1858.] 



JAMIESON — PLEISTOCENE, ABERDEENSHIRE. 



513 



hillocks of blown sand overgrown with bents, which margin the beach, 

 occurring sometimes singly, sometimes in clusters, and of various 

 sizes up to 1 1 or 12 feet in length. Their surfaces are either rounded 

 or rugged, scarcely ever angular, while in mineral character they are 

 generally of greenstone and syenite. 



Fig. 2. — Diagram showing the position of the Boulders at the top 

 and on the surface of the Gravel-mounds at Menie Coast-guard 

 Station. 



In a field on the farm of Drums a gigantic boulder of granite 

 occurs, known as " the Grey Stane." I found it to measure 54 feet 

 in circumference, with a height of about 7 feet above the ground. 

 It has no sharp angles, and most of its exterior is rounded. Another 

 immense block, also apparently a transported mass, is seen lodged 

 in the surface of a field near Menie. I found it to be 78 feet in 

 circumference, and projecting 6 feet out of the ground. It is a 

 coarse-grained greenstone. 



Drums seems to take its name from these tumuli and hillocks 

 of gravel, — Druim in the Celtic language meaning a ridge or little 

 hill, and being of frequent application in the names of places. 



I found these ridges to consist of highly-rolled fragments of rock 

 of all sizes, from coarse gravel up to boulders 2 feet in diameter. 

 Those of gneiss are perhaps most numerous, often of a hard, tough, 

 crystalline nature, yet much worn and rounded, showing the great 

 attrition which they have undergone. Granite, both grey and red, 

 is also plentiful, and lumps of serpentine occasionally occur, with 

 other varieties of trap ; but, besides these, there are a good many 

 rounded fragments of red sandstone in several places, both at Drums 

 and near Menie. On the top of one of these gravel-ridges, a little 

 to the north of Drums, I found a boulder of coarse crystalline rock, 

 of a greenish tint, measuring 8 feet in length by 5 in breadth. 

 No sharp angles occur on its surface. A layer of red clay, about 

 9 inches thick, overlies the gravel at this spot ; and I found traces 

 of a similar clay covering the gravel at Drums. This boulder rested 

 immediately upon the gravel; but the clay encircled its base. An- 

 other large boulder of greenstone lay beside it ; and many other 

 blocks were observed in the adjoining fields. 



Here, then, are clear instances of large transported boulders sitting 

 on the top of these abrupt ridges of water-worn shingle. It seemed 



