Note 105 — Fifth Lecture. THE LAKE-DWELLINGS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. (continued 2)

Mr. Wallace describes the island as entirely artificial, "raised upon piles and cross-beams, about fifty yards from the shore, and 189 feet long, with an average of 112 feet wide. The water immediately surrounding it is deep, and the margin of the island rises perpendicularly from the deep water, which is about seven or eight feet deep on the north and east sides, and ten or twelve feet on the south and west. The piles and cross-beams, on which it has been raised, lie like a pavement all round it, inclining to the centre. The beams are of oak, pine, and birch. Those of pine and oak are the largest. Between the beams, and all over the island, numerous pieces of charcoal were picked up. The island rises in the centre, and, after clearing away part of the luxuriant nettles and long grass, portions of a walled structure were disclosed. No trace of lime-cement could be detected, but the stones were large and well placed together. The ruins of this building raised the island to the height of seven feet above the present water-mark." The island is noticed in the historical annals, and in 1596 gave refuge to the Earl of Arran. The occurrence of vitrified materials on the surface gives to this crannog, according to Mr. Wallace, peculiar interest. I could understand this interest had it been proved that vitrified buildings had been constructed over the crannog. In the construction of the crannog, of course, stones taken from the shore were used, and in this way the vitrified materials might be accounted for, or, what is more probable, they are the slag of a smelting furnace. The following are Mr. Wallace's words: "I visited the island in July, 1885, and scarcely had I set my foot on shore when I found a small piece of true vitrified rock; and great was my astonishment when I discovered that the whole island was covered with fragments of different sizes of the same material. It was found among the piles and cross-beams in great quantities. Several larger masses—one measuring four feet by three—were found on the western margin of the island, and deeply embedded among the stones and above the piles and cross-beams, close to the water's edge. After careful examination the vitrified material was found to differ in no way from that forming our vitrified forts. Between the crannog and the shore there is a smaller island of large stones, which is only visible when the loch is exceptionally low, as it was this season. This island, which measures 90 feet by 60 feet, appears to be entirely built of stones. The sides, like those of the larger island, are perpendicular. One piece of vitrified rock was found here. The distance between the islands is about sixty feet, and between the smaller one and the shore about twenty feet."