were over 50 years old and most

of them nearer 70. As at that time there was no poor relief for persons

capable of earning enough to support themselves, however meagre that amount

might be, they were no doubt compelled to work.

In the 1851 census the number of linen hand-loom weavers in Strathkinness

had increased to 101, the majority of them women. There were no yarn

winders recorded. By that time the yarn was being prepared in mills and

distributed to the weavers who were usually tied to one manufacturer, who

might also have the control of the finished linen.

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