CHAPTER IV. 



AILS A CRAIG. 



Ailsa Craig, on the coast of Ayrshire — The Early History of 

 its Gannets — Present State of the Settlement — Remains of Dead 

 Gannets — Number of Gannets at the present time on Ailsa. 



Its Early History. — Next to the Bass Rock, the most 

 accessible Gannets' breeding-place, and a fairly well-known 

 one, is Ailsa Craig, the position of which, in the Firth of 

 Clyde, is shown on the map. There will be no difficulty 

 in finding plenty to say about the modern history of this 

 grand Gannetry, but, unfortunately, we do not know 

 nearly as much of its past as we should like, there being 

 no original information extant about it before the journal 

 of Sir William Brereton in 1635, which is to be lamented. 

 Compared too with the better - known Bass Rock, the 

 authorities for the annals of Ailsa are very few, and a reason 

 for this may be found in the circumstance of Ailsa coming 

 within notice of passing ships to a less degree than the Bass 

 Rock, nor was it ever of any military value as a fortress, 

 like the Bass, nor was there in its proximity any great 

 seat of culture like Edinburgh. There exists one ancient 

 charter which makes mention of Ailsa, and this and Fordun's 



