132 Gardenstown and Crovie. [cHAP. VIIt 
Gamrie Head is locally called Mohr Head.* The bay of 
Gamrie is a picturesque indentation of the coast, effected 
by the long operation of water upon rocks of unequal so- 
lidity. The hills, which descend to the coast, are composed 
of hard graywacke, in which is deeply inlaid a detached 
strip of moldering old red sandstone. The waves of the 
German Ocean, by perpetual lashing against the coast, have 
washed out the sandstone, and left the little bay of Gamrie 
—the solid graywacke standing out in bold promontorics 
—Mohr Head on the one side, and Crovie Head on the 
other. 
The fishing village of Gardenstown lies at the foot of the 
Gamrie cliffs. It is reached by a steep winding path down 
the face of the brae. The road descends from terrace to 
terrace. The houses look like aeries, built on ledges in the 
recesses of the cliff. As you proceed toward the shore, 
you seem to look down the chimneys of the houses be- 
neath. The lower and older part of the village is close to 
the sea. The harbor seems as if made in a cleft of the 
rocks, The fishers of this village are a fine race of men, 
with a grand appearance. They are thorough Northmen; 
and but for their ancestors having settled at Gamrie, they 
might have settled in Normandy, and “come in with the 
Conqueror” at the. other end of the island. 
A little eastward of Gardenstown is the little fishing 
village of Crovie, containing another colony of Northmen. 
Farther out to sea is the majestic headland of Troup. It 
is the home of multitudes of sea-birds. Its precipices are 
penetrated with caves and passages, of which the most re- 
markable are Hell’s Lum and the Needle’s Eye. Hell’s 
Lumft consists of a ghastly opening on the slope of the hill 
near Troup Head. From this opening to the sea there is 
a subterranean passage about a hundred yards long, up 
which, on the occasion of a storm, the waves are forced 
* The Celtic name for Big Head. + Lum, or chimney. 
