Loch Laggan

NN58NW 4 c. 5201 891

(Area: NN 520 890) In 1934 Loch Laggan was lowered some 16' and this and subsequent lowerings revealed the remains of several dug out canoes. The bottom of one was seen in 1949 at NN 520 890, in a bay on the N side of the loch, but "the condition of the wood was much too tender to allow of its being removed". Its dimensions were "14' 6" long by 2'6" to 1' 5" wide and the timber was oak, 1.5" to 2" thick."

S Maxwell 1953.

The canoe was submerged at time of investigation, and can only be seen when the level of the loch is at its lowest. Mr MacDonald (E MacDonald, Moy Farm, Tulloch, Inverness-shire) verified the approximate position but was unable to indicate it exactly.

Visited by OS (NKB), 13 October 1965.

Seven logboats and the remains of a framed boat of unknown date (NN48NE 4) have been discovered during periods of low water level on the shores of Loch Laggan, an extensive highland loch which occupies a deep glaciated valley in the catchment area of the River Spean at an altitude of about 280m OD and is used for the generation of hydro-electric power. The various accounts of the five earlier discoveries were collated in 1951 but those made subsequently have received only brief publication.

5. Also in 1949, BM Peach noted the 'undoubted remains of a canoe bottom' in a bay on the N side of the loch, about '1? miles (2km) from the eastern end'. The national grid reference was ascertained as NN 520 890 at the time of discovery, but re-plotting on a map of larger scale suggests a slight revision to the position close inshore at Tullochroam that is cited above.

The remains measured 14'6" (4.4m) in length by between 1'5" (0.4m) and 2'6" (0.8m) in beam. The timber measured between 1?" (40mm) and 2" (50mm) thick and was identified as 'oak'. Its condition was 'much too tender' to withstand removal and the boat probably exists no longer. On the basis of the recorded measurements, and assuming the full length of the boat to have been preserved, the slenderness coefficient was 5.8. The form is not recorded.

In August 1992, beach-walking and underwater survey (by Niall Gregory) failed to re-locate these remains.

S Maxwell 1953; R J C Mowat 1996; information from Mr N Gregory, MS/736/4.