appearance of the island as it now is, since the bottom of the lake
was turned into corn land, is represented by Fig. 8. The surface of
the crannog was occupied by a strong substantial building (Fig. 9).
This has latterly been known by the name of the Castle of Leys, and
tradition, or conjecture, speaks of it as a fortalice, from which the
Wauchopes were driven during the Bruces' wars, adding that it was the
seat of the Burnetts until the middle of the sixteenth century, when
they built the present Castle of Crathes. A grant of King Robert I. to
the ancestors of the Burnetts includes _lacum de Banchory cum insula
ejusdem_. The island again appears in record in the year 1619, and
1654 and 1664, under the name of 'The Isle of the Loch of Banchory.'
Banchory itself, I may add, is a place of very ancient note. Here
was the grave of one of the earliest of our Christian missionaries,
St. Ternan, archbishop of the Picts, as he is called in the old
Service-Books of the Church, which add that he received baptism from
the hands of St. Palladius. Along with St. Ternan's Head and St.
Ternan's Bell, called the 'Ronnecht,' there was preserved at Banchory,
until the Reformation, a still more precious relic, one of four volumes
of the Gospel which had belonged to him, with its case of metal wrought
with silver and gold."--(_Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._ vol. vi. p. 126.)
[Illustration: Fig. 9.--Isle of the Loch of Banchory. (Surface of
Crannog.)]
The following extracts regarding artificial islands incidentally
observed in various parts of Scotland, brought to light chiefly in the
course of drainage operations in search of marl or for the recovery of
boggy land, may be now read with interest before resuming the narrative
of more recent discoveries:--
LOCHRUTTON, KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE.
"This loch is about a mile in length, and half a mile broad. In the
middle of it there is a small island, about half a rood in extent, of
a circular form. It seems to have been, at least in part, artificial.
Over its whole surface there is a collection of large stones which have
been founded on a frame of oak planks."--(_Old Stat. Account_, vol. ii.
p. 37.)
LOCH KINDER, KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE.
"In Loch Kinder there is an artificial mount of stones, rising 6
or 7 feet above the surface of the water, supposed to have been
constructed for the purpose of securing the most valuable effects of
the neighbouring families from the depredations of the borderers.
The stones stand on a frame of large oaks, which is visible when the
weather is clear and calm."--(_Old Stat. Account_, vol. ii. p. 139.)
CARLINGWARK LOCH, KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Ancient Scottish Lake-Dwellings or Crannogs: With a supplementary chapter on remains of lake-dwellings in England — John Shaqi
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