09/10/2026
New this year at The North Stonington Historical Society’s Dye House Day, Saturday September 12th 11am to 3pm with public participatory “wauking the tweed” at 11:30. 12:30 and 1:30!
WAULKING THE TWEED, A SCOTTISH TRADITION
In pre-industrial Scotland, waulking the tweed was a necessary step in the processing of handwoven woolen cloth. Waulking the tweed (known in English as "fulling") not only shrunk the cloth, but tightened the weave, making it denser, thicker and creating a fuzzy nap on the surface.
Tweed needs to be pre-shrunk before it can be sewn into garments. Waulking was strenuous, tedious work performed by women in many rural Scottish communities. A Waulking songs, much like sea chanteys, lightened the work while bringing the community of women closer together. A leader of the waulking group would sing the verses, followed by the refrain, which was sung by everyone. The freshly washed tweed was stretched and pounded rhythmically to accompany the song in a percussive manner. The songs were sometimes well known regionally. They could also be improvised and might even be humorously scandalous. The verses were sung in Scottish Gaelic but the refrains, sung by all, were just nonsense syllables.
At DYE HOUSE DAY you will be able to participate in this event!. It certainly doesn’t require a great singing voice. And there is no way to sing the refrain wrong because it’s only made up of nonsense syllables. Performers Bill Cournoyer and his daughter Colleen Sokolowski who have great knowledge in the Scottish music tradition and all things wool will lead us in WAUKING THE TWEED! There will be three opportunities to join in, at 11:30, 12:30 and 1:30
The North Stonington Historical Society is a place to learn about textiles in the early Industrial Age, take workshops on sustainable gardening, and look up your family's genealogy
