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The last expedition before the boat trip, and a very good
turn-out, largely thanks to David John and Robert doing some
good publicity work.
The expedition equalled our all-time record with fifteen explorers
and four helpers, plus a dog. The explorers were, Amie MacMaster,
Amy Mulhern, Claire, David John, Ellen, Frazer, Iain, JD,
John Donaldson, John MacArthur, Karen, Kathryn, Robbie, Robin
& Robert, with Sharon, Sheila, Mary MacMaster and Robert
helping, plus Suzie.
We left the cars at the Smirisary car park and walked to the
Loch Path, where we met some surprised visitors who thought
they would have it to themselves. We walked up the hill while
John explained to some of the explorers that Loch na Bairness
was a very strange loch. It seemed to be very shallow and
had several islands which made it a possible site for a crannog,
which is a protected lake dwelling with a zigzag underwater
path leading to it. John thought the level of the loch might
have been artificially changed by damming the outlet in the
distant past. The explorers walked all round the loch to see
if any work had been done to increase the water level, but
before this they spent some time looking at the remains of
the old boat house, but nothing was left of the old boat,
possibly it was burned by campers.
We looked at all of the loch margin and could find only one
outlet, a small stream. Although the stream might have been
dammed by the addition of some boulders, it looked unlikely
that this would have had much effect on the level. At the
end of this excursion it was getting windy and starting to
rain so everyone stopped for a time next to a huge boulder
which had a shelter underneath it.
There were a lot of stones sticking out of the water all over
the loch and a line of smooth ones looked like a big water
snake. This made a big impression on many of the participants
and several of the drawings were to feature this 'giant snake'.
The Pictures
David John, who most impressed with the principle of the Crannog.,
drew a fight between the occupiers and invaders, complete
with sinking invaders who had fallen off the submerged path.
Amy showed herself next to the loch with a tree and her hat
v/hich blew off in the wind. JD showed one of the islands
in the loch with both coniferous and deciduous trees on it.
Robert showed the loch with its indented shore line and the
ruins of the old boat house and a frog at the right side.
Robin showed the whole loch with islands and three explorers
on the shore. All of the other explorers made pictures showing
the giant snake in various stages of attacking people.
John
Dye
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