Harris Tweed: A Cloth Protected by Its Own Act of Parliament

Each major claim carries one of three labels. established means supported by primary records, official bodies or several independent reliable sources. shared means the core fact is sound but sources disagree on details, dates or interpretation. traditional means widely repeated but not traceable to a primary or independent source.

The legal and trademark history is well documented. The weaker points are early dates and the origin of the word "tweed". Sources disagree on the year the Earl of Dunmore died and on when Harris cloth was first sold commercially. Production figures also vary by source and by whether they are given in yards or metres.

Cloth for the islands

established For generations, people in Lewis, Harris, Uist and Barra wove woollen cloth by hand from the wool of their own sheep, for their own families. In Gaelic it was Clò Mòr, "the big cloth". It was thick, warm and suited to the islands' weather. Only in the 19th century did it begin to be sold to outsiders.

Lady Dunmore and the first market

shared The person usually credited with creating that market is Catherine, Countess of Dunmore, widow of Alexander Murray, 6th Earl of Dunmore, who owned the Harris estate. Sources give the Earl's death as 1843 or 1845. In 1846, according to the Harris Tweed Authority, she had the Murray family tartan woven in tweed by Harris weavers. She then promoted the cloth to her wealthy friends and arranged exhibitions and sales, and orders spread to merchants across the country. Accounts differ on when the first commercial piece was sold.

Where does the word "tweed" come from?

traditional The popular story says that around 1831 a Hawick firm wrote to a London merchant, James Locke, about "tweels", the Scots word for twill cloth. The merchant misread it as "tweed", thinking of the River Tweed, and the name stuck. It is a good story and an old one, but no letter survives and the details vary. It may be folk etymology.

established Either way, "tweed" as a trade name belongs to the woollen industry of the Scottish Borders in the early 19th century. Harris Tweed is a later and separate, protected kind of tweed. The two are often confused.

The Orb and the law

established As Harris Tweed became popular, imitations followed. In 1909 the Harris Tweed Association was formed to protect it. It registered the Orb and Maltese Cross, with the words "Harris Tweed" beneath, as a trademark in 1910, and stamping began in 1911. In 1934 the definition was changed to allow yarn spun in island mills as well as by hand, and stamped production rose tenfold. A court ruling by Lord Hunter in 1964 confirmed that every stage of production had to take place in the Outer Hebrides.

established The Harris Tweed Act 1993 put the definition into statute and created the Harris Tweed Authority to replace the Association. The Act defines Harris Tweed as tweed hand-woven by the islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun there. Harris Tweed is widely described, including by its makers, as the only fabric in the world protected by its own Act of Parliament.

Boom, collapse and revival

established Production peaked at 7.6 million yards in 1966. Over the next forty years it fell sharply, and by the 2000s the industry was in danger of disappearing. In the early 1990s the industry introduced a new double-width loom and retrained weavers, and in 2007 Harris Tweed Hebrides was founded. Demand from fashion houses and footwear brands, including Nike in 2004, helped revive the trade.

shared Figures for the low point and the recovery vary by source. One account gives 450,000 metres in 2009 and 1 million metres in 2012, the highest in 17 years. In 2014 the Harris Tweed Authority put the number of home weavers at about 190.

• Harris Tweed must be woven by hand in the weaver's own home.
• The Orb trademark has been stamped on Harris Tweed since 1911.
• In Gaelic, the home-woven cloth was called Clò Mòr, "the big cloth".
• Allowing mill-spun yarn in 1934 increased stamped production tenfold.
• Production peaked at 7.6 million yards in 1966.
• The word "tweed" may come from a clerk misreading "tweel", but no proof survives.
• Nike used Harris Tweed in trainers in 2004.
• In 2014 there were about 190 home weavers.

• Do not present the "tweel" misreading as the proven origin of the word "tweed".
• Do not confuse tweed in general, a Borders trade name, with Harris Tweed.
• Do not give the Earl of Dunmore's death date as settled; sources say 1843 or 1845.
• Do not say Harris Tweed is made only on the Isle of Harris.
• Do not quote a single production figure for the industry's low point without a source.