in the neighbourhood of St Andrews. 305 



would conspire to bring about. We must not, therefore, be 

 surprised to find the Links of St Andrews, and the whole 

 ground under the Strathtyrum bank, several feet above the 

 level of the sea. The whole of that land is one mass of sand, 

 the lower part of which is probably of aqueous deposition, 

 while the upper part is evidently an accumulation effected by 

 high winds blowing from the sea, after the manner of many 

 similar accumulations in other parts of the world, aided, per- 

 haps, by occasional tides of abnormal height. Towards the 

 mouth of the Eden, another cause comes in to help this for- 

 mation, namely, the silt brought down by the river. The 

 Tents' Muir, to the north of the mouth of the Eden, is an ac- 

 cumulation chiefly of wind-blown sand, like the Pilmour or St 

 Andrews Links. 



Both the beaches and cliffs have here, as usual, been 

 much cut by water-courses. We have a cut on each side of 

 Mr Brown's house of Grange, one on each side of Pipeland 

 farmhouse, a great one in the line of the Kinness Burn, and 

 several others. The vale of the Kinness Burn, below Law- 

 park, has all, of course, been formed since the last upheaval, 

 and it is easy to see why it has taken the direction which we 

 find it has taken. The spot at Lawpark has been the bottom 

 or terminating point of a small bay, where the rivulet was 

 originally received. The direction of this bay was towards 

 St Nicolas, or the site of the present harbour ; that is to say, 

 a line between these two points ran over a somewhat lower 

 part of the beach than the rest. Along this line, the rivulet 

 would proceed at the ebb of tide. After the upheaval it would 

 begin to cut down into its original sandy channel ; and this 

 process would be continued till, with its small accessories, it 

 had carved out the present little vale between the site of the 

 town and the opposite bank, nearly (in some places) a quar- 

 ter of a mile distant. But for the formation of this vale, and 

 the rearing of the town, we should have had at this place a 

 piece of ancient beach clearly perceptible to the eye, of an 

 extent which I have never seen equalled. 



The apparatus brought before the society in connection 

 with this paper, is an humble attempt of my ovt^n to illustrate 



