Knaven

NJ84SE 4 c. 89 42

(NJ 8933 4280) Canoe found AD 1830 (NAT)

OS 6" map, (1959)

An entire dug-out canoe 11ft x 4ft, with a projecting part at the stern in which was a hole for mooring, was found 'a short time ago' at a depth of 5ft in a moss deposit on Knaven farm. It was placed under water at Nethermuir (NJ 91 44) for preservation.

D Wilson 1863; Gentleman's Magazine 1850.

In 1850 a logboat was discovered during drainage operations in the Moss of Knaven, and at a depth of 5' (1.5m). It was subsequently placed under water for preservation at Nethermuir (NJ 91 43). The discovery is not noted either on the 1st edition of the Ordnance Survey 6-inch map or in the Name Book but the OS suggest a findspot at NJ 8933 4280, presumably on the basis of its reported discovery 'at the head of a small ravine'. The attribution of the discovery by Wilson to a date about 1830 appears to be erroneous. Enquiries in 1987 and 1992 revealed no local memory of this discovery.

The boat was 'formed out of a single oak-tree' and was 'of very rude manufacture'. It measured 11' (3.4m) in length and 'nearly' 4' (1.2m) in beam; at the suggested stern there was a 'projecting part, with an eye in it for the purpose of mooring'.

Gentleman's Magazine 1850; D Wilson 1851; R J C Mowat 1996.