Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

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hours, while from Edinburgh at least twenty hours
are required. The passage from Ardrossan to Bel-
fast is from six to six and a-half hours, so that the
whole time required to travel from Edinburgh and
Glasgow to Belfast would not exceed seven and a-
half hours from Glasgow, and nine and a-hnlf from
Edinburgh. Ardrossan is one of the most fashion-
able watering-places on the west coast of Scotland,
and would be rendered by a railway the nearest and
most accessible" [Mining Gazette, Dec. 31, 1836.]
It may be doubted, however, whether Ardrossan is
fitted to become the post-office packet-station be-
tween Scotland and Ireland. The limited improve-
ments suggested by Mr. James Walker will incur an
outlay of .£40,000, while the total revenue of the har-
bour during the year ending July 1, 1838, was only
£880 ; and the expenses, since 1820, have exceeded
the income by £14,000. The length, too, of the pas-
sage from Belfast to Ardrossan, is sufficient for itself
to unfit it for a packet-station ; but there is another
insuperable objection, viz. were it to be adopted, and
even the north of England supplied via Liverpool,
the whole line of road from Ardrossan by Ayr, Gir-
van, Stranraer, and Port Patrick, and from Port
Patrick to Dumfries, including a portion of Wigton-
shire, would be excluded from mail-accommodation.
There is little doubt, however, that a great impulse
will be given to this port by the completion of the
line of railway between it and Glasgow, as above
noticed. On the 20th of August, 1840, a steamer
began to ply between Ardrossan and Liverpool, in
connexion with the Glasgow and Ayr railway. By
this line of conveyance passengers may leave London
at 10 o'clock in the morning, and find themselves in
Glasgow about the same hour of next day. The at-
tractions of Ardrossan as a bathing-place are very con-
siderable. An elegant crescent has been partially exe-
cuted, and several very handsome villas have been
erected in front of the bay. The hotel is a handsome
building. The distance of Ardrossan from Glasgow
by land, is 28 miles ; and there are daily steamers to
Glasgow and the intervening coast-towns, and also to
Arran. Fairs are held here on the Tuesday before Ayr
July fair, and on the fourth Thursday in November.
ARDSHIEL, the seat of a chief cadet of the
Stewarts of Appin, on the southern shore of the
Linnhe loch, near Kentalen bay, and about 3 miles
from Ballahulish ferry at the mouth of Loch Leven.
" Stewart of Ardshiel was among the foremost who
espoused the cause of Prince Charles in 1745; and,
like many of his brother-outlaws, had to consult his
safety by retiring to a remarkable cave in this neigh-
bourhood. The mouth of the cavern is singularly
protected by a waterfall which descends like a crys-
tal curtain in front of it, but through which no traces
of such an excavation are perceptible. After the
defeat of the Highland army at Culloden, the vigi-
lance of the conquering party was a constant source
of terror and distress to the inhabitants. By some
unknown means, one of the Duke's officers stationed
at Castle Stalker — the subject of many curious tra-
ditions — got notice that a cave existed in this quar-
ter, and started with the resolution to subject the
locality to a minute investigation. It happened that
a poor idiot boy, a hanger-on about the family, had
observed them approaching ; but, not being in suffi-
cient time to give the alarm, he ran after the party,
expressing by his words and gestures a degree of
ridiculous astonishment that was highly diverting to
the soldiers. The drum, in particular, was viewed
by him as an object of the greatest curiosity ; and
to gratify this, he kept close to the drummer, whom
he affected to regard as a person of the highest con-
sequence. ' After using much importunity in order
to get the drum to carry, he took out all the wealth
he possessed, amounting to sixpence, and offered it
to the drummer, provided he would let him hear a
sample of the music' For the sake of diversion his
request was complied with ; but, at the first ' tuck
on the parchment, the cunning youth, affecting the
greatest terror, pretended to run off, while the
drummer, in order to increase the speed of the
fugitive and the laughter of his comrades, thunder-
ed away with all his force. The poor idiot was
soon out of sight ; but, on looking towards the
cave, the soldiers beheld Ardshiel and a few of his
companions, who had been roused by the ominous
drum, making their escape in different directions
among the rocks." [Beattie's Scotland, vol. II. pp.
88, 89.] The idiot-boy of Ardshiel will remind the
reader of Davie Gellatley, and the good service that
poor witling and his mother contrived between them
to render the Baron of Bradwardine while under
hiding. " When the lands of Ardshiel," adds the
same writer in a note, " were confiscated, Campbell
of Glenure was appointed steward on the forfeited
estate, and under him was James Stewart of Acharn,
brother of the unfortunate proprietor. Much dis-
satisfaction, however, arose among the tenants, who
could not regard Campbell but as a government-spy
and interloper. Piqued at this, and willing to re-
taliate, the latter set about removing the old tenants,
and introducing those of his own party in their
stead. To accomplish this impolitic measure, he
had recourse to legal ejectments, which greatly ex-
asperated the people, and he was finally waylaid and
shot by an outlaw named Donald Breck. The
assassin immediately absconded ; but suspicion fall-
ing upon Stewart as the author or instigator of the
deed, the unfortunate gentleman was tried, con-
demned, and hung in chains on the spot where
Campbell was shot. It was confidently believed,
however, that he was sacrificed to the violence of
party-rage, and was innocent of the crime for which
he suffered."
ARDSTINCHAR (The), or Stinchar, a river
of Ayrshire of considerable size, which takes its rise
in the moorish parts of Carrick, in the parish of
Barr, about 12 miles above the village of Colmonell.
It has a very rapid south-west course, through a fine
glen, or strath rather, for 26 or 27 miles, till it falls
into the Atlantic, at Ballantrae, near which village
and close upon the river are the remains of the cas-
tle of Ard-Stinchar, once the seat of the Kennedies or
that ilk. From its situation in a narrow pass com-
manding two entrances into Carrick, — that along the
shore, and that which leads up the river and across
the country to Girvan, — this lortalice must have been
of considerable importance in remoterages. Several
streams or rivulets fall into the Ardstmchar, particu-
larly the Ashill, the Dusk, the Muick, the Fioch,
the Tig, and the burn of Lagan, near Ballantrae.
ARDVOIRL1CH. See Loch Earn.
ARGYLE, or Argyll, an extensive shire, on
the western coast of Scotland. It comprehends
several large islands, as well as a considerable por-
tion of the mainland. The latter part is of a very
irregular figure ; and is bounded on the north by In-
verness-shire ; on the east by the counties of Perth
and Dumbarton, and the frith of Clyde ; on the south
and west by the Irish sea and the Atlantic ocean. Ac-
cording to Playfair, it lies between 55° 15' and 56° 55'
N. latitude ; and 4° 32' and 6° 6' W. longitude ; and
extends 90 miles from north to south ; and, in some
places, upwards of 40 miles from west to east. Its
area, according to the same authority, is about 2,400
square miles, or 1,536,000 English acres, exclusive of
its islands. But this county is intersected by so
many inlets of the sea, and has as yet been so im-
perfectly surveyed, that no correct estimate can be