On
the 3rd of September
1760, James Wilson was
born in Kirk Street
within the parish of
Avondale. The family of
Wilson had long been
weavers. Among the
best-known weavers of
the name was Wilson of
Bannockburn. For over a
century and a half their
firm wove checks and
tartans. They supplied
the Government with the
tartan for the highland
regiments, and following
the repeal of the Act of
Proscription in 1782,
they collected ancient
setts, designed others
and were in the thick of
the tartan revival of
the 19th century.
James Wilson of
Strathaven was believed
to be the inventor of
the stocking-frame, on
which the pearl stitch
could be worked and due
to this - was commonly
known as "Perley
Wilson".
James Wilson commenced
business for himself
around 1780. Although
the industrial
revolution had left
little work for the
semi-independent
handloom weaver.
From 1800 onwards "Perlie"
was chiefly employed as
a tinsmith, or in
repairing of clocks and
guns, or rearing and
training pointer dogs
and in shooting game in
the proper season. He is
known to have Practised
in the medical
profession, composed
scraps of poetry,
chiefly sarcastical,
but with good effect!
He was a freethinker on
religious subjects. He
told serious Christians
"he was not of their
religion". Nothing
pleased him so much as
any small tract that
either exposed the
measures of the British
Government
or the Christian
Religion.
He procured a copy of
Thomas Paines "Age of
Reason" - a work that
chiefly condemned the
established churches of
the day - by the famous
radical Paine - who was
surprisingly himself the
son of a quaker. Wilson
also procured a pamphlet
termed "The God of the
Jews", and some other
deistical tracts. He
read them and repeated
their tenets and lent
them to all that would
pursue them.
Perley Wilson commenced
his political career
around 1792, when some
of the Whig members of
parliament formed
themselves into a
society named the
"Friends of the People".
A society, agreeable to
their recommendation was
formed at Strathaven. It
consisted at first of
the Commissioners of
Supply, Heritors and
respectable and
intelligent people of
that parish; and James
Wilson and others of his
rank,
seemed to attend only as
spectators.
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