There were also 32 weavers in the Abbey Parish, which adjoins the burgh. This large proportion would indicate that the weavers worked for a wider market than the town or its immediate neighbourhood could afford.
The trade appears to have grown steadily:
In 1766, there were 1,767 looms in the town.
In 1773, - 2,233
In 1792, - 3,602
In 1820 - 7,000
The goods made in those earlier days were of home-spun linen and woollen. Burns mentions that the scanty garment of the witch in " Tam o' Shanter" was "a cutty sark o' Paisley harn."
