Monument record MHG9089 - Dug out Canoe, R Conon, Dingwall

NH55NE 3 c. 55 57.
A dug-out canoe, 16 feet long, 2-3 feet wide and 2 feet deep, revealed by accidental change of course of River Conon opposite Dingwall, (1874) was presented to Society of Antiquaries of Scotland on 12th December 1881 by William Bruce, M.D., Dingwall, through Sir Robert Christison.
PSAS 1882.

No further info was found regarding this canoe or its find-spot during field investigation.
Visited by OS (W D J) 17 April 1963.

(Location cited in either Dingwall or Urquhart and Logie Wester parishes). In 1874 erosion revealed a logboat in bank of River Conon 'opposite Dingwall' and at a point which was possibly near upper limit of tidal flow. It lay in silt at a depth of c2.5m below the surface of a gravel bank.
The boat was of 'oak' and measured 16' 3" (5m) in length over all, 2' (0.6m) in beam 'at the bow' and 2' (0.6m) in 'depth of the side'. The figure of 3' (0.9m) that is cited for the beam at the 'stem' probably refers to the stern. On basis of recorded measurements and assuming full height of the sides to have been found, the slenderness coefficient of this boat was 5.4 and beam/draught coefficient was 1.5. The displacement under standard conditions was about 1.6 cubic metres. These figures indicate that this was a medium-sized boat of non-specialist type worked from a whole-sectioned log.
The boat was subsequently donated to museum of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (later incorporated into collections of Royal Museum of Scotland). It cannot now be identified in the collections.
R J C Mowat 1996.