  ORIGIN, CONSTRUCTION, AND CIVILIZATION “To look back to antiquity is one thing; to go back to it is another. If we look back to antiquity it should be as those who are winning a race—to press forward the faster, and to leave the beaten still farther behind.” Let us travel back in thought some thousands of years, and picture to ourselves the aspect of Erin at that period. After all, this retrospect is comparatively short, if we take as correct the present computed period of man’s existence on this globe. Geology now assigns to the human race a duration it was long considered heterodox to imagine: generation upon generation, who shall say how many, lie beneath the sod over which our footsteps now pass. The words of Genesis are in no way antagonistic to the discoveries of modern geologists, nor even to the theory of evolution. That the term “day,” as used in the Book of Genesis, is not to be understood as confined to a mere duration of twenty-four hours, but should be taken as an undefined period of time, is a point now so generally admitted that it is scarcely needful to quote the words of Scripture, that “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” In common parlance we speak of events that occurred “in days of old” without intention to limit the idea to periods of twenty-four hours: the form of expression may be held to cover an indefinite number of centuries. In the modern acceptation of the word used to denote the duration of twenty-four hours, we consider the day to be represented by the morning and the evening: there is the brightness of morn followed by the gloom “… oh who can strive To comprehend the vast, the awful truth Of the eternity that hath gone by, And not recoil from the dismaying sense Of human impotence?” In looking back through the pages of history we arrive at a period when all written records cease; but the remains of the dwellings of man, of his arts and industries, enable us to trace out in some degree the general routine of his every-day life. In the matter now under consideration, prehistoric archÆology interests chiefly as demonstrating, in a practical manner, the state of the people who occupied Erin long before the beginning of authentic history. Recent researches enable us to lift the veil that heretofore concealed the past of subsided lake-dwellings in Ireland, to bid “Forgotten generations live again, Assume the bodily shapes they wore of old”; to realize to a great extent the physical past of their inhabitants, and in imagination to partake of their daily life. If till lately the learned were on this subject purblind, it is the less surprising that the uncultured fisherman, gliding in his skiff over the placid surface of the waters and peering into the clear depths, should have failed to recognize that the mouldering stems projecting from the Until the first half of this nineteenth century all memory of the ancient lake-dwellers of Ireland seemed to have vanished completely, but with the study of ethnology the interest excited in tracing out the idiosyncrasies of the various races of man penetrated to Ireland also, and now “few things can be more interesting than the spectacle of an ancient, long-forgotten people, thus rising, as it were, from the waters of oblivion to take that place which properly belongs to it in the history of the human race.” “Rugged type of primal man, Grim utilitarian, Loving woods for hunt and prowl, Lake and hill for fish and fowl.” They formed their ordinary implements and their weapons of warfare from flint, stone, bone, shells, and even wood. “They were, then were not; they have lived and died, No trace, no record of their date remaining.” New comer succeeded new comer in Erin. This epoch was eminently characterized by the sway of brute force—a warlike front alone secured immunity from spoliation; in short, these times were governed on “… the good old plan That he should take who has the power, And he should keep—who can.” Wooded nature of the Country.—The ancient classical name of Ireland was Ierne, which some etymologists derive through its Greek form from the Celtic, signifying, they say, “the extremity,” “Gorgons and hydras and chimeras dire.” The witty and eccentric Dean Swift, remarking on the custom of writers of his day, said:— “So geographers in Afric’ maps With savage pictures fill their gaps, And o’er inhabitable downs Place elephants, instead of towns.” It is strange how long this ignorance both as regards Ireland and the “Dark Continent” continued. One of the earliest names of Ireland, given her by her own native poets, is very descriptive, Fidh-inis, “the woody island.” This name at once brings before our minds the then characteristic feature of the country, even as its modern poetical designation, “The Emerald Isle,” depicts the luxuriant vegetation watered by the cloud-masses of the Atlantic. The bogs of Ireland, however, speak even more eloquently on this point than her bards, for in these bogs vestiges of ancient forests are found buried, sometimes at great depth below the present surface; the remains of oak, birch, mountain ash, alder, yew, beech, deal, &c., testify to the variety of the arboreous vegetation: they lie either prostrate in a horizontal position, or bear marks of having been felled by man. According to old bardic accounts, the first proceeding chronicled of the earliest settlers was the clearing of timber off many great plains in various parts of Ireland, evidently showing the paucity of arable land. Wild Animals.—This continuous forest must have swarmed with wild animals of every description. Wolves, which even in the present day prove a scourge occasionally in parts of Europe, were numerous; the caves which abounded in the country were the home of the bear, and the boar fed beneath the deep forest shade. In these remote times, too, the Irish elk, with its huge, broad, branching antlers, a creature of immense size and strength, was existent. Remains of this gigantic deer, the Megaceros Hibernicus, have been found, covered by the peat at various depths, sometimes close to the surface; and from allusions in Irish poetry and legends Climatic Changes.—If reliance can be placed on the accounts of classical writers, it would appear that two thousand years ago an excessive degree of cold prevailed in the climate of Europe. The great number and extent, of forests, lakes, and morasses, which according to classical authors existed in their time, must have rendered the climate of Europe exceedingly cold and moist. The forests have nearly all been felled, the stagnant water drained, thus producing a very considerable difference between the temperature described as existing in these latitudes 2000 years ago and in the present day. What occurred on the Continent occurred also in Ireland, which, shaded with forests and abounding in marshes, must have had an atmosphere more frigid than if its soil were then, as now, freely exposed to solar influence. Claudian applied to Ireland the epithet ‘icy’: Strabo looked on it as a country scarcely habitable; Mela described the climate as cold and unfavourable: however, to counterbalance these authorities, it may be inferred from Tacitus that Ireland was considered milder in climate than Gaul; in that point of view Æthicus says it was superior to Britain, and Solinus states that it abounded in pastures. Owing to the disappearance of Erin’s former leafy mantle, and the absence of pestilential exhalations from stagnant fens, the summers have become much colder and the winters warmer than in remote times. The turf-cutter in Ireland finds that The remains of human handicraft, in the form of log-houses or lake-dwellings, have been found buried under each and all these peat growths: a depth of 25 feet had overgrown the log-house discovered at Inver, Co. Donegal, and on the floor-level, outside the building, were traces of the corkers of the great oak forest age. It is practically impossible to estimate the rate at which a bog grows: if there be a fall, and consequent drainage, it will increase but little, whereas an undrained bog augments with considerable rapidity: so many contingencies are thus introduced as practically to invalidate in a great degree calculations regarding the growth of peat over prehistoric or other remains. G. H. Kinahan has estimated that in undisturbed conditions each year’s growth, represented by a layer or lamina somewhat resembling the markings on a forest tree, would average one hundred laminÆ to the foot in white or surface turf, two to three hundred to the foot in brown turf, and six to eight hundred to the foot in black turf, so that the accumulation of 25 feet above the log-house at Inver, according to this painstaking calculation, would represent an age of startling remoteness. Lakes.—Ireland was a land of lakes as well as of forests, for the white-shell marl, which forms the substratum of peat bog in low-lying situations, was formerly covered by water, till gradually displaced by the encroachments of the surrounding “Now land, now lake, and shores with forest crowned.” Lakes were thickly scattered over the face of the country—lakes of irregular shape connected by stagnant shallows—the majority of small size, half marsh, half water, fringed with forest, and abounding in fish: The axe of the primitive pioneer and the modern engineers’ spade have revolutionized the aspect of the landscape: this process however was gradual, the forests were only driven back little by little, and it is comparatively yesterday since draining operations on a large scale have been carried out; within the memory of persons still living there were numerous localities throughout the kingdom, where “The bittern’s lonely boom was heard Along the waving reeds.” It is only after drainage on a great, or rather thorough scale, that anything like complete inspection of the original structure of a lake dwelling, or any extensive “find” can be hoped for, the majority of such sites being surrounded by soft pulpy bog to such a depth and extent as to bewilder the most enthusiastic explorer. Lough or Loch is the term applied both in Ireland and Scotland to a lake: it also signifies an arm of the sea. The shores of small sheets of water, and marshes with sedge-grown borders, were generally surrounded by bog, and the annual growth of this latter substance gradually encroached on the lake, till its former shining surface was changed into a peat moss. It has been remarked, that occasionally the silt now occupying the former lake-bed, demonstrates the fact, that the under stratum was formed in great measure by decomposed vegetable matter, probably aqueous plants and the shed foliage of the encircling forest: the later deposit is considerably mixed with fine clay. The most probable solution of this problem is, that on the disappearance of the woods the exposed surface of the soil was washed down from the surrounding heights by every shower that fell, and if the land were tilled this denudation would be accelerated. Consequent upon the discharge of the water deepening and extending the outlet, and the contemporaneous deposition of matter held in solution in the lake-bed, small loughs in some Lakes, marshes, and woods, have in all ages afforded shelter to the conquered, and have often enabled them to set the invader at defiance. Pliny describes the Caledonian forests as “Romanorum armis terminus.” A race inferior in numbers, in arms, or in physical development, would avail themselves of artificial or natural bulwarks to ward off the attacks of dreaded enemies, and water and woods have from the earliest times formed important factors in the art of defence. One cause to which may be ascribed the first erection of lake dwellings in Ireland was the original paucity of open country, for on the arrival of the first colonists (if credence is to be given to the early native annals) the only plain not covered with forest was the level district stretching between Dublin and Howth. This statement of the superabundance of forest is, to some extent, corroborated by the vast number of local names derived from Irish words signifying woods or timber of some description. However, the most probable cause of their erection was to serve as places of refuge, for these island homes would necessarily provide safety and protection; indeed such, in their later or historical existence, was undoubtedly the cause of their continuous occupation. It is quite obvious that in primitive times, especially, a habitation on water was of great security—more secure than could be a stockaded doon or fort. Lake dwellings have been universally employed both in ancient and modern times: similar physical surroundings originated practically the same style of structures amongst far distant and even ocean-separated tribes. “Man is moulded to a remarkable degree, physically as well as mentally, by manner of living, food, and climate. Among barbarous nations,” says Humboldt, “we find a tribal, rather than an individual physiognomy; there are no varieties of intellectual development to stamp the face with diversity of character: thus the slave-dealers in Upper Egypt never ask for the individual character of a slave; they only inquire where he was born, his character being that of his tribe.” Let us now, like Puck, “Put a girdle round about the earth,” and inspect these habitations for ourselves. Ancient classical writers are not altogether silent on the subject. Hippocrates, who lived upwards of 400 years B.C., when describing the manner of life of the inhabitants of Phasis, a region of the Black Sea, says that the country was fenny and wooded, the climate warm and humid; but despite these disadvantages, the natives lived entirely in the swamps, “for their dwellings are constructed of wood and reeds, and are erected amidst the waters.” He adds that they seldom practise walking, either in the city or the market, but sail up and down in canoes constructed out of single trees, for there are many canals there. An account is given by Herodotus of the abode of a Thracian tribe, the PÆonians, who lived on Lake Prasias, now Lake Takinos, situated in the country known in the present day as Roumelia. The habitations of this tribe were reared on platforms, raised on piles above the water, and connected with the shore by a narrow causeway of similar formation. This tribe successfully resisted the attack of a Persian army under the satrap Myabyzus. The Father of History thus describes this settlement:— In Layard’s work, descriptive of the discoveries on the site of Nineveh, there is an engraving of a bas-relief from the palace of Sennacherib, which represents an artificial island, apparently formed by weaving together the tall reeds that grew on the banks of the Euphrates; and a prehistoric age is indicated by the dwellings which existed in the Gocktscha lake in Armenia. It is certain that lake dwellings were used as places of permanent abode. Remains of such works of ancient date are, on the continent of Europe, by no means confined to the area of Switzerland, to which country they were for some time popularly supposed to belong exclusively; they have been found in Savoy, in the north of Italy, WÜrtemberg, Bavaria, Austria (Carinthia), Hungary, Mecklenburg, Denmark, Pomerania, Brandenburg, and also in France. If dependence can be placed on remains found in these numerous and widely-distributed sites, many of them would appear to have been occupied so late as the period of the Romans; and the silence of their historians on the subject is therefore singular, as in general the characteristic traits of the tribes with which the Roman legions came in contact were depicted with remarkable fidelity. In Switzerland, during the year 1829, an excavation was made on the shore at Ober Meilen, on the lake of Zurich, for the purpose of deepening the harbour; and although piles and other antiquities were then discovered, they appear to have attracted no attention. So matters stood till the winter of 1853-4, when an extraordinary drought and long-continued frost caused the lakes to sink to a Fig. 1.—Sketch Section of Swiss Pile Dwelling. This construction bears a close family resemblance to the Irish type, in which the huts stood, so to speak, on terra firma, and not en l’air, above the surface of the water. Like Irish dwellings of analogous formation, this species of substructure has as yet been found only in small lakes with soft and muddy bottoms, and of little depth and extent; they owe their origin to the fact, that piles driven into the oozy lake bottom could not have supported the necessary weight; for, if heavily laden, they must have sunk altogether below the surface of the water, or at least could not have retained their relative positions. This formation seems to have The “fascine” lake dwelling in the lake of Fuschl, near the Mondsee in Austria, resembles, in most respects, those found in Switzerland, Ireland, and Scotland. This little lake is rich in fish, and its banks abound with game; on its western shore, in a little inlet, lies an artificial island nearly circular, about fifty paces in diameter, separated from the mainland by a narrow channel, now almost choked with peat-moss and marsh plants. The islet is only just above the ordinary water-level, and on inspection its construction was found to be as follows:— First, a thick layer of peat-moss, then a stratum of branches, principally of mountain pine and dwarf birch: the foundation consists of large boughs or trunks of pine trees, the top pointing inwards. Small piles were driven through the different layers to hold the mass together, whilst on the exterior, a number of much smaller piles were driven into the lake-bed, probably to protect the structure from wave action. The difference in general constructive details between the dwellings on Helvetian and Hibernian lakes may be accounted for by the depth of water of the former, and the shallow muddy bottoms of the latter. Remains of a dwelling have been found embedded in the peat-bogs by which the hill of Chamblon is surrounded. The peat-cutters of Les Uttins, discovered horizontal beams with mortises, and a wooden roadway across the marsh leading to the spot. There are two settlements here, both very ancient: one is situated at a distance of 1850 yards from the lake, the other at a distance of 2200 yards, in an alluvial The framework of the huts was probably made of logs and wattles, or of hurdles plastered over with clay: portions of the latter, with marks of the wattling still distinct on them, have been drawn from their watery bed. The Swiss dwellings appear to have been rectangular, resembling perhaps the chÂlets of the present day: it has not been decided whether they were divided into rooms, but, just as in the Irish dwellings, each hut had its hearth, of which the flat stones still often lie in situ; the invariable presence of clay weights indicates that most families possessed a loom, whilst from the remains of straw and reeds, it may be inferred that the roofs were thatched. The wide chronological range of these remains is very remarkable. The settlements in which stone implements have been found are more widely spread and more numerous than those of the metallic period. In Switzerland these lake villages appear to have commenced to decay, or to have been abandoned towards the close of the bronze age, and to have almost ceased to exist on the introduction of iron. In the stone era the bones of wild animals, of stags, of urus, of aurocles, and wild boar, are Scottish archÆologists were aroused by the lacustrine discoveries on the Continent to investigation of similar remains occurring in their own country. It was found that early historic references to island forts, and incidental notices of the exposure of artificial islands, consequent on drainage operations, had been entirely overlooked. A crannog, that of Lochinadorb, in Moray, was honoured by a visit from Edward I. in 1303, and was considered of such importance, that thirty-three years later Edward III. led an army to its relief. A crannog in Loch Kinord, in Aberdeenshire, is mentioned in history in the year 1335: it received James IV. as a guest in 1506, and enjoyed a continuous existence until 1648, when its fortifications were razed by order of Parliament. Forty years after the dismantling of this island fortress, the crannog of Lochan-Eilean, in Strathspey, is described as “useful to the country in times of trouble or wars, for the people put in their goods and children here, and it is easily defended.” Artificial islands formed of wood or stone, often identical with those a short time previously ascertained to have existed in Ireland, were found more or less spread over the entire of Scotland. These have been lately classified and considerably added to by Dr. Munro, and in his work The Dowalton settlement, in the lake of that name, in Wigtownshire, seems to have been abandoned by its inhabitants at an early period: nothing mediÆval was found on the site; a copper coin indeed (described, however, as of doubtful character) was picked up; but as it may have been dropped into the water at any period, The Irish lake dwellings have, over and over again, yielded articles precisely similar to the annexed list, The unlooked-for discovery of lake dwellings in Yorkshire, resembling those of Ireland and Scotland, proves that in Britain It may be remarked that the great city of London seems to have risen from a collection of rude pile dwellings, as traces of these structures have been found both near London-Wall and at Southwark. They are thus described by General Lane-Fox:—“Upon looking over the ground, my attention was at once attracted by a number of piles, the decayed tops of which appeared above the unexcavated portions of the peat, dotted here and there over the whole of the space cleared.… Commencing on the south, a row of them ran north and south on the west side: to the right of these a curved row, as if forming part of a ring. Higher up, and running obliquely across the ground, was a row of piles having a plank about an inch and half thick, and a foot broad, placed along the south face, as if binding the piles together.… The points of the piles were inserted from one to two feet in the gravel, and were for the most part well preserved, but all the tops had rotted off at about two feet above the gravel, which must have been the surface of the ground, or of the water at the time these structures were in existence.” Dr. Munro is of opinion that the lake dwellings of Scotland were erected by the semi-Romanized Celtic inhabitants, as a means of protection when they were left to contend against the attacks of the Angles, the Picts, and the Scots, upon the withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain; but when CÆsar arrived on the banks of the Thames the use of wooden stakes, palisading, and piles, for defensive purposes, was, as described by him, Venice, the once proud Queen of the Adriatic, the whilom mart of Europe, with her lofty campanile, her beautiful temples, and her marble palaces, rising vision-like from her watery bed, was in origin but a cluster of fisher huts perched on piles in the shallow lagoons at the mouth of the Po, a site selected by these toilers of the sea for security and refuge from the ravages of the Huns under Attila. In the commencement of the sixteenth century, when the Spaniards marched on Mexico, “they saw, as they passed along, several large towns resting on piles, and reaching far into the water, a kind of architecture which found great favour with the Aztecs.” These first founders of what now is the city of Mexico, after enduring the casualties and hardships of a migratory life, at length resolved to erect a permanent abode; and to protect themselves from their surrounding enemies, laid the foundations of the future city “by sinking piles into the shallows, for the low marshes were half buried under water: on these they erected their light fabrics of reeds and rushes, and sought a precarious subsistence from fishing, and from the wild fowl which frequented the waters, as well as from the cultivation of such simple vegetables as they could raise on their floating gardens.” Captain Hiram Cox, in his Journal of a Residence in the Burmhan Empire, written in the year 1796-7, describes the villages along the banks of the Rangoon river as “built of bamboo and cadjan, D’Albertes, in his New Guinea, states that the house inhabited by him at Salwatee was suspended over the sea on piles, and adds, “all, or nearly all, the houses are built like ours, on piles, and are surrounded by water at high tide, some indeed at all times, and the people go to and fro by means of a bridge made of the trunks of small trees. At a distance of little more than half a mile there is another small village.” On the river Ramoi, D’Albertes saw four or five houses built on piles about 20 feet high; and when describing a native village, of the people of Mausniam, he states that all “the houses are built on wooden piles driven into the sea, and approached by a bridge constructed of the trunks of small trees.” At Lorony nearly the entire village was over the water. “The houses of Mafor are built entirely in the water, so that a little bridge is necessary to enter them from the shore.” “The Arfahs live in small villages, in houses built on piles.” In the bay of Dorei, in New Guinea, there are four villages erected on piles over the sea. Each village contains from eight to fifteen houses; each house consists of a row of distinct rooms, and contains several families. These structures are entirely formed of wood very roughly finished. The same writer states, “Formerly the entire town of Tondano was erected in the lake, the only means of communication from one house to another being by boat. In the year 1810, relying on the strength of this position, the inhabitants, who were at strife with the Dutch, tried to shake off their yoke, took up arms, and were beaten. It was with difficulty the Dutch succeeded in subduing them, for which purpose they had to employ artillery and to build gunboats. To avoid a repetition of similar troubles, the natives were forbidden in the future to construct their dwellings on the lake.” The dwellings of the Dyaks are described by the Bishop of Labuan as “built along the river side on an elevated platform 20 or 30 feet high, in a long row, or rather it is a whole village in one row of some hundreds of feet long. The platforms are first framed with beams, and then crossed with laths about two inches wide and two inches apart.” Whilst staying at Maracaibo, in Venezuela, a traveller took great interest in a singular tribe of Indians called Guajiros, who lived near the town in “pile dwellings.” He was conveyed to his destination in a rude canoe, formed simply of the hollowed-out trunk of a tree. On reaching the village, the huts, with their low sloping roofs, were seen to be perched on high piles over the shallow waters, and to be connected with each other by narrow plank bridges formed of the split stems of palm trees. To enter the huts, the visitor had to climb an upright pole by means of notches cut in the side. and on the banks of the Amazon they are also to be seen perched on piles driven into the muddy bottom. The delta of the Parana, which is scarcely above high-water mark, is called the Venetia of South America. Here the houses are built on piles in order to keep the flooring free from the sudden rising of floods. Near Rosario, in Buenos-Ayres, gauchos, who have given up horses and horse stealing and taken to canoes and petty larceny, have constructed rude abodes in the swamps along the banks of one of the tributaries of the La Plata. For some years after the drainage operations, the soil of Lagore remained unturned by the spade; but in 1846, 1847 and 1848, the site of the crannog was reopened by men engaged in the process of turf-cutting, and, as on the previous occasion, quantities of bones were exhumed, and with them a surprising number of antiquities, together with remains of the ancient stockading, and the ruins of several structures evidently used as huts; one of them is thus described by W. F. Wakeman: “Let the reader imagine a foundation formed of four roughly-squared planks of oak, each about twelve feet in length (so arranged as to enclose a quadrangle), the ends of which were carefully fitted together. From the angles of this square rose four posts, also of oak, to the height of about nine feet. In these grooves were cut, into which roughly-split planks of oak had been slipped so as to form the sides of the house; the irregularities between the boards were tightly caulked with moss; a low and narrow opening in one of the sides had evidently served as an entrance. There were no traces of window or chimney.” Lagore crannog differed from others brought to light at a later date, in not being either submerged or surrounded by water at the time of its discovery. Wilde describes it as consisting of a circular mound of about 520 feet in circumference, slightly raised above the surrounding bog or marshy ground, which forms a basin of about a mile and a-half in circuit, and is bounded by elevated lands. “The circumference of the circle was formed by upright posts of black oak, measuring from six to eight feet in height; these were mortised into beams of similar material laid flat upon the marl and sand beneath the bog, and nearly sixteen feet below the present surface. The upright posts were held together by connecting cross-beams, and (said to be) fastened by large iron (?) nails: parts of a second upper tier of posts were likewise found resting on the lower ones. The space thus enclosed was divided into separate compartments by septa or divisions that intersected one another in different directions; these were also formed of oaken beams in a state of great preservation, joined together with greater accuracy than the former, in some cases having their sides grooved and rabbeted to admit large panels driven down between them.” It may be inferred that fire was the final agent of destruction, as almost everywhere amongst the timbers lay half-consumed logs and numerous pieces of charcoal. Unfortunately, investigations on the site do not seem to have produced results such as might have been expected, owing principally, as was supposed, to want of friendly co-operation on the part of those engaged in searches. The “find” is now widely dispersed, and can never be re-collected; but the Petrie Museum deposited in the Royal Irish Academy, as well as some private cabinets, would still furnish material for scores of illustrations. At about the same date as the Lagore crannog, that of Lough Gur, Co. Limerick, became visible when the waters of the lake were lowered. The existence of this artificial island in ancient times was traditionally known to the neighbouring peasantry: the stones by which it was overlaid were in places distinctly visible to a person passing over them in a boat when the lake level was low and the water calm. A large tripod composed of iron was at times plainly to be seen, and had attracted Mr. Wakeman’s attention; but, from superstitious feelings on the part of the boatmen by whom he was accompanied, no attempt at its recovery was then made; it is said to be now in the collection of the Royal In 1853-4, owing principally to the writings of Keller, the entire attention of archÆologists was attracted to the lacustrine remains of Switzerland, and it was the more easily diverted from the Irish sites by the pronouncement of Sir William Wilde, that no stone, and but few bronze weapons, had been found in them: he also suggested, that from the ninth to the seventeenth century might be considered the probable date of the lacustrine period in Ireland. These theories have since been abundantly confuted; but they served at the time to check investigation, because detracting from the impression of antiquity. Crannog, derivation of the word.—In the Irish Annals, lake-dwellings are called crannogs, derived from the term crann, which signifies a tree. That word, always spelled with a double n, is in Irish generally applied to a tree with foliage and branches, as crann na coille, trees of the wood, but in its primary meaning it refers to some massive object of timber standing erect—as stems of the forest, or a ship’s mast, which is also called crann. The last syllable in crannog, i.e. og, is the terminal form of numerous Irish words; “sometimes it carries the force of a diminutive, but more frequently not. Crannog is no doubt formed in the same manner as cuarÓg, the name usually applied to a wild bee’s nest, and derived from the noun cuar, any conical hollow with the diminutive ending og attached thereto. In some country places, the old kind of pulpit or form was called crannÓg, and in others crannghail or crannghaoil, a word of somewhat similar meaning. This latter word, too, was the Irish term for a hurdle, and was commonly used for those wicker-chimneys so common formerly in country cottages.” It is doubtful whether the term crannog was originally applied to the timber framework of which the island was constructed, or to the wooden huts erected on it; though now-a-days it is generally understood to include the whole structure, both island and dwelling. In its topographical sense, the word is applied to wooden lake dwellings, but in another sense the Anglo-Irish employed it to designate a basket, hamper, or measure of a certain size for measuring or gauging grain or corn. Lake dwellings bore in Scotland the same designation. In a document dated 14th April, 1608, directed to State officials, concerning the surrender of some rebellious clans, it is ordered, that “the haill houssis of defence, strongholdis and cranokis in the yllis perteining to thame and their foirsaidis sal be delyveret to his Maiestie,” &c. Although the term crannog is to be found in the Irish Annals, yet in the earliest entries these dwellings are designated simply as Inish, i. e. island: for instance, in an old Irish MS., “The wars of the Gaedhiel with the Gaill,” it is recorded that, in the year 1013, Brian Boru repaired inir locha Gair, i. e. the island of Lough Gur, county Limerick, which is one of the most important as also apparently one of the most ancient Irish lacustrine sites; for, as before stated, remains of the reindeer, the Megaceros Hibernicus, and bear, were found in the lake bed. Crannog, a common Townland Name.—There are numerous localities throughout Ireland in which the term “crannog” is embodied in the name, and where, consequently, must have been formerly a lake or swamp, with its accompanying artificial island, although in some cases the lake has now disappeared, and the swamp has been drained. In most of the districts in which these islands were found several small lakes are clustered together. In Connaught, near the demesne of Longford, county Sligo, the residence of Sir Malby Crofton, Bart., in a small pond, almost dry in summer, there is an islet, still called by the country people “crannog:” it has bequeathed its name to the townland in which “On Lough Neagh’s banks as the fisherman strays, When the calm clear eve’s declining, He sees the round towers of other days In the waves beneath him shining.” Similar legends of submerged towns are prevalent in the south of Scotland, on the littoral facing the Irish coast. In the neighbourhood of Carlingwark Loch, Kircudbrightshire, in which are sites of crannogs, there has been from time immemorial a tradition that “there had been a town in the loch which sunk or was drowned;” The tradition of towns buried beneath the waters is not confined merely to the lakes of Ireland: there is the beautiful fable of the City of Gold, hid beneath the angry ocean, sometimes seen, but ever in different localities: “Yet at times the waves sever, And then you may view The yellow walls ever ’Neath the ocean’s deep blue.” Submarine Crannogs.—After a very high tide at Ardmore, near Youghal, the waters retired more than customary, disclosing the fact that this particular portion of the sea-shore had been the site of a forest, as remains of trees were found in various parts of the submarine deposit. This submerged tract extends to between the four and five fathom line, but it has not been ascertained to what further distance it may stretch seaward. A bank of shingle having shifted by a change of current, laid bare the substructure of an undoubted crannog: at high water it was covered by the tide to a considerable depth. Either this dwelling had been erected when Ireland was joined to Great Britain, or it was existent when Ireland was at a greater elevation above the sea, and therefore of greater extent than at present. The theory is enunciated by eminent geologists that many of our present harbours had been In the Irish Records, lake dwellings are likewise designated “Stockaded Islands,” and in the Ulster Inquisitions of 1605, the term applied to them is insula fortificata. Although antiquarians have differed in opinion respecting the age of these remains, yet after patient analysis of the characteristic features of the numerous excavations made in recent years, the weight of evidence seems to indicate that these constructions were of all ages, some being very ancient; it is quite apparent that they have been built and rebuilt, and in them have been found implements of stone, bronze, and iron in their respective strata. It would seem, indeed, that the “age of bronze” had in many instances largely overlapped that of iron. The chronology of this period is a subject that has not as yet been determined, and the time when it commenced and when it ended is still unsettled. Favourite Sites for Crannogs.—Marshes, small loughs surrounded by woods, and large sheets of water, were alike suitable for the home of the Irish lake-dweller, his great and primary need being protection; he was bound by no conventional engineering rule, he did not exclusively employ wood, but appears to have been guided by surrounding circumstances. On peaty or muddy sites a wooden substructure was essential; on hard bottoms, stone, gravel, or earth were, if convenient, employed. As providing good fishing grounds, the entrance or exit of stream from lake was a favourite site, and natural shoals thus placed were eagerly selected. Mode of Construction of.—Having decided on the position, the crannog builder set to work by driving stakes into the bottom of the lake in a circle of from sixty to eighty feet in diameter, a considerable length of the stake sometimes projecting above the water; these were in many instances joined together by horizontal beams, the interior filled up by branches of trees, stones, gravel, earth, and bracken. Often an inner row (or more than one) of piling is found about five feet distant from the outer, and piles are driven in various parts of the interior, either to consolidate the mass or to act as stays for the walls of the dwelling. Next were placed one or two layers of round logs, cut into lengths of about six feet, generally mortised into the upright piles, kept in position by layers of stone, clay, and gravel. In some cases, where the foundation was The Scottish lake dwellings were formed in almost identically the same manner; in fact, the structural details are so completely analogous as almost to necessitate the belief of their having been erected by the same race. Up to the present time, out of the fifty-three lake dwellings constructed of timber, discovered in Scotland, Fig. 2. Excavation in a Crannog in Loughrea, showing wicker-work wall and basket flooring. G. H. Kinahan, who explored crannogs in four localities, Stone Lake Dwellings.—On some of these artificial islands the last structures seemed to have been formed of stone: for example, in Loughtamand, county Antrim, a stone house or castle, the stronghold of the MacQuillans, replaced a circular structure composed of wood; a similar change seems to have been made in one of the crannogs of Loughrea. The transition from buildings of wood to those of stone has also been observed in Scotland. Mention may be made of a few stone-built island fortresses; and although, strictly speaking, the term “crannog” is scarcely applicable, yet many of them that present a modern appearance are structures erected on ancient foundations. In parts of Galway and Mayo, where timber was either scarce or of stunted growth, buildings of stone seem to be most numerous, whilst in Ulster they occur in the rocky districts of Antrim and Donegal. Goromna Island, in Lough Hilbert, county Galway, is a peculiar structure, which, though not formed of wood, is somewhat allied to a crannog, being wholly or in part an artificial island. A large and good specimen, Caislen-na-Caillighe, or the Hag’s Castle, stands in Lough Mask. It is one of the oldest fortresses mentioned in the Irish Annals, being noticed at the date A.D. 1195. In 1233 the Anglo-Norman castle erected on its site was demolished by Felim O’Conor, chief of Connaught, and so late as 1586 it was with difficulty captured by Sir Richard Bingham. This great circular Fig. 3.—Stone Lake Dwelling in Lough Bola. Theory of Crannogs being only Temporary Refuges.—The opinion has been frequently advanced that crannogs were merely refuges used in case of hostile incursion—not a general or habitual residence; and if a rath chance to be in the immediate vicinity, it is pointed out as the abode of the chief on shore. The great mass of bones, however, and remains of household gear, found upon and around some of the sites, point conclusively to their having been places of residence for long and various periods, and many of them bear signs which denote their having been often demolished, burnt, and rebuilt, the Celt clinging to his watery home with as much pertinacity as in latter days he clings to his cottage on terra firma. Keller was of opinion that the great distinction between the continental pile dwellings (pfahlbauten), and the crannogs of Ireland and kindred lake dwellings of Scotland, is that the latter served merely as places of refuge for chieftains, their families, and property, i. e. strongholds belonging to individuals, whilst the Swiss lacustrine dwellings were inhabited century after century by groups of families; here they fabricated their pottery, their utensils, their wearing apparel, their fishing implements, their weapons of warfare; and hence in Swiss waters rows of huts are found, each furnished with its hearth and its weaving loom. Although Irish and Scottish lacustrine dwellings may have been the abode of chiefs, yet the clan clustered around them, for in many Irish lakes a large crannog is observable, whilst in close proximity—sometimes connected with it—are others of smaller size and meaner construction; might we not fairly surmise that the larger one was the abode of the chief, the others those of his followers? The theory that these dwellings were places of merely temporary refuge can be refuted on many grounds. The evidences of repeated renovations and re-erection of crannogs after having been burnt, Palisades and Dwellings.—Palisaded fortifications are unquestionably very primitive. Around the cyclopean wall of Dun Ængus and other prehistoric forts in the Isles of Arran, county Galway, are found palisades, or chevaux-de-frise, of sharp-pointed stones, and such defences have in all ages proved effective under skilful management. Even in the present advanced state of military science, the various wars in New Zealand have demonstrated the formidable nature of the Maori pah or fort. The outer range of piles around crannogs rose considerably above the water, and thus formed a stockade or breastwork for repelling an attack from enemies. The Lord Deputy Sidney, describing to Elizabeth a repulse of her troops from one of these retreats, says that at a distance it did not appear formidable, as it was simply encircled with a stout palisade bristling with rows of sharpened stakes; but when assaulted, the soldiers found it impossible either to scale or undermine it. This style of defensive work was of ancient origin in Ireland, for the Annals state that, in the year 990, the island as well as “the dreach and rampart of Lough Cimbe” (now Lough Hackett, county Galway) were swept away by a violent storm. Within the area enclosed stood the hut or huts in which the families lived; the stockade served equally for shelter and defence, fulfilling the same purpose as did the circumvallation of the rath or doon on terra firma. Edifices constructed of logs, of wattling, and hurdles daubed over with clay, and thatched with reeds, were in early times considered characteristic of the Irish; even public buildings were constructed of these materials. Bede states that an Irish monk, who had been elected Bishop of Lindisfarn, built a church for his see “altogether of sawn oak, and covered it with reeds, after the manner of the Scots” (i. e. the Irish). We need not, however, refer to history, or depend upon conjecture, in order to reconstruct these island dwellings; for the foundations, and even some of the log walls, have been exposed to view. Good examples are presented by the flooring of an oblong house at Drumaleague, county Leitrim, and at Cargaghoge, county Monaghan; remains A considerable portion of the townland of Kilnamaddo (the wood of the dog) had apparently, in olden times, formed the basin of a sheet of water, and upon one of its shoals some primitive tribe had erected a habitation. The piling can still be traced, but the chief antiquarian interest attached to the discovery consisted in the remains of the huts already referred to, and which were constructed of oak beams. They were two in number, stood about fifty feet apart, and somewhat resembled the hut exposed to view by Captain Mudge in Donegal, but differed from it in not being divided into an upper and lower story. The Kilnamaddo huts were quadrangular, and the larger and more perfect specimen measured on the outside eleven feet six inches by ten feet. To make the structure, four massive posts of oak, averaging seven feet in length and seven feet in circumference, were set in the ground. These timbers, near their upper ends, have mortised holes averaging eleven inches in height by eight and a-half in breadth, through which passed the ends of beams to which slabs of oak were attached, and the floor was also composed of oaken planks. The roof, as well as a great portion of the sides, did not remain in situ at the time of the discovery, but a number of timbers found immediately adjoining each of the structures were admirably suited for the purpose of forming side walls and roofing. The lower frame of the work appears to have been very similar to that upon which the roof had rested. In the lower portions of the four upright posts were very curious mortise holes, evidently intended It is difficult to arrive at even an approximate estimate of the age of these curious structures: the mortise-holes, pierced clean through timbers more than seven feet in circumference, could hardly have been formed by the aid of stone hatchets or chisels: several of the piles and other portions of the work show traces of long, clean cuts, such as are given by sharp metallic tools; yet the only implements found here were of stone, and by the aid of such it is possible that some of the timbers were more or less worked. The roots and part of the trunk of a yew were found in situ in the bog, on a higher level than the roof of the more perfect hut. It has been computed, from the girth of this yew, that it would take at least one thousand years to attain the bulk it showed when first laid bare, and the Plate I. Crannog Hut, Kilnamaddo. Restored from existing Remains. Plate I., fig. 4, represents the most perfect of the Kilnamaddo huts restored. When the drawing was taken, all the timbers in the illustration were on the spot, and some of these retained their original position. Fig. 3 is a slab of oak measuring six feet by two feet nine; it is not so thick as fig. 2, which represents a slab of oak five feet ten inches in length by one foot six inches in breadth, the depressions at its broader end being five inches by six, and it is one foot two inches in thickness; this and fig. 3 were found lying by the side of the hut, and it is conjectured that they formed a portion of the roof. Fig. 1 represents an angle-post five feet six inches in length, and four feet ten inches in circumference. This style of construction appears, as far as is yet known, to have been confined to the north-west portion of Ireland, the two somewhat similar huts being those discovered by Captain Mudge in Donegal, and by Mr. Morant in Monaghan. A representation is given (plate II.) of the wooden hut discovered in 1833, by Captain W. Mudge, R.N., in the bog of Drumkelin, parish of Inver, county Donegal, it being the most perfectly preserved primitive dwelling of that material yet brought to light in Ireland. It was surrounded with a staked enclosure; portions of the gates also were discovered. The flooring of the house (plate III., fig. 3) rested on hazel branches covered with a layer of fine sand; a paved causeway (plate III., fig. 4), over a foundation of hazel branches and logs, led from the door of the house to a fireplace, on and around which lay ashes, charred wood, and half-consumed turf. This unique structure was nearly square, twelve feet wide, and nine feet high, formed of rough logs and planks of oak, apparently split by wedges, the interstices filled with a compound of grease and fine sea sand. One side of the hut, supposed to be the front, was left entirely open. The framework Plate II. Crannog Hut discovered at Inver, Co. Donegal. Drawn from the Model in the Museum, R.I.A. The interior of the structure was divided into two stories, each about four feet in height (plate III. figs. 1 and 2); its flat roof was sixteen feet beneath the original surface; therefore, nearly twenty-five feet of bog must have grown around it since its first erection; a piece of a leather sandal, Plate III. Front, Side Elevation, Ground Plan, &c., of Crannog Hut, discovered at Inver, Co. Donegal. The depth at which the hut was buried, and the flint and stone implements found in it, seem to prove unquestionably its extreme antiquity; added to which, upon the level of the floor, and extending all around, were the corkers of a forest of hard wood trees that had co-existed with the occupation of this structure. Wood, in large masses, when either thoroughly immersed in water or buried under ground, lasts longer in a semi-decomposed state than is generally supposed, for calcined ends of timber antÆ and rafters were dug out from the pseudo site of Troy. Fig. 4. Remaining Fragment of Wooden Sword found at Inver. At the time of Captain Mudge’s discovery, so little was known on the subject of lake dwellings, that many were the conjectures floated in connexion with this Donegal “find.” Now, however, this famous log house is pronounced to be simply a very well preserved example of the ordinary crannog hut of an extremely early period, i.e. of a time when axe-heads of stone were still in use, and when metal, if known at all, was so precious that ordinary weapons were occasionally at least formed out of hard wood. That the structure in question occupied a crannog will be sufficiently obvious to any inquirer who examines the model of it preserved in the Royal Irish Academy. The stakes represented in situ, to the left of the illustration (plate II.), are plainly remains of the stockade, one timber of which appears in the foreground; and, in the sides of the drain made to carry off the water from the excavation, Captain Mudge observed a number of ends of large oak logs placed in regular order, portion evidently of the usual crannog foundation. Fig. 5. Sketch of Ancient Floor in the townland of Cargaghoge, barony of Farney. From A to B, 18 ft. 4 in.; from C to D, 17 ft. 6 in.; from B to E, 11 ft. 6 in.; F, fireplace; G, large tree stump; H, remains of posts; I, dotted line showing ends of planks bared by the tenants. In 1867, the remains of a dwelling brought to light in the townland of Cargaghoge, near Carrickmacross, county Monaghan, is thus described:— From the descriptions given in Irish MSS., it would appear as if the very earliest wooden dwellings were either rectangular or of oblong form, but there is absolute proof of the co-existence of circular houses, made chiefly or wholly of wicker-work. Similar dwellings of the Gauls are figured on Roman bas-reliefs; the plan of this kind of house resembled a tent; the poles were driven into the ground in a circle, the spaces between filled in with wicker-work, and the interstices made weather-tight by daubing them with clay. In the centre of the interior, a stout post, commensurate with the required height of the conical roof point, was firmly erected, and to this the rafters were attached, descending at a steep incline to the upright wall poles. According as they radiated from the central post their distance from each other correspondingly increased; in these spaces cross-beams were inserted, and across the radial rafters narrow slips of wood were fastened, forming a complete covering from the conical point of the roof to the eaves; a sheeting of rods was laid over this at right angles, and the framework of the roof was then thatched with straw, rushes, or sedge bound down with scollops. Fig. 6. Section of roadway in soft ground. Gangways.—Some crannogs were connected with the shore by a wooden gangway supported on piles driven into the bed of the lake. The artificial island in the lake of Effernan, county Clare, affords a good example of this kind of passage. It has been often stated that the characteristic feature of Irish lake dwellings was their insularity, their complete disconnection with the land; yet it would be tedious to enumerate the many instances in which remains of both pile gangways and stone causeways have been discovered; Fig. 7. Section of roadway in firm ground. Fig. 8. Plan of roadway, showing repairs. Fig. 9. Axe-head of Bone. Fig. 10. Flint Arrow-head, Shaft and Thong still adhering. Kitchen Middens and Refuse Heaps.—The most usual site of the kitchen midden, or collection of refuse thrown out of the dwelling, is at the entrance to the crannog, where was formerly the landing-stage or gangway leading to the shore; and what more natural than that prehistoric housekeepers should take the easiest method of Canoes.—Some crannogs appear to have been veritable islands, the only means of communication with the land being by canoes; of these, in Irish and Scottish waters alike, remains have been frequently found near the dwelling, in some instances alongside the landing-stage, as if sunk at their moorings. In consequence of the low level of the Boyne in the summer of 1837, workmen engaged in taking gravel from the river, near the obelisk erected to commemorate the period “When James and William staked a Crown, And cannons they did rattle,” discovered a well-preserved “single tree” canoe, which was for many years after exhibited as a curiosity in Liverpool, but finally presented to the Royal Irish Academy. The length of this canoe is eighteen feet nine inches, it averages two feet ten inches in width, is twenty inches high in the side, and has three circular and artificial apertures in the bottom, as shown in the illustration Plate IV. Fig. 1. Single-piece Canoe from Cahore, Co. Wexford. Fig. 2. Single-piece Canoe from the Boyne. Fig. 3. Single-piece Canoe from Toome Bar. Fig. 4. Supposed Single-piece portable Canoe from near Enniskillen. Fig. 5. Paddle from Toome Bar. Fig. 6. Stone Anchor. Fig. 7. Iron Anchor or Grappling from Toome Bar. Single-piece Canoes, Paddle, and Anchors. The discovery of an ancient canoe beneath the waters of Lough Erne was made in a somewhat romantic manner. A steamer plying upon that lake attempted, in consequence of the unusual height of the water, to make a short cut, but grounded on a bank, and in so doing pushed upwards her ancient sister into the light of day. The “dug-out” thus found is of oak, eight feet in length, by one foot five and a-half inches in breadth, its internal depth is seven and a-half inches, the sides averaging about an inch and a-half in thickness. In shape it differs from any other canoe in the Museum, Royal Irish Academy, and, taken as a whole, conveys the idea of the elongated bowl of a table spoon; it also presents a peculiar characteristic, in that a number of holes at almost regular intervals, in sets of three, have been pierced through its floor; there are three sets of these holes, each about an inch in diameter; they cross the boat in threes, at right angles with a line drawn through the middle from end to end. During the operation of changing a line of road about a mile and a-half from Enniskillen, the antique figured (plate IV. fig. 4), was exposed to view. Its position was almost equidistant from Lough Erne and Lough Rossole. Owing to the smallness of its proportions as regards beam, objections have been raised to its claim to be classed as a canoe, and it has been suggested that it was perhaps a brewing vat for manufacture of some kind of drink. Impossible to say what the original length of this square and hollowed block of oak may have been, but the remaining portion measures about fifteen feet: the sides and bottom are thin, the depth is one foot, the breadth at its remaining end only one foot three inches; that end, however, is seven inches thick, and from it, on the exterior, two handles cut out of the solid block project, as shown in the drawing. The foregoing furnish specimens of the three classes into which canoes may be divided; in all, about fifty have been found in Ireland. Paddles.—For the purpose of propelling a canoe paddles were essential, and of these numbers have been discovered: there are several in the Museum of the Royal Historical and ArchÆological Association at Kilkenny, as also in the Museum of the Royal Irish Anchors.—For the purpose of holding a canoe stationary an anchor is requisite, but of these not more than three have as yet been discovered. The one figured (plate IV. fig. 6) is of stone. The shank must have been of wood, lashed to the stone. There was with the canoe discovered in the Boyne what bore the appearance of a kind of wooden anchor. At Toome Bar was found an anchor or grappling instrument twenty-one inches long, but being formed of iron it should be viewed as comparatively modern (plate IV. fig. 7). Curach.—There is yet another kind of boat, the curach, that must have been employed by these lake dwellers; of it, however, on account of the perishable materials of which it was composed, no remains have as yet been exhumed. We may all recollect, when reading English history in our childhood, the description given of the primitive Celtic boat, constructed of basket-work and covered with skins, in which the Picts and Scots are said to have invaded Britain in crowds, and of which the Britons themselves made use: this is frequently referred to by old classical writers. Herodotus mentions boats of this kind as existent in his time on the Tigris and Euphrates; similar skiffs are used on those rivers at the present day; boats of analogous construction are employed in some parts of India; they are propelled by paddles where the water is deep, and poled over the shallows. Nothing can be more simple than the construction of these skiffs; only two materials are requisite, and they the most accessible in the country, i.e. bamboo and hides. When CÆsar had constructed boats in Spain, after the manner learnt by him in Britain, it is said that “The bending willow into barks they twine, Then line the work with spoils of slaughtered kine. … On such to neighbouring Gaul, allured by gain, The bolder Britons cross the swelling main.” Pliny says:—“Even now, in the British channel, they (the boats) are made of osiers, covered with hides sewn together.” Solinus, describing the rough sea between Britain and Ireland, says that the natives “sail in ships made of osiers, which they surround with a covering of hides.” Adamnan, in his life of St. Columba, refers to a voyage made in a curach by St. Cormac. The curach is said to be still in use on the Severn, Plate V. Curach, as used on the Boyne, 1848. Ingenuity of Lake Dwellers, Clothing, &c.—It has been remarked that the brains of most savages and the skulls of most primitive races are larger than, in theory, they ought to be; often rather larger than the brains and skulls of the average masses of the great cities of the present day; but this need not cause surprise, if the life of intelligent interest passed by the savage child be taken into consideration. From the tenderest age he was observant of all the devices practised by his parents for procuring clothing, food, means of defence, in short, all the essentials of existence; the natural result of his wild life was health and strength; indeed, on the principle of the survival of the fittest, it could only be the robust who lived through the hardships and climatic exposure incidental to a savage life. The lake dweller was no exception to this rule, for his ingenuity would be most fully exercised in endeavouring to procure the means of sustenance for his family. It is easy to imagine the various daily occupations needful in his struggles for existence. Timber from the forest supplied him with materials both for his dwelling and for fuel; the skins of wild animals furnished him with clothing, he shaped them with a sharp flint flake, and sewed them with thongs, using as needle the pierced bone of some bird or small mammal. In early Irish history mention occurs of skin or leather garments: when Muircheartach MacNeill made his celebrated circuit of Ireland, A.D. 942, it is stated that his soldiers were clad in long leather cloaks. Fig. 11. Fragment of Deerskin Garment. A bed of growing peat is endowed with marvellous powers. It seems to act like the ancient Egyptian process of embalming on the bodies of men or animals that have become accidentally entombed in it, preserving them for centuries after their contemporaries have, by the ordinary laws of nature, totally disappeared, and organic substances, such as butter, seem also to feel its influence. Peat may bear comparison with ice, the well-known preservative properties of which were strikingly illustrated by the discovery on the shores of Lake Oncoul, in Siberia, of a carcass of the Elephas primigenius, or mammoth (supposed to have become extinct in the Pleistocene period) in a perfect state, and so well refrigerated that, when thawed, the dogs of the neighbourhood devoured its flesh. Again, in 1846, the summer in Siberia had been unusually hot; the frozen The accidental discovery of the great historical crannog of Lagore, in the county Meath, already referred to, presents the first, Weapons and Tools.—In nearly all Irish crannogs, more especially in the larger sites, weapons of war and of the chase have been discovered in abundance, consisting chiefly of arrow- and spear-heads, swords, daggers or skeans, knives, and axe-heads. The numerous fragments of artificially fashioned bone found in and around crannogs plainly demonstrate how much that material was utilized by their inhabitants; many tips of the antlers of deer contained in the collection of the Royal Irish Academy and in that of the Royal Historical and ArchÆological Association, have evidently been sawn from the original branches, and employed in forming handles for swords, knives and daggers; some are ornamented, whilst others are pierced with a hole at one extremity, having evidently been fabricated for a distinct purpose, for spear- or javelin-heads, &c.; these were attached to handles or shafts, by means of the sinews of animals, or thongs of skin. Amongst primitive races the transition from tool to weapon is slight; the same article must, in many cases, have served the double purpose. Fig. 12. Fig. 13. Flint flakes from the Crannog of Lough Ravel. Half-size. Fig. 14. Flake of Basalt from Toombridge. Full-size. Fig. 15. Worked Flint from Lisnacroghera. Full-size. Plate VI., No. 1 is a flint implement, probably a knife. No. 2—A well-worked flint, most likely used for the same purpose. No. 3—A flint “scraper,” that appears to be somewhat injured at one end. No. 4 represents what antiquaries style a “core” of flint. It is in fact the remains of a block, from which flakes have been struck for the purpose of forming them into arrow-heads, knives, &c., &c. No. 5 is a specimen of the hammer-stone so frequently discovered in the refuse heaps of Irish crannogs. They are usually abraded at the extremities, as if from long use, and similar articles occur in the shell mounds Plate VI. Flint, Wood, and Bone Implements from Crannogs. Fig. 16. Axe-head of red-deer’s Horn from Lough Eyes. Quarter-size. Fig. 16, from Lough Eyes, represents the horn of a red-deer converted into a weapon; its weight is considerable, and there can be little doubt that it had served as a rude battle-axe; its broader end had been fined to a cutting edge, and a notch shows where a leathern thong or sinew was lashed for attachment of the axe-head to the handle into which it had been set in the manner of a stone or flint celt. This antler, together with the bone axe-head from Swords, whether of bronze or iron, are almost invariably of small size, and double edged. There is usually a central rib to the blade, but in some instances fluting occurs. The ordinary crannog sword may be described generally as of two kinds, the one increasing in breadth from the handle to the end, which terminates in the form of a triangle; the other is shorter, with a broad straight-edged blade obtusely pointed. Their handles were composed of bone or horn, and sometimes wood was used. There was no hilt or guard, properly speaking, though the handle usually somewhat overlaps the edges of the blade, while it recedes in a curve tending in a direction opposite to that of the pommel. Plate VII. Hafted Bronze Rapier Sword, showing both sides. Full size. In April, 1864, a sword-blade of bronze, with the haft still attached, was found adjoining a lake containing a small artificial island, in the townland of Galbally, county Tyrone. The extreme length of blade, 25 in.; breadth at tang, 1¾ in.; weight, 13¾ ounces. The handle (both sides of which are represented in the accompanying plate) is of bone, probably cetacean; its length, 3½ inches; weight 1 ounce; thickness, ? of an inch. The smallness of the handle is very remarkable, taking into consideration the popular idea of the great stature and strength of Erin’s ancient inhabitants. Plate VIII. Iron Weapons and Manacle from Lagore. Fig. 17. Iron Sword from Lisnacroghera, about ? real size. Plate VIII. presents good examples of iron swords, two of them double-edged: (1) the one measures 22¼ in., including the strig or tang that passed through the hilt; the blade is 18½ in. long and 1? in. wide, with a broad shallow groove or channel along its entire length; the other double-edged sword (2) measures 15¼ in., and the blade is formed with a central ridge. No. 3 somewhat resembles an oriental weapon, the blade being curved towards the point; the length is 13¼ in., width 1 in., and the curved portion alone has a cutting edge. No. 4 is a peculiar, single-edged weapon of diminutive size; the blade measures 8 in., and the entire length is only 13 in., including the cross ornamented socket into which the haft was fixed. With these articles an iron ring was found (5) having a portion of chain still attached; it is seemingly part of a manacle. In ancient Irish writings mention is made of “golden” fetters, and no doubt the “golden” swords, No. 1, plate IX., is an iron sword, with bronze mounting at handle, measuring 25¾ in. in length; the breadth of blade is 1½ in.; and the handle 3½ in. long. This was considered by Petrie to be the finest specimen of its class then found. No. 2 may be also considered a very characteristic specimen of the ordinary crannog sword; its length is 23 in. including the handle, which measures 4 in. No. 3 exhibits a beautifully executed bronze fitting which separated the handle from the blade; the ornamentation of the bronze is a fine specimen of the “trumpet pattern.” The total length is 21½ in. No. 4 is characteristic of the shorter crannog sword or dagger; total length 14¼ in. Plate IX. Weapons of Iron from Crannogs. Few darts or spear-heads have been found of bronze, but the iron examples are very numerous, often of beautiful form and highly ornamented; they vary in length from about 6 to 18 inches. No. 5 represents a spear-head of iron in a wonderful state of preservation, and retaining two rivets, by which it was attached to the handle. The socket is ornamented with an elegant pattern in lines obliquely crossing each other, but the work is too fine to admit of being properly shown on the scale here given; length 13? in. No. 6. A spear-head, its socket strengthened by two bronze ferrules, is very curiously ornamented with a number of small crosses, separated from each other by fillets; there are apertures for four rivets which do not now remain; possibly they were of wood; length 14½ in. No. 7. A spear-head, interesting on account of the ornamentation on its socket, as also from its general contour, which resembles that of some of the finest known bronze examples; length 13? in. No. 8. An extremely slender spear-head from Ballinderry, where it was found with a good many others; length 16 in. No. 9. A spear- or javelin-head; the form is very slender: entire length 9 in. No. 10 is a well-preserved and interesting axe-head of iron, its cutting edge well steeled. It measures 4½ in. at the edge, and 3¾ in. from edge to back. Axe-heads of this peculiar form are to be seen in Scotland, sculptured on early monumental stones, probably of the Pictish age. No. 11 is an axe-head of the form most Plate X. Iron Spear-head, from Lisnacroghera, side and edge view. Half size. Fig. 18. Iron Spear-heads from Lagore. Fig. 19. Fig. 20. Fig. 21. Fig. 22. Fig. 23. Spear Butt-ends of Bronze from Lisnacroghera. Two-thirds natural size. The two spear-heads from Lagore, (fig. 18), are in fine preservation and very sharp; their length 10 in. In the crannog of Lisnacroghera, a magnificent spear-head of iron was discovered, of which a front and side view (half-size) is given, plate X. Spear-heads of this class have been commonly met with in the larger lacustrine sites, but this specimen is invested with a peculiar interest, from its being found in company with a number of bronze objects, whose use up to the present was unknown to antiquarians. It is now certain they were the butt-ends of spear-shafts—indeed two were discovered with the ends of their shafts still remaining in them. The mode in which one—and probably others also—had been attached to the handle is thus described by Canon Greenwell:—“The end of the shaft is split, and into the split is inserted a wedge of iron, so that when driven home, the wedge expanded the end of the shaft, and kept it firm in the butt.” In Anderson’s Scotland in Pre-historic Times one is described as having been found in Orkney. Like its Lisnacroghera fellows, it differs from the generality of Irish remains of its class, in the possession Plate XI. Portion of Spear-shaft, with ferrules and rivet of Bronze. Full size. Fig. 24. Bronze Dagger from Lagore. Fig. 25. Bronze Skean from Loughran Island. The distinguishing characteristic of the bronze dagger or skean from Lagore (fig. 24) consists in its openwork handle forming one piece with the blade. The weapon is 9¾ inches in length; the handle, 3?. The blade, 1? inches in width, is flat, with broad bevelled edges. Fig. 25, found at Loughran Island, in the Lower Bann, is 4? inches in length by 1¾ in width. It is a thin, flat, angular-shaped dagger blade, decorated on the surface of the mid-rib with a series of dotted lines, and pierced at the broad end by four small rivet-holes. At the time the Catalogue of the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy was compiled by the late Sir W. Wilde, although some objects of bronze, supposed to have been ornaments on leather or wooden dagger sheaths, are mentioned by him, yet he was unable to point to any example composed altogether of bronze. Since that period, however, three sword-sheaths of that metal have been discovered in the crannog of Lisnacroghera, county Antrim. Their workmanship is exquisite. They bear traces of enamel, and one of them contained a sword of iron so firmly attached to it by corrugation that any attempt to withdraw it must have involved the The decoration of the sheath, plate XII, No. 2, is very remarkable; the distinctive peculiarity being its spiral character, a perfect specimen of those combinations of involved circles and curvilinear lines, supposed to be characteristic of early Celtic art. Some portions of the sheath, near its end, still retain settings in enamel, the colour of which, though now faded, must have been rich vermillion. Enamel of the same hue and material once occupied the little saucer-like depressions which occur on the terminating snake-suggesting head. One of the circles (that had been, doubtless, intended to represent eyes) shows that it had been so filled, as were, probably, the little raised bosses, two in number, that may be observed at the opposite extremity. The interior of what might be styled the crescent-shaped patterns, nine in number, which occupy the chief plane of the sheath, as also the minor spirals of their adjacent spaces in the general figure, exhibit a design suggestive of basket-work. It is now impossible to determine whether the sheaths had been formed by casting, or were beaten into shape from a plain sheet of copper. It is evident that for the production of the ornamentation a graver had been used. The lines are sharply and deeply incised, and appear to have been intended for the reception of enamel of a black shade, some traces of which appear here and there. The enamel on the sheath “was, in all probability, niello, a composition of silver, copper, sulphur, and lead, the nigellum of ancient writers. It was not so hard or lasting as the ordinary enamel of glass or vitrified paste, some examples of which may be seen on several early ecclesiastical remains. The art of enamelling in niello is of the very highest antiquity; it was practised by the Egyptians. Specimens of it, of various ages, even of modern times, are numerous, and it appears to have been known to the Anglo-Saxons, as a ring of Bishop Ethelwulf (ninth century) is ornamented with it.” Although the decoration of the third sheath is similar in style, yet some of its features are peculiar, especially the dot and circle pattern along one of the edges, and which appears to have extended from handle to extremity. Plate XII. Fig. 1.—Sides of Bronze Sheath, containing an Iron Sword. Figs. 2 and 3.—Sides of Bronze Sword Sheaths, from the Crannog of Lisnacroghera. Fig. 26 represents an object supposed to have been an ornamental termination of the pommel of a sword; it is of bronze, richly decorated with bands of white and red enamelled designs in Plate XIII. Iron Tools, &c., found in the bottom of a “dug-out” at Cornagall. Fig. 26. Bronze enamelled object from Lisnacroghera. Full size. In a small lake called Cornagall (the Hillock of the Dane or Stranger), about six miles from Cavan, there is an almost circular artificial island, thirty yards in diameter, its crannog nature, attested by rows of oaken stakes fencing its margin, showing above the summer level of the lake. In August, 1869, the water being then particularly low, a log of timber that bore evident traces of manual labour was ascertained to be the end of a “dug-out” embedded in soft, boggy matter. It proved, however, to be only a fragment, the other portion having been destroyed by fire, as evinced by the charred appearance of the remains: the large quantity of charcoal, half consumed sticks and chips visible on the margin of the crannog indicated its destruction also by that element. A set of iron tools lay on the floor of the canoe thus discovered, all here represented one-third their real size. The following is a brief description of them:— Plate XIII., No. 1, is an adze in a perfect state: the metallic portion consists of soft iron, well steeled to a considerable distance from its cutting edge. No. 2 is an adze, scraper, or implement of the same class, but differing from the former in that it shows no perforation; its narrow-pointed end had evidently been intended for insertion in a wooden handle: the edge being broken, it is impossible to determine whether it had been steeled. No. 3 is a hammer of iron, the handle of oak, split at its upper extremity for the insertion of a wedge, which still remains. No. 4 is a celt or chisel—a somewhat similar object (from Lagore), but considerably broader, is preserved in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy. Nos. 5 and 6 represent a thin, knife-like piece of iron and a wooden handle, originally, perhaps, portions of one implement; the wood, hollowed Fig. 27.—Iron Axe-head from Lagore. Fig. 27, an iron axe-head, from Lagore, is seven inches in length, massive, and of considerable weight; the cutting edge singularly narrow. A great number, made of stone, have come to light; and all that are composed of iron are well steeled round the cutting edge. Axe-heads are of great diversity of form. A front and side view (fig. 31) is given of an iron adze, six inches and a-quarter long, from the crannog of Lisnacroghera, as were also the three objects of iron here represented (figs. 28, 29, 30), the uppermost, probably a knife, and having a hole through what appears to have been the haft end. The other two articles are said to be the remains of a saw, and the long fragment, perforated in four places, is supposed to be the strengthening bar attached to the piece of wood into which the back of the saw had been inserted. Figs. 28, 29, 30.—Iron Objects from Lisnacroghera. Fig. 31.—Front and side-view of Iron Adze from Lisnacroghera. Hones.—Hones and sharpening stones are very commonly met with in crannogs; they plainly denote that at some period during their habitable existence the occupiers possessed metallic weapons or tools. The Cornagall “find” presents two specimens of whetstones; one is given (plate XIII. fig. 7); the material dark-grey in colour, almost black, extremely hard, and close-grained; they are symmetrical in form, and partake greatly of the character of the so-called touchstones. Fig. 32 is a perforated example. Fig. 32.—Whetstone. Armour.—Amongst crannog “finds” no well-authenticated remains of defensive armour have been recorded, with the exception of a fragment of chain armour from Inisrush, and the ancient “golden bronze” shield from Lough Gur. The armour found on the site of the crannog in Lough Annagh is not here taken into consideration, it being evidently seventeenth century work. In the townland of Monea, about five miles from Enniskillen, Fig. 33.—Iron Helmet found in the Monea Crannog, front and side view. Plate XIV. Front View of Bronze Shield from Lough Gur. Diameter 28 inches. The shield, of which the accompanying plate gives a correct representation, was found in the bog close to the banks of Lough Gur, County Limerick; and near it were the head and antlers of a Megaceros Hibernicus. This shield is a disc of bronze, slightly convex, and strengthened by a series of six concentric circles formed of hollow bosses, about two hundred in number, surrounding the central umbo. It appears to have been carried slung on the shoulder, the slinging loops being fixed so as to form bosses on the obverse equal in size to those contained in the circle: it was furnished with a very small handle, interiorly traversing the umbo. The rim is an inch three-quarters in width; the diameter, two feet three and three-quarter inches. The holes with which the shield is pierced are not proofs of warfare; it was the discoverer—a boy with a fishing gaff—who inflicted the injuries in bringing his novel spoil to land. “Whose brazen studs and tough bull-hide Had death so often dashed aside.” In the Museum of Antiquities at Edinburgh may be seen a bronze shield of like character. In the Crannog of Lisnacroghera was discovered, with many warlike weapons, a disc of thin bronze, its centre from one-third its circumference descending into a hollow, at the base of which is an aperture: the ornamented side, as here portrayed, must have been intended to be the front, as the other side is quite plain. Fig. 34. Disc of Bronze from Lisnacroghera. The first figure to the left, plate XV., represents an object of the same class, but slightly smaller, and not so much ornamented. To the right are two views of another article, which presents all the appearance of an umbo. On the same plate (XV.) are four bronze rings: one of them is formed of two very thin plates, secured together by rivets of the same material; the three remaining rings are solid, and of a class which some antiquaries suppose formed a kind of defensive armour. It is imagined that they were attached pretty closely together to portions of the ancient warrior’s garment; and it is worthy of remark that in the collection of the Academy a number of such rings, or objects very like them, may be seen looped together by bronze fastenings. Fig. 35. Stone Mould from Lough Scur. Plate XV. Boss-like Objects, and Rings of Bronze, from Lisnacroghera. Full size. Stone moulds, evidently employed in casting celts, weapons, tools, and other articles of bronze, have been brought to light. Fig. 35, discovered in the Crannog of Lough Scur, county Leitrim, is a triangular block of coarse white sandstone 7½ inches long, 5¼ wide, and 3½ thick, having both sides indented for castings. On the side here presented are moulds for a plain celt three inches long, and another celt four inches long, with cross strop and ring for attachment to the shaft. Fig. 36. Stone Mould from Lough Ramor. “The forests cast their fruits in husks and rind.” Grain (species not stated), and various kinds of wild fruit, have been discovered; walnuts at Lough Nahinch, cherrystones at Ballinlough. Hammer-stones.—It cannot be doubted that in a few instances the round stones, sometimes designated “sling-stones,” have been artificially worked, but the great majority must be looked upon simply as water-worn pebbles that had been utilized as hammer-stones. Many of the egg-shaped specimens are more or less frayed or chipped at their extremities; and similar stones, used, as is supposed, for breaking crustacea, are common in the “shell mounds” on the coast, as also amongst the “kitchen middens” of ancient settlements that abound within the sand dunes of the north-western littoral of Ireland. A large flat stone implement, with circular termination, rough sides, and polished edges, was found in the crannog of “The Miracles,” county Fermanagh. It measured Fig. 37.—Stone Implement from the Crannog of “The Miracles.” Fig. 38. Lower Jaw of Sus scrofa. Mammalia.—Amongst animal remains, those of the Sus scrofa are very numerous. This species of wild swine lived in the woods and marshes, was long-faced, and had great length of tusks. The accompanying illustration represents a lower jaw of this ancient Irish pig, procured from the crannog of Lough Gur, county Limerick; it is of a yellowish-brown colour, a hue that pervades all the animal remains from that locality. Fig. 39.—Head and Antlers of Cervus elephas. Fig. 40. Fig. 41. Fig. 42. Crania of Goats. Bones of the red deer (Cervus elephas) are extremely plentiful in lacustrine sites. It is the wild animal most frequently mentioned in early Irish history, and of which there were many until a comparatively modern epoch: so late as 1752 they abounded in the barony of Erris, county Mayo, and some few exist still in Killarney. The head and antlers here shown came from the crannog of Ballinderry, county Westmeath. The horns in this specimen are still attached to the cranium, and there were originally seven tines on the right, and eight on the left side. Bones of the Magaceros Hibernicus, or Irish big-horn, of the wolf and fox, of a small breed of horse, and of the ass, have been also met with. The remains of sheep belong to the horned class. There are several specimens of the four-horned variety of the goat (fig. 42), but those of the ordinary kind are more numerous: figs. 40 and 41 are from Dunshaughlin. Amongst the vast collection of animal remains on the site of this crannog were heads of canine animals: of the largest of these the accompanying cut gives a faithful representation. “It is nearly eleven inches in length, measured from the end of the occipital ridge to the alveolar process at the roots of the upper incisors, and is principally characterized by the magnitude of the crest.” Fig. 43. Cranium of Wolf-Hound. According to the best authorities, there were in Europe in Fig. 44.—Cranium of domesticated Bos longifrons. Specimens of the crania of four distinct breeds of cattle from crannogs are here given as described by Wilde, who named them very appositely: 1, the straight-horn, or Drom-adharach; 2, the crumpled-horn, or Crom-adharach; 3, the short-horn, or Gearr-adharach; 4, the Hornless, or Maol. Of the first type (Fig. 44), which was found at Dunshaughlin, Wilde states that there are none now existing in Ireland of this race, evidently domesticated descendants of the ancient wild Bos longifrons. The cranium is “broad in the face, flat on the forehead, nearly level between the horns, with but slight projecting orbits, short thick slugs or horn-cores rising but little above the occipital crest, and turning slightly inwards, like some of the best short-horned bulls of the present day. It is eighteen inches long in the face, and nineteen from tip to tip of horn-core.” Fig. 45.—Cranium of the Crom-adharach, or Crumpled-horn Ox. Fig. 45 represents a cranium of the Crom-adharach or Crumpled-horn, which, judging by its remains, appears to have been the most numerous variety. This magnificent head of a bull of the race is “in point of size as fine a specimen as has yet been found: it is twenty-three and a-half inches long, and eight inches Fig. 46. Cranium of the Gearr-adharach, or Short-horned Ox. Fig. 47. Cranium of the Maol, or Hornless Ox. The third class, or “short-horn”, had long narrow faces, with exceedingly small horn-cores curving abruptly inwards. The cranium of one specimen (female) measured seventeen inches in length of face, six inches across the forehead, and eleven inches from tip to tip of horn-core. Fig. 46 gives a good illustration of this breed, which was abundant. The fourth class, the Maol, or Myleen (the hornless or bald), differs in nothing from those of the present day, save that it appears to have been of smaller size than its modern representative. The average length of face is about seventeen inches, by about eight inches across the orbits. Almost all the heads of this variety presented by Wilde to the R.I.A. came from the crannog of Dunshaughlin: they exhibit a remarkable protuberance or frontal crest. Plate XVI. Figs. 1 and 2.—Top and Side view of Yoke found in Donagh Bog. Figs. 3 and 4.—Yoke found on the margin of Lough Erne. Figs. 5 and 6.—Yoke found with Figs. 3 and 4. Wooden Yokes found in Donagh Bog and on the margin of Lough Erne. In Switzerland, at Robenhausen, a settlement of the Stone Age which had been buried under a bed of peat, it is stated by Keller that horizontal layers were discovered of a foreign substance, from two to ten inches thick, ascertained on analysis to be composed of the fÆces of cattle. May not some of the dark strata on crannogs be composed of like matter? for there is documentary evidence that the Irish chiefs kept cattle on their islands in time of war. The Lord Treasurer Winchester, writing to announce the decease of Shane O’Neill to the Lord Deputy, says, that “he ought to inspect Shane’s lodging in the fen, where he built his abode, and kept his cattle and all his men,” &c., &c. This “abode” is known to have been a crannog. Butter.—The custom of burying or hiding butter in bogs is probably of very ancient origin, but, like many old customs, was carried down in Ireland to a very late period. Thomas Dineley, in a diary of his visit to Ireland in the reign of Charles II., states that the Irish used “Butter layd up in wicker basketts, mixed with store of … a sort of garlick, and buried for some time in a bog.” Sir William Petty mentions “butter made rancid by keeping in bogs.” The custom is thus described in the Irish Hudibras:— “Butter to eat with their hog Was seven years buried in bog.” The FarÖe islanders had a similar practice with regard to tallow. Bog butter, or mineral tallow, is usually met with in single-piece wooden vessels, like long firkins. Yokes.—For beasts of burden, the yoke was in use from the earliest ages, but any that have been hitherto discovered, whether double or single, appear too small for cattle of species still existent; however, the old race of domesticated kine in Ireland may have been smaller in size than those of the present day. Probably the first yoke that attracted notice was the one described and illustrated by Wilde in his Catalogue of the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, for it was not until a comparatively late period that the attention of antiquaries was directed towards this class of remains, usually found covered by a considerable depth of bog. A good idea of their general appearance is conveyed by the accompanying illustrations (plate XVI.) representing two yokes of wood that were discovered under eighteen feet of peat in Donagh, Fig. 48. Fig. 49. Fig. 50. Fig. 51. Fig. 52. Piscatory Implements or Arrows and Spear-heads. Piscatory Implements.—In the crannog of Drumgay, county Fermanagh, there were implements for forming the meshes of nets. They consisted of nine pieces of deer’s horn, varying in size from six to little more than three inches in length. Four of them are curiously fashioned. Similar objects, composed of the tips of deer’s horn, have frequently occurred in crannog “finds,” and, during excavations made about the year 1851, in Christchurch-place and Fishamble-street, Dublin, many like specimens were discovered. There can be little doubt that they were used for making fishing lines or nets: indeed one of the discoverers having procured some thread, at once proceeded to illustrate his theory by the manufacture of a fishing line. The suggestion has also been Fig. 53.—Sink-stone. Half-size. Fig. 54.—Bronze Fishing-hook. Full-size. Plate XVII. Culinary Utensils, Implements, &c., stone, bronze, wood, and iron. It will be seen that the majority of crannog culinary articles are more or less rounded at their base; thus when placed over a fire they would require to be suspended or have a support to steady them. No. 9, from the great crannog of Lough Gur, county Limerick, is composed of very fine iron, which had evidently been smelted with wood charcoal; it is admirably adapted for the purpose of sustaining a pot or other vessel over a fire of peat or wood, but it is a comparatively modern article. Bones of deer and other animals found in connexion with Irish crannogs frequently bear marks of a saw, and No. 11, from Lagore, represents an instrument of this class, measuring six inches in length. It was, no doubt, secured by rivets to a back or handle of wood, but the rivets no longer remain. Saws of this kind, some larger, some smaller, have constantly accompanied crannog implements of iron. No. 12, also from Lagore, is, seemingly, a ladle or miniature frying-pan, scarcely eight inches in length. In the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy there is a beautiful thin saucer-shaped vessel, hammered out of a single piece of bronze that has been cleaned to show the rich red golden colour of the metal. Fig. 55.—Saucer-shaped Vessel of Bronze from Cloonfinlough. About one-fifth real size. It is 7¾ inches in diameter, the rim pierced with two small holes as if for suspending it, and decorated externally with a number of indentations. Fig. 56.—Bronze Vessel from Lisnacroghera. Slightly over six inches in diameter. Fig. 57.—Bronze Vessel and Iron Ladle from Lagore. Fig. 58.—Iron Vessel from Lagore. One-tenth the real size. A bowl or vessel of bronze measuring 5¼ inches in diameter and three inches in height, together with an iron ladle, were amongst the numerous objects procured at Lagore, Fig. 59.—Grain-rubber. About one-tenth the real size. Querns, or hand-mills, both of ancient and modern type, either in a perfect state or else more or less broken, have been found in most crannogs. Fig. 60.—Section of ordinary Quern. About one-fourteenth the usual size. A gentleman in Ireland, who at the commencement of the present century saw a quern at work, describes it as having the upper stone (fig. 60, A) about twenty-two inches in diameter, its under surface considerably concaved; the lower stone (B) was convexed, so that an easy descent was afforded for the meal (E) when ground. In the centre of the upper stone was a circular hole nearly three inches in diameter, and through it the quern was “fed,” as it is called, i. e. supplied with fresh corn (EEE) as fast as the bran and flour fell from the sides of the machine. Within about two inches of the edge was set an upright wooden handle (D) for moving the upper stone, which rested in equilibrio on a strong peg or pivot (C) in the centre of the lower stone. There were generally two women employed in the operation. They sat on the ground facing each other, the quern between. One of them with her right hand pushed the handle to the woman opposite, who again sent it to her companion, and in this manner a rapid rotatory motion was communicated to the upper stone, whilst the left hand of the operator was engaged in the “feeding” process. The corn, previously dried over a slow fire, when arrived at a certain degree of crispness, was taken up to be ground. This Fig. 61.—Upper surface of Quern from the Crannog of Drumsloe. About one-ninth the real size. In the centre of the crannog of Drumgay, county Fermanagh, there was a large block of stone punctured with a cross, and another resembling it was discovered many feet deep, in the centre of the pagan carn of “The Miracles,” in the same district. Similar figures are inscribed or punched upon rocks and upon the sides of natural, or partly artificial caves, as at Loch na Cloyduff, The Lake of the Dark Trench or Diggings, and the “Lettered Cave,” in the cliffs of Knockmore, “Great Knoll,” county Fermanagh. Within the precincts of well-authenticated pagan tumuli, as at Dowth, cross patterns have been found, accompanied in several instances by “scorings,” at present unintelligible. On the base of a sepulchral urn, preserved in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, the cross is displayed, and the figure of a cross within a circle occurs on an urn discovered at Broughderg, county Tyrone. Mr. Albert Wray has described some spoon-shaped objects of antique bronze, all decorated with the figure of a cross similar in design to the symbol as observable upon the earliest Irish quern-stones. The bronze articles in question exhibit a style of workmanship which has invariably been associated with pre-Christian times in both Britain and Ireland; whilst in the latter country discs and thin plates of gold belonging to the same period have been found presenting a cross-like ornamentation. At Drumgay, at Lough Eyes, at Roughan, and at Drumsloe, the Ridge of the Host, were cross-inscribed querns. Drumsloe lake, now almost drained, is situated within a short distance of Ballinamallard Fig. 62.—Upper surface of Quernstone from Roughan Lake. One-eighth the real size. Fig. 63.—Quernstone from Lough Eyes. About one-tenth the real size. About the year 1839, upon lowering the level of the water for drainage purposes in Roughan lake, near Dungannon, county Tyrone, an island artificially formed was exposed to view. On it were numerous fragments of pottery and bones, a bronze pin, a few bronze spear-heads, together with a quern. The illustration (fig. 62) represents the top stone, which is eighteen inches in diameter, and two and a-half inches thick; it is formed of sandstone, the ornamentation being in high relief. The hole or socket for reception of the handle is in one of the arms of the cross, and goes quite through the stone. Fig. 64.—Quernstones with Cross and Geometrical Decoration. About one-twelfth the real size. On pottery at Ballydoolough, a cross pattern was observable, as also on a comparatively modern iron article at Cloonfinlough, and there was in a crannog in Argyleshire a Greek cross, with crosslets as a pattern, or ornamentation, burnt into a piece of oak. Fig. 65. Sculptured Stone from No. 1 Crannog, Lake of Drumgay. About one-eighth the real size. Human Remains.—There have been, as yet, few instances of the discovery of human bones in crannogs. At Dunshaughlin, in Meath, at Ardakillen and Cloonfinlough, in Roscommon, the people appear to have met with a violent end, and there is no reason to believe that the remains are very ancient. The lake dwellers of Switzerland had cemeteries on the mainland, directly opposite their habitations, and it is probable that the Irish disposed of their dead in the same manner, but up to the present this subject has not been investigated. Fireplaces on the Shore.—Numerous fireplaces on the shore adjoining crannogs were discovered at Drumkeery lough, and at Lough Eyes. In the immediate vicinity of the latter were traces of gins or traps for catching game. In the neighbouring bogs labourers have, at various times and in different localities, met with stakes planted in the original surface soil, in a vertical position, and sharpened to a point, seemingly by a clean-cutting metallic tool. Since fixed in their original position the peat had grown so much that it is now, on an average, about five feet above the pointed ends. It has been often surmised that stakes planted Pottery.—Dr. Schliemann rightly designates fragments of pottery as the cornucopia of archÆological science; it is always abundant, and it possesses two qualities—those, namely, of being easy to break, and yet difficult to destroy, which render it very valuable in an archÆological point of view. Investigation has shown that the inhabitants of crannogs had in use a description of fictile ware, distinctly characteristic in style, graceful in form, and well manufactured, admitted by English archÆologists to be superior to that possessed by the Britons or early Saxons. It is known that the primitive people of Ireland possessed the art of constructing excellent fictile ware for mortuary purposes of fire-hardened clay; they could therefore manufacture every-day culinary vessels of the same material. An immense quantity of pottery has been found in connexion with many crannogs, by which means facilities are afforded for comparing ordinary domestic vessels with the urns and vases of an undoubtedly prehistoric and pagan period. The great majority of specimens of crannog pottery present designs marked upon them, similar in style to the ornamentation observable on the walls of sepulchral cairns and the vessels deposited in them, on golden or bronze ornaments, on implements, and on the surface of rocks, all of which are usually acknowledged to date from prehistoric times. Fig. 66.—Pitcher from Lough Faughan. About one-seventh the real size. From the crannog of Lough Faughan, Co. Down, was procured the pitcher No. 9, Museum of the Royal Irish Academy; also another pitcher, 13 inches in height, and 32 in girth, of a description of pottery so light as only to weigh 5 lbs. 10 oz. It figures as No. 10 in the collection of food implements. Externally it is dark in colour, and being partially glazed, is, therefore, not of very ancient date: it is so rounded at the bottom that it cannot stand upright: about the neck, and for some distance down the sides, it is tastefully decorated, and the handle is peculiar in form. Fig. 67.—Fictile Vessel from Ballydoolough, restored. The accompanying engraving (fig. 67), a good specimen of another class of fictile ware, represents, in a restored form, one of the finest of the crocks found at Ballydoolough. In colour it is light-yellowish red; it measures three feet two inches round the mouth, and is tastefully ornamented on the rim and sides. This decoration had been evidently impressed upon the soft clay before the vessel was burnt, and the pattern conveys the idea of such antiquity that, if found in a tumulus, it would be referred to Fig. 68.—Fictile Vessel, Drumgay Crannog, restored. Quarter size. A large fragment of fictile ware was discovered on one of the crannogs in the lake of Drumgay; it was of size sufficient to enable a restored representation (fig. 68) to be made of a vessel that had been in use by the former inhabitants of the crannog for culinary purposes. Fig. 69.—Restored Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-fourth the real size. The following illustrations (figs. 69 and 70) represent two of the vessels found in the crannog in Lough Eyes, county Fermanagh, Fig. 70.—Restored Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-fifth the real size. Fig. 71.—Baked Clay Pot Cover from Lough Eyes. One-fourth the real size. For the escape of steam during the process of boiling, a simple provision is observable in several of these earthen pots. In the neck of the vessel, just below the point where the lid would be supported, is a small circular hole (see figs. 72 and 73). The aperture occurs in numerous fragments, but it is not now possible to determine whether this class of vessel, when entire, was in Fig. 72.—Portion of a Perforated Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-half the real size. Fig. 73.—Portion of a Perforated Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-third the real size. Fig. 74.—Portion of Fictile Vessel found on Ballydoolough Crannog. One-half the real size. About 140 fragments of earthen vessels were discovered in the Ballydoolough crannog—none, however, in an entire state; but several pieces of the same article being found to fit together, a restoration giving a correct idea of the perfect vessel was easily attained. Fig. 67 (see ante, page 92), has been thus reconstructed. The next engraving (fig. 74) represents a fragment of what must have been a very large vessel, ornamented on the side with a Fig. 75.—Portion of Fictile Vessel found on Ballydoolough Crannog. One-half the real size. Fig. 76.—Portion of unornamented Vessel. A third fragment (fig. 75) partakes of the character of the last described. The decoration is more elaborate and the punctured design or chevron slightly different. Many of the indentations are of semicircular form, and not angular or semiangular, as in most of the other crocks. The material is very hard, like fig. 74, and of a dark colour. Fig. 76 is portion of a large, straight-lipped vessel, that measured originally over three feet in circumference round the rim; it is unornamented, and formed of hard, well-baked, darkish-coloured clay. Fig. 77.—Rim Ornament of Fictile Ware. Fig. 77 is the only pattern of its kind found at Ballydoolough. It is drawn half-size. Whether this specimen and fig. 76 were originally furnished with ears it is now impossible to say. Figs. 78 and 79, drawn one-half the real size, represent portions of vessels. The larger fragment bears upon its ear, or handle, two figures somewhat like a St. Andrew’s cross; on the smaller there is only one. Fig. 78. Cross inscribed Pottery. Fig. 79. Cross inscribed Pottery. Fig. 80, drawn half-size, exhibits a bold but rude chevron pattern. Fig. 80.—Portion of Fictile Vessel found at Ballydoolough Crannog. There were thirty-five distinct patterns on the various fragments unearthed, yet the locality was not thoroughly explored. Specimens of the pottery from Ballydoolough were forwarded to Mr. Albert Wray, a well-known authority on such subjects, and he would not refer them to a very early age, or to that in which the use of bronze was prevalent. The mode of ornamentation appeared to present a slight resemblance to the “Cuerdale Hoard,” which is sometimes ascribed to the ninth century. W. F. Wakeman, however, is of opinion that amongst the numerous designs found upon the crannog vessels there is none suggestive Fig. 81.—Portion of Fictile Vessel, with Ear, Drumgay Crannog. One-half size. Fig. 82.—Rim Ornaments of Fictile Vessels, Drumgay Crannog. One-half size. On “Bone Island,” in the lake of Drumgay, were several fragments of earthen vessels. The one represented in the annexed cut, drawn half size, is a portion of what had been a large and well-formed vessel with ears. The top of the rim is ornamented with a pattern. The diameter of the vessel at the mouth is about eleven inches; the neck is short, and the sides are decorated with indented lines about an inch in length, placed diagonally. There were also several fragments of fictile ware consisting of unimportant portions of rims decorated as shown in the accompanying representations. One pattern is a simple chevron. The accompanying illustrations Plate XVIII. Fig. 83.—Fragment of Fictile Vessel from Lough Eyes. Fig. 84.—Fragment of Fictile Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-half size. Fig. 85.—Fragment of Fictile Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-half size. Fig. 86.—Ear of Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-half size. Fig. 87.—Fragment of Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-third size. Fig. 88.—Lip of Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-half size. Fragments of Pottery, from No. 3 Crannog, Lough Eyes. (Discovered by W. F. Wakeman.) Numerous fragments of fictile ware, of which five rims are given as specimens, were in No. 5 crannog, in the same locality (plate XIX., figs. 90, 91, 92, 95, 96); and fragments were found in No. 6 crannog, of which four examples are given (plate XIX., figs. 89, 93, 94, 97). Plate XIX. Fig. 89.—Fragment of Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-half size. Fig. 90.—Rim of Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-half size. Fig. 91.—Rim of Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-half size. Fig. 92.—Rim of Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-half size. Fig. 93.—Fragment of Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-half size. Fig. 94.—Fragment of base of Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-half size. Fig. 95.—Rim of Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-half size. Fig. 96.—Rim of Vessel from Lough Eyes. One-half size. Fig. 97.—Fragment of Vessel from Lough Eyes. Fragments of Pottery, from No. 5 and No. 6 Crannogs, Lough Eyes. (Discovered by W. F. Wakeman.) Fig. 98.—Fragment of Fictile Ware, Lough Eyes. One-half size. Fig. 99.—Fragment of Fictile Ware, Lough Eyes. One-half size. Figs. 98 and 99 represent fragments of fictile ware also from Lough Eyes. Fig. 98 has evidently been a deep-lipped vessel, and its “herring-bone” ornamentation is almost identical with the pattern that prevails most upon burial urns, and closely resembles that figured upon the vessel found in “One Man’s Cairn,” at Moytirra, county Mayo, as represented in Wilde’s Lough Corrib, p. 235: the same style of decoration is a characteristic of early bronze celts and other remains of the prehistoric period. Fig. 99 presents the same style of ornamentation. It was apparently an eared vessel, of reddish-drab colour. Fig. 100. Fig. 100 has evidently formed portion of what was a well-finished vessel. So far as at present known, its style of ornamentation is extremely rare, being identical with that seen upon Fig. 101.—Stamped pattern on fragment of Fictile Ware from Drumskimly. Fig. 102.—Carved Wooden Vessel found at Cavancarragh. Fig. 103.—Wooden Vessel from Ballydoolough Crannog. The term “Lestar” comprises vessels of various shapes, and of all kinds of material, although it is more generally applied to those made of wood—several have been found in crannogs. In a bog, occupying what in distant ages appears to have been the site of a small lake, on the lands of Cavancarragh, county Fermanagh, implements of flint, a fine bronze spear-head, and a beautifully-shaped wooden vessel, were discovered, all buried under peat. Now, according to the theory of some geologists, a peat formation of such depth as covered them would, accord Plate XX. Fig. 104.—Willow Platter from the Crannog of Ballinderry, Co. Westmeath. (Museum, R.I.A.) Fig. 105.—Carved Platter made of Fir, from Ballykeine Bog, Co. Antrim. Wooden Platters. “Meadar,” or “Mether,” is the Irish designation for a species of drinking cup, so called, it is said, because it was employed to contain “mead.” It seems to have been commonly made of yew, was quadrangular at the lip, and round at the bottom. It was usually provided with two or more handles for the purpose of passing it round from hand to hand. There was a curious cup of this description in one of the crannogs of Lough Rea, county Galway, too much decomposed, however, to be dug out in an entire state; and at Lagore, near Dunshaughlin, was a four-sided drinking vessel, composed of horn, and very small, being only 2½ inches in height; it resembles one discovered in the parish of Tamlaght O’Crilly, county Derry. Fig. 106.—Mether, or Drinking Cup, from Tamlaght O’Crilly. Dean Swift, in his translation of “O’Rourke’s Noble Feast”—a poem written about 1720, in the Irish language—thus alludes to this species of drinking cup— “Usquebaugh to our feast, in pails was brought up, An hundred at least, and a madder our cup.” Fig. 107. Wooden Mallet from Lisnacroghera. Fig. 108. Wooden Peg from Glencar. The object here represented (fig. 107), is a wooden mallet, 1 foot 7 inches in length, found about fifteen feet below the original surface of the crannog of Lisnacroghera. Fig. 109. Bone Spindle Whorl from Ardakillen. The MS. Book of Ballymote contains an ancient Irish poem, which states “It was Tigearnmas first established in Ireland the art of dyeing cloth of purple, and many colours.” This monarch is alleged to have lived, A.M. 2816(?), therefore in Ireland the arts of weaving and dyeing are of remotest antiquity. Some bright red colouring matter (realgar?), rolled up in a piece of birch bark, was discovered in one of the crannogs of Loughrea, county Galway; Fig. 110. Ovoid piece of polished Bone from Ardakillen. Fig. 111. Fig. 112. Fig. 113. Fig. 114. Fig. 115. Fig. 116. Fig. 117. Figs. 115, 116, and 117 are Bone Pins with attached Heads, from the Crannog of Ballinderry. Plate XXI. Fig. 118. Fig. 119. Fig. 120. Scribed Pins from Ballinderry Crannog. Ogham on fig. 118. The loop at the head is not continuous. In fig. 119 (plate XXI.) the acus is 4? inches long, with an irregular oval ring as pendant, ornamented with the dot-and-circle. The acus has a swelling in the middle, which at one side has the dot-and-circle, and on the other a runic-like scoring— Scoring on fig. 119. Fig. 120 (plate XXI.) has an acus 3¾ inches long, it bears a pendant carved in the shape of a Maltese cross, ornamented on both sides with the dot-and-circle. The acus has an ogham-like scoring on one face— Scoring on fig. 120. Plate XXII. Fig. 121. Fig. 122. Fig. 123. Fig. 124. Scribed Pins from Ballinderry Crannog. In fig. 121 (plate XXII.) the acus is 7? inches long, flattish, and ornamented by cross notchings, which seem merely ornamental, although at one side the character N is repeated many times; the pendant is somewhat rectangular in form, and perforated with a round opening—its rim ornamented with dots and lines. Fig. 122 (plate XXII.) is a pin 5? inches long, with a large flat pendant, rudely and irregularly decorated in front. The acus has no ornament, but about its centre there is a square enlargement to keep it firm when inserted in the dress, and this projection has ogham-like scribings on three of its faces. Fig. 123 (plate XXII.) has an acus 3 inches long, with a small circle as a pendant, ornamented with dots; one side of the acus has a herring-bone pattern, the other bears scores— Scoring on fig. 123. Fig. 124 has the acus 3½ inches long, and a circular ring for pendant; the ring has scoring on one face— Scoring on ring of fig. 124. One side of the acus is ornamented with the Scoring on acus, fig. 124. There are cracks, or openings, in the rings at the head of each acus, by means of which the pendants may have been introduced; but these cracks are possibly the result of wear or straining, and it may be that both pendant and acus were originally carved out of one piece, like Chinese chains of ivory rings. From the same “find” came a pin with acus 4¾ inches long, having a flat discoid pendant of considerable size, both acus and pendant ornamented with the dot-and-circle; also a plain bone pin 2¼ inches long, with a hole at the head for a wire ring; another plain bone pin 3 inches long, with a flat head unpierced for ring or pendant; and a pin of yew, 2¼ inches long, with a round head. Plate XXIII. Scribed Pins from the Crannog of Ballinderry. The scorings on these pins, though mostly mere ornament, seem in some cases greatly to resemble Ogham and runic characters, but Professor Stephens, of Copenhagen, to whom photographs of the runic-like scribings were submitted, could not decide that they were actually runes; and again, other examples of bone pins from Ballinderry, preserved in the Museum, R.I.A., bear seemingly well-marked Ogham scorings, yet Professor Rhys and Sir Samuel Ferguson were unable to interpret them. Plate XXIV. Iron and Bone Pins from Lagore. Fig. 125.—Bronze Wire Ring from Lisnacroghera. Full size. Fig. 126. Bronze Pin, with human heads, found in the Crannog of Loughravel. Full size. Fig. 127. Flattened disc-headed Pin from Ballinderry. Full size. Fig. 128. Penannular Bronze Pin from Lagore. Full size. Fig. 129. Fig. 130. Fig. 131. Fig. 132. Fig. a. Fig. b. Fig. c. Fig. d. Fig. e. Fig. f. Fig. g. Fig. h. Fig. 133. Fig. 134. Fig. 135. Fig. 136. Fig. 137. Plate XXV. Articles of Wood. Shears composed of iron, and doubtless used for all the purposes of modern scissors, are common in Irish crannogs. Some from Lagore are of graceful form, resembling articles of the same class found in Roman settlements: the one represented, fig. 133, is of very large size, 8½ inches in length. Figs. 134 and 135 differ but little from fig. 133, and they all resemble the implements commonly used for shearing sheep in the present day. Figs. 136 and 137 are small iron knives, with tangs for insertion into horn or wooden handles; Fig. 138.—Bone Comb from Ardakillen. Of combs, the most numerous specimens are from the crannogs of Ardakillen, Ballinderry, Lagore, and Cloonfinlough: in some, brass teeth have been substituted for those of bone that had given way, showing that, at the time the repairs were made, that metal was easily procured and worked. Strangely enough, the most usual decoration consists of a series of dot-and-circle patterns. The same style of ornamentation was observed upon many of the combs found in the lake habitations of Switzerland, and amongst the waifs of Roman settlements in Britain. In the remains of such articles, in Irish and in Scottish lacustrine sites, there is a striking resemblance; indeed the bone combs, figured in Munro’s work, are identical with many existing Irish examples. Although the material is usually bone, yet specimens formed of wood are not uncommon: the great majority of combs discovered in Irish crannogs are highly artistic in design—the handle portion sometimes presenting animal forms. Sir John Lubbock says: “It is somewhat remarkable that, while even in the stone period we find fair drawings of animals, yet in the latter part of the stone age, and throughout that of the bronze, they are almost entirely wanting, and the ornamentation is confined to various combinations of straight and curved lines and geometrical patterns;” and this he believes will eventually be found to imply “a difference of race between the populations of Western Europe at these different periods.” Fig. 139.—Bone Comb from Ballinderry. Fig. 140.—Bone Comb from Lagore. Fig. 141.—Bone Comb from Lagore. Two-thirds real size. Fig. 142. Bronze Tweezers from Ballinderry. Fig. 143.—Stone Pendent Amulet from Ballinderry Crannog. Fig. 144.—Nodule of Clay-slate from Ballinderry Crannog. Save combs, very few articles for the toilet have been brought to light in Irish crannogs, compared with the numbers found in other countries: the accompanying engraving represents, however, what appears to be tweezers, 3 inches long, made of bronze, and decorated on the external surfaces with dot-and-circle pattern. Ornamentation on fig. 144. Fig. 145.—Bronze Amulet, or Ornament, from Lisnacroghera. Fig. 145, found in the crannog of Lisnacroghera is a small bronze object, considered by W. F. Wakeman to have been an amulet: “the figures which it bears are curvilinear examples of a symbol known to antiquarians as the swastica. There can be little or no question as to the eastern origin of this form of cross.” From the tenacity with which craftsmen adhered to ancient designs or patterns, it is difficult to assign even an approximate date to many remains of articles suitable for personal decoration; however, any brooch, pin, or other object, upon which interlacing tracery is displayed, should not be referred to a period antecedent to the introduction of Christianity into Ireland. Plate XXVI. Bronze Brooch from Lagore. Fig. 146.—Hinge Brooch of Bronze from Ardakillen. Fig. 147.—Bronze Fibula from Lough Ravel. Fig. 148.—Penannular Ring, or Brooch, from Lough Ravel. Fig. 149. Penannular Ring from Ardakillen. Two-thirds real size. Of bronze articles connected with personal adornment, few can equal in design and workmanship the hinge brooch from Ardakillen, here represented; it is considered to be of great antiquity. The decoration on the enlarged ends partakes of the “Celtic trumpet pattern,” while the central connecting curved strap, with a raised intertwinement, like that seen on some sculptured crosses, and in the illumination of ancient MSS., would appear to have been cast. The thin ornamented plate in front is fastened by eight rivets to a stout flat plate behind, which also overlaps the edges of the strap; its flat pin is hinged at the back. Fig. 150.—Hollow Bronze Penannular Rings from Lisnacroghera. Fig. 151.—Bronze Stud. Fig. 152.—Bronze Rivet. Fig. 153. Fig. 154. Fig. 155. Bronze Circlets. Touchstones would appear, from their make, to have been worn about the person, several being pierced with a hole, seemingly for attachment of a string. Sir W. Wilde remarks that they have been found both flat and four-sided, and with and without perforation. They are formed generally of black Lydian stone or of jasper, either material being suitable for gold-testing. Lydian stone, or black chert, is “an impure flint, found in the central portions of the carboniferous limestone of Ireland, and at the base of the Kilkenny coal formation. It is of a dull dark colour, approaching to black; is more opaque, brittle, and stone-like, than flint; never possesses the same translucency, and does not so readily chip into conchoidal fragments: but, next to flint, it is one of the hardest of the siliceous rocks, and hence was used occasionally for forming tools and weapons by the inhabitants of those districts where flint was rare. Lydian stone, ‘Lapis Lydius,’ or, ‘Lapis Hibernicus,’ as it was denominated by the old Dutch writer De Boot, so long ago as 1647, is the true touchstone of the ancients.” Fig. 156. Pipe-clay Crucible. Few ornaments of silver, and still fewer of gold, have been brought to light in crannogs, the antiquities of which consist mainly of the more homely class of bone, bronze, and iron articles for personal adornment; yet numerous gold ornaments have doubtless been discovered, but remained unrecorded, from fear of detection on the part of the finder, before the Treasury Minute respecting “Treasure Trove” came into operation. Antique articles of gold have been turned up in the bogs of Ireland, and in various parts of the country. Is it likely that the inhabitants of “island fortresses” should alone be devoid of the precious metal, especially as in them have been found both small earthen crucibles—so diminutive as to have been useful only for gold or silver smelting,—and also small pipe-clay cupels for refining purposes, like those used in the present day for the assay of gold and silver? Fig. 156 represents a pipe-clay crucible from the crannog of Lagore, 2 inches broad, and 1 inch high. A well authenticated instance of the discovery of the precious metal in a crannog, was that of “several gold pins,” at Loughtamand, county Antrim; Fig. 157.—Silver Brooch from the Crannog of Lough Ravel. Fig. 158.—Stone Ring. One-third size. Fig. 159.—Stone Ring. One-half size. Fig. 160. Jet Bracelet, or Ring. One-quarter size. Fig. 161. Glass Bracelet, or Ring. One-third size. Figs. 158 and 159 are good examples of stone rings, the former 2½ inches in the clear; the latter, 2¾ inches. Fig. 160, drawn one-fourth the real size, is a bracelet of jet, from Lough Eyes, restored from the fragments; and fig. 161, restored from existing remains in the Museum, R.I.A., is of blue-coloured glass, decorated with spots and a cable pattern. Plate XXVII. Beads, composed of various materials, from Ardakillen, Lagore, Ballinderry, Drumdarragh, Cloonfinlough, and Lough Eyes. Beads of stone, bone, jet, earthenware, and wood, occur in crannogs; also beads of amber, of which many are in modern use amongst the peasantry as prayer-beads. O’Flaherty, in his Iar Connaught, states that amber was procured in more or less quantities on the coast of Galway. Ornaments of glass, from the most simple and unpretending plain blue bead to that studded with settings of enamel or vitreous paste, so varied in colour and of so much beauty in outline that they might be worn at the present day, are still met with in crannogs, as well as in pagan sepulchres. Blue appears to have been the favourite colour, but some are pale green, white, yellow and red, with spirals and decorations of varied colours; whilst others have a dark groundwork, and are studded with fragments of red, green, yellow, blue and white enamel. All the beads figured in plate XXVII. are drawn full size. No. 1, formed of stone, presents an average specimen of its class. No. 2 is from Lagore, where a considerable number, but of smaller size, occurred. No. 3, composed of bone, is probably the largest bead of that material found in any crannog: usually, they are scarcely the size of an ordinary pea. No. 4 is a pendant of black opaque glass; it probably formed the centre of a necklace. One resembling it, but composed of stone, may be seen in the Petrie Collection, R.I.A. No. 5 is a small bead of blue glass; its form is one of rare occurrence. No. 6, of plain cylindrical outline, was accompanied by several others of the same class: in colour it is a dull green. No. 7, a small globular bead of glass: colour deep blue; and No. 8, of similar shape, is composed of opaque white glass, or porcelain. No. 9 is a beautiful bead of green glass, presenting in dark-blue the dot-and-circle pattern; the spaces between the dots and their surrounding circles are pure white, so that a very pleasing effect is produced. No. 10 is an unusually long bead, of material similar to No. 6. No. 11 is a curious bead, through which passed a piece of bronze wire, which probably formed the loop of a pin. No. 12 is formed of dark-green glass, relieved by yellow ornamentation, as shown in the representation; and No. 13 is of dark-blue opaque glass, or paste, with chevrons of white glass, or enamel, passing round it. No. 14 is formed of white glass, or porcelain, ornamented with a pattern in black, and the opening for the string unusually large. No. 15 is composed of very light-coloured blue glass; and No. 16 of pure crystal. No. 17, formed of jet, was accompanied by fragments of bracelets of the same material. No. 18, appar Fig. 162. Bead from Lagore. Fig. 163. Bead from Lagore. Fig. 164. Bead from Lagore. Fig. 165. Fig. 166. Fig. 167. Beads from Lisnacroghera. Fig. 168. Fig. 169. Beads from Lough Ravel. Fig. 170. Glass Bead from Ballintlea. The three following beads here described are from the crannog of Lisnacroghera. Fig. 165, of opaque blue glass, very dark in colour, but relieved with white streaks of the same material, crossing each other obliquely. Fig. 166, of ordinary blue glass, quite plain; and, fig. 167, an elongated cylindrical bead of amber. Fig. 171.—Bone Harp Pin from Ardakillen. Half-size. Plate XXVIII. Harp, from the Crannog of Ballinderry. Woodwork restored. Fig. 172.—Trumpets in the Museum, R.I.A. Fig. 173.—Showing riveting of Trumpet. Full-size. Plate XXIX. BRONZE TRUMPET, NOW IN THE MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY. Found in the Co. Down, A.D. 1809. Figures 2 and 3 side view of Trumpet, scale one and a-half inch to a foot; Fig. 4 shows the joining of the plate, and of the two lines of rivets of Fig. 2; Fig. 3 is similarly rivetted. Fig. 1 section of fig. 2 at larger end, full size, showing strap and rivets. In 1809, at Ardbin, parish of Annaghclone, county Down, both joints of a very large and perfect curved bronze trumpet, or bugle-horn, were disinterred from a peat bog that had been a sheet of water about the middle of the last century. As conclusive proof of there having been a crannog in this former lake-bed, a stratum of burnt oak, a canoe scooped out of a single tree, together with four short paddles, were dug up from the peat. Of the trumpet, the remains—minutely described in the Newry Magazine for 1815—are now in the Museum, R.I.A., and in the accompanying engraving (fig. 172) the outside trumpet is a representation of this instrument. As may be observed, from comparison with the various other horns in the Museum, it is by far the largest of that collection, and is probably (as asserted by Wilde) the finest of its kind discovered in Europe. The trumpet is given on a larger scale in plate XXIX.: “it measures 8 feet 5 inches along the convex margin, and consists of tw “Age cannot wither it, nor custom stale Its infinite variety.” From the crannog of Lagore was obtained a thin stone or slab of squarish form, measuring about 14 inches on either side. It presented upon its upper surface a number of squares as on a chess-board. Fig. 174. In Irish lacustrine sites a number of discs, formed apparently of deer’s horn, or bone, have been frequently met with; these articles, as a rule, are ornamented on one side only with the dot and circle pattern, such as appears upon combs and other objects of bone; many were found at Lagore, Cloonfinlough, Ballinderry, &c., and they resemble one from the Loch of Forfar, figured in Munro’s Ancient Scottish Lake Dwellings. The term “whorl” has been very generally applied to these discs, the supposition being, that their use was to aid in the rotation of the distaff or spindle. Some Irish archÆologists, however, have suggested the idea of their being rather draughtsmen, or counters for a game; and English antiquarians have pronounced a similar opinion with regard to ivory discs discovered in that country. The latter suggestion certainly carries with it a great degree of probability; and although the game of draughts as now played cannot claim great antiquity, yet there were other pastimes in which little stones, shells, or nuts were employed by the ancients; but, as the arts of man progressed, “stones and shells were laid aside, and ivory counters became their substitute.” Croften Croker in his tour through Ireland early in the present century observed two peculiar games then almost universal amongst the peasantry; one of them was played on lines usually marked on a board with chalk, as shown in fig. 174. “Each player is provided with three counters (small black and white pebbles or shells) which are simply deposited on the board in turn; the game is won by getting these three counters in a straight line. The centre point is considered the most advantageous, and is always taken by the first player: when all the counters are deposited, moves are made from one point to the next should it be unoccupied, and so on until a careless move on either side decides the game, by allowing the adversary to form his three counters in a row.” The unperforated discs ornamented on one side only it may be fairly surmised had served either in draughts or in games Fig. 175.—Unperforated Bone Disc from Drumcliff, Co. Sligo. One-half size. Fig. 176. Fig. 177. Unperforated Bone Discs from Cloonfinlough. Full size. Fig. 178.—Perforated ornamented Bone Disc from Lagore. One-half size. Fig. 179. Fig. 180. Perforated Bone Discs, with Spike, from Lagore. One-half size. With regard to the perforated discs, it should be borne in mind that they were of the same size as the unperforated, were decorated with similar designs on one side only, and that it is almost incredible so much trouble should have been bestowed on the ornamentation of an object intended to serve merely as a spindle whorl, as for example on the accompanying examples from Lagore. The more natural inference seems to be, that these discs were employed in some game—say chess—the pe Plate XXX., Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, from Lagore, and now in the Petrie Collection, R.I.A., are all perforated. Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 are discs formed of bone or horn, varying in thickness from ¼ to ? of an inch; No. 6, however, is scarcely ¹/16 of an inch. All these are unperforated, therefore could not have been used as “spindle-whorls.” No. 11 is quite plain, the other specimens are ornamented, but only on one side; all the above are of bone; Nos. 12 and 13—both of them composed of stone and perforated—also came from some of the crannogs in the neighbourhood of Strokestown, and the latter is a good specimen of the so-called “whorl” commonly found in the northern counties, where hundreds of them have been discovered in a great variety of places, in carns, crannogs, plough lands, &c. Fig. 181.—Stone Chessman, in the British Museum. Fig. 181, from Cloonfinlough, is, it is believed, a unique specimen of a stone chessman, rounded in the body, diminishing towards the top, and flattened at both extremities. It is 1³/16 inch in height, ¾ inch in diameter, and is polished; the material beautifully veined, yellow, pale brown, and white. Plate XXX. Stone and Bone Circular Discs from Crannogs. It is almost needless to add, that all Ogham mortuary scribings are in very antique language, thereby adding considerably to the difficulties attending any attempt at translation of these archaic inscriptions. The Gaelic of to-day, where it yet lingers, is to the ancient dialect much what modern English is to the Anglo-Saxon of olden times. The oldest lettered characters of the Irish lake dwellers are Ogham or runic-like markings on stones, amulets, pins, and brooches. An important “find” at Ballydoolough consists of a block of hard reddish sandstone, measuring 2 feet 1 inch in length, by 4½ inches in breadth, and 6 inches in depth. On it are well-marked Ogham characters, and these, when read by the light of the Ogham alphabet, would seem to spell the word BALHU. Fig. 182. Ogham found at Ballydoolough Crannog. In the comparison of Irish and Gaulish names by Professor Adolph. Picket Fig. 183.—Scribed Stone from the Crannog of Ardakillen. Full size. Strange as is this incident, it is surpassed by one related in connexion with the discovery of a silver penny of King John. It appears that upon preparing a fish of the bream species, taken in Dalkey Sound, the coin referred to was found in its stomach, and as it is on record that some time during the reign of John, a Fig. 184.—Cheek-pieces of Bits. Plate XXXI. Forefront of Ancient Irish Saddle. Back and Front view. Fig. 185.—Cheek-pieces of Bits from Lough Faughan and Ardakillen. Two-thirds real size. Fig. 186.—Iron Bit from Lagore. One-fourth real size. Fig. 185 represents cheek-pieces from the crannog of Lough Faughan, and from Ardakillen. The bit proper, by which cheek-pieces of this class were connected, appears to have been almost invariably composed of iron. A perfect specimen with bronze mountings is represented in Shirley’s History of County Monaghan. An example of the iron bit which is supposed to have succeeded that composed of bronze and iron is here given. It came from Lagore, as did also several flat pieces of iron, which there is reason to believe had been attached as ornaments to some article of horse trapping. They measure 3 inches or so in length, by about ¾ of an inch in breadth, and are most curiously decorated in enamel of various colours, the patterns being geometrical interlacing figures in the style known as Opus Hibernicum; at the time of their discovery, they presented the only examples of enamel on iron which had then been noticed, and some of them may now be seen in the Petrie Collection of the Museum, R.I.A. It is not known when enamel was first used in Ireland. Some writers refer its invention to the Gauls, on the authority Fig. 187.—Enamelled Plate of Iron from Lagore. One-half size. Fig. 188.—Inlaid Ornament of Mixed Metal from Lagore. Two-thirds real size. Amongst the debris of crannogs have been found several designs carved upon the polished surface of the larger bones of mammalia. Sir W. Wilde observed that clear, sharp, and accurate Plate XXXII. Fig. 1. Decorated Bone from Ardakillen. One-third real size. Fig. 2. Decorated Bone from Lagore. One-third real size. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Embossed Patterns on fig. 1. Real size. Fig. 6. Fig. 7. Fig. 8. Fig. 9. Ornamentation on Bone from Lagore. Real size. Fig. 10. Fig. 11. Fig. 12. Ornamentation on Bone from Lagore. Real size. Decorated Bones from the Crannogs of Ardakillen and Lagore. Use unknown. Another carved leg bone of a deer (plate XXXII.), fig. 2, is stained a dark brown colour, probably by lying in peat; its polished surface shows how much it had been handled. Upon the surface of this bone there are various devices traced with a graver or other sharp tool. Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, represent these (full size), and figs. 10, 11, 12, are characteristic of Celtic animal ornamentation. Fig. 189. Fig. 190. Fig. 191. Fig. 192. Fig. 193. Plates of Bone, decorated, use not known. In the Museum, R.I.A., there are eight thin plates of bone, varying in length from 1 to 5½ inches; they are of every variety of shape—square, triangular, irregular, but the majority oblong. In some respects they resemble in form, size, and ornamentation, the class of small stone articles supposed to have served as toy Fig. 194.—Rude Bone Spoon found at Clooneygonnel. Two-thirds real size. Spoons formed of thin cuticular horn are not of unusual occurrence. The specimen represented, fig. 194, is one of two such articles found in the crannog of Clooneygonnel, and shaped out of the concave epiphyses, or joint surfaces of the vertebrÆ of some large mammal. A wooden handle had probably been originally attached to it. Fig. 195.—Spatula-shaped Bone from Ballinderry. Plate XXXIII. Miscellaneous Articles found in Crannogs. Plates XXXIII. and XXXIV. contain representations of miscellaneous crannog “finds” from Randalstown and Lough Guile, county Antrim, and Ballykinler, county Down: when not otherwise specified the articles are from the first-named locality. Plate XXXIII., 1, a piece of pottery (¼ size) that seems to have formed part of an earthen vessel; it is coarse, strong, well made, and graceful in design; other fragments were met with, and judging from the appearance of fire on the outside of one, it had been used for cooking purposes. 2. A remarkable object of granite (½ size); two of similar form were found at Ballykinler crannog. 3. A paddle or oar made of oak, its length 3 feet 7 inches by 4½ inches in breadth. 4. A wooden scoop; total length 12 inches, the handle 4 inches, thickness 1½. 5. A wooden vessel found with a canoe; its diameter 7 inches, depth 3, and thickness 1 inch; it would be adapted for baling out a boat. 6 seems to be a netting needle (½ size); it is made of iron. 7. A battle-axe; length from face to end of projection at back 7 inches, length of face 5½ inches, breadth 1 inch at the one end, and at the other 1½ inches. 8. Iron sock of a plough; length 7½ inches, greatest breadth 4 inches; it terminates in a point. The following objects are all drawn one-half size:—9. A knife, the only specimen met with at Ballykinler crannog, having a handle. The haft is of goat’s horn, and the blade like a penknife of large size; it does not seem applicable to any ordinary domestic purpose, but it may have been used for bleeding or operating on animals. 10. A wooden instrument—of which two were found—made of soft, long-grained wood of the pine kind; they might have been used for coarse knitting. 11. An instrument of similar wood, use unknown. 12. There were several like No. 12, formed of soft wood; they might have served as fastenings for mantle or hair. 13. An instrument of bone, neatly made and polished, which might have been used as a pin. 14. A pin, made of a close-grained, hard, white wood, probably holly; several of these were brought to light. 15. An article of iron, use unknown. 16. A pin of iron; several of these were found. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, are pins of bronze. There were a great number resembling No. 17, also several of No. 19. 24. A large button made of bronze; the eyes are not fastened in but cast. 25. A crucible, seemingly of foreign manufacture, and unused; but several were met with greatly calcined. 26, 27, 28, seem to be fastenings for leather or other garments; they are of very thin bronze. Plate XXXIV., 1, is a pointed and socketed iron instrument from Ballymena. 2, drawn about half-size, is evidently a lamp of late, or perhaps mediÆval form, composed of iron, and the workmanship good; it had an upright handle pierced by an oblong hole, with another hole in a projection at end of handle. A gentleman saw a lamp of this class in use near Carrickfergus in the year 1840, as also in the islands off the coast of Ulster. 3 is a canoe paddle made of oak, and about 3 feet in length; 4 is of stone, and was found in a crannog in the county Down; 5 is a “spindle-whorl” (so called) made of jet, and having indentations on it for a thong or string; 6 is a flint knife (full size); the form is rather unusual, flint knives being generally straight; 7 is a full-size representation of the smallest of two bronze knives; the other differs from it in being 1 inch longer, and the shape not so curved; it should however be observed, that these two articles are supposed by some authorities to be modern forgeries. 8 is a bronze instrument about 6 inches long, and very sharp at the point; the metal and workmanship being similar to the knives, it therefore may also be spurious. 9. A lozenge-shaped “spindle-whorl” of jet. This and the three preceding are said to have come from Lough Guile. 10 is a stone, natural size, perforated with two holes crossing at right angles, and at each end a hole going a short way in. It is suggested that it may have been the axis of a small wheel, “the arms being inserted through the holes in the body of the stone, while it worked on two projections inserted into the holes at the ends.” Plate XXXIV. Miscellaneous Articles found in Crannogs. A pair of scales were found at Loughtarmin, and several at Lagore. At the latter place were also a number of sewing-needles, composed of various materials: the majority were of bone, about six or eight of iron, and four or five of bronze. Those made of metal were comparatively small and fine. Needles of the same kind have been met with in the great crannogs of Ardakillen and Ballinderry. At Lagore was found a bronze object, use unknown, fig. 196. In one part it is ornamented with a beautiful chased design, once probably enamelled. In the same crannog there was a square iron pipe, 2½ inches in length, to which a long hook was attached. Fig. 196.—Bronze Object found at Lagore. Full-size. Fig. 197.—Iron Pipe with Hook, from Lagore. Full-size. All the articles figured on plate XXXV. were found in the crannog of Cloonfinlough, and are now in the British Museum. No. 1 (one-fourth real size) represents a leaf-shaped dagger, skean, or knife, of an extremely early type; it is a characteristic specimen of its class. Similar weapons have, in Ireland, frequently occurred in company with socketed celts, paalstaves, spear-heads, and other implements of the so-called “Bronze Age.” The handle is very small, perforated for insertion of a rivet, and probably the haft had been originally prolonged by the addition of a piece of bone, horn, or wood, secured to the bronze by means of the rivet. No. 2 (full-size) is an eo or brooch of bronze of a not unusual design, having a long pin and broad flat ends, with a sunk lozenge in each, filled with a hatched pattern. This form of dress-fastener must have remained unchanged during many ages, for whilst it seems to have been common in the later “Iron period,” it has Plate XXXV. Objects of various Materials from the Crannog of Cloonfinlough, and now in the British Museum. Fishing Implements.—It is probable that on account of the smallness of their size, many bronze fishing-hooks may have been overlooked by searchers amongst crannog sites, though a number of specimens formed of iron occurred amongst the relics of ancient Dublin during the excavations made many years ago in Christ Church-place, and Fishamble-street. Several implements of iron, evidently designed for the capture of fresh-water prey, have been found on the sites of crannogs, and may now be seen in the Museum, R.I.A. Plate XXXVI. No. 1 is the head of an eel-spear, one of several exhumed from the debris of the Ardakillen crannogs; no trace of the handle remained. The implement consists of nine barbed prongs (the wings of the heads nearly touching each other) set in an oblong-shaped socket, composed of extremely thin iron plates or bands, that measure in width 5½ inches, in depth 2¾ inches, and are of sufficient strength to receive and secure the prongs; these average somewhat less than a quarter of an inch at their greatest diameter, which occurs near the head. The socket in its various parts is secured together by a number of rivets, irregularly set; from it descends a shaft measuring 4¾ inches. It is at first quadrangular, but midway assumes a cylindrical form, resembling sockets of crannog spears of the later “iron peri Plate XXXVI. Fishing Implements of Iron from Crannogs. Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 from Ardakillen or Strokestown Crannogs. No. 9 from Lagore. All one-third real size. “… swells the wave All other sounds are still, And strange and mournfully sound they; Each seems a funeral cry O’er life that long has past away, O’er ages long gone by.” In Connaught, next after Ulster, the greatest number of lake dwellings have been discovered, but a list of them could have only temporary value, as further explorations might greatly change, or even reverse, the numerical superiority of the crannog sites in Ulster. It is only of late that Munster can be said to be embra Extracts that here follow, from notices of crannogs contained in native annals, After the surrender of Charlemont, Sir Phelim O’Neil “retired to a fortified island called Raghan (? Roughan) Isle, and was there captured in February, 1653, by William Lord Charlemont.” A small lake situated somewhat to the north-west of the village of Desertmartin has given title to the barony of Loughinsholin, lying south of the city of Londonderry; it was so named from Inis Ua Fhloinne (O’Lynn’s Island), a stockaded dwelling near its eastern margin. The lake itself is now known as Lough Shillen. The oak piling that formerly surrounded the island was removed for firewood, leaving a mere bank covered with reeds and low bushes. In Father O’Mellan’s Journal (written in Irish) of the rebellion of 1642, he mentions two attacks on the island by the English, in the years 1642, 1643; and again in 1645, its final abandonment and destruction by fire on the part of the Irish, owing to inability to hold out from want of provisions. He st Again, on “August 25, 1643, Inis-O’Luin was garrisoned by Shane O’Hagan. The enemy came and called on them to surrender, which they refused to do. They then stopped up a stream which ran out of the lake, and turned the course of another into it, so that they contrived to flood the island. The garrison kept watch in the island house, and one of their men was killed by a cannon ball while on watch. However, they refused to surrender the island on any terms. One man in attempting to swim away had his legs broken. The enemy at length departed.” The latest entry occurs under date 7th March, 1645, when “The people of O’Hagan burned Inis-O’Lynn, for want of provisions, and followed the general eastwards.” The crannog of Mac Navin, In a plan-drawing of the siege of Enniskillen castle, in the year 1592, the remains of a crannog appear in the river close to the castle, where seemingly a circle of stakes encloses a diminutive island. In 1560 O’Rourke was drowned “whilst going to sleep on a low sequestered crannog in Muinter Eolius,” county Leitrim. Under heading of the year 1544, crannogs in the county Antrim are referred to in the Annals of the Four Masters:—“O’Donnell marched with a force into the Routes, and took (i.) Ini “‘Bless us! what a word on A title-page is this!’ And some in file Stand spelling false, while one might walk to Mile- End Green. ‘Why, it is harder, sirs, than Gordon, Colkitto, or Mac Donnel, or Galasp.’ These rugged names to our like mouths grow sleek That would have made Quintillian stare and gasp.” 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. 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. I 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. 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. 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; 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, In 847 “the island of Inis-Muinremhar,” in Lough Ramor, county Cavan, was “demolished by the inhabitants of Leyney, county Sligo, and There is an ancient poem in Irish, The Saint is flying from his enemies after the order of banishment from Erin had been issued against him: he subsequently exclaims— “Though even in a church, the reprobates are slain; Though in an island, in the middle of a lake, The fortunate of this life are protected, While in the very front of battle No one can slay me.” A well-known Irish scholar, the Rev. Canon Bourke, gives the following translation of the same passage:— “If by six thousand I was guarded, Or placed in islet in a lake, Or in a fortress strong protected, Or in a church my refuge take, Still God would guard His own with care; And even in battle safe they fare. No man can slay me till the day When God shall take my life away.” 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 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— “Facies non omnibus una Nec diversa tamen, qualis decet esse sororum.” 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, “… I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs, And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns.” 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. |
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