132 GARDENSTOWN AND CROVIE. CHAP, vm, 



the solid grauwacke standing out in bold promon- 

 tories Mohr Head on the one side, and Crovie Head 

 on the other. 



The fishing village of Gardenstown lies at the foot 

 of the Gamrie cliffs. It is reached by a steep wind- 

 ing path down the face of the brae. The road de- 

 scends from terrace to terrace. The houses look like 

 eyries, built on ledges in the recesses of the cliff. As 

 you proceed towards the shore, you seem to look down 

 the chimneys of the houses beneath. The lower and 

 older part of the village is close to the sea. The 

 harbour seems as if made in a cleft of the rocks. 

 The fishers of this village are a fine race of men, 

 with a grand appearance. They are thorough North- 

 men ; and but for their ancestors having settled at 

 Gamrie, they might have settled in Normandy and 

 " come in with the Conqueror " at the other end of 

 the island. 



A little eastward of Gardenstown is the little fish- 

 ing village of Crovie, containing another colony of 

 Northmen. Farther out to sea is the majestic head- 

 land of Troup. It is the home of multitudes of 

 sea-birds. Its precipices are penetrated with caves 

 and passages, of which the most remarkable are 

 Hell's Lum and the Needle's Eye. Hell's Lum* 

 consists of a ghastly opening on the slope of the 

 hill near Troup Head. From this opening to the 

 sea there is a subterranean passage about a hundred 



* Lum, or chimney. 



