SOUTHEEN SCOTLAND. 309 



geological features. To this position on the borders of two geological domains 

 Arran is indebted for the great variety of its sedimentary and eruptive rocks, and 

 for a corresponding variety of scenery. Laralash Bay, sheltered by Holy Island, 

 and surrounded by heights crowned with sepulchral pillars and other monuments, 

 affords one of the safest anchorages on the Firth of Clyde, and seventy or eio-hty 

 vessels frequently wait here for days and weeks for a favourable wind. The Isle 

 of Bute, which penetrates far into the district of Gowan, from which it is separated 

 by the Kyles of Bute, a narrow arm of the sea, is remarkable for its fine 

 scenery. 



In addition to these two large islands and to several smaller ones which are 

 contiguous to them, there are several islets of volcanic origin in the neighbourhood 

 of the coast. One of these is Ailsa Craig (1,103 feet), a huge block of basalt, 

 at the mouth of the Firth of Clyde. Its rows of grey columnar basalt separated 

 by verdant terraces present a picture of singular beauty. The ruins of a tower 

 crown its summit. Another of these islets is the Bass Rock (350 feet), at the 

 entrance of the Firth of Forth, and about 2 miles from the shore, with a castle 

 on its summit, foi'merly used as a state prison, and accessible only by means 

 of ladders and ropes. This conical rock, when seen from a distance, almost 

 looks as if it were overspread with snow, so densel}^ is it covered with sea-fowl 

 of every description. The solan goose only breeds on a few rocky islets around 

 the coast of Britain, and amongst these the Bass Bock is the most famous, the 

 scientific name of the bird — Sula Bassana — being derived from it.* 



Inhabitants. 



The Scottish Lowlanders are a very mixed race, and even their name is a 

 singular proof of it. Scotland was originally known as Hibernia, or Igbernia,. 

 whilst the name of Scotia, from the end of the third to the beginning of the 

 eleventh century, was exclusively applied to modern Ireland. The two countries 

 have consequently exchanged names. Irish Scots, or Dalriads, having established 

 themselves, about the middle of the third century, in Argyllshire, their neighbours 

 became by degrees known under the same designation, and in course of time all 

 the " Caledonians " were turned into "Scots."! 



It does not appear as if the aboriginal Picts or Caledonians, who lived in the 

 country at the time of its conquest, formed a strong element of the actual 

 population of the Scotch Lowlands. It is believed that their inhabitants are for 

 the most part of British and Anglo-Saxon race. The line which separated the 

 English from the Picts runs, no doubt, across the isthmus of the Clyde and Forth : 

 the ancient wall of Antoninus would thus have marked an ethnological frontier no 

 less than a political one. But Saxons, Angles, and Britons were compelled to 

 share their territory with emigrants of various races, including the Scots of 

 Irehind, Frisians, Northmen, and Danes. At some places, and more especially 



* Hugh Miller, "The Bass Rock : its Civil and Ecclesiastical History." 



t Kemble, "Saxons in England;" Latham, "Ethnology of the British Islands;" Murray, in 

 Philological Societii's TransacHons, 1873. 



