dumfries-1920/04-060

Transcription

HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION.

of about half an acre and "in appearance and morticing" - the "mortice holes about
one foot from the bottom of each stake" - "were exactly similar to those in the
stockade" of the Sanquhar lake dwelling. ¹ There was no vestige of the wood on
the hard ground.
On the south-west side of the Castle Loch, Lochmaben, is a small artificial
island, now several feet under water, from which oak mortised beams have been
recovered. ² In 1863 there was exposed in a peat bank in Corncockle, in the parish
of Applegarth, a stratum of parallel oak logs with from 6 to 7 feet of peat above
and below. The platform of logs was covered with birch twigs on which was a layer
of bracken, the latter two together giving a thickness of 10 inches. At one spot
was a circular paving of flattish whinstones 6 to 7 feet in diameter, on which were
many fragments of burnt wood. Beside it were seven large oak bowls 10 to 12 inches
in diameter and an oak mallet. There were no piles, but the ends of the logs, of which
the largest was 14 inches in diameter, had obviously been cut, and two had square
mortise holes. The portion of the platform uncovered was from 20 to 30 feet wide,
while the ends of the logs could be followed on the face of the bank for 150 feet. ³
Near Friar's Carse, in the parish of Dunscore, a small loch, on being partially
drained, revealed the presence of an artificial island already noted by Grose. ⁴
The island was slightly oval and was surrounded by piles, while the plat was com-
posed of oak beams, the ends of which overlapped or were mortised. Within the
piles the space measured some 80 by 70 feet. Near the centre was a circular paving
of small stones, and there were also some remains of clay flooring. In the same
quarter was a heap of debris 2 to 3 feet thick, which contained ashes, charcoal, some
bones, and fragments of pottery. Two of these fragments were "handles of jars
with a yellowish glaze, inclining in some parts to a green and in others to a reddish-
brown colour" - obviously mediæval. About sixty yards from the island a canoe
was found, 22 feet long and 2 feet 10 inches broad, with a flat stern-piece fitted into
a groove. From the west side of the loch came a paddle 3 feet 10 inches long and
a hammer-head of whinstone 10 inches by 5, which was perforated for a handle. ⁵
A canoe "cut out of one solid piece of wood" was found also, about the beginning
of the 18th century, in a moss not far from Morton Castle. ⁶

II. CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURES.

The defensive constructions described above are those of communities large
or small. The private castle as the residence of a lord and his retainers, for whose
defence it was primarily intended, was introduced into this country by the Normans,
and the earliest form of such a castle was of the mote-and-bailey type. The mote was
a hillock of earth with steep sides surrounded by a deep trench; the bailey was an
attached enclosure at a lower level likewise entrenched (fig 3). On both the superficial
defences were of wood. On the hillock stood a wooden castle or bretasche within
a palisade. An earthen rampart, which was also crowned by a palisade, rose above
the scarp of the bailey, while the counterscarp generally bore some form of thorn
entanglement or hedge (heriçon). From this general type there were several deviations,
some of which are illustrated in Dumfriesshire.

1 Trans. Dumf. and Gall., 1897-8, pp. 32-3.
2 Munro as cited, p. 32; Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vi. p. 60; Archæol. Scot., iii. p. 77, n.
3 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vi. pp. 163-5.
4 Antiquities of Scotland, i. p. 146.
5 Munro as cited, pp. 152-8; Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., xvi. pp. 73-8.
6 New Stat. Acct., iv. p. 96.

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