I. ON FURTHER EXAMINATION OF ARTIFICIAL ISLANDS IN THE BEAULY FRITH, LOCH BRUIACH, LOCH MOY, LOCH CARRY, LOCH LUNDY, LOCH OICH, LOCH LOCHY, AND LOCH TREIG. BY KEY. ODO BLUNDELL, O.S.B., F.S.A. SOOT. In consequence of the wish which was expressed at the conclusion of my paper last year, that further investigation be made regarding the lake- dwelling r crannogo s e Fortth f Scotlandn ho i s I hav, e devoted some considerable time to the subject, especially during the week from 29th July to 5th August, when a sum was placed at my disposal by the Council of this Society, and the Clyde Navigation Trust supplemented that grant by the loan of a diving apparatus gratis. t I wil e bes b o taklt e different th e t islands examined accordins a g they mape occuth n , ro workin g from eas o westt begio t T . n wite hth islan Locn do h Bruiach. Thi situates si d abou milen te t s S.W f Beauly.o , elevation a t a f nearlno y 100 wese 0th tfeetn therO .s cultivatio i e t na present to within two miles, but on the other three sides there is nothing but bleak moor for miles. There is not a tree to be seen nearer than the cultivated land on the west, yet at one time this district was fairly s certainlpopulouswa t i d y an wel, l woode e timth et d a thae islanth t d was built. There are, moreover, numerous prehistoric remain neae th rn si vicinity, including some hut circles half a mile to the east, a very com- plete stone circle in the village of Bruiach, and two other stone circles quartea mila f ro e apart just between Beaufort Castl Belladrumd ean . FUKTHER EXAMINATION OF ARTIFICIAL ISLANDS. 13 Loch Bruiach is rather more than a mile long by half a mile wide, and the island (fig. 1) is in the small bay on the north shore, from which it is distant fully a hundred yards. At present it measures 190 feet by 110. Ther e severaar e l fair-sized tree t sthes bu growine yearl , ar eit yn o g being washed away in consequence of the loch having been raised a few years ago to afford more water for the mill of Bruiach. I had visited Islane Th Fig Locn . di 1 . h Bruiach. thi spreviou o islantw n do s occasions n boti t h bu ,thes e case watee sth r higo s hs thawa t nothin e artificiath f o g l construction coul e seenb d . The offer of the Clyde Trust seemed to make one independent of the height of the water, and accordingly the apparatus was sent by rail to Beauly firsthencd e loche side an th ,tTh carf th eighy .e eo b o t t t milef so the road was moderately good and the strong spring cart got the 10 cwt. up the hills fairly easily, but for the last 1J miles there was nothing but roughese th peaf to t tracks thao s , t seemei t d quite impossibl t sucge ha o e t 4 1 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F O S , DECEMBE , 190913 R . weight to the loch. The. great readiness with which Mr Arch. Macdonald offered to place- his horses and carts at our disposal in order that we might have a good try, overcame all obstacles, and the apparatus was safely taken to the loch-side. Mr Macdonald, like several others who gave me the greatest assistance in this investigation, would take nothing for his services. In -consequence of the most severe thunder shower that any of the company could remember e investigatioth , s nearlwa n y deferree th o t d following day, but the serious assertion of one of those present, that he feared that the water kelpies were very angry at the intrusion and had brought on the rain, decided me to start operations at once. Several gentlemen from Beauly very kindly offere assislese o t dth s t responsiblta e positions, and ultimately a most interesting inspection of the island was madee bank Th composee .ar s d havn 5i an , f stone a sloped1 o f o es of fairly even size. e north-easOnth spoe islane t th sidon t t f alondea o e five large joists were exposed to view. They were about a foot in diameter, and radiated toward e e centrislandth sth f o e. Eigh9 fee n lengtr i to t h coule b d seen thed an ,y were distant from each other abou fee 2 t tthei a t r nearer end and 4 feet at their further end. A smaller one which was brought to the surface proved to be quite decayed, as were also two of the others, buremainine th t o seemetw g d fairly soun t hearta d t otheA . r points beamo tw on r seo were visible alss a , oshortea r piece which appeareo t d have formed a strap or tie, binding a couple of the spars together. I made great efforts to secure this, and much regretted to have to return to surface th e withou . it tFro r AlexmM . Fraser, Knockbuie I learne, d the next day that such ties were not unfrequently to be seen, and that the wooden pin which secured the two pieces would be about 2 inches in diameter. Mrs Hugh Warrand, whose father was tenant of Beaufort, also remembered bringing home to the keeper's house a cross-piece with such a pin in it, and said that when left to dry it crumbled to dust. excellenn A t opportunit r observinyfo e constructioth g s affordewa n d about the year 1880, when the late Col. the Hon. Alastair Fraser cut a FURTHER EXAMINATIO F ARTIFICIAO N L ISLANDS. 15 section downwards d largan , e oaken beams were seen lyin e acroson g s othee th r (fig, eac2) . h abou 5 inche1 t s across formind an , g squaree th s inside measur f whiceo h woul aboue db feet2 t . Fig . Beam2 . theid san r tie-pieces, etc. To compare this island with tha n Loco t h Ness e flath ,t floorinf o g beams which forme strikino ds gfeatur a Loc e th hn ei Xess cranuos gwa not found at Bruiach, unless indeed the silt had accumulated more than 8 inches in depth, although I several times felt for this flooring. The 6 1 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F O S , DECEMBE , 190913 R . large timbers which, lay along the edge of the island in Louh Ness were also ahsent from the Bruiach one ; but this may be accounted for by the fact that as Loch Jfess never freezes, so its island has been subjected to evenn a temperature eve rconstructes sincwa s t stilei i perfecn i d l dan t preservation, whilst Loch Bruiach is often covered with ice for months timea t a , during whic timbee hth r would contract, onl expano yt d again in the following spring, and so rapidly to decay. This seems to me to accoundilapidatee th r fo t d conditio islane whicn ni on de hth is see- to n day, as compared with the perfect preservation of the other. The usual causewa e shorth o et y exist n bothi s . Another poin f resemblanceo t , and one very difficult to explain, is the existence of large masses of vitrified material, some three-feet square, whilst smaller pieces lie all over thes d manan e y other islands. Eilean Loch Bruiach figure laten i s r histor e refug runawath a s f ya o e y pair, whose elopement cause a dbattl e betwee e Chisholmth ne th d an s Frasers whicn i , e Chishollovers—e th hth f a daughteo d n man aso f o r Lovat—lost their lives. In 1590 the island is again mentioned as the residence of the Dowager Lady Lovat; cf. Mackenzie, History of the Frasers; alsWardlae oth . wMS The Beauly Firth.—The next island to be dealt with is Cairn Dubh (fig. 3), in the Beauly Firth. It was my intention to use the diving y homewards passee dreswa w s r sa dpreliminara ou t thi n bu ,o s y visit reveale e importanth d t fact that however perfec e apparatuth t s might be, it would be a difficult matter to dive here, as the island at low tide a sandbank n o s lefi y tdr .hig d , neverthelessIan his t , most difficult of access, for the Beauly Firth is so shallow that even a small boat cannot get up at low tide ; whilst if the visit be made at high tide, there is no small danger of the boat being left on the sandbank, at a consider- able distance fro e watermth . Cairn Dub s situatei h d almost exactly opposite Bunchrew House, in the very centre of the firth. At low tide it stands 3 feet above the sandbank, and measures 135 feet from N\ to fee0 e stones17 t Wo froTh t d S. usuas an m,E a , n suci l h casese ar , about one cwt. in weight, with very little small stuff. Some large FURTHER EXAMINATION OF ARTIFICIAL ISLANDS. 17 stones are to be seen, of which a satisfactory explanation is to be found in the fact that on more than one occasion lighters carrying quarry- stones have gone aground at the cairn, and have thrown overboard part of their stone carg t afloaorden oge i o t r again.