Tannahill Cottage in Queen Street Paisley was the Tannahills' family home. Robert Tannahill lived in the cottage till he died in 1810. In 1775, James Tannahill acquired Bailie Slater's steading in Queen Street, and erected upon it a one-storey thatched cottage, with a passage through the centre, the north side being occupied as a dwelling-house and the south side as a four-loom weaving shop. James Tannahill was a very accurate individual, and he kept an account of the whole cost of the building, which has been preserved in his memorandum or note pocketbook to the present day. The book was a precious relic of the Tannahills and is still in existence, carefully preserved by one of the daughters of James Tannahill, the immediate elder brother of the Poet. The handwriting of the father is even better than that of any of his sons. The building of the house was one of the important acts in the life of James Tannahill. The house was built at a cost of £60  16s /4d.