Fig. 102.—Carved Wooden Vessel found at Cavancarragh.
Fig. 103.—Wooden Vessel from Ballydoolough Crannog.
The term “Lestar” comprises vessels of various shapes, and of all kinds of material, although it is more generally applied to those made of wood—several have been found in crannogs. In a bog, occupying what in distant ages appears to have been the site of a small lake, on the lands of Cavancarragh, county Fermanagh, implements of flint, a fine bronze spear-head, and a beautifully-shaped wooden vessel, were discovered, all buried under peat. Now, according to the theory of some geologists, a peat formation of such depth as covered them would, according to circumstances, take from six hundred to one thousand years to accumulate, so that the articles found might be referred back to any period from the thirteenth to the ninth century; and at about this latter period, it is remarked, with regard to the ornamentation observable on the wooden vessel, that a similar style prevailed in the MSS. and on stone work of that era, still extant. The vessel was made of oak, the bottom alone being alder: when first exhumed it was entire, and had a cover; the original form seems to have been one of unusual beauty, and the height about fifteen inches. The lid, now unfortunately lost, is described as slightly convex, with a knob-like handle in the centre, the ornamental work on it similar to that of the vessel itself. On the dark shading round the rim, and between the interlacing ornamentation, both of vessel and lid, traces were apparent of some kind of pigment, or enamel, with which the surface of the wood had been overlaid. In the crannog of Ballydoolough, county Fermanagh, a vessel of wood was discovered in an entire state, but from long saturation reduced almost to a state of pulp. The engraving (about one-fifth the real size), gives a good idea of it. In process of drying, the vessel soon lost all shape, and became strangely twisted and distorted. On comparing this woodcut with a vase found in a small stone chamber at Knocknecoura, near Bagnalstown, county Carlow, and now in the Museum, R.I.A., a striking resemblance in form is observable; the latter vessel is, however, more ornamental. To find in a grave an urn of almost exactly the same shape as a vessel undoubtedly used to hold food, suggests the idea that the so-called sepulchral urns in cairns and graves need not be viewed as necessarily intended to hold human ashes, or the cremated bones of sacrifices. Might not the object of their position have been to supply the warrior with food on his way to the Happy Hunting Grounds of Tirnanog? A willow platter, 15 inches by 14 ([fig. 104]), was found in the crannog of Ballinderry. It did not split much in drying, and is in a very good state of preservation: one handle, however is defective, the other is 2¾ inches in length by 4 in breadth. The dimensions of [fig. 105] are as follows: extreme length from handle to handle, 31⅛ inches; length inside, 25¾ inches; extreme breadth across the rim, 21⅛ inches. It is not so well preserved as its confrere from Ballinderry, as it rent in drying, but has not become either warped or twisted like the great majority of wooden utensils exhumed from peat.
Plate XX.