Colkitto’s real name was Alexander Mac Donnell, a relative of the Earl of Antrim. (iii.) Inis-locha-Burrann was situated in the parish of Ballintoy; the lake is now drained, and the place known by the name of Loughavarra.[173]

In 1541 the eastern crannog in the lake of Glencar, on the borders of Sligo and Leitrim, was taken by one sept of the O’Rourkes from another. Shortly afterwards the dispossessed proprietor attempted to set fire to the “fortress,” but was discovered, pursued by boats, taken prisoner, and hanged. In the summer of 1540, O’Donnell besieged the crannog of Loch Betha, now Lough Veagh, county Donegal. He encamped round the lake shores, but failed to take the stronghold. In the autumn he, however, defeated his opponents, and “broke up and completely demolished the crannog.” Previous mention is made of it as the scene of strife in the year 1524, when Eoghan O’Donnell took Niall O’Donnell’s “town” (i.e. the crannog of Loch Betha); whilst in 1257 O’Donnell was confined to this crannog during twelve months from wounds received in a battle near Sligo. In 1512 the crannog of Mac Gauran was taken by Mac Guire. In 1495 Mac Gauran, a chief of Tallaghaw, in the present county Cavan, was drowned in Loch Crannoige of Coill-an-mhuilinn (i. e. Lake Crannog of the Wood of the Mill), now Ballywillen Lough. In 1477 a violent tempest swept over Ireland which did great damage, especially to crannogs. Had these structures not been very numerous, the chroniclers would scarcely have drawn special attention to the havoc thus wrought. In 1455 Torlogh Mac Guire took and plundered the crannog of Mac Clancy on Lough Melvin, county Leitrim. In 1452 O’Hanley was murdered by his own tribe in the crannog of Loch-Leisi (stated by O’Donovan to be now called Muckenagh Lough), in the parish of Kilmeam, county Roscommon; whilst in 1246 it is of record that O’Conor made his escape when a prisoner from the same lake-dwelling, after drowning his guards. In 1368 an O’Conor was taken prisoner in the crannog of Ardakillen, parish of Killukin, county Roscommon, and in 1388 another O’Conor burned this crannog and the Island of Loch-Cairgin (i. e. Cargin’s Lough[174]), near Tulsk in the same county. In 1365 Brian Mac Mahon, chief of Oriel, invited his father-in-law to a banquet, where he made him prisoner, and “put him in a lake to conceal him”[175]—evidently meaning his confinement in a crannog—for Mac Geoghegan states that the captive was committed “to a strong place on a lough to be kept.” In 1247 Mac Costello took and garrisoned the crannog of Cloonloch (now Lough Clean), county Leitrim, and expelled the proprietor, Mac Rannall, who, however, succeeded in recapturing his stronghold.

In 1223 William de Lacy, one of the great Anglo-Norman settlers in Ireland erected “the crannog of Inis-Laodhachain, and the Connacht men entered forcibly upon it, and let out on parole the people who were in it.” This erection of a lake-dwelling by a Norman baron is an instance of the habit laid to the charge of many of the English, of forsaking their own language and usages, and of living according to the manner of the Irish amongst whom they dwelt. “The names Inis-Laodhachain and Loch-Laodhachain are now obsolete.” In 1220 “Walter de Laci came to Erinn, and performed a great hosting to the crannog of O’Raighilligh.[176] He went upon it and obtained hostages and great power.” The crannog here referred to “appears to have been situated in Lough Oughter, county Cavan, where the old castle of Cloch-Uachtair (or Cloch-Oughter) now stands. In a letter from Guy de Chatillon to Henry III., dated July, 1224, Grennoch Oraely (as the name is therein written) is stated to have been captured from William de Lacy by Oraely, Walter de Riddelsford, and Richard Tuit, on the same day on which the castle of Kilmore (county Cavan) was taken, from which it appears to have been in the neighbourhood.”

There is evidence that some crannogs were constructed by the Northmen, for in 1170 the chief of a small territory in the barony and county Monaghan “was killed by the men of a fleet which came from the Orkneys, in the island which had been constructed by themselves in Loch-Ruidhe, i. e. Inis-Lachain.” There is no lake in Ireland now known by that name; but to the south of Coleraine there is a small island in the river Bann called “the Loughan,” which bears all the appearance of having been artificially constructed.[177] In 1150 an Irish chief was killed “on the island of Loch-Laighaire.” This crannog lay in the country of the “Sliocht O’Neills,” and, as appears from subsequent references, was situated to the south of Lifford, in the barony of Clogher, county Tyrone, and was the residence of that branch of the O’Neills. It is written Loch-Laoghaire and Loch-Laighaire, i. e. Leary’s Lake, said to have been so called from “Leary the Victorious,” one of the heroes of the Red Branch Knights of Ulster, in the first century; but for nearly two hundred years it has been generally known under the designation Corcreevy, i. e. wooded hill. In 1845, when the water had been drained off, the crannog was here discovered. There are several allusions to it in the Irish Annals. In 1325 “O’Donnell, the son of Brian O’Neill, Lord of Tyrone, died at Loch-Laighaire. In 1431 Nachtan O’Donnell went to assault the castle of Loch-Laighaire, and took it from Turlough O’Donnell, and all the spoils that were in it he carried off.” In 1436 the crannog had been seized by the O’Neills, when some of the same sept summoned Mac Guire to their assistance and “commenced constructing boats to go to the crannog, but the sons of Bryan, who were then in the crannog, came to the resolution of delivering it up.” In 1500 Hugh Roe O’Donnell “burned the crannog of Loch-Laighaire;” whilst in 1509 there is a notice of a fight between two septs of the O’Neills on the shores of the lake.

In 1025, it is stated in the Annals of Loch Cé, that a predatory expedition was made by the inhabitants of Fermanagh, on which occasion they burned the crannog on Loch-n-Uaithne (Lough Ooney), “and slew seventeen men on the margin of the lake.” Lough Ooney lies in the county Monaghan, in the barony of Dartry, the chiefs of which territory had their principal residence on this lake, whence they were sometimes designated “Lords of Loch-n-Uaithne.”

In the enumeration of various kinds of fortresses repaired by Brian Borumha, crannogs are included, as recorded in a well-known Irish ms. entitled “The Wars of the Gaedhiel with the Gaill.” In it mention is made of four crannogs, one being near Knockany, county Limerick, and situated in Lough Cend, now drained; also the celebrated crannog in Lough Gur, in the same county. The site of the crannog of Loch Saiglend has not been identified;[178] the site of Inis-an-ghaill-duibh (i. e. the island of the black foreigner or Dane,[179]) is unknown, or at least uncertain; however, in the Dublin copy of the Annals of Innisfallen, under date 1016, it is stated to have been situated in the river Shannon. We learn that in some of his numerous conflicts with the Danes, Brian Borumha pillaged various islands in the Shannon, where the invaders had placed their women and children for safety, as well as their treasure, as “there was much gold and other wealth in these islands and fortifications.” In 990 a violent tempest “sunk the island of Lough Cimbe (now Lough Hackett) suddenly, dreach and rampart, i. e. thirty feet;” this crannog was afterwards rebuilt by Brian Borumha.

With the Danes, the struggle in Ireland between invaders and invaded was carried on as much in the lakes and rivers as on terra firma. Of the importance attached to crannogs during this contest many instances might be given, but a few will here suffice. In 984 “the islands of Connaught were destroyed by these marauders.” In 933 the crannog of Lagore in Meath was burnt by them; whilst in 848 they fired and dismantled it. Lagore being the residence of one of the principal chiefs of Meath, frequent notices of it appear in the annals, where it is written Loch-Gabhar. “Gabhur” is an ancient Irish and British word for a horse, and accordingly the name Loch-gabhra, which occurs in the life of St. Aidus, is translated Stagnum-equi, the lake of the horse,[180] now euphonized “Lagore.” In 967 Beollán, “king” of this place, died; in 907 Maelogra, also “king” of Lagore, was slain; whilst in 868 the son of Edirscel, “king” of Lagore, fell fighting against the Danes. In 865 Tighernach, “king” of Lagore and “half-king” of Meath, died; and in 856 Cinaedh, chief of the present baronies of Upper and Lower Duleek, in Meath, in alliance with the Danes, “spoiled the islands” of Lagore. This entry is of great importance, as it points to the probability of the site of another crannog or crannogs in close proximity to the celebrated historical stronghold dug out of its peaty covering in 1847, and which as early as A.D. 673, must have been of importance, for in that year a considerable battle took place on the shores of the lake. In 927 and 928 the Danes plundered “the islands of Lough Neagh,” and in 922 the same fate befel “the islands of Lough Rea.”

In 847 “the island of Inis-Muinremhar,” in Lough Ramor, county Cavan, was “demolished by the inhabitants of Leyney, county Sligo, and Gallen, county Mayo, who were plundering the territories after the manner of the Gentiles.”[181] In 636 a chieftain named Maelduin was burned to death in “the island” of Inishkeen, county Louth, on the borders of Monaghan,[182] and in the same year mention is made in the Annals of the Four Masters of “a lake in which a crannog was built, situated in Oriel (but not now known), called Loch-da-damh, the lake of the two oxen.”[183]

There is an ancient poem in Irish,[184] attributed to St. Columbkille, which commences—

The Saint is flying from his enemies after the order of banishment from Erin had been issued against him: he subsequently exclaims—

A well-known Irish scholar, the Rev. Canon Bourke, gives the following translation of the same passage:—

There is said to be an ancient Life of St. Patrick which contains a notice of one of those dwellings; and in a translation into English of an ancient Irish ms., the “Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne”—two characters belonging to the earliest, indeed generally supposed mythic, period of Irish history—Fionn and Diarmuid are represented as addressing each other, and the one calls to mind that Miodhach the son of Colgan, “had a Bruighean upon land, and a Bruighean upon the wave” (i. e. an island). The word Bruighean means a palace. The island upon which this structure stood was, according to the text, situated upon the Shannon, and was approached by a “ford.”

Thus can be clearly traced a continuous historical occupancy of these structures until all written record of them ceases, and their origin is lost in the mists of antiquity: enough proof has been advanced to show that crannogs existed, as may be fairly surmised, from the first colonization of Erin. In the most diverse climates “water towns” seem to have sprung up independently, by virtue of the natural laws which govern man’s action in a semi-civilized state—

The continuance in Ireland of this very primitive form of habitation was doubtless prolonged in consequence of the restless internecine feuds and generally unsettled state of the country. However, the “silver streak” around the island homes of Ireland’s early inhabitants was not always a secure barrier; during severe winters, when the water was sufficiently frozen, it no longer presented an obstacle, but on the contrary was of considerable assistance to marauders. In the native chronicles most notices of crannogs are connected with scenes of strife, the island of the weaker party being usually given to the flames. A disturbed state of society up to a very late period was also characteristic of the sister kingdom of Scotland, and the antiquarian and poetical genius of Sir Walter Scott brings the feuds of the past before the eyes of the modern reader. The scene wherein the Lowlanders or Saxons fruitlessly essay to reach the island on Loch Katrine, where the Highlanders or Celts had placed their women, children, and goods for safety, had most probably its foundation in some real occurrence. In his History of the Rise of the Dutch Republic, Motley traces the gradual development of what is now the kingdom of Holland, from a race of ichthyophagi who dwelt upon mounds which they raised like beavers above the almost fluid soil, but whether there ever was in Erin a period purely lacustrine, or to what extent villages on terra firma may have co-existed, is a problem that will most probably never be solved. From careful examination, however, of the “finds” in lake dwellings, the conclusion may be drawn that civilization in Ireland, from the earliest dawn, has been on the whole steadily progressive, for

There is something in the continuity of these successive ages that may be considered analogous to the connecting links of a chain. The Palaeolithic, or rude stone period; the Neolithic, or polished stone age, as well as the Bronze age, in all probability overlapped more, and had a longer continuance, than elsewhere in Europe. But the mere fact of the discovery of stone implements, particularly as in Ireland, in a stone-producing country, is not necessarily proof of a barbarous state of society, for, as remarked by the Duke of Argyll, the remains of the first Chaldean monarchy plainly demonstrate that a high state of civilization co-existed with the use of stone implements of a very rude character.

END OF PART I.

LAKE DWELLINGS.

PART II.

PROVINCE OF ULSTER.

Lough Ravel (otherwise Derryhollagh).—This name is but a modern corruption of the ancient form, found in the Inquisition of 1605 to be in the district of the “Feenagh”:—“Est in eodem tuogh quidam lacus vocatus Loughdireare in quo est insula fortificata.” The site of this crannog, lying between Toomebridge and Randalstown, is known to the country people as “the island” in Aghaloughan bog; it seems to have been entirely artificial, constructed on oak piles driven into the bed of the lough, and bound together by horizontal beams of the same timber mortised to the piles. The interior was filled up with wood and earth, thus forming an island of about twenty-eight yards in diameter; and beyond this, at the distance of some six or eight yards, there still remain several oaken piles, probably traces of an outer stockade. On the crannog were stone hearths with marks of fire on them, and partially within the enclosure was a very perfect single-piece canoe of oak, twenty feet nine inches long, by four feet seven inches broad, the sides twenty inches deep. In the island and its immediate vicinity were querns, several wooden and copper dishes, daggers and spear-heads of bronze, iron celts, and stones with holes perforated in them; also some articles seemingly intended for ornamental purposes, and others of strange shape, regarding the use of which no conjecture can be formed. These “finds” have been sold from time to time to various collectors. At a short distance from the island, and twelve feet below the surface of the bog, was brought to light in the summer of 1856, a pan-shaped circular vessel of thin hammered copper, twenty-two inches in diameter, and eight inches in depth; it is now in the Belfast Museum, and a label attached to it states that a few years previously a similar one had been found nearer to the island; and in 1859 another vessel of small size, made of hammered copper, was discovered in the same locality. A bronze needle or bodkin, three inches long, with the eye quite perfect; a narrow iron hatchet, eight inches in length, and one and a-half inches wide at its cutting edge;[185] a bronze pin of unusual form, ornamented with two human heads (ante, p. 109, fig. 126); two bronze fibulæ (ante, p. 118, figs. 147 and 148); undressed flint flakes (ante, p. 58, figs. 12 and 13); the glass beads figured (ante, p. 124, figs. 168 and 169); and a beautifully designed silver brooch (ante, p. 121, fig. 157), were found in this crannog.[186]

Loughmagarry.—The townland of this name is in the parish of Craigs, barony of Toome lower; it contains within it a low-lying piece of land, the former bed of a lake that was drained towards the close of the last century. The present name bears no resemblance to its designation in the Inquisition of 1605,[187] but it has been identified as the same by Dr. Reeves; the large townland which adjoins it on the west, and of which it appears to have been formerly a sub-denomination, is called Feenagh. The Loughinchefeaghny of the deed of 1605 is a compound word, signifying—according to the above authority—“the lake of the island of Feenagh,” but perhaps may be interpreted the island of Fiodhnach, i. e. the wooded place. The crannog stood close to the shore of the lake near its western margin, where the bank rises abruptly from the hollow; it is now a mere gravelly knoll, but the country people recollected seeing it surrounded with an external framing of oak posts, the interior filled in with gravel and clay. Several curiosities (now dispersed) are said to have been found in it.[188]

Loughtamand, or Loughtarmin.—In the townland of Lisnahunshin, parish of Craigs, barony of Toome lower, and four miles N. W. of the village of Ahoghill, a crannog became apparent about 1849, when the lake was drained. According to the description given by labourers employed in the operations, a kind of framework, consisting of oaken beams in a good state of preservation, was discovered, entirely surrounding an island. Local tradition assigns this stronghold to the sept of the Mac Quillans, and being situated on the boundary of the districts of Dalaradia and Dalrieda, it afforded great security as a place of retreat, after marauding expeditions—a recommendation that in ancient times would render it a position of considerable importance. Its site was identified by Dr. Reeves as the “Loughtoman” mentioned in the Inquisition of 1605: “Est in eodem le tuogh quidam lacus sive stagnum vocatum Loughtoman in quo est insula fortificata.” The lough is bordered on the east and south by traces of bog, and enclosed on the north and west by hills three in number, from two of which the country slopes down with a regular fall to the river Bann. Between the hills on the north and north-west there is a considerable depression, and at this point a small stream flowed, carrying off the surface water, and which stream, being deepened, served as a drain for the lough. Before the withdrawal of its contents, about fifty acres were submerged, the water varying in depth from seven to ten feet. In the year 1820 the lough was drained by Lord O’Neil, but from after neglect the water once more accumulated in the hollow; it was, however, again drained, and is now under pasture. On the east side the banks of the bog which formed the margin were from twenty to thirty feet in perpendicular height, the outline of the basin being thus well defined; it was of irregular oval shape, and about a mile in circumference. The island itself, of circular form, and seventy yards in diameter, was situated almost in the centre, though somewhat nearer to the north and east sides; it was visible even before the drainage, and on it was a stone house. In the draining operations the main cut was carried across the long diameter of the lough from south-east to north-west, passing through the middle of the island, where the workmen came upon oak piles. These piles—from seventeen to twenty feet long, and from six to eight inches thick—were driven into the bed of the lough, and projected five or six feet above it; they were bound together at the top by horizontal oak beams, into which they were mortised and secured by stout wooden pegs. Above the top of these piles there was a depth of three or four feet of earth, and it was only when the earth had been removed from time to time that the wooden structure became apparent in its integrity. The piles—twenty-six in number—were arranged in a circle of about fifteen yards in diameter in the centre of the island, and just under where the stone house stood. It was stated that a few feet below the present surface of the bed of the lough a paved causeway of stone, about five feet broad, led from its western margin across to the island, which is now reduced to the level of the surrounding ground from the effects of cattle tramping over it, and persons digging down in search of treasure. The horizontal beams were removed and used for various purposes; the drain formed a tangent to the circle of piles touching it on the east, where some of them were dragged up on being laid bare. A single-piece oak canoe, in tolerable preservation, was discovered about thirty yards from the island on the north-west side, and from time to time the following articles were found in it: metal dishes; small axe-heads; two iron swords; a small anvil; a pair of scale; many small hammers; “several gold pins;” an iron cauldron of low dilated shape, and a stone yellowish-white in colour, beautifully polished, about twelve inches long, three and a-half inches broad, and two inches thick, accurately squared at the sides, having at each end a round hole one and a-quarter inches deep, and a-half inch in diameter, the top surface and one of the sides being covered with carved devices. Lord O’Neil obtained the swords; the anvil, scales, and hammers, were sold for trifling sums to an itinerant dealer; the iron cauldron was in use as a potato pot, and the polished stone was given by the finder to a friend as a “rubbing-stone” for his web.[189]

Kilknock.—In the Ulster Inquisition sped at Antrim on the 12th July, 1605, which still remains of record, it was found, amongst other things, by the jury, “Et quod est infra metas et bundas ejusdem le tuogh quoddam stagnum vocatum Loughernegilly in quo est insula fortificata.” Although that name is now obsolete, yet Dr. Reeves, after careful research, succeeded in identifying it with Kilknock lough situated in the north-west corner of Drummaul, in the townlands of Kilknock, Ballybollen, and Gillistown. In former times this lake covered fifty acres, but it was drained about the close of the last century: by this means the crannog was brought to light, and the oak piles on which it was constructed were exposed to view. It is described as of nearly circular shape, sixty feet in diameter, and on it were the remains of a wooden hut, constructed of oak beams; these timbers were removed, and some of them utilized as roofing material for a neighbouring barn. A canoe was found (at the same time) in the lough. Owing to a dispute, which afterwards arose, as to the ownership of the drained land, the outlets of the water were allowed to close up, and in consequence a considerable portion of the former lake had become again submerged. The island could be reached by wading, but was distinguishable from the rest of the marsh only by its greater firmness. Over the tops of the oak piles—said to be about two feet in diameter—was a considerable depth of soft boggy matter, and a paved causeway, covered eight or nine feet deep, led down to what used to be the edge of the water. The bog around the lake, thickly studded with trunks of oak, varying from one to three feet in diameter, prove it to have been at some remote period the site of an extensive wood.[190]

Randalstown.—The large crannog in this locality appears to have been formed with very heavy beams laid horizontally, but its condition when discovered must render any account of the original construction quite conjectural. The island is said to have been formerly occupied by a sub-chief of the O’Neils; the lake in which it stood was long since drained, and a peat-moss now occupies the place. Many articles discovered in this crannog are now dispersed; they would seem to have been of all ages, and to have been deposited at varying intervals of time: a stone hatchet of rather diminutive size, but in shape neither remarkable nor uncommon, was probably the most ancient relic, and the most modern was a base coin of Philip and Mary. The surrounding bog has yielded up not merely several fragments of canoes, but also some in an entire state. One of large size, and quite perfect, was (in 1860) exhumed from a depth of sixteen feet of peat: when first raised it retained its original shape, but from drying and atmospheric exposure it soon warped and became shapeless. The length of this canoe was about twenty feet by four feet wide at the stern, and three feet at the stem; from thence for about two-thirds of its length it was formed out of a single log, the stern end being composed of thick short planks well fastened with strong wooden pegs. In the bottom was a neatly made paddle of oak, three and a-half feet long (plate XXXIII., No. 3); beside it lay a wooden bowl that would contain about a quart; it had been hollowed out of a single piece of wood, and its sides were thick and rough (plate XXXIII., No. 5). Later on another canoe paddle of oak was discovered measuring three feet in length (plate XXXIV., No. 3). A good idea of the importance of this stronghold may be formed from the number of tools and appliances found in it for carrying on the ordinary business of every-day life, such as the tongs and supposed anvil of the smith—the latter a rough lump of iron somewhat smoothed on one side, and weighing fifty or sixty pounds—many crucibles, one unused, but several greatly worn and burnt, the most perfect specimen being about the size of a hen’s egg; a netting-needle of iron; a battle-axe, such as was borne by the ancient gallowglasses; a very small sock of a plough (plate XXXIII., Nos. 25, 6, 7, 8), and an iron lamp (plate XXXIV., No. 2).[191]

Ballymena.—At a distance of about four miles from this town, and near Cloughwater, the site of a crannog was discovered in the middle of a bog, formerly the basin of a lake, that had been filled up by peat, which had grown to such an extent as to entirely bury the island dwelling until laid bare by turf-cutters. Seemingly the crannog was not of great size, neither did it contain objects of special interest in themselves, their peculiarity being that instruments of iron and stone were found in company, also a bronze pin and several fragments of crucibles, together with remains of the fuel used. A pointed and socketed iron instrument (plate XXXIV., No. 1); two small flint knives; a stone celt; a round flat stone, two inches in diameter, having an oblong indentation on either side; and several pieces of rude pottery, bearing marks of fire, were amongst the articles brought to light.

Lough Guile.—In the parish of same name, and on the site of a crannog situated in a bog, are said to have been discovered two bronze knives, and with them a bronze instrument, six inches long and very sharp in the point (plate XXXIV., figs. 8 and 7); and on the same plate, fig. 6, is a flint knife, the form rather unusual: there were several of the articles commonly called “spindle-whorls,” some of lozenge shape, but most of them round; one was composed of jet, having indentations on it as for a thong or string. No description of the special formation of this crannog is recorded.[192]

Toome Bar.—In 1864 Robert Day, junior, gave the following interesting description of sites of crannogs in this neighbourhood. The bridge which spans the river at Toome forms a connecting link between the counties Antrim and Derry. At this place Lough Neagh presents the appearance of a great V, having the space between the points filled with a sand-bank, known as Toome bar, and which is almost invariably covered with from two to three feet of water. Barton, who published a work on Lough Neagh in 1751, states that before the autumnal season the water discharged at Toome was so very inconsiderable as not to afford a depth greater than that which may reach to the ankle or the knee of a person wading, and that on one occasion a man, taking advantage of an inblowing wind, walked over dryshod. Strewn upon the bar, and imbedded in it, were logs and balks of timber, some bearing the marks of fire, while others still retained their upright position. They must have been placed there artificially, as the bar of sand extends a quarter of a mile into the lake, outside of which there is deep water, and if it were by the force of the water they had been thrown up, it is equally probable they would have been swept away by the first flood. From this it may be inferred that there was on the spot, at a very remote period, a crannog or lacustrine settlement. The large number of flint weapons found on the surface, or imbedded in the sandy bottom, renders it more than probable that they had been in use by the dwellers in this island village. Flint is not found within seven miles of Toome, so that it must have been carried to and manufactured in the crannog. The most conclusive proof of their having been made on the site was furnished by the presence of the large cores of flint from which the weapons had been struck. Two rudely-shaped, barbed spear-heads were here obtained, and four celts of the ordinary type, made from the trap rock, two of them polished, but the others were made with less care, the edge alone showing signs of careful working. Antiquities of great variety belonging to the stone and bronze periods were found at the time the river Bann was deepened; these were deposited in the Museum, R. I. A. All the good specimens, evidently designed for special purposes, and to which had been given certain and definite shapes, were made out of rocks characterised by possession of all the essential qualities needful for such articles; whilst the rude, ill-formed implements were composed of shale, slate, schist, grit, or any other stone which presented itself within reach. The greater number of the flint weapons were formed by not more, probably, than three or four skilful strokes, thus: one would strike the fragment from the core, two more would form the mid-rib giving it a leaf-shape, and a fourth stroke would cause the slight depression at the base intended to secure the weapon to its shaft or handle. These opaque flint flakes, of the largest size and honey yellow in colour, were found six feet under the bed of the river Bann, lying with several others and a stone celt “in one mass on the old or former gravel-bed of the river, not far from Toome Castle, on the county Antrim side.” At Toome were found also the bronze weapons figured plate XXXVII., in which No. 1 represents a sword in a perfect state, having the point worked down below the level of the blade, for about four inches; it has a broad handle-plate, cleft for pommel, with six rivets still in position; it is 25⅜ inches long and 1⅛ broad. No. 2 is a complete blade, but the handle-plate is defective; it is brazed in two places, only half an inch asunder, the line of junction being scarcely discernible; it is bevel-edged, has hilt notches, four rivet-holes, and is 26½ inches long, by 1¼ broad. No. 3 is a plain blade, slightly corroded, and wanting part of handle; its length is 19¼ inches, by 1¾ broad. No. 4, ibid., perfect, feather-edged, slight hilt notch, four rivet-holes in handle-plate, 21 inches long, by 1⅜ broad. No. 5 is a leaf-shaped blade, 19 inches long and 1⅞ wide at broadest part: this weapon is from the crannog of Bohermeen, county Meath, and is here given for purpose of comparison. No. 6 is a perfect knife-shaped dagger, grooved in casting; slight raised notch on handle-plate, and 4¾ inches in length. No. 7 is a perfect specimen of the long narrow spear-head; it has straight edges, loops at angle of slender socket, broad bevelled edges, and is 16¼ inches long, by 2 in. broad at base. No. 8 is a thick, short, cast bronze spear-handle, with bulbous extremities, 6¾ inches long, and it “still contains a fragment of the ancient shaft.” This relic points to a close intercourse between the north of Ireland and Scotland, for in their wars against the Romans, A.D. 208, the Caledonians had, amongst other weapons of offence, a spear of peculiar construction, “having a brazen knob at the end of the shaft, which they shook to terrify their enemies.”[193]

Lough Mourne.—The waters of this small lake, situated upon a hill about 600 feet above the level of the sea, and three miles due W. of Carrickfergus, were temporarily drained off in the summer of 1882, to enable the engineers of the water-works to carry on their operations; and, when the level of the lake had been lowered ten feet, a number of artificial islands were exposed to view. There was a group of crannogs consisting of four islets erected on one common pile foundation, and at some little distance there was a solitary crannog. The group was formed of some hundreds of piles, four or five inches in diameter, with a cross timbering of branches of various sizes upon a thick layer of heather and moss. Upon this the four islets were built of boulder-stones to form the floors of the wooden houses … the piles generally retained their bark, and were mostly of pine, willow, and ash, with occasionally some of oak; they were rudely pointed on one side only. Many of the stones bore traces of fire, and had evidently formed part of the hearth; a piled causeway, one hundred yards long, led part of the way to the shore; the interior was filled with heather and moss. The single crannog lay somewhat farther from the shore, and in deeper water than the others; greater skill, too, appears to have been displayed in its construction. The lowest course (see section, plate XXXVIII.) was composed of large stones, whose exact depth could not be ascertained owing to a strong spring of water which flowed up between them; upon this was a layer, two feet thick, of moss, which time and pressure had converted into peat. Upon the moss were radiating timbers, the outer ends of which rested on and were notched or mortised into piles disposed in several rings round the island; these piles and cross timbers were larger than in the composite crannog, and many of them were of oak. Upon the timbers was a layer of heather and brushwood, upon which rested the stones forming the floor of the hut: in this case there was no causeway to the land. The relics discovered were not numerous, but the soft, almost liquid nature of the mud rendered a thorough search almost impossible. There was found about five feet of the prow of a “dug out,” and, in addition to charcoal and bones in considerable quantity, there were two small stone crucibles, calcined flint flakes, several fossil sea urchins from the chalk, worn smooth by having been carried about as ornaments or charms; a small stone with a hole in it—possibly also a charm—and a pair of “rubbing-stones.”[194] In midsummer, 1884, a very fine canoe of oak, found entire in the bed of this lake, was presented to the Field Club by the Water Commissioners, and has been by them lodged in the Belfast Museum. This canoe appears to have been shaped chiefly by the axe; it is hollowed out of a single trunk, is twelve feet eight inches in length, and two feet six inches in width, the inside depth being nine inches—the same breadth continues throughout—the bottom of the canoe is perforated with six rather cleanly cut round holes, about three quarters of an inch in diameter.