Socks in the Gairloch Pattern
Gairloch Museum

These socks are knitted in the unique ‘Gairoch pattern’, first documented in the mid-nineteenth century.

The Mackenzies of Gairloch supported work schemes for their tenants during the potato famine in the 1840s. Spinning and knitting were encouraged to provide an income for women.

Gairloch stockings were of high quality and were imported to Edinburgh and London. They were in a variety of patterns and colours, including this one which imitated tartan and became the most popular.