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ARRAN

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 645 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ARRAN , the largest See also:

island of the See also:county of See also:Bute, See also:Scotland, at the mouth of the See also:Firth of See also:Clyde. Its greatest length, from the See also:Cock of Arran to Bennan See also:Head, is about 20 m., and the greatest breadth—from Drumadoon Point to See also:King's See also:Cross Point—is 11 m. Its See also:area is 105,814 acres or 165 sq. m. In 1891 its See also:population was 4824, in 1901, 4819 (or 29 persons to the sq. m.). In Igor there were 1900 persons who spoke See also:English and Gaelic and nine Gaelic only. There is daily See also:winter communication with Brodick and Lamlash by steamer from See also:Ardrossan, and in summer by many steamers which See also:call not only at these piers, but at See also:Corrie,See also:Whiting See also:Bay and See also:Loch Ranza. The See also:chief mountains are in the See also:north. The highest is Goatfell (2866 ft., the name said to be a corruption of the Gaelic Goadh Bhein, " See also:mountain of the winds "). Others are Caistel Abhail (2735 ft., " peaks of the castles "), Beinn Tarsuinn (2706 ft.), Cir Mhor (2618 ft.) and Beinn Nuis (2597 ft.). In the See also:south Tighvein (1497 ft.) and Cnoc Dubh (1385 ft.) are the most important. Owing to the mountainous See also:character of the island, glens are numerous. Glen See also:Rosa and Glen Sannox are remarkable for their See also:wild beauty, and among others are lorda, Catacol, Chalmadale, Cloy, Shant, Shurig, Tuie, Clachan, Monamore, Ashdale (with two cascades) and Scorrodale.

Excepting Loch See also:

Tanna, the inland lakes are small. Loch Ranza, an See also:arm of the See also:sea, is one of the most beautiful in Scotland. The streams, or " See also:waters " as they are called, are nearly all See also:hill See also:burns, affording See also:good fishing. The See also:oldest rocks, consisting of See also:slate, See also:mica-See also:schists and grits, which have been correlated with the metamorphic See also:series of the eastern See also:Highlands, See also:form an incomplete See also:ring See also:round the See also:granite in the north of the island and occupy the whole of the See also:west See also:coast from Loch Ranza south to Dougrie. On the See also:east See also:side in North Glen Sannox See also:Burn, they are associated with cherts, grits and dark schists with pillowy lavas, tuffs and agglomerates which, on lithological grounds, have been regarded as probably of the same See also:age as the Arenig cherts and volcanic rocks in the south of Scotland. The See also:Lower Old Red See also:Sandstone strata are separated from the foregoing series by a See also:fault and form a curving See also:belt extending from Corloch on the east coast south by Brodick See also:Castle to Dougrie on the west See also:shore. Consisting of red sandstones, mudstones and conglomerates, they are inclined at high angles usually away from the granite See also:massif and the encircling metamorphic rocks. They are associated with a thin See also:band of See also:lava visible on the west side of the island near Auchencar and traceable inland to Garbh Thorr. The Upper Old Red Sandstone, composed of red sandstone and conglomerates, is only sparingly See also:developed. The strata occur on the east shore between the Fallen Rocks and Corrie, and they appear along a narrow See also:strip to the east and south of the lower See also:division of the See also:system, between Sannox Bay and Dougrie. On the north side of North Glen Sannox they See also:rest unconformably on the Lower Old Red rocks. Contemporaneous lavas, highly decomposed, are intercalated with this division on the north side of North Glen Sannox where the band is highly faulted.

The Carboniferous rocks of Arran include representatives of the Calciferous Sandstone, the three subdivisions of the Carboniferous See also:

Limestone series, and to a small extent the See also:Coal See also:Measures, and are confined to the north See also:part of the island. They appear on the east coast between the Fallen Rocks and the Cock of Arran, where they form a strip about a See also:quarter of a mile broad, bounded on the west by a fault. Here there is an ascending sequence from the Calciferous See also:Sand-See also:stone, through the Carboniferous Limestone with thin coals formerly worked, to the Coal Measures, the strata being inclined at high angles to the north. On the south side of a well-marked anticline in the Upper Old Red Sandstone at North Sannox, the Carboniferous strata reappear on the coast with a south See also:dip showing a similar ascending sequence for about See also:half a mile. The lower limestones are well seen at Corrie, but the thin coals are not there represented. From Corrie they can be traced southwards and inland to near the head of See also:Ben See also:Lister Glen. The small development of Upper Carboniferous strata, visible on the shore south of Corrie and in Ben Lister Glen, consists of sandstones, red and mottled See also:clays and See also:purple shales, which yield plant-remains of Upper Carboniferous facies. These may represent partly the Millstone Grit and partly the Coal Measures. Contemporaneous volcanic rocks, belonging to three stages of the Carboniferous formation, occur in Arran. The lowest See also:group is on the See also:horizon of the Calciferous Sandstone series, being visible at Corrie where it underlies the Carrie limestone, and is traceable southwards beyond Brodick. The second is represented by a thin lava. associated with the Upper Limestone group of the Carboniferous Limestone series, and the highest is found in Ben Lister Glen intercalated with the Upper Carboniferous strata, and may be the See also:equivalent of the volcanic series which, in See also:Ayrshire, occupies the position of the Millstone Grit. The Triassic rocks are arranged in two See also:groups, a lower, composed of conglomerates and sandstones, and an upper one consisting of red and mottled shales and marls with thin sandstones and nodular limestones.

In the extreme north at the Cock of Arran, there is a small development of these beds; they also occupy the whole of the east coast south of Corrie, and they spread over the south part of the island south of a See also:

line between Brodick Bay and Machrie Bay on the west. At Corrie and the Cock of Arran they rest on Upper Carboniferous strata; in Ben Lister Glen, on the lower limestone group of the Carboniferous Limestone series; and on the west coast they repose on the Old Red Sandstone. There is, therefore, a clear discordance between the Trias and all older strata in Arran. The former See also:extension of See also:Rhaetic, Liassic and Cretaceous formations in the island is indicated by the presence of fragments of these strata in a large volcanic vent on the See also:plateau, on the south side of the road leading from Brodick to Shiskine. The fossils from the Rhaetic beds belong to the .4zvicula contorta See also:zone, those from the See also:Lias to the See also:Ammonites angulatus zone, while the blocks of limestone with chert contain Inoceramus, Cretaceous See also:foraminifera and other organisms. The materials yielding these fossils are embedded in a course volcanic See also:agglomerate which gives rise to crags and is pierced by See also:acid and basic igneous rocks. One of the striking features in the See also:geology of Arran is the remarkable series of intrusive igneous rocks of See also:Tertiary age which occupy nearly one-half of the area and form the wildest and grandest scenery in the island. Of these the most important is the See also:great See also:oval See also:mass of granite in the North, composed of two varieties; one, coarse-grained and older, forms the outside rim, while the See also:fine-grained and newer type occurs in the interior. Another granite area appears on the south side of the road between Brodick and Shiskine, where it is associated with granophyre and See also:quartz-See also:diorite and traverses the volcanic vent of See also:post-Cretaceous or Tertiary age already described. In the south of the island there are sills and dykes of See also:felsite, quartz-See also:porphyry, See also:rhyolite, See also:trachyte and See also:pitchstone. The felsite sheets are well represented in See also:Holy Island. It is worthy of See also:note that the dykes and sheets of felsite are seldom pierced by the See also:basalt dykes and are probably about the most See also:recent of the intrusive rocks.

The best example of the basic sills forms the Clauchland Hills and runs out to sea at Clauchland Point. Finally the basic dykes of See also:

dolerite, basalt and See also:augite-See also:andesite are abundant and See also:traverse the various sedimentary formations and the granite. The chief crops are oats and potatoes. See also:Cattle and See also:sheep are raised in considerable See also:numbers. The See also:game, which is abundant, consisting of See also:blackcock and See also:grouse, is strictly preserved. A few red See also:deer still occur in the wilder hilly See also:district. The See also:fisheries are of some value, Loch Ranza being an important station. See also:Standing stones, See also:cairns and other memorials of a remote antiquity occur near Tormore, on Machrie Bay, Lamlash, and other places. The Norse raiders found a See also:home in Arran for a See also:long See also:period until the defeat of See also:Haakon V. at See also:Largs (1263) See also:corn--See also:ARRAS 6+5 pelled them to retire. The chief name in the island's See also:history is that of See also:Robert See also:Bruce, who found shelter in the King's Caves on the western coast. One was reputed to be his See also:kitchen, another his cellar, a third his See also:stable, while the hill above was styled the King's Hill. From a point still known as King's Cross he crossed over to Carrick, in See also:answer to the See also:signal which warned him that the moment for the supreme effort for his See also:country was come.

In Glen Cloy the ruins of a fort See also:

bear the name of Bruce's Castle, in which his men See also:lay concealed, and on the See also:southern arm of Loch Ranza stands a picturesque ruined castle which is said to have been his See also:hunting-seat. Kildonan Castle, near the south-eastern-most point, is a fine ruin of the 14th See also:century, once a royal strong-hold. The island gave the See also:title of See also:earl to See also:Thomas See also:Boyd, who married the See also:elder See also:sister of See also:James III., a step so unpopular with his peers that he had to See also:fly the country, and the title soon after-wards passed to the Hamiltons. Brodick Castle, the ancestral seat of the See also:dukes of See also:Hamilton, is a splendid See also:mansion on the See also:northern shore of Brodick Bay. Brodick is the chief See also:village in Arran, but most of the dwelling-houses have been built at Invercloy, See also:close to the See also:pier. Three m. south (by road) is Lamlash, on a fine bay so completely sheltered by Holy Island as to form an excellent See also:harbour for See also:ships of all sizes. Four m. to the north lies the village of Corrie which takes its name from a rugged hollow in the hill of Am Binnein (2172 ft.)which overshadows it. See also:Daniel See also:Macmillan (1813-1857), the founder of the See also:publishing See also:firm of Macmillan & Co., was a native of Corrie. About a mile and a half east of Lamlash village lies Holy Island, which forms a natural See also:breakwater to the bay. It is 14 In. long, nearly ,3-, m. wide, and its finely-marked basaltic See also:cone rises to a height of 1030 ft. The island takes its name from the fact that St Molios, a See also:disciple of St See also:Columba, founded a See also:church near the north-western point. In the See also:saint's See also:cave on the shore may be seen the rocky shelf on which he made his See also:bed, but his re-mains were interred in the See also:hamlet of Clachan, some 2 M. from Blackwaterfoot.

Off the south-eastern coast, ; m. from See also:

Port Dearg, lies the See also:pear-shaped isle of Pladda, which serves as the See also:telegraph station from which the arrival of vessels in the Clyde is notified to See also:Glasgow and See also:Greenock.

End of Article: ARRAN

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