On the Rise of the Shores of the Firth of Forth. 295 



which they are now enriching. Had this bed been a pelagic 

 one, as stated erroneously by Maclaren, would we not have 

 expected to find, if it had been rising so rapidly in the 

 world, that it would have left some traces below of its origin? 

 No such can be found. How, then, account for its present 

 position ? Above Queensferry, and nearly opposite, is a fine 

 oyster-scalp, always bare at low tides. These oysters are 

 large and plentiful, not having been ransacked by the 

 denizens of Iron Mill Bay, where they occur. On the oppo- 

 site shore the oyster shells are so numerous on the beach 

 as to arrest the attention of the most careless observer. 



Now, to account for the position of those shells 60 feet 

 above the present highest level of the tide at Iron Mill Bay, 

 we have this, as a recorded fact in history, that during the 

 reign of Alexander III., as stated by Boece in his " Historia 

 Scotorum," " in the year 1266, in the seventeenth year of that 

 monarch's reign, a tide rose very much higher than usual — 

 a consequence of storms — overflowed the channels of the 

 river, especially the Tay and the Forth, and caused an inun- 

 dation which overthrew many villas, laying waste the dis- 

 tricts, and occasioned a very great loss both of men and 

 cattle." Such a storm must have left some visible traces of 

 its existence. Tradition, indeed, mentions one of the effects 

 of this mighty flood in the destruction of a town and in the 

 elevation of the sands of Barrie at the mouth of the Tay; 

 and what, therefore, prevents us from concluding that the 

 same mighty tempest raised from the oyster beds of Iron 

 Mill Bay the shells which are now high and dry near 

 Inveravon ? 



The " Commercial Packet" a sloop of thirty-two tons bur- 

 den, laden with timber, was thrown ashore on the Hopetoun 

 grounds, past the road, and into a field, in the year 1848. 



I need not remind this Society of that great wave which 

 occurred at the famous earthquake of Lisbon, which swept 

 over the land, leaving vessels of many hundred tons burden 

 90 feet above the harbour in which they were moored. 

 Now, this great historic wave, which took place in the 

 reign of Alexander, though only 33 feet high below 

 Queensferry, must have attained a greater elevation after 



