NOTICES OF THE NEWER PLIOCENE DEPOSITS. 109 



we have every proof of it in this parish. Betwixt the 

 terrace and the sea, in sinking a coal-pit, they generally 

 have to dig through from 18 to 25 feet of sand, before they 

 come to the stratum of clay in which the shells are found. 

 They occur in the churchyard, at an elevation of 55 

 feet. The quarry where I found the shells is from 15 to 20 

 feet above the level of the sea at high water. The ridge 

 at the church-yard consists of coarse gravel and sand. The 

 shells found at the quarry were nearly all littoral." 



In the account of the parish of Ardrossan, we are in- 

 formed that " There are many reasons that lead us to con- 

 clude that a considerable portion of the lower grounds of 

 this parish were under the dominion of the sea. Sub-fos- 

 sil sea-shells, such as are at present found on the shore, 

 have been found in gravel pits, and in the earthy banks of 

 Stanley-burn, as far up as Kirkhall. They have been 

 also found in a section of the Castlehill, pretty near the 

 summit," &c* 



In the adjoining parish of Kilbride, the ancient sea- 

 cliffs noticed by Mr Landsborough rise to the height of 

 300 feet, and continue parallel to the present coast line of 

 the frith of the Clyde, nearly through the whole of the 

 county of Renfrew. Whilst there are corresponding ones 

 in the islands and opposite shores of the counties of Argyle 

 and Dumbarton, above Dumbarton the high lands recede, 

 and the river Clyde now flows through what must have 

 at one time been the bottom of an extensive inland sea, of 

 which Loch-Lomond, with its tributary valleys, formed a 

 branch. In every part of the coasts of Argyleshire, the 

 ancient cliffs form a marked feature. Dr Thomsont ob- 

 serves that, " on the west coast of Lorn, from Dunstaff- 



* New Stat. Acct., Ayr, p. 194. 



t Outlines of Mineralogy and Geology, vol. ii. p. 187. 



