If you google the words 'Scotch bonnet' then the results will all point to information on the spicy chilies of this name, and sauces and recipes which include them.
However, our ancestors would have understood 'Scotch bonnet', or perhaps 'Scots bonnet,' to mean something very different. These were flat, woolen hats worn by both men and women in Scotland, with the Tam-o-shanter perhaps being the most recognisible iteration today.
Where did manufacture take place?
The Ayrshire town of Stewarton was an historic centre of bonnet making, becoming known as the 'The Bonnet Toun' in acknowledgement of this. The 1881 census for a Stewarton family shows that bonnet manufacturing was a significant employer. In the household shown here, father and son were between them employing a total of 41 men, women and boys in their bonnet manufacturing businesses.
Robert Mackie of Stewarton was also a hat maker living in Stewarton, and the company he founded survives today.
The Trades House of Glasgow
Acting as a guild system, the Bonnet Makers and Dyers are one of the 14 Crafts which belong to the Trades House of Glasgow. Their website shows that students at Stewarton Academy are still awarded prizes from the Bonnet Makers and Dyers, seeking to ensure that this craft does not disappear.
