ARRAN. 



in rude columns, rowing on sandstone, and in *ame part* rue to the 

 height of boT 1000 feel The harbour thus inclosed hai good 

 hail i4 ........ 1. sufficient depth for the largest veasels, and room 



jsOUjfa tor the Urgent nary to ride at anchor. Brodick Bay, a little 

 to the north of Lamlaah Bay (from which it ia aeparated by a head- 

 land), U of au irregular shape ; it afford* good anchorage ground and 

 hu about 5 fathoms water ; in moderate weather vessels can ride in 

 safety. l.ch Ranza extend* about a mile inland, and has three fathonu' 

 water at the lowest ebb. At the extremity of a imall point of land 

 jutting into the loch are the ruin* of a castle which is said to hare 

 been inhabited by the king* of Scotland when they came to hunt in 

 Arran. A small inland, called Pladda, lies off the south coaat of 

 Arran, about a mile distant; it ia low, flat, a mile long, and has 10 

 aore* of excellent pasture. There is a lighthouse upon it. 



The surface of Arran i* in general high, particularly towards the 

 north end, where the scenery ia sublime. Ooatfell, the highest moun- 

 tain, is estimated by Professor Playfair to be 2945 feet high ; but in 

 the Society** ' Hap of Scotland ' it is marked at 955 yards or 2865 

 feet, which i* also Dr. Maccullooh's statement The lower part is 

 red-candatoue, but several hundred feet upwards mica-elate, separated 

 from the red-sandstone by a bed of breccia, risi-a from under it, and 

 continue* till it reaches a kind of irregular plain, from which again 

 arise* a mass of granite, different from that of the Central Highlands, 

 in the form of an obtuse pyramid. The side of the mountain ia 

 corereJ with debrin of mica-elate and granite, and toward the summit 

 by Urge blocks of granite, which materially impede the ascent, and 

 the rude appearance of which U increased by the absence of all vege- 

 tation, except a few lichens. The view from the summit U very 

 extensive. The name of this mountain in Gaelic is llawlh Ji/iein, 

 ' Mountain of Winds ; ' the name of Qoatfell having been given by 

 the strangers who have visited the island. 



The geology of Arran from its interesting character has attracted 

 much attention. The line of the coast is generally low, although it 

 occasionally rise* into precipitous cliffs. Red-sandstone is the pre- 

 dominant rock, extending with little interruption from near Loch 

 Ranza on the north side of the island, along the eastern and 

 juthern shore, to Sliddery Water near the south-west extremity of 

 the island. From Sliddery Water it occurs alternating with cUystone 

 and porphyry to Drumodune; and extends, with one interruption, 

 from Drumodune to the river lorsa, where it finally disappears. 

 8ehi*io*i rocks and mica-aUte on the west and cUy-alate on the 

 north coaat, occupy the remainder of the circuit to the point where 

 the sandstone " rtm>> CTioM 



The interior of the island may be mineralogically divided into two 

 parts, by an irregular line drawn from Brodick Bay to the mouth of 

 the river lorsa. North of this line, mica-slate, cUy-alate, and granite 

 occur. The schistose rocks rise from beneath the sandstone on the 

 eastern coast, and form the western coast north of the lorsa. The 

 centre is occupied by the granite, which forms the lofty and craggy 

 mountain* of Goatfell and Kiddoe toward the east, of Ben Huish in 

 the centre, and Benbearan on the west. The granite approaches the 

 sea so nearly on each side a* to reduce the space occupied by the clay- 

 alate and red-sandstone on the east and the mica-iiUte on the west, to 

 narrow belt*. It rise* into spiry forms, frequently bare of vegetation, 

 and U intersected by deep and rugged hollows, through which 

 mountain-torrents take their course. 



The district* occupied by the different kinds of rock in the southern 

 division are not so easily determined, owing to the nature of the rocks 

 themselves and the accumulation of soil on the *urfcce. All those 

 which are not sandstone an varieties of trap, syenite, porphyry, and 

 other unitratified rocks of the same family, overlying the sandntonc. 



traverse the sandstone, 

 h's ' Description of the 

 an) 



The island does not poesees any extensive lake or important river. 

 Loch Tana or Tannocb, about a mile long and a Quarter of a mile 

 broad, is several hundred feet above the level of the sea. A small 

 stream, the Ion*, flow* from it into Machry Bay on the west coast 

 Other rivulet*, some of than forming cascade*, flow from the hills 

 and through the deep glen* into the sea. One bursting from an 

 orifice in the Dipping Rook*, which are rude columnar basaltic cliff- 

 bout 800 feet high, near the *outh-*t corner of the island, fall* into 

 the sea *t some distance from the bale of the rocks. 



At Cory or Corry on the north-emit coast are quarries of white 

 sandstone. Thjs stone was used in the construction of the Crinan 

 Canal SUto* were one* procured Mar the ' Cock of Arran ' (a mass 

 of otndston* lying on the north shore of the Wand, and forming a 

 well-known sea mirk), and ome attempt* to work coal were at one 

 tin* made in the MUM neighbourhood, and new the bay of Lamla.li. 

 Transparent atones, known to the jeweller* a* Arran stone*, 

 Cairngorms, and Scotch topazes, are found on Ooatfell. 



The climate of Arran U temperate. The height of the mountain* 

 ad the position of the island render it subject to rain. 



The island was originally a royal domain mostly clothed with wood, 

 ad stocked with red-deer, wild boars, and other animals of the chase. 

 Mark* of the ancient wnods Mill renui ices of 



birch, ash. an.) nk upring ti| 

 of it i* poaMMd by the Duke of I ! 



oter unitrate rocks of the same family, over 

 Tain* of cUyatone, clinkstone, or porphyry tra 

 and even in some place* the granite. (Macculloch' 

 Western Island* of Scotland') 



decayed and ruinous, was repaired, improved, and enlarged by the 

 late duke. The ducal family occasionally resides on the island. 

 Brodick and Lamlash on the east and Shedog on the west coast are 

 small villages, whose inhabitant* look to the summer visitors for 

 their livelihood by letting their humble accommodation aa furnished 

 lodging*. There are a few well-built houses and small villas in 

 Brodick and in Laralaah, but as the proprietor of the soil doe* not 

 let any ground fur building the population of the island U gradually 

 decreasing. The land which admits of cultivation is not fertile, and 

 ia of small extent compared with the mirface of the island. Oats, 

 bere or big, potatoes, peas, and beans are grown. 



The native breed of horses is small, patient of hunger and fatigue, 

 and remarkably sure-footed. The island produces hares and rabbit*, 

 the otter and wild cat, black-cocks, grouse, ptarmigans, plovers, Ac. 

 The red-deer and wild-goat are now nearly if not quite extinct The 

 eagle and other birds of prey have been nearly extirpated, from the 

 care taken to preserve the game. Serpent*, including the common 

 adder, and toads are found in Arran. 



Kelp was formerly mode in considerable quantity. Most of tin- 

 woollen cloth used in the island is made by the women. The herring 

 fishery is the only one in which the native* engage. Shoal* of 

 herrings . often frequent the coast ; when this ia not the can 

 the fishermen repair to Loch Fyne [ARUYLESHIRE], or other places. 



The population of Arran, which contains two parishes, Kilmory 

 and Kilbride, in 1851 was 5947. Host of the people understand 

 English, though Gaelic is the language spoken. Arran, the island of 

 Bute, and the Cumbray Islands, make up the shire of Bute. Tin-re 

 is daily steam-communication between Arran and Ardrossan on the 

 Ayrshire coast 



Arran was port of the domains of the Lords of the Isles. It subse- 

 quently formed an earldom which was held by the family of Boyd, 

 niid is now one of the titles of the Hamilton family. It afforded a 

 temporary asylum to Robert Bruce in his adversity; on the west 

 side of the ialiuid is a cave in which he is said to have been 

 MOM i!' I. 



Immense cairns, rough obelisks, monumental stones, and other 

 antiquities, commonly termed Druidical, are found in different part* 

 of the island. Two or three Danish forts and the remains of a 

 mound of doubtful origin are at Drummoduin or Drumodune, on the 

 west side. On the Holy Island in Lamlash Bay, there is said to have 

 existed a monastery, founded by one of the Lords of the Isles. Beside* 

 Loch Ranza Castle, there are the ruins of another old castle (Kildonan) 

 on the south coaat 



(Headrick's Vieif of the Mineralogy, <tc., of Arran; Jameson's 

 Outline of the Mineralogy of the Midland Itlandi and the /tland of 

 Arran; Pennant's Voyage lo the Hebridct ; Trantactiani of the 

 Geological Society, <tc. ; Macculloch's Jliyhiandi and Itlandi of 

 Scotland.) 



ARRAN', Isles of (South), three island parishes which together con- 

 stitute the barony of Arran, in the county of Galway in Ireland. They 

 lie across the entrance to the bay of Galway, between 53 2' and 68* V 

 N. Ut, 9 31' and 9' 50' W. long., constituting a natural breakwater 

 towards the Atlantic, about twelve miles in length from north-west 

 to south-east. The islands are separated from one another by Foul 

 Sound and Gregory Sound ; and from the mainland, from which 

 either extremity of the group is distant about 4 miles, by North and 

 South Sounds respectively. The total area of the group ia 11,387 

 acres, and the population in 1851 was 2333. Iniahmore, on the north 

 about seven miles long by two miles at the widest part, containa 7635 

 acres, and ir. 1851 hod a population of 2312, of whom 523 inhabited 

 the large village of Killeany, and 628 that of Kilrouan. Iiiishmaan, 

 or Middle Inland, ha* an area of 2252 acres, and in 1 851 hod a popula- 

 tion of 518. Inishere, on the south, contains 1400 acres, and in 

 1851 had a population of 518. The group is constituted by a 

 detached elevation of the limestone plain which underlies the greater 

 part of the bay of Galway. The surface rise* gently from the aide 

 toward the mainland, and terminates toward the Atlantic in a line of 

 cliff* ranging from 100 to 200 feet in height The whole area i* under 

 cultivation, but of a very rude kind. The produce i* only potatoe* 

 and rye. The average am of the inclosurcs with which the surface 

 i* reticulated i* lew than half an acre ; and many of the inclosed 

 pot* do not exceed a rood of ground. The habitations of the people 

 are poor, but not quite so wretched a* jn some district* of the 

 adjoining mainland. The general occupation i* fishing, combined 

 with a precarious agriculture. The Arran fishermen, besides decked 

 hooker* and other boats, still use the corragh, or wicker-work boat, 

 covered with tarred canvas* or hides. In common with all those on 

 the west coast of Ireland, the Arran Islands are liable to frequent 

 famines, owing to their exposure to the westerly winds. When a 

 westerly wind unaccompanied with rains blow* violently in the 

 month of August, it i* *ure to destroy the potato crop by parching 

 the stalks. This wind is called in the country the ' red wind.' 



Arran Inland, retain many monument* of military and ecclesiastical 



tiijiiity. On the brow of the cliff, near the northern extremity of 



Inishmore, at a height of 220 feet above the Atlantic, stands Duu- 



Aengua, a cyclopean circular Hone fortress, erected about the 



ng of the 1st century by the Fir-Bolg, or Beige, after tli> ir 



expulsion fronrtho mainland. This tribe, in this as in all the district* 



