other lochs in Old Luce parish with crannogs. The frequent occurrence of the syllables _der_, _dir_, or _dar_, in the names of the places near Barhapple, shows that long ago they were clothed with trees. Here is a topographic rhyme, by some unknown native bard, communicated to me by Mr. Thomas MʽCormick, farmer at Mindork, in Kirkcowan:-- "Knocketie and Knockietore, Laniegoose and Laniegore, Dirnefuel and Dirniefranie, wee Barsolas and Derrnagie." SECTION IV. _Notice of the Excavation of a Crannog at Buston, near Kilmaurs._ _Discovery of the Crannog._--About half-way between Stewarton and Kilmaurs there is, on the farm of Mid Buston, the property of the Earl of Eglinton, a shallow basin, now converted into a richly cultivated meadow, but which formerly, as represented in Bleau's _Atlas_, formed the bed of a lake of considerable size called Loch Buston. Within the recollection of the present generation this area was a mossy bog in summer and a sheet of water in winter; and about fifty years ago, when the present tenant, Mr. Robert Hay, came to reside on the farm, there was a small mound or island situated about its centre, locally known as the _Swan Knowe_, on account of the numbers of wild swans that formerly used to frequent it. When subsequently engaged in reclaiming the bog, Mr. Hay states that as many as thirteen cart-loads of timber were removed from the "Knowe," and he distinctly remembers that, in consequence of the difficulty of detaching some of the beams mortised into others, his father then made the remark, "there maun hae been dwallers here at ae time." He also states that until the land was thoroughly redrained, some five years ago, there was still a considerable mound to be seen; but at the beginning of December 1880, when I first visited the locality, there was hardly any elevation to distinguish it from the surrounding field. Notwithstanding Mr. Hay's knowledge of the structure of the "Knowe," which he supposed to have been erected by one of the old Earls for the purpose of facilitating the shooting of wild-ducks--a purpose for which it had frequently served himself,--the merit of detecting here the ruins of an ancient lake-dwelling is due to Mr. D. MʽNaught, schoolmaster of Kilmaurs. The history of the discovery is most interesting, and reflects much credit on the discoverer; but the story is best told by himself. Having a faint recollection that Mr. MʽNaught was one of a group of critical sceptics who visited Lochlee while the investigations there were in progress, and maintained that the crannog was merely the site of an old "whisky still," I was curious to know the circumstances and exact process of ratiocination which had now actually culminated in placing him in the position of being a discoverer in this same line of research; so, after the importance of the crannog had been established by some valuable "finds," I wrote a note asking if he would kindly