Before resuming the chronological sequence of further discoveries,
it becomes a matter of duty, on historical grounds, to refer more
particularly to Mr. Robertson's views, notwithstanding that it is
almost entirely to Dr. Stuart's elaborate paper, published some nine
years later, that we are now indebted for any detailed record of his
investigations. At the same time I shall take the opportunity of giving
a few extracts of the incidental notices of artificial islands culled
from other sources.
In the excellent article on Crannoges in _Chambers's Encyclopædia_
(written, I believe, by Mr. Robertson), the following epitome of his
opinions and researches is given:--"Hitherto, archæologists knew of
lake-dwellings as existing only in Ireland and Switzerland; but in
1857, Mr. Joseph Robertson read a paper to the Society of Scottish
Antiquaries, proving that they were to be found in almost every
province of Scotland. He not only ascertained the existence of about
fifty examples, but was able to show from records that they were known
in Scotland by the same name[11] of Crannoges, which they received in
Ireland. The resemblance between the Scottish and Irish types seems,
indeed, to be complete. Every variety of structure observed in the
one country is to be found in the other, from the purely artificial
island, framed of oak-beams, mortised together, to the natural island,
artificially fortified or enlarged by girdles of oak-piles or ramparts
of loose stones; from the island with a pier projecting from its
side, to the island communicating with the mainland by a causeway. If
there be any difference between the crannoges of the two countries,
it is that the number of crannoges constructed altogether of stones
is greater in Scotland than in Ireland--a difference which is readily
explained by the difference in the physical circumstances, of the two
countries. Among the more remarkable of the Scotch crannoges is that
in the loch of Forfar, which bears the name of St. Margaret, the queen
of King Malcolm Canmore, who died in 1097. It is chiefly natural,
but has been strengthened by piles and stones, and the care taken
to preserve this artificial barrier is attested by a record of the
year 1508.[12] Another crannoge--that of Lochindorb, in Moray--was
visited by King Edward I. of England in 1303, about which time it was
fortified by a castle of such mark, that in 1336 King Edward III. of
England led an army to its relief through the mountain passes of Athol
and Badenoch.[14] A third crannoge--that of Loch Cannor or Kinord, in
Aberdeenshire--appears in history in 1335, had King James IV. for its
guest in 1506, and continued to be a place of strength until 1648, when
the estates of Parliament ordered its fortifications to be destroyed.
It has an area of about an acre, and owes little or nothing to art
beyond a rampart of stones and a row of piles. In the same lake there
is another and much smaller crannoge, which is wholly artificial.[15]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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