coracle
(ˈkɒrək(ə)l)
So 7–: also 6 corougle, 7 corracle, curricle, 8 coricle.
[a. Welsh corwgl, cwrwgl, deriv. (? dim.) of corwg, cwrwg, in 13–14th c. coruc, corwc coracle, and carcase, = Ir. curach boat (appearing in Adamnanus 7th c., in latinized form curuca), mod.Gaelic curach.]
A small boat made of wickerwork covered with some water-tight material (originally hides or skins), used by the ancient Britons, and still by fishermen on the rivers and lakes of Wales and Ireland.
The coracle is described but not named in O.E. Chron. anno 891 ‘on anum bate butan ælcum ᵹereþrum of Hibernia..se bat wæs ᵹeworht of þriddan healfre hyde’.
| 1547 Salesbury Welsh Dict., Kwrwgyl ne vola kroen, a corougle. 1611 Cotgr., Carabe, a corracle, or little round skiffe, made of Ozier twigs wouen together, and couered with raw hides. 1696 Aubrey Misc. (1857) 211 The boats on the Avon..were baskets of twigs covered with an ox-skin, which the poor people in Wales use to this day, and call them curricles. 1759 B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. II. Salop 178 The Fishermen in these Parts have a pretty Device, to catch Fish..which is called a Coracle. 1805 Southey Madoc in W. i. 13 On his back, Like a broad shield, the coracle was hung. 1873 Act 36–7 Vict. c. 71 §36 Any boat, barge, coracle, or other vessel used in fishing. |
b. attrib.
| 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 13 Two Coracle Nets. 1891 Daily News 5 Oct. 3/6 Dee Salmon Fisheries..The coracle net-men had caught 849 salmon. |