Fig. 177.—Forward half of the Canoe found in Loch Arthur.
"When fully exposed to view by the trench which was dug around it, the canoe was seen to be of great size, ornately finished, and in a fair state of preservation. It had been hollowed out of the trunk of an oak, which must have been a patriarch of the forest, the extreme length of the canoe bring 45 feet and the breadth at the stern 5 feet. The boat gradually tapers from the stern to the prow, which ends in a remarkable prolongation resembling the outstretched neck and head of an animal. When excavated this portion of the canoe was entire. At the neck of the figurehead there is a circular hole, about 5 inches in diameter, from side to side. At the prow a small flight of steps has been carved in the solid oak from the top to the bottom of the canoe. The stern is square, and formed of a separate piece of wood, inserted in a groove about an inch and a half from the extremity of the canoe.
"Along the starboard side (which when found was in good preservation, except near the stern) there could be traced seven holes about three inches in diameter. The three front holes were nearly perfect, but at the stern the side was so broken that only the lower parts of the holes could be observed. They are about five feet apart, and the front hole is about that distance from the prow—the last being about seven feet from the stern. There are three holes pierced through the bottom at irregular intervals." (Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., vol. xi. p. 21.)
A curious feature presented by some of these canoes was that accidental defects had been repaired, and the method adopted in its execution is worth noticing. The canoe found close to the Buston crannog already described ([page 428]), showed this peculiarity in a marked degree. Another from the Loch of Canmor is thus described by the Rev. James Wattie:—
"On the 16th June, 1859, there was fished up from the bottom of the loch, near the north shore, opposite to the Prison Island, a canoe ([Fig. 178]) hollowed out of a single oak-tree, 22½ feet long, 3 feet 2 inches wide over the top at the stern, 2 feet 10 inches in the middle, and 2 feet 9 inches at 6 feet from the bow, which ended nearly in a point. The edges are thin and sharp, the depth irregular—in one place 5 inches, the greatest 9 inches. There are no seats, nor rollocks or places for oars; but there may have been seats along the sides, secured by pins through holes still in the bottom. There are two rents in the bottom, alongside of each other, about eighteen feet long each; to remedy these, five bars across had been mortised into the bottom outside, from 22 to 27 inches long and 3 inches broad, except at the ends, where they were a kind of dovetailed, and 4 inches broad. One of these bars still remains, and is of very neat workmanship, and neatly mortised in. The other bars are lost, but their places are quite distinct. They have been fastened with pins, for which there are five pairs of holes through the bottom of the canoe, at the opposite side, at a distance of from 18 to 20 inches, the bottom being flattish. There are also five pairs of larger holes through the bottom, etc." (B. 94, p. 167.)
Fig. 178.—Canoe found in Loch Canmor.