XIV. 



RECORDS OF EXCURSIONS IN 

 STIRLINGSHIRE. 



By Alexander Ross. 



Though not so numerous as the excursions through the counties 

 of Lanark, Ayr and Renfrew, those to Stirlingshire have formed 

 an interesting part of the Society's outings, and have been over 

 country good from a botanical, geological and scenic point of 

 view. Naturally the greater number of excursions has taken place 

 to the western and central parts of the Campsie Fells and to the 

 valleys and hills lying south of these. 



The first visit to this county was on the 29th May, 1886, when 

 Ballagan Glen was explored by the members in conjunction with 

 the Geological Class of Mr. J. C. Christie. Of this and a few of 

 the following excursions the records are very meagre. From 

 Strathblane Station the glen is within easy walking distance. 

 The bed of the Blane Burn, which rises in the highest peak of 

 the Campsie Fells (Earl's Seat), was followed to where in its course 

 it forms the exceedingly picturesque water-fall called the Spout of 

 Ballagan. This cascade, having a fall of about seventy feet, sends 

 down a column of sparkling water which contrasts wonderfully 

 with the green of the vegetation and the varied colours of the 

 bedded rocks. The section of the Fells exposed at this point 

 is of the greatest interest to students of geology. The strata, 

 which are known as the " Ballagan beds," appear in regular and 

 almost horizontal layers. They belong to the upper calciferous 

 sandstone group, the cement-stone series, and consist of thinly- 

 bedded grey and yellow sandstones, with dark shales, thin streaks 

 of coal and layers of limestone. Dr. John Young in the Trans- 

 actions of the Geological Society of Glasgow, Vol. I., says : — 

 "Upwards of 230 beds of limestone, sandstone and marly shale 



