2o8 Largs and its Surroundings. [Sess. 



IX.— LARGS AND LTS SUBBOUNDLNGS. 



By Mr D. A. BOYD, Corresponding Member. 



{Bead April 26, 1905.) 



The parish of Largs consists of the extreme north-western 

 portion of the county of Ayr. Its length, when measured 

 from Fairlie Burn on the south to Kelly Burn on the north, 

 is about 9 miles, while its breadth may be reckoned at about 

 3 1 miles. A level and comparatively narrow plain extends 

 along the line of the sea-coast, widening considerably in Kel- 

 burne Bay, and still more between the mouths of the Gogo 

 and Noddsdale valleys, where it forms a somewhat crescent- 

 shaped plateau upon which most of the town of Largs has 

 been built, and from which it is said to derive its name. 

 With these exceptions, the parish is mainly occupied by a 

 range of hills, which increase in height towards the water- 

 shed between the shires of Ayr and Eenfrew, where they 

 attain an elevation of from 1500 to 1700 feet. Towards the 

 seashore, and in the neighbourhood of the glens, the hillsides 

 afford good pasturage for grazing, while the higher moorlands 

 abound in marshes and peat-bogs. The configuration of the 

 hills is generally bold and impressive, thus imparting to the 

 scenery a character which is much more suggestive of a high- 

 land than a lowland type. This is well displayed in the two 

 valleys above-mentioned, whereby the two main streams — the 

 Gogo and the Nodd (popularly known as the " Noddle Burn ") 

 — descend through highly picturesque glens to the sea. 



When Largs is approached from the south, by way of the 

 main road leading from Ayr and Irvine to Greenock, the 

 visitor obtains a view of the islands and Firth of Clyde which 

 can hardly fail to attract his admiring notice. At Fencebay, 

 about a mile south of Fairlie, the road, which for nearly five 

 miles has been passing inland behind the bold headland of 

 Portincross, once more touches the seashore. On the left 

 hand lie the blue waters of the Firth, so hemmed round about 

 with islauds, peninsulas, and promontories as to appear alto- 

 gether land-locked, thus presenting scenery suggestive of the 

 characteristics of an inland lake rather than of a marine 



