1G8 MARKS AND TOKENS OF HISTORY. [CHAP. iv. 



There are vestiges of a prehistoric age in Arran that indicate 

 a population as long before the Celtic period as that age pre- 

 ceded our own. There have doubtless been heroes on Mauch- 

 rie Moor worthy to have their praises sung in Ossianic strains ; 

 for scattered all over the island there are marks and tokens 

 and scathed ruins that give rise to profound speculations as 

 to the past history of this dark and mountainous island. And 

 the irresistible conclusion of any amount of imagining is, that 

 Arran is not alone the paradise of the geologist, but is the 

 heaven of the botanist as well, while the antiquary may find 

 in its moors and glens rich memorials indicating even in the 

 present age the great and troubled life which the huge mass 

 of rock and its gigantic and peaked protuberances have passed 

 through as time with an invisible pencil was recording its 

 history. 



Having sufficiently studied the changing scenery, and 

 rested and refreshed ourselves with some oat cakes and whisky, 

 my friend proposed that we should do our speculation on the 

 geology and history of the island at home over the dinner- 

 table, or under the mild influence of the cup that not 

 inebriates. This was a sensible proposal, especially as the 

 rain was becoming more than a mere indication, and the 

 shepherd, who knew the dangers of the hill-top in wet clothes, 

 impatient ; so I gave way, the more especially as beautiful 

 views do not last for ever : the bright scene fades and the 

 colours deaden the sea looks gloomy, the mists gather, the 

 rain falls, and the wind dashes the falling water rudely in our 

 face, giving us warning to hurry away before worse befalls 

 us. 



When we again reached the plateau from which the rocky 

 dome of Goatfell takes its rise, the fair sun once more shone 

 out, and we had to note the botanical wealth of the island, 

 and especially how rich in heaths and ferns are the slopes of 

 the mountain. Indeed the same may be said of all the Clyde 



