_Crannog, derivation of the word._--In the Irish Annals, lake-dwellings are called crannogs, derived from the term _crann_, which signifies a tree. That word, always spelled with a double _n_, is in Irish generally applied to a tree with foliage and branches, as [Gaelic: crann na coille], _trees of the wood_, but in its primary meaning it refers to some massive object of timber standing erect--as stems of the forest, or a ship’s mast, which is also called [Gaelic: crann]. The last syllable in [Gaelic: crannog], _i.e._ [Gaelic: og], is the terminal form of numerous Irish words; “sometimes it carries the force of a diminutive, but more frequently not. [Gaelic: Crannog] is no doubt formed in the same manner as [Gaelic: cuaróg], the name usually applied to a wild bee’s nest, and derived from the noun [Gaelic: cuar], any conical hollow with the diminutive ending [Gaelic: og] attached thereto. In some country places, the old kind of pulpit or form was called crannóg, and in others _crannghail_ or _crannghaoil_, a word of somewhat similar meaning. This latter word, too, was the Irish term for a hurdle, and was commonly used for those wicker-chimneys so common formerly in country cottages.”[35] It is doubtful whether the term _crannog_ was originally applied to the timber framework of which the island was constructed, or to the wooden huts erected on it; though now-a-days it is generally understood to include the whole structure, both island and dwelling. In its topographical sense, the word is applied to wooden lake dwellings, but in another sense the Anglo-Irish employed it to designate a basket, hamper, or measure of a certain size for measuring or gauging grain or corn.[36] G. H. Kinahan states[37] that, although “crannog” is now the generally-accepted appellation for the ancient lake dwellings of Ireland, it is, nevertheless, “a modern term introduced to supply the place of the ancient one, which is unknown or unrecognized.” Lake dwellings bore in Scotland the same designation. In a document dated 14th April, 1608, directed to State officials, concerning the surrender of some rebellious clans, it is ordered, that “the haill houssis of defence, strongholdis and _cranokis_ in the yllis perteining to thame and their foirsaidis sal be delyveret to his Maiestie,” &c. Although the term crannog is to be found in the Irish Annals, yet in the earliest entries these dwellings are designated simply as _Inish_, i. e. island: for instance, in an old Irish MS., “The wars of the Gaedhiel with the Gaill,” it is recorded that, in the year 1013, Brian Boru repaired inir locha Gair, i. e. _the island_ of Lough Gur, county Limerick, which is one of the most important as also apparently one of the most ancient Irish lacustrine sites; for, as before stated, remains of the reindeer, the _Megaceros Hibernicus_, and bear, were found in the lake bed.