PAISLEY, a municipal and parlia mentary burgh of Scotland, in Renfrew shire, on the White Cart, about 3 miles above the confluence of the united White and Black Cart with the Clyde, and 7 miles W. S. W. of Glasgow. It consists of an old town on the W. or left, and a new town on the E. or right bank of the river, communicating by three hand some bridges. The most noteworthy building is the Abbey Church, now a par ish church, belonging to a monastery (of which little else now remains) founded in 1163 by Walter, son of Alan, the first of the house of the Stewarts. In 1889 a monument was erected by Queen Vic toria in memory of her ancestors buried here. In St. Mirren's Chapel or the Sounding Aisle, on the S. side, stands a tomb supposed to have been built in honor of Bruce's daughter Marjory.
Paisley has been long noted for its manufactures, especially of textile goods. The shawl manufacture, intro duced about the beginning of the 19th century, and long a flourishing industry, is not now a staple, but the textile manu facture is still large, and to it has been added that of sewing cotton, for which Paisley is celebrated all over the world.
Among the other manufactures are tap estry, embroidery, tartans, and carpets. There are also dye and print works, engineering works, soap works, manufac tories of starch, corn flour, mustard, and chemicals; distilleries, breweries, and shipbuilding yards, chiefly for river steamers and dredgers. Wilson, the ornithologist; the poet Tannahill, and Professor Wilson (Christopher North) were natives of Paisley, which possesses a bronze statue of the ornithologist and of the poet. Paisley is a town of an cient origin, having been at one time a Roman station under the name of Van duara. Pop. estimated (1918) 89,425.