coracle

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coracle, from the Welsh corwgl, carcass, or Irish curach, meaning boat. It is a small boat, occasionally circular but more often rectangular with rounded corners, constructed of wicker work. It was originally made watertight with animal hides but in more recent times pitch or some other watertight material was substituted. It was employed for river and coastal transport by the ancient Britons, and is still used today by fishermen, mainly for salmon, on the rivers and lakes of Wales and Ireland. It is light enough to be carried easily on a man's back.

This type of craft was far more widely distributed than might be thought. In China, where they were known as ‘skin boats’, they were widely used for many centuries, and they are present on Assyrian bas-reliefs. They were also extensively used in Iraq where they were called quffah—Arabic for basket—which has become Anglicized to gufah.

coracle small wickerwork boat. XVI (corougle). — W. corwgl, cwrwgl, f. corwg coracle, †carcass ( = Ir., Gael. curach CURRACH).

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