52 GEOLOGY OF ARRAN. 



wards of this point; it seems to be cut off by a dike of dis- 

 integrating ironshot greenstone, forming a bank behind the 

 school-house, which has an angular course with respect to 

 the vein. In the opposite direction the dike intersects the in- 

 clined strata of sandstone, but no marked change is produced. 

 It is in excellent taste that the striking geological features of 

 this spot have been left untouched in carrying out the improve- 

 ments connected with the erection of the school-house. 



By the wayside here, where a sweep of the road gradually 

 opens to us one of the finest views in Arran, taking in the 

 first great reach of Glen Rosa and its magnificent background 

 of mountains, there stands a huge upright stone, marking, 



Fig. 13. 



perhaps, the spot where a chief was interred, or where a 

 leader fell in the old days of feud and warfare ; or mayhap 

 the scene of some decisive battle with the old Norse invaders. 

 Many such stones are found in the island ; but their purpose 

 and date of erection are wholly matters of conjecture. There 

 are several in this immediate neighbourhood; on the high 

 ground south of Invercloy, and on the plain of Glen Shant, 

 between the mouth of Glen Rosa and the site of the old 

 village of Brodick. A complete circle of such stones formerly 

 existed at the mouth of Glen Shirag : it is briefly noticed 

 in Headrick's Arran; but not a vestige now remains; in 

 1813 the stones were broken up and removed, to make way 

 for the operations of the plough. In most places where we 

 examined these stones, we found them to be coarse sandstone 



