When did you plant them, Doug?

I planted them in november

Did you break the bulbs up into cloves? And were the cloves very large?

They wereall split in to bulbs and were of a size you would pickle thanks for following

The likely reason is that you bought them from the supermarket rather than a garden centre.

Thanks for all answers.must try to stop cutting corners

The reason I asked what size they were is that, in my experience, shallots that are more than thumb size are likely to bolt, while smaller ones--like the ones sold in garden centers--tend to settle down and grow first. Being kept in cold storage will also tend to make them bolt, but only if they are too large to begin with.