Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CRANNOG, Crannoge, Crannogue, n. A term used in Sc. and Ir. for an ancient lake dwelling, an artificial island in a lake. In use only as an archæological term. [′krɑnɔg, krɑ′nǫ:g]Sc. [1851] D. Wilson Arch. and Ann. Scot. (1863) I. 351:
One of the ancient Lake villages or Crannoges.Sc. 1990 Country Living Aug 91:
People have lived on these islands for thousands of years and Lewis abounds with evidence of their passing: stone circles, burial chambers, earth houses, crannogs, duns and brochs. Sc. 1994 Scotland on Sunday 27 Mar :
Many of our lochs bear the traces of crannogs, the extraordinary water dwellings. Sc. 1995 Scotsman 29 Jun 11:
Fronting the site will be an unusual feature in terms of Scottish business parks, the inclusion of a man-made lochan together with a crannog. Sc. 1997 Daily Mail 26 Feb 11:
A life-size prehistoric crannog is being recreated off Kenmore, on Loch Tay. A crannog, in case you did not know, is a thatched timber off-shore roundhouse, very popular with our Bronze Age/Early Iron Age ancestors of 2,500 years ago. Sc. 1999 Scotsman 30 Sep 21:
Between the two, Duddingston has taken shape over the centuries - indeed, for millennia, for bronze age weaponry and the wooden stumps that may have supported crannogs have been found in the loch, while on the slopes above the village can be seen terraces that suggest cultivation from an early date. Sc. 2002 Country Life 19-26 Dec 41:
It sits alone overlooking the mysterious islands and crannogs of the Loch in deeply wooded gardens teeming with wildlife.Fif. 1985 Christopher Rush A Twelvemonth and a Day 211:
The white-robed files were no longer to be seen wending their weird ways to the summits of Kellie Law, Largo Law and Dunino, after every spark of life had been allowed to die out in crannog and cave before midnight.Gall.(D) 1901 Trotter Gall. Gossip 284:
The ilan's yin o' thae crannoges, only it's biggit wi stanes.Uls. 1878 A. Hume in Trans. Hist. Soc. Lan. and Chs. III. 110:
There was a crannogue in an adjoining lake.Ant. 1898 E.D.D.:
Such crannogs are now gen. found in peat bogs because the lake which existed in former times has been filled up by the formation of peat.