Lochlea

NS43SE 10 c. 4574 3035

See also NS43SE 5.

About 1878, a third logboat was dug up in Lochlea during further drainage operations about 100 yards (91m) N of the crannog NS43SE 5 and at a depth of at least 5' (1.5m). On discovery, it measured 10' (3.1m) in length and 2'6" (0.8m) in beam internally, and was 1'9" (0.5m) 'deep'. The sides were thinner than the flat bottom, which measured 4" (102mm) in thickness and was pierced by what were identified as nine thickness-gauge holes evenly disposed in two rows of four, with one at the bow; each measured 1" (25mm) in diameter and was found 'tightly plugged' with an unspecified material.

This logboat is displayed in the Dick Institute, Kilmarnock; it was originally accessed as LC 244 but has been re-numbered as KIMMG: AR/D34. The underside was inaccessible at the date of visit. It has suffered slightly from splitting (one side having become detached) and more severely from warping, the bottom being warped upwards along the centreline and the sides inwards. The timber is pierced by four large knot-holes and numerous smaller examples. Practically the entire length of the boat survives but there is no certain differentiation between the two ends; one of them is, however, both broader and more rounded in form, so this is tentatively identified as the stern.

The boat measures 3.18m in length over all and up to 0.65m in beam; the assumed port side has probably measured about 0.15m in height but has become detached and is retained by nails in an inappropriate position. The probable starboard side survives to a height of 0.26m near the stern and 0.15m forward, but is lower amidships. The floor and sides measure about 60mm and 30mm in thickness respectively.

Eight probable thickness-gauge holes are arranged in equally-spaced pairs near the outer edges of the bottom of the boat; the even spacing of these holes may suggest an alternative explanation as location points for fitted ribs. They are oval after shrinkage and each measures about 30mm by 25mm; one of them retains its plug. A hole of unknown function and origin pierces the upper part of the surviving starboard side 0.9m from the stern; it measures 20mm in diameter externally and is angled slightly downwards into the interior where it is of slightly smaller diameter. There are the marks of an unidentified tool in the bottom of the boat on the starboard side amidships and in the port quarter.

On the basis of the current measurements and assuming the sides to be incomplete, the slenderness coefficient is 4.9. The remains of the boat are highly irregular in form and do not fall neatly into the morphological forms defined by McGrail. The probable stern appears to have been irregularly sub-rectangular in form, while the probable bow was apparently formed as a rounded point and the sides were vertical throughout. On the basis of this interpretation, the McGrail morphology code is 531:3x1:321 and the form dissimilar-ended.

R Munro 1880; R J C Mowat 1996, visited December 1987.