The bull boat is a primitive form of boat-building. It was invented by several peoples independently and to serve different purposes: in Scotland, it was used for salmon fishing, in Ireland, for load carrying and river-crossing. Some sea variants of this round boat were also developed. They are still in use nowadays in Vietnam, Cambodia and Japan.
The name „bull boat“ comes originally from Northern America: the Indian tribes living on the Prairie had no fixed settlement, but followed the buffalo herds on which they essentially lived. When on the move, they used to build those simple round boats to cross rivers easily. A wooden frame was covered with the stretched hide of a bull, a male buffalo, which was larger than that of a female.