Linen and Hempen Manufactures (Scotland) Act 1726
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1726 c. 26 |
| Year | 1726 |
(13 Geo. 1) C A P. XXVI.
'WHEREAS the Advancement of the Linen and Hempen Manufactures in that Part of the united Kingdom calledScotland (which are now under great Discouragements) will not only imploy great Numbers of Poor, but will be a general Good to the united Kingdom, by adding to the Wealth of the Realm; and whereas several Frauds and Abuses are daily committed in the said Manufactures, whereby the Growth of Flax and Hemp within that Part of the united Kingdom is discouraged, the Credit of the said Manufacture destroyed, and the Demand for the same lessened, for want of proper Laws and Regulations for that Purpose:' To the End therefore that these Frauds and Abuses may for the Future be prevented, and that the Manufactures may be incouraged, and the Credit thereof raised; Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That from and after the first Day of November which shall be in the Year of our Lordone thousand seven hundred and twenty-seven, no Person or Persons shall import or cause to be imported into any Port or Place in that Part of the united Kingdom calledScotland , any bad, mixed or damnified Lintseed or Hempseed, but that from and after the said first Day of November all Lintseed and Hempseed, that shall be imported into any Part of Scotland , of the Growth of the Netherlands, Russia, Livonia, Poland, Germany , or other Places, shall be fresh, good and clean, without Mixture.
II No damnified Lintseed to be sold in Scotland, nor Parcels of different Countries.
II. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the said first Day ofNovember no Person or Persons shall vend, sell or expose to Sale, within any Port or Place in Scotland , any mixed or damnified Lintseed or Hempseed, or any Lintseed commonly called or known by the Name of Short Lintseed; and that no Person or Persons do presume to mix or cause to be mixed different Parcels of Lintseed or Hempseed of different Countries or Growths together; and that from and after the said first Day of November every Person who shall sell or vend any Parcel or Parcels of Lintseed or Hempseed within any Part or Place of that Part of the united Kingdom called Scotland , shall, together with the said Parcel or Parcels, deliver to the Buyer, in Writing, a particular Account of the Parcel of Lintseedor Hempseed sold by him, expressing the Quantity thereof, the Place from whence the same was imported, and where it grew, and the Year of its Growth, to the End that if the Seller shall have been guilty of any Fraud, he may be the more easily convicted, and subjected to the Penalties herein after expressed.
III Penalty for selling bad Lintseed, &c.
III. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the said first Day ofNovember , all and every Person and Persons, who shall sell or expose to Sale, bad, short or damnified Lintseed or Hempseed, or who shall mix what is left of the Lintseed or Hempseed of the former Year with what is imported in a subsequent Year, or shall mix different Parcels of Lintseed or Hempseed together, or who shall sell Lintseed or Hempseed of a different Growth or Age from what he, she or they have expressed at the Sale, in the Account to be given in Writing as aforesaid, contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, shall, upon being duly convicted thereof in Manner hereafter mentioned, for every such Offence, forfeit the said Linseed or Hempseed so sold or exposed to Sale, or the Price thereof, and likewise a Sum not exceeding five Pounds Sterling, nor less than fifty Shillings for every Hogshead of Lintseed or Hempseed so sold or exposed to Sale, and so proportionably for every greater or lesser Quantity; and all and every Person and Persons who shall sell or vend any Lintseed or Hempseed by any other Measure than the Linlithgow Measure streaked, and the Fractions thereof, shall forfeit for every such Offence, the Measure used by him, her or them, and a Sum not exceeding forty Shillings Sterling, to be levied and recovered in Manner hereafter particularly described.
IV Penalty for bad steeping Hemp or Lint.
IV. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the said first Day ofNovember no Hemp or Lint within that Part of Great Britain called Scotland , shall be steeped or watered in any Boghouse, Peat, Moss or Turf-Pit; and that no Lint or Hemp shall be steeped or watered for two Years successively, in any standing Pool, or in any Hole or Pit with standing Water, unless such Hole or Pit is dug near to the Side of a running River or Rivulet, from whence the said Pool, Hole or Pit may be frequently supplied with fresh Water; and all and every Person and Persons, steeping Lint or Hemp contrary to the true Intent and Meaning hereof, shall for every such Offence, being thereof duly convicted in Manner hereafter directed, forfeit such Lint or Hemp, to be levied and recovered in Manner herein after mentioned.
V Penalty for selling Lint or Hemp Yarn irregularly made up.
'V. And whereas great Frauds are frequently committed in the spinning and reeling of Linen Yarn, to the great Prejudice of the Linen Manufacture,' Be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the said first Day ofNovember no Person or Persons whatsoever shall sell or expose to Sale, or import into Scotland , or carry or transport from any one Part of Scotland to another, any Linen-Yarn, other than such as is made up into Cuts, and Hesps or Hanks, each Hesp or Hank consisting of twelve Cuts, and no more, and each Cut containing one hundred and twenty Threads, all exactly numbered, and no more; and that all the Yarn contained in the said Hesp or Hank be Lint-Yarn only, or Tow-Yarn only, and of the same Colour and Fineness; and that no Tow-Yarn and Lint-Yarn be mixed together in one and the same Hesp or Hank, and that the same be tied up with a Piece of Packthread, and not Yarn; and that the said Yarn be well reeled, and each Cut and Hesp or Hank be separated, as the same shall be reeled, and not afterwards; and that from and after the said first Day ofNovember the uniform Standard Reel of Scotland shall be two Yards and Half, or ninety Inches in Circumference; and that all and every Person and Persons who after the said first Day of November shall sell or expose to Sale, or carry or transport from one Part in Scotland to another, any Lint or Hemp Yarn, made up in another Manner than as aforesaid, contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, and shall be thereof convicted as herein after is mentioned, shall forfeit the Hesp or Hank made up of sewer Cuts than twelve, or in which any Cut shall be falsly made up, to him, her, or them, who shall inform and prosecute the same with Effect.
VI Magistrates may destroy Reels other than Yard and an Half in Circumference.
VI. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful to and for any Justice of the Peace or Magistrate, within any Burrough, or to and for any Person or Persons lawfully authorized, by Warrant under the Hand of such Justice of Peace or Magistrate, to enter into any House or Houses, the Doors thereof being open, at all Times of the Day; and if any Reel or Reels be there found, other than two Yards and an Half, or ninety Inches in Circumference, the same shall and may be carried before such Justice of the Peace or Magistrate within any Burgh; and the said Justice of the Peace or Magistrate shall and may, and are hereby authorized and required, to break, burn and utterly destroy the same.
VII Officers may enter into Warehouses, &c. and seize Linen Yarn made up contrary to the Act.
VII. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the said first Day ofNovember it shall and may be lawful to and for the respective Officers herein after named, or any of them, from Time to Time, and at all Times by Day, to enter into all and every Warehouses, Storehouses, Rooms, Shops, Cellars, Vaults and other Places made use of for keeping or making any Linen Yarn, and seize and carry away all such Linen Yarn, as they shall then and there find made up contrary to the Directions herein before mentioned, and detain the same till it shall be tried whether such Yarn was made up according to the Directions of this Act; and the same is hereby directed to be tried in the same Way and Manner, and under the same Penalties as herein after directed concerning Linen Cloth seized as made up contrary to the Directionsof this Act; and if any Person or Persons whatsoever shall let, obstruct or hinder any of the said Officers from entring such Places, or in seizing and carrying away such Linen Yarn, the Person or Persons offending herein shall for every such Offence forfeit the Sum of five Pounds Sterling, to be recovered as is herein after mentioned.
VIII No Weaver to set up before Security given, not to weave contrary to this Act.
VIII. And for the better Encouragement and Advancement of the Trade, Art or Mystery of weaving and making of Linen Cloth, agreeable to the Directions of this Act; Be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from...
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