Jim uncovers plaque dedicated to weaver
A Paisley man thinks he has unearthed a lost tribute to famed Buddie Alexander Wilson
Jim Oakes believes the strange plaque he found attached to the stonework in the revamped Anchor Mill building, which now houses plush apartments, is a long-lost commemoration.
Wilson, an apprentice weaverturned-poet and naturalist, came to be known as the Father of American Ornithology.
But it is the discovery of the marble plaque – thought to be one created by Perth sculptor David Anderson – which has brought him back under the spotlight.
Jim, who moved into the converted mill building two years ago, said: “I’ve been living here for a couple of years but it was only the other day that I was wandering round the building and I noticed this plaque up on the wall.
“It intrigued me as to what it was. It has been broken and kind of put back together.”
The marble tablet was originally installed 180 years ago on the site of ‘Sanny’ Wilson’s boyhood home near the Hammills in the town’s Seedhill.
It later became part of Clark’s Anchor Threadmills and although a bronze monument - sculpted by Sandy Stoddart stands on a plinth close to the site, the marble plaque was revealed to be missing in an article carried in the Express some ten years ago.
But now the tribute, thought to be inscribed with the words: ‘This tablet was erected on August 17, 1841, by David Anderson, Perth, to mark the birthplace of Alexander Wilson, Paisley poet, naturalist and ornithologist,’ may have been traced.
Jim added: “I tried to find out about it and that’s when I came across the article.
“I think, looking at the brick work on that side of the building, that it had been a steam room or machine room.
“I can only imagine that when they refurbished the place somebody gave it to them or it was lying around someplace.
“It is very faded and it’s been placed high up so I had to photograph it and kind of zoom in to work out what it said. It’s not exactly the wording that reference was made to, but it is very similar.”
Jim has continued his own investigation into the origins of the plaque, he said: “I have written to the architects who dealt with the refurbishment to see if they know any more.”
Alexander Wilson, born in 1766, was a weaver who became interested in poetry, inspired by the works of Scotland’s bard, Rabbie Burns.
However, Wilson’s satirical works of the time – often in reference to mill owners – found him out of favour with the law and left him living in poverty after footing the bill for fines and court costs for his ‘libellous’ writings.
He emigrated to America in 1794, taking up work as a teacher in Pennsylvania before becoming famed for his paintings, compiling a nine-volume study of birds in the US, which inspired later ornithologists and naturalists.
Wilson died in the US in 1813.
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