Oct. lo, 1872] 



NATURE 



477 



SCOTTISH BOULDERS 



THE first Report of the Committee appointed to collect 

 statistics as to boulders, has been recently issued by 

 the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and contains much that 

 is interesting both to the geologist and archaeologist. The 

 first object of the committee, and that to which their 

 labours have as yet been solely directed, has been to 

 ascertain the districts in Scotland where any remarkable 

 boulders were situated. Their second object will be to 

 select those which might be deemed worthy of preserva- 

 tion, with the view of requesting landed proprietors and 

 tenants of farms not to destroy them. The committee 

 sent out a printed list of queries, applicable to boulders 

 apparently above 20 tons in weight, one of the queries 

 being directed to ascertain the occurrence of "kaims" 

 or " eskars," i.e. long banks of sand or gravel. The follow- 

 ing arc some of the most important results educed by the 

 inquiry : — 



" I. From a tabular list we learn that Aberdeenshire 

 possesses the largest number of boulders, and also the 

 boulders of greatest magnitude. Ross and Cromarty 

 stand next, then Perth, Argyll, Inverness, Kirkcudbright, 

 and Forfar. 



" 2. In regard to size, the largest boulder^'reported is one 

 of granite, in the Parish of Pitlochry, called ' Clach Alhor ' 

 (big stone), being about eight yards square, and estimated 

 about 800 tons. There are two boulders between 500 and 

 600 tons weight, one in Ross, the other in The Lewis. 

 There are three boulders, between 200 and 500 tons, seven 

 between 100 and 200 tons, twenty between 50 and 100. 



" 3. With regard to the nature of the rocks composing 

 the boulders, the largest reported are of granite, though 

 there is one known to the convener of the committee, still 

 larger, of conglomerate, in Doune parish. The most 

 numerous are composed of compact greenstone ; but 

 these are generally of small size. The next most numerous 

 class are of grey granite. There are also many of gneiss, 

 graywacke, and conglomerate. 



" 4. The boulders reported generally differ in regard to 

 the nature of the rocks composing them from that of the 

 rocks of the district in which they are situated ; and, in 

 many of the reports, reference is made to the district from 

 which the boulder is supposed to have come. Thus, 

 in those parts of Perthshire, Forfarshire, and Kincardine- 

 shire where the Old Red sandstone formation prevails, 

 and over which multitudes of granite, gneiss, and con- 

 glomerate boulders are lying, most of the reporters have 

 no hesitation in pointing out that the parent rock is in 

 the Grampian range, lying to the north or west. So also 

 in Wigtonshirc, where the graywacke formation prevails, 

 and on which many boulders of grey granite are lying, 

 the general opinion is that they came from the granite 

 hills of Kirkcudbrightshire. 



" 5. The boulders mentioned in the reports are of various 

 shapes. Some approach a cube, well rounded of course 

 on the corners and sides. That is the shape mostly 

 possessed by granite boulders. Others again are of an 

 oblong shape, and this is particularly the case with whin- 

 stone and graywacke boulders. A point of some im- 

 portance occurs in regard to oblong-shaped boulders. The 

 direction of their longer axis, in the great majority of 

 cases, is stated to coincide with the direction in which 

 they have come from the parent rock, when the situation 

 of that rock has been ascertained. Thus in Auchterarder 

 parish, there is a boulder 10 ft. long by 6 broad, the longer 

 axis of which points north- west. In Auchtergaven parish 

 there is a granite boulder 10 ft. long by 8 ft. broad, the 

 longer axis of which points due north. In Memuir parish, 

 Forfarshire, there arc two large granite boulders, the one 

 14 ft. by 9 ft., and the other 1 3 ft. by 9 ft., the longer axis 

 of which points north-west. In each of these cases the 

 reporters seem satisfied of the situation of the parent 

 rock, and in each case the longer axis of the boulder points 



towards it. It appears, also, that where there are natural 

 striations or ruts on the boulders, these almost always run 

 in a direction parallel with the longer axis ; and that when 

 there arc stria: crossing these the number of such oblique 

 stti:i; is comparatively few. 



" 6. Notice in the reports is taken of the remarkable 

 positions occupied by some boulders. Thus, the Arden- 

 tinny report refers to a large boulder called ' Clachan 

 Udalain,' or the nicely balanced stone, so called, as the 

 reporter states, because ' it stands on the very edge of a 

 precipice, and must have been gently deposited there.' 

 On lona, near the top of the highest hill in the island, 

 which is about 250 feet above the sea, there is a great 

 boulder of granite. There is no granite in the island. 

 The nearest place where that rock occurs is in the Ross 

 of Mull, &c., with an arm of the sea intervening. 



'■' 7. With regard to kaims or long embankments of gravel 

 or sand, there are twenty-three parishes reported to the 

 Comm.ittee as containing them. They appear to be most 

 numerous in Aberdeenshire, Forfarshire, and in the east 

 of Perthshire. In Kemnay parish there is a kaim said to 

 be 2.1 miles long, running east and west. In Airlie parish 

 there is a kaim 2 miles long, also running east and west. 

 In Fettercairn parish, Kincardineshire, and also in Tarbet 

 parish, Ross-shire, there are several kaims parallel to, and 

 not far distant from, one another." 



The committee proceed next to notice points of archae- 

 ological interest connected with boulders, and are surprised 

 at the large number of them possessing names by which 

 they are known in the districts to which they belong. The 

 names may be classified under several heads : — First, 

 there are names having reference to the agency by which 

 the boulders were supposed to have come into the district. 

 Second, there are names indicative of the use to which 

 boulders were put. Third, there are names making the 

 boulders commemorative of certain events. Fourth, some 

 boulders form such prominent landmarks that they have 

 been used to mark the boundaries of estates, parishes and 

 counties, and are still in many parts of Scotland recog- 

 nised as affording evidence on that subject. On these 

 points the committee give some very curious information 

 which must be highly interesting to archaeologists, and 

 indeed to all who take an interest in the history of the 

 race. 



Great numbers of bouldershave legendsattachedto them, 

 one of the commonest being that the boulder was thrown 

 to the spot where it lies by some giant, demon, or even by 

 " Auld Nickie Ben'' himself, for some wicked purpose of 

 course ; and it is very interesting to notice, that almost 

 invariably, the place from which the legend says the huge 

 stone was thrown, is the nearest spot containing the for- 

 mation to which the boulder belongs. It is well laiown 

 that, as a rule, boulders differ from the formation on or in 

 which they are found, and in reference to what we have 

 just mentioned, the place from which the giant or devil 

 took his throw is often at a very considerable distance, 

 sometimes on a different island. For example there is a 

 large conglomerate boulder near the top of a hill, in the 

 island of Edag, one of the Orkneys, which goes under the 

 name of the " Giant's Stone." The legend says it was 

 flung by a giant from the island of Stronsay ; now there 

 is no conglomerate rock which could have supplied the 

 boulder in Edag, though there is in Stronsay. 



The British Association at its last meeting so highly 

 approved of the scheme of the Royal Society of Edin- 

 burgh, that it appointed a committee of some of its most 

 influential geologists to carry out a similar scheme for 

 England and Ireland. 



The committee are very anxious that the boulders re- 

 ported on should be examined by experienced geologists, 

 who may be visiting the districts where they are situated, 

 and are willing to lend the reports they have received on 

 condition that the results of the inspection be made known 

 to the committee. 



