Miscellaneous.—A small shale ring, unfinished, a bead of amber, and a copper coin.
LOCHLEE.
The site of the Lochlee crannog was a small lake, which formerly occupied about nineteen acres of what is now, and has been for many years, arable land, on the farm of Lochlee, near Tarbolton. Before it was artificially drained, some fifty years ago, no one appears to have surmised that a small island, which became visible in the summer-time, and formed a safe habitation for gulls and other sea-birds during their breeding season, had been formerly the residence of man; nor does it appear to have attracted the attention of the poet Burns, who lived on this farm for four years as ploughman to his father, then tenant of the place. The crannog was near the outlet, of the lake, and the nearest land, its southern bank, was about seventy-five yards distant. When the first drainage of the lake was carried out, the wrought woodwork exposed in the drains running through the island, and especially the discovery of two canoes buried in the moss, attracted some attention. It was not, however, till 1878, in consequence of some discoveries during the re-drainage of the locality, that this most important crannog was investigated.
Fig. 135.—General View of Site of Lochlee Crannog.
The general appearance which it presented before the excavations were commenced, as seen in [Fig. 135], was that of a grassy knoll, drier, firmer, and slightly more elevated than the surrounding field. Towards the margin of this mound were seen the tops of a few wooden piles, barely projecting above the grass, which at once suggested the idea that they might be portions of a stockaded island.
Fig. 136.—Mortised Beam with portion of an Upright (1⁄24) and a Wooden Peg (1⁄8).