Sally Tuckett

Transatlantic Threads shows how studying the making, use and meaning of a relatively low-cost, utilitarian cloth like linen, broadens our understanding of eighteenth-century Scotland and the wider Atlantic world. Different types of linen cloth were used across society everyday: from fine shirts worn by the rich, to coarse aprons worn by labourers; from expensive bed sheets, to canvas used for ships’ sails. Eighteenth-century linen production was a Scottish economic success story, with thousands of people working to produce millions of yards of yarn and woven cloth. It was also how Scots became inextricably linked with transatlantic trade and the slavery economy, as the desire to capture the colonial market was a key driver for developing coarse linen production. Using a material commodity to explore everyday experiences of ordinary people, particularly women, non-elite and enslaved people, Transatlantic Threads examines the cultural and social significance of linen in Scottish and transatlantic society.

The story of Scottish knitting: the first critical history and analysis of a local craft turned international icon. From Fair Isle patterning to Pringle jumpers, Scottish knitwear is internationally renowned and instantly recognisable. This open access study unpicks the distinctive place of knitting in the Scottish landscape, economy, and culture from the 19th century to today. Recent reappraisals of the industrial revolution and traditional craft economies, and the recent revival of hobby knitting during the Covid-19 pandemic, have raised new questions about the roles of social communities, sustainability and women’s domestic work in the textile industries. Tracing its story from raw material to final product, from home-spun clothes and crafts to luxury markets and industrial-scale production, Knitting in Scotland investigates the Scottish knitting trade’s remarkable survival across two centuries of economic and cultural modernisation. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by UKRI.

Transatlantic Threads shows how studying the making, use and meaning of a relatively low-cost, utilitarian cloth like linen, broadens our understanding of eighteenth-century Scotland and the wider Atlantic world. Different types of linen cloth were used across society everyday: from fine shirts worn by the rich, to coarse aprons worn by labourers; from expensive bed sheets, to canvas used for ships' sails. Eighteenth-century linen production was a Scottish economic success story, with thousands of people working to produce millions of yards of yarn and woven cloth. It was also how Scots became inextricably linked with transatlantic trade and the slavery economy, as the desire to capture the colonial market was a key driver for developing coarse linen production. Using a material commodity to explore everyday experiences of ordinary people, particularly women, non-elite and enslaved people, Transatlantic Threads examines the cultural and social significance of linen in Scottish and transatlantic society.