i88z-i883.] 171 



sists of four separate stone islets near the southern shore of the 

 lake, rests upon a foundation of logs and branches of trees, 

 mainly from three to six inches diameter, which are spread 

 upon a layer of twigs, heather, leaves, and moss. The islets 

 were then formed of about two feet thick of large stones loosely 

 piled up, which formed the floor of the dwellings. Each sepa- 

 rate structure was surrounded by rows of piles, and the whole 

 group enclosed by more piles, numbering several hundreds. 

 The piles were of pine, willow, ash, and, more rarely, oak ; 

 their ends were pointed, evidently with a sharp hatchet. Rows 

 of piles stretching in a south-west direction, and about 100 feet 

 long, mark the line of the causeway that connected the crannog 

 with the mainland. This does not appear to have been cross- 

 timbered, as in many other examples, but was layered with 

 leaves and moss, which is now in the form of imperfect peat 

 about a foot thick. The breadth of the causeway was about 

 10 feet. A little to the north, and farther out in the lake, is 

 the other crannog, which forms a single islet. Its construction 

 is rather different and more elaborate than the former. At the 

 bottom was a layer of large stones, whose depth could not be 

 ascertained owing to a spring of clear water that gushed up. 

 On these a deposit of moss had been heaped, which must ori- 

 ginally have been very thick, as it is still, after all its com- 

 pression, two feet thick. A ring of piles all round the crannog 

 support horizontal timbers, which rest in notches on the heads 

 of the piles, or in some cases are morticed into them. These 

 radiate from the centre like the spokes of a wheel, and are sup- 

 ported on the layer of moss above described. On the timbers 

 rests another layer of heather, moss, and leaves, upon which 

 stones have been heaped up to form the floor. The diameter 

 of the stone floor of this island was about forty-five feet, the 

 piles extending about ten feet further all round it. There was 

 no trace of any causeway, and probably none existed. In the 

 case of many other crannogs a framework of timbers secured to 

 the tops of the piles extended all round the outside to serve as 

 a breakwater, but in those at Lough Mourne this could not be 



