Imperial gazeteer of Scotland, or, Dictionary of Scottish topography > Volume 1

ARRAN.
81
ARRAN.
In this direction, the only houses being a few farm-
hamlets and scattered shielings, and the beach being
rocky. This district is intersected by two main
rivulets, viz. the Torlin or Torrylin, towards the
east, and the water of Sliddery towards the west.
These streams run nearly parallel to each other,
from north-cast to south-west, and receive numer-
ous tributary streams in their progress from the
secondary mountains towards the sea. Most of the
other burns which flow into the sea are merely
mountain-torrents, the beds of which are nearly dry
except when they are swelled by excessive rains.
These burns have cut deep chasms or ravines in the
strata; and the main streams have frequently formed
delightful valleys, though sometimes of small ex-
tent. Towards the head of Glen Scordel, from which
the main branch of the water of Sliddery flows, and
in several other places, there are vast veins of whin-
stone, interspersed with innumerable particles of
pyrites, which retain their full brilliancy, in spite of
exposure to air and the astringent moss- water to the
action of which they are subjected. " These," says
Headrick, " the people are confident in the belief of
being gold; and I confess I was a little staggered,
until my ingenious friend, Dr. Thomson, by ana-
lyzing a specimen, assured me that the gold was
neither more nor less than pyrites of iron." — The
islet of Pladda lies opposite Kildonan point in this
division. See Pladda. The ruins of Kildonan
castle, a small square fortalice, surmount the sea-
bank here, but present no historical associations of
interest. A large portion of the walls fell about 25
years ago. — Auchinhew bum, in this quarter, pre-
sents, according to Headrick, in the upper part of
its wild ravine course, a fall or cascade, called Essie-
more. — The Struey rocks, further to the west, or
Bennan head, are precipitous cliffs of black basalt
rising to an altitude of from 300 to 400 feet above a
beach thickly strewn with their dissevered frag-
ments. A little to the west of these rocks is a vast
cave called the Black cave. — The kirk and manse of
Kilmorie are situated in this district, on the Torry-
lin, where its mouth forms a small harbour for boats.
See Kilmokie.
Shiskin district, so called from the little village or
hamlet of Shiskin, or Sbedog, is chiefly remarkable
for the extensive natural caves which occur here in
the sandstone rocks close upon the beach. One of
these, called the King's cove, is supposed to have
given shelter to ' the royal Bruce.' It is situated
opposite Portree in Higher Cardel of Kintyre. It is
also universally reputed to have been the occasional
residence of Fioun, * or Fingal, when he resorted to
Arran for the purpose of hunting. " The old people
here," says Headrick, " have many ridiculous sto-
ries about Fioun and his heroes, which have been
transmitted, from a remote period, by father to son,
■ — in their progress becoming more and more extra-
vagant. They believe Fioun and his heroes to have
been giants of extraordinary size. They say that
Fioun made a bridge from Kintyre to this place,
over which he could pass, by a few steps, from the
one land to the other. But, what is esteemed ocu-
lar demonstration of the gigantic size of Fioun, and
sufficient to overwhelm the most obstinate scepti-
cism, the hero is said to have had a son born to him
in the cave ; and a straight groove, cut on the side
of the cave, is shown, which is firmly believed to
have been the exact length of the child's foot the
day after he was horn. The groove is more than
* Fioun means fair-haired ; Gael "was added to denote his race
or nation. Highlanders seldom apply the epithet Gael to Fioun,
unless you express doubts concerning his extraction. But they
often characterize him by the 6umame of MacCoul, the name of
his father, — Headrick
I.
2 feet in length ; and, taking the human foot to be
one sixth of a man's height, it follows, the child
must have been more than 12 feet high the day after
he was bom! The cave is scooped out of fine-
grained white sandstone. A perpendicular vein of
the same sandstone has stood in the centre, from
which the strata dip rapidly on each side, forming
the roof into a sort of Gothic arch, to which the vein
above serves the purpose of a key-stone. At the
back part of the cave, this vein comes down to the
bottom, and forms a perpendicular column with a
recess on each side. The northern recess is only a
few feet. The southern is of uncertain extent, being
gradually contracted in breadth, and nearly closed
by rounded stones. The length of this recess is
about 30 feet. From the pillar in the back-ground,
to the mouth of the cave, exceeds 100 feet. The
greatest breadth may be about 49 feet; and the
greatest height the same. The mouth has been de-
fended by a rampart of loose stones ; and stones are
scattered through the cave which seem to have been
used as seats. On the column there is a figure cut
resembling a two-handed sword. Some think this
was an exact representation of the sword of Fioun ;
others of that of Robert Brace. To me it appears to
be neither one nor other, but a representation of the
cross. It stands upon a rude outline representing a
mountain, probably Mount Calvary. On each side
there is a figure kneeling and praying towards the
cross. The sides of the cave exhibit innumerable
small figures, equally rude, representing dogs chasing
stags, and men shooting arrows at them. They also
represent goats, sheep, cattle, and various other ani-
mals, though the figures are so rude, that it is sel-
dom possible to ascertain what they represent."
Mr. Jamieson [p. 125] thinks these scratches were
" made by idle fishermen, or smugglers." Maccul-
loch calls them " casual scratches by idle boys."
North of this cave are several smaller caves, which
communicate with each other. One of these is called
the King's kitchen, another his cellar, his larder, &o.
On the south side there is a cave called the King's
stable, presenting a larger area than the palace, as
the cave of residence is called. The scene from the
mouth of these caves, on a fine summer-day, is verv
beautiful. And sweet it were to sit here —
" When still and dim
The beauty-breathing hues of eve expand ;
When day's last roses fade on Ocean's brim,
And Nature veils her brow, and chants her vesper-hymn."
The Blackwater, a considerable stream, here falls
into Drimodune bay. A small harbour has been
constructed at its mouth, which is the ferrying-place
to Campbellton, and from which there is a Toad
across the island, by Shedog, the western side of
Craigvore, Corbie's craig, Glen Ture, and Glen Sher-
rig, to Brodick. — The Mauchry burn is another con-
siderable stream descending from Glen Ture, and
falling into Mauchry bay to the north of the King's
cove. Pennant tells us that this river flows through
a rocky channel, which in one part has worn through
a rock, and left so contracted a gap at the top as to
form a very easy step across. " Yet not long ago,"
he adds, " a poor woman in the attempt, after get-
ting one foot over, was struck with such horror at
the tremendous torrent beneath, that she remained
for some hours in that attitude, not daring to bring
her other foot over, till some kind passenger luckily
came by and assisted her out of her distress ! "
The remaining or northern portion of the island
forms the Loch Eanza district, extending from Anch •
nagallen, a little to the north of the Mauchry burn,
round, by the Cock of Arran, to Come point on the
east coast. This is a highly interesting district, in
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