The Masons, Wrights and Slaters of Dundee formed their
separate incorporations during the 17th century, and their joint society, The
Three United Trades, in the middle of the 18th century
The Masons
Emblem - Three towers with bevel stock as a chevron
( V-shaped braid designating rank)
The Masons are ranked senior within the United Trades, taking precedence before
the Wrights and the Slaters even though they were the last to be formally
recognised.
The Wrights
Emblem - Implements of the Trade
The Wrights (Scottish word for joiner or carpenter) are the largest of the
United Trades.
The Slater
Emblem - Implements of the Trade
The Slate trade in Dundee can trace it’s origins in the “Lockit Book” which is
held in the office of the Clerk of the Three United Trades. The Earliest date
recorded is 1592, the year of the great fire in the White Tower or Auld Steeple
(as it is now known), where ledgers were kept for safety. Records prior to this
date were destroyed in the fire.
To become a member of the Three United Trades, one first had to be a Tradesman,
second, an Employer and third, be nominated by one’s peers. This was a form of
protection to keep out strangers from other towns and areas.
There are similar assemblies of different Trades in Glasgow, Edinburgh and
Aberdeen with much the same rules and practices.
Originally, Slaters only worked with slate and no other materials, now the Slate
Trade covers everything on the roof including tiles, felt roofing, rhones,
gutters etc... In parts of Fife, plastering is now included.
Scotch slate is a random slate being square cut at it’s base and sides but of
varying lengths. When Scotch slate is used as a roofing material it has to be
constantly measured by a pin-rule (a piece of timber approximately twenty-seven
inches in length with graduations marked on the surface).
The Old Scots ‘Pin Rule‘ with It’s short scutcheons, long scutcheons, short
beck, mid beck, lang beck, bores, innins one, two and three, is no longer used.
The Scots words such as haffit, soffat, ba-bees valley, nail sick are not used
out-side the trade.
Most Scotch slate was quarried in Argyll, Ballahulish and Esdale, the former for
housing and the latter, a rougher thicker slate for whare-houses, stores etc...
Welsh slate is still quarried in North Wales and the slates are cut from a cube
of stone and are therefore regular in size e.g. 14” x 10”, 24” x 12” etc.
Other quarries still exist in Westmoreland, Penrhyn and Portmadoc.