The Loch Urr Crannog. 243 



Dr Munro's "Ancient Scotch Lake-Dwellings" contains no 

 description of Loch Urr. It finds a place, however, in that 

 writer's tabular list of lake-dwellings, where it is included in 

 Class 2 — "Constructed of stone, earth, etc." It would thus 

 appear that the island in I>och Urr has long been recognised as a 

 place of early human haljitation, and it is in no way surprising 

 that the attention of the society should have been directed to it 

 as a fitting subject of investigation. With the permission of the 

 proprietor, excavations were made. 



The work of excavation was almost entirely confined to the 

 larger island. The entire island is covered with a considerable 

 surface deposit, consisting of decayed, or partially decayed, vege- 

 table matter. This deposit was found to vary greatly in depth; 

 in some places it was as much as two feet three inches; 

 in others not more than nine inches. The sub-soil 

 could not be penetrated to any depth owing to the 

 ])resence of water. The surface material was removed with the 

 utmost care, exposing the walls of the various enclosures to the 

 foundation. All the walls gave evidence of care in construction. 

 Xo trace of mortar was \isible, and it is improbable that any 

 mortar was used. The amount of debris found at the base of the 

 walls or in the neighbourhood was not large, a fact which seems 

 to justify the inference that the walls were not carried to any 

 great height, probably not more than three feet at the most. 

 The height of the portions at present standing is about two feet, 

 and the thickness, which is nearly uniform throughout, is two feet 

 three inches. The outer wall, which encircles the main island, 

 although built of dry stone in much the same manner as the inner 

 enclosures, has evidently been of a more important character 

 altogether. The height has been greater, the thickness in some 

 places is as much as six feet, and, near to what seems to have 

 been the entrance, additional stonework in the form of rude 

 buttresses are found. This wall seems to have been undermined, 

 and to have then fallen outward. Hence the large quantities of 

 stone found around the margin. 



The remains at Loch Urr then consist of : — (i) A gangway of 

 stone, 114 feet in length, entirely submerged, and affording a 

 secret means of communication with the island from the shore ; 

 (2) a small island, 66 feet in length and ^t^ feet in breadth, on the 

 line of the gangwa} ; (3) a second gangway of stone, 56 feet in 



