The sanquhar patterns

duke

The Duke pattern is the best known, most recognised and often referred to as ‘The Sanquhar Pattern’.

The pattern got its name in the 1880s as the then Duke of Buccleuch, owner of nearby Drumlanrig Castle and the lands in and around Sanquhar, wanted to boost the local knitting industry. He gave a large order for gloves for himself and his family and the pattern was subsequently named.

Cornet

In 1937 when the Riding of the Marches was revived in Sanquhar, Miss Jessie Wilson of Sanquhar, knitted a pair of gloves for the Cornet - a principal role in the festivities. This pattern became known as the Cornet’s Pattern.

The Cornet’s Pattern came after the Cornet & Drum Pattern below, inspiration was taken from the older pattern by Miss Wilson.

Cornet & Drum

Fusce at massa nec sapien auctor gravida in in tellus. Sed a ligula quis sapien lacinia egestas.

DRUM

Nothing is known regarding the origin of this pattern.

drum & trellis

Nothing is known regarding the origin of this pattern.

rose

Not much is known of the origins of the Rose Pattern, however Miss Jessie Wilson of Sanquhar is credited with compiling this design when Princess Margaret Rose was born.

rose & trellis

Nothing is known regarding the origins of this pattern.

prince of wales

In 1871 Edward, the then Prince of Wales and future Edward VII, visited the Duke of Buccleuch at Drumlanrig Castle for a shooting holiday. At that time he also visited the Royal Burgh of Sanquhar. Were the gloves presented to him on that day knitted in the pattern now called the Prince of Wales? Perhaps!

fleur de lys

During the Napoleonic Wars, French prisoners were billeted in Sanquhar. Mainly officers and their servants were stationed in and around the town on the ‘Parole D’Honeur’. The last prisoners left in 1815. The Fleur de Lys being the national emblem of France, it is reasonable to assume that the knitters and weavers of the time copied the pattern.

midge & flea

Nothing is known of the origin of this pattern but the large group of dark stitches represents the midge and the small single dark stitch, the flea!

pheasant’s eye

Nothing is known of the history of this pattern.

glendyne

The history of this pattern is believed to be:

Robert Nivison, a Sanquhar native, began his career in the British Linen Bank in the town. As a young man he went to join the staff of the London and Westminster Bank. In 1887 he founded the firm of ‘R Nivision & Son’, Stockbrokers etc. In 1914 he was made a Baronet of the United Kingdom and in 1922 was raised to Peerage, taking the title Lord Glendyne of Sanquhar.

At that time Miss Jessie Wilson of Sanquhar knitted a pair of gloves, which she sent to Lord Glendyne and named it the Glendyne Pattern.

un-named glove patterns

The origins of these patterns are unknown. We sell the Un-Named Squared Format as a knitting pattern.