Castle Loch, Lochmaben

NY08SE 50 c. 090 811

For Lochmaben, Castle Loch 2 logboat (NY c. 08 81), see NY08SE 51.

(Lochmaben, Castle Loch 1) This logboat was found before 1909 near the outlet of the loch and in unrecorded circumstances. The remains of a logboat in store at Dumfries Museum have been identified with this discovery, but are more probably those of the logboat from White Loch, Inch (NX16SW 31).

Information from Mr R Mowat, December 1987.

NMRS MS/736/1.

The discovery of two logboats (NY08SE 50 and NY08SE 51 ) is recorded in Castle Loch which is situated on the SE side of Lochmaben burgh (NY08SE 34) and is dominated by its royal castle (NY08SE 8). The area is one of cultivated clayland and rounded relief at an altitude of about 45m OD. The discoveries of a possible crannog or 'artificial wooden structure', the 'remains of lake dwellings' and 'oaken mortised beams' (NY08SE 9 and NY08SE 30 respectively) have also been noted in the loch.

1. The 'Ancient Boat or Canoe' that was exhibited to the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society in 1909 was probably a logboat. It was found near the outlet of the loch in unrecorded circumstances but was neither preserved nor recorded in detail. It measured 12' (3.7m) in length and 3' (0.9m) in beam, and was 'flat bottomed'. On the basis of these measurements, the slenderness coefficient was 4.

Contemporary newspaper accounts state that the 'ancient canoe' was found 'in a good state of preservation...in the outlet of the Castle Loch'. It was of 'black oak, rudely shaped and hollowed out'. The stern was 'shaped from the trunk in the same way as the bow' while 'artificial holes' were found in the bottom; 'wooden plugs or pins' (presumably thickness-gauges) were found in them but 'crumbled when removed'. The remains were 'split half way up the middle'.

A letter (dated 24 September 1909) from Mr D Fenton, then Town Clerk of Lochmaben, suggests an alternative location for the discovery 'about a mile below the Castle Loch at the outlet to the Annan river' (at NY c. 102 790). There is no supporting evidence for this suggestion.

The vessel was initially taken to Afton Lodge, Lockerbie, but its fate was not recorded. Although one of the logboats in store at Dumfries Museum has been identified as this discovery, these remains are more likely to be those of the example from White Loch (NX16SW 31).

Glasgow Herald 1909; Dumfries and Galloway Courier and Herald 1909; TDGNHAS 1911; R J C Mowat 1996; NMRS MS/678/118/1-10.