20 COLONSAY 



Honeysuckle, Stonecrop, Bramble, Lady Fern, Soft Meadow, 

 Cock's-foot, and other grasses. 



Kiloran Bay, with its much-admired stretch of yellow 

 sand about a mile in width, is formed by a deep indenta- 

 tion in the northern coast-line. This neighbourhood, apart 

 from its own peculiar attractions, is interesting botanically. 

 A bed of sandy limestone, which, judging by the ruins of 

 an old kiln near Craobh-na-Sgeachag, had at one time 

 been burned by the inhabitants for making lime, accounts 

 for the presence of certain calcicole or lime-loving plants. 

 Hartstongue Fern is common in the gullies below Uragaig. 

 Plants more or less confined to the neighbourhood are the 

 curious little Moonwort Fern, Knotted Figwort, Sea Holly, 

 and the Red Broomrape, which is parasitic on the roots of 

 the Wild Thyme. 



Natural sea-caves, haunts of the Rock Dove (Caiman 

 Creige) and other birds, penetrate into the rocks on both 

 sides of Kiloran Bay for considerable distances. A number 

 of fugitives are said to have been formerly suffocated by 

 their enemies in the New Cave below Uragaig. Heaps of 

 broken rocks and debris partly block the mouth of the cave. 

 Inside there are a well and a smooth stone : the stone is 

 said to have been used in former times by frequenters for 

 sharpening their swords. 



Slochd-dubh-Mhic-a-Phi is a natural tunnel in the rocks 

 north of the New Cave, and the following traditional story in 

 connection with it has been handed down for generations. 

 A clansman of the Laird of Lochbuie who visited Colonsay 

 was gleaning after the reapers in the Glen of Ardskenish ; 

 and Macphee, the chief of the island, who was under a geas 

 or taboo not to let pass a sword-stroke, coming round to see 

 the shearers, when passing the Mull man cut off his hand. 

 On finding this out, the M 'Leans came over to avenge the 

 deed. When he heard of their arrival, Macphee, accom- 

 panied by his servant and his famous black dog, left his 



