"Here was a cell dependent on the rich abbey of Melrose, which, at the Reformation, was granted by the Commendator to the Laird of Elliesland, a cadet of the Kirkpatricks of Closeburne. From whom it passed to the Maxwells of Tinwald, and from them to the Barncleugh family, also cadets of the Lords of Maxwell. From whom it went to the Riddells, of Glenriddell, the present possessors. The old refectory, or dining-room, had walls 8 feet thick, and the chimney was 12 feet wide. This old building having become ruinous, was pulled down in 1773, to make way for the present house. "Near the house was the Lough, which was the fish-pond of the friary. In the middle of which is a very curious artificial island, founded upon large piles and planks of oak, where the monks lodged their valuable effects when the English made an inroad into Strathnith." From the above quotation it would appear that this structure has not ceased to be an island by becoming submerged, like most of the other lake-dwellings hitherto noticed. The surface of the log pavement is at present about 18 inches above the water-level, so that, before the recent drainage, it would be 6 inches below it, but, originally, it must have been 3 or 4 feet above the ordinary level of the loch. Hence, on the supposition that no great alteration was made on the lake area by former cuttings, the maximum amount of subsidence would not be more than 5 feet. [Illustration: Fig. 159.--Perforated Axe-hammer Head (1/3).] _Canoe._--About 60 yards from the island, while making the cut for drainage, a canoe was found, "deeply imbedded" in the mud (about 4 feet). It now lies in Dr. Grierson's museum at Thornhill, but it has become so shrivelled and distorted that it would be difficult to recognise it as a dug-out canoe. From Dr. Grierson's description of it, shortly after discovery, it appears to have been 22 feet long and 2 feet 10 inches broad. The prow was the root end of the tree, and tapered to a point, but the stern, which was squarely cut, was closed by a flat sternpiece fitting into a groove. A neatly formed paddle was found on the west side of the loch. Its length is 3 feet 10 inches, of which the blade takes up 1 foot 6 inches by 5 inches broad. The ponderous axe hammer-head here figured (Fig. 159), was found on the west side of the loch along with the paddle. "It was about 2 feet below the present surface, and about 30 yards from the island, at a place where the ground was firmer and might have been a landing-place from the island." It is made of hard whinstone, and measures 10 inches in length, 5 inches in breadth, and a shade less than 3 inches in depth. It is perforated by a round shaft-hole, 2 inches in diameter, but tapers slightly from both surfaces to the middle. _Pottery._--Two handles of jars with a yellowish glaze, inclining in some parts to a green and in others to a reddish-brown colour. [Illustration: Fig. 160.--Pottery (2/3).] [Illustration: Fig. 161.--Pottery (2/3).]