Knox — Gig-Mills and Drying Kilns, near Balhjhaunis. 267 



is an oblong compartment, 6 feet by 5 feet, called ' Len ' (pronounced 

 ' Lyane,' y obscure), fenced off from the floor by flags standing on 

 edge, save a portion on the outside and on the length of tlic floor west 

 and east, where a small low wall takes the place of the flags. ^ The 

 meal flies into it, and has only to be combed up occasionally. The 

 meal which flies out centrifugally in the spaces between the stones and 

 the walls and the funsee is carried gradually round by the air-current 

 generated by the upper stone, until it is whirled through the gap into 

 the len. 



The hulls of oats have to be removed after drying. For this 

 purpose the stones are set the length of a grain apart. The theory is 

 that the grains go down between the stones on their ends. This 

 seems to be due to observation of the fact that grains of oats fall butt- 

 end foremost. The hulls are separated by an ordinary winnowing 

 machine, and are a perquisite of the miller, who takes one-twentieth, 

 formerly one-twenty-first, part of the cast as his fee, called ' dlighe' 

 (toll). 



Over the stones is a rough wooden frame supporting the ' crannoge ' 

 or hopper — a four-sided, truncated, inverted, hollow pyramid, 2 feet 

 by 2 feet at the mouth, 6 inches by 6 inches at the lower opening. 

 Under it is an oblong trough, about 15 inches long and 8 inches wide 

 without a fore-end board, called the ' ommereen.' It is loosely 

 attached behind, and its fore end is over the central hole of the upper 

 stone. 



The crannoge delivers into the middle of the ommereen. To the 

 front of the latter, over the hole in the stone, a ' cord ' is attached, 

 which is coiled over the framework overhead, and has a small weight 

 attached to the free end, so that by the simplest contrivance the 

 delivery end can be raised or lowered, decreasing or increasing the 

 flow of corn to the stones. Beside the ommereen a flat stick called 

 the 'rocker,' about a foot long, dangles from the framework, and its 

 lower end touches frequently the revolving stone, thus communicating 

 a tremor to the ommereen which shakes the corn into the stone. 



This is the third Platley at Cullentra ; but in either the male or 

 female line the family has been there for ages, because when the 

 male line ran out a ' Cleenishteach ' came in and married the female 

 representative. A mile off, at the east end of the lake, are many 

 traces of ancient communities, and on a ridge a mile north are Liscat, 



^ See Diagram III. 



