236 Carlingwark Loch and its Crannogs. 



present to the " seeing e} e " a perfect picture of peace and scenic 

 beauty unexampled b_\ any other loch in our island home. 



It is not, however, with the aesthetic aspect of the Loch that 

 I have to deal, but with its past history. Carlingwark Loch is not 

 only redolent with the historical, but also hallowed by the irre- 

 sistible glamour of legendary lore. I have often listened to the 

 traditional tale that a town lies buried in its depths, but although 

 taught to respect tradition, at the same time I have also learned 

 from experience to test its so-called facts with the greatest possible 

 care. In this particular case, however, I am not only inclined 

 to respect tradition, but also to believe that there is some founda- 

 tion for the mystic legend that an ancient village lies buried under 

 the silt of the loch. From personal in\-estigation, and from other 

 sources, I have gathered ample evidence to make out at least a 

 prima facie case for the existence at one time of a Crannog, or 

 lacustrine village, in the loch. 



1. The name of the loch itself practically proves that a 

 Crannog at one time existed on one or two of the little islands. 

 Although the word " Carlingwark " may be open to several deriva- 

 tions, only one will stand the test of historv and common-sense. 

 Sir Herbert Maxwell, in his " Topography of Galloway,'" says that 

 it is derived from the Anglo-Saxon ceorla weorc, which means 

 " the work of the countrymen or men," while M'Kerlie holds that 

 it is derived from the Cymric caer and llyti, meaning " fort lake," 

 and if we add the Saxon adjunct weorc, which means " work," we 

 have caer-Uyn-iveorc, the " fort-lake-work." The latter derivation 

 is not only the oldest, but it is the most intelligible, because it 

 points clearly to a lake with " fort-work," whereas Sir Herbert's 

 derivation is obscure, because the forming of the lake itself could 

 not be the work of countrymen. My argument is therefore that 

 the name was given on account of the existence in the loch of a 

 Crannog, or nati\'e fort. 



2. The name of the pari.sh of Kelton also points to the exist- 

 ence of such a Crannog. My experience in research is that most 

 of our place-names were generally given on account of some out- 

 standing feature or object in the vicinity. The name of the 

 parish, as first found in old documents, was " Lochelletun." This. 

 was in a gift of the church .so called, by Uchtred, Lord of Gallo- 

 way, to Holyrood Monastery. " Lochelletun " simply means the 

 " Loch-dwelling." Further, in one of the old charters it is called 



