Captain R. F. Burton—"Notes connected with Dahoman"—refers to a tribe called Iso, who "have built their huts upon tall poles about a mile distant from the shore."—(Memoirs of the Anthropological Society, vol. i. p. 311.)
Pile-dwellings have been observed along the coasts of New Guinea and Borneo and the creeks and harbours running into the Straits of Malacca. In looking over some photographs recently brought from these regions, I was struck with one which is a representation of lake-dwellings at Singapore. The houses appear to be erected on a series of tall piles, and between the flooring and the water there is a considerable space in which the boats are hung up.
Though a few incidental notices of ancient lake-dwellings in Scotland preceded, in point of time, analogous discoveries in other countries, their real significance appears to have been overlooked till public attention was directed to the Irish Crannoges and Swiss Pfahlbauten. It is therefore desirable, on attempting to give a sketch of the work done in Scotland in this department of archæology, to give here a short account of these Irish and Continental discoveries, not only because they have been instrumental in opening up to Scottish antiquaries this wide field of research, the value of which as a storehouse of ancient relics is hardly yet realised, but because they enable us, by way of comparison, to point out some of the differences, as well as resemblances, of these ancient remains thus nominally associated under the common title of Lake-Dwellings.
Irish Crannogs.[1]
The historic references made to the Irish Crannogs are numerous, and extend over a long period, from the middle of the eighth down to the seventeenth century; but notwithstanding these, it was not till the year 1839 that their archæological importance became known. In this year Sir W. R. Wilde discovered and examined the crannog of Lagore, in the county of Meath, of which he has published an account in the first volume of the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. After this other crannogs were discovered in rapid succession, and it became apparent that they existed very generally over the country. When Sir W. R. Wilde published his Catalogue of the Museum (Royal Irish Academy), in 1857, he states that no less than forty-six were known, and predicts that many others would be exposed to view as the drainage of the country advanced—a prediction which has been amply verified, because every succeeding year has seen an increase to their number. According to this writer, crannogs "were not strictly speaking artificial islands, but cluans, small islets, or shallows of clay or marl, in those lakes which were probably dry in summer-time, but submerged in winter. These were enlarged and fortified by piles of oaken timber, and in some cases by stone-work. A few were approached by moles or causeways, but, generally speaking, they were completely insulated and only accessible by boat; and it is notable that in almost every instance an ancient canoe was discovered in connection with the crannoge. Being thus insulated, they afforded secure places of retreat from the attacks of enemies, or were the fastnesses of predatory chiefs or robbers, to which might be conveyed the booty of a marauding excursion, or the product of a cattle raid."
A more recent explorer and writer on Irish crannogs, Mr. W. F. Wakeman, in a paper entitled "Observations on the principal Crannogs of Fermanagh," published in 1873,[2] goes on to say, after noticing their existence in eighteen different places in this county, and numbering no less than twenty-nine, "This glance is far from complete in its enumeration of the 'Lake Dwellings' still remaining in this old territory, but it gives, I think, the principal examples.... The Irish crannog, great or small, was simply an island, either altogether or in part artificial, strongly staked with piles of oak, pine, yew, alder, or other timber, encompassed by rows of palisading (the bases of which now usually remain), behind which the occupiers of the hold might defend themselves with advantage against assailants. Within the enclosure were usually one or more log-houses, which no doubt afforded shelter to the dwellers during the night-time, or whenever the state of the weather necessitated a retreat under cover."
None of the writers on Irish crannogs appear to have paid much attention to the structure of these islands, and beyond the mere statement that they were "stockaded," palisaded, or surrounded by one or more circles of piles, they give no explanation of the attachments and proper function of the surrounding piles. These are generally described as having been driven into the muddy bottom of the lake, and the most essential part of the mechanism of construction, viz., the horizontal mortised beams, has been only incidentally noticed. Though the purpose of these horizontal beams does not appear to have been understood, it is of importance to observe that their existence has not been entirely overlooked, as will be seen from the following quotations.
In his description of the crannog at Lagore near Dunshaughlin, Sir W. R. Wilde says: "The circumference of the circle was formed by upright posts of black oak, measuring from 6 to 8 feet in height; these were mortised into beams of a similar material laid flat upon the marl and sand beneath the bog, and nearly 16 feet below the present surface. The upright posts were held together by connecting cross-beams, and (said to be) fastened by large iron nails; parts of a second upper tier of posts were likewise found resting on the lower ones. The space thus enclosed was divided into separate compartments by septa or divisions that intersected each other in different directions; these were also formed of oaken beams in a state of good preservation, joined together with greater accuracy than the former, and in some cases having their sides grooved or rabbeted to admit large panels, driven down between them."[3]