Cari.ingwark Loch and its Crannogs. 239 



the "Fir Island," and on the "Ash Island," and another little 

 island adjacent thereto. The largest seems to have been on the 

 " Fir Island," and was connected with the shore by a gangwav. 

 Crannogs, of course, var\- in construction, according to the 

 exigencies of the site or the period of construction. A common 

 method of construction was to drive long piles of wood into the 

 lied of the loch, or morass, leaving their tops projecting at a uni- 

 form height above the water. On the piles were placed cross 

 l)eams so as to form a platform capable of supporting the wooden 

 dwellings to be erected thereon. Another method was to make 

 a floating raft of the stems of trees. These stems were all bound 

 together and covered with hazel, or brushwood, heather, bracken, 

 etc., mingled with stones, and then floated out till it grounded on 

 the shallows. When this was effected it was pinned into position 

 by driving piles all round it and mortising them into the frame- 

 work. This formed the foundation for the dwelling proper. The 

 houses built thereon were generally round, with the roofs sloping 

 from the eaves to a point in the centre, and covered with heather, 

 bracken, etc. Where a number of them were built together, they 

 were generally connected by bridges or gangways, and thus formed 

 a lacustrine village. 



The inhabitants of these ancient villages seem to have main- 

 tained themselves almo.st solely by the spoils of the chase. This 

 is corroborated by the large quantities of bones, such as the ox 

 (Bos longifrons), deer, goat, pig, or wild boar, wolf, fox, otter, 

 l)eaver, birds, etc., that are generally found in the refuse heaps of 

 these Crannogs. No doubt many of these Crannogs were in- 

 habited bv the Selgovae (i.e., the hunters), who flourished on this 

 side of the Dee, at a period prior to the Roman invasion. 



At that period tlie loch presented a very different appearance 

 from what it does now. The whole of the meadows from the Dee 

 right to Bruntstick Tollbar were part of the loch. Carlingwark 

 meadows were connected with the loch through what is now Marl 

 Street, and also through the " Gallows Slot." This is not sur- 

 prising, because a rise of fifteen feet of water would accomplisti 

 this at the present day. Even down to Timothy Font's survey 

 (1608-1620), the loch had its outlet through Cuil meadow, Cuil 

 field, along the public road to Whitepark Brae, and from thence to 

 the Black Loch, down past Torrs farmhouse into the loch beyond, 

 and from thence finally down by the Old Mill of Buittle into the 



