E x t e n t .
P a r i s h e s .
About the year 1334 this ifland appears to have formed partij
the eftate of Robert Stuart, great fteward of Scotland, afterwanli
Robert the lid. At that time * the inhabitants took arms t o fuppoj
the caufe o f their mailer, who afterwards, in reward, not o n ly granted
at their requeft an immunity from their annual tribute o f corJ
but added feveral new privileges, and a donative to all th e ink1
bitants that were prefent.
In 1456 the whole ifland was ravaged by Donald Earl of M
and lord of the'ifles. A t that period it was ftill the property of
James II. but in the reign of his fucceffor, James III, when that
monarch matched his After to Thomas Lord Boyd, he created him!
Earl o f Arran, and gave him the ifland as a portion : feon after,
on the difgrace of that family, he caufed the countefs to be divorced
from her unfortunate hufband 5 and bellowed both ill
lady and ifland on Sir James Hamilton, in whole family it conttJ
nues to this time, a very few farms excepted.
Arran is o f great extent, being twenty-three miles from
dan point north to Beinnean fouth ; and the number of inhabi-l
tants are about feven thoufand, who chiefly inhabit the coailsJ
the far greater part o f the country being uninhabitable by reafoil
o f the vail and barren mountains. Here are only two pariihes,]
Kilbride and Kilmore, with a fort of chapel of eafe to each, fo u n d s!
in the laft century, in the golden age o f this ifland, w h e n it was
bleft with Anne Dutchefs of Hamilton, whole amiable dilpofitioH
and humane attention to the welfare of Arran, render at this i
diftant time, her memory dear to every inhabitant. B le fle d pre-
* B o e th iu s , 3 18.
eminence
■inence! when power and inclination to diffufe happinefs concur
in rcrfons of rank. . . .
■The principal mountains of Arran are, Goat-Jield, or Gaoilor
the mountain of the winds, of a height equal to moll
| t h e Scottijh Alps, compofed of immenfe piles of moor Hone,
■form of woolpacks, cloathed only with lichens and moffes,
■abited by eagles and ptarmigans. Beinn-bbarrain, or the fharp-
¡¡dintedi Ceum-na-caillich, the ftep of the carline or old hag s and
mman-AM, that yields to none in ruggednefs.
■The lakes are Loch-jorfa, where falmon come to fpawn. Loch-
U , Loch-na-h-jura, on the top of a high hill Loch-mhachrat,
L Locb-knoc a charbeil, .full of large eels. The chief rivers are,
Wmhanmhor, moim-mhor, Slaodrai-macbrai and Jorfa-, the two
I laft remarkable for the abundance of falmon, I
■The quadrupeds are very few : only otters, wild eats, fhrew
nice, rabbets and bats : the flags which ufed to abound, are now
Ittduced to about a dozen. The birds are eagles, hooded crows,
' «Id pigeons, flares, black game, grous, ptarmigans, daws, green
I plovers and curlews. Mr. Stuart in afcending Goatfield found the
Ifeondary feather of an eagle, white with a brown fpot at the
I pie, which, feemed to belong to fome unknown fpecies. ^ It may
I be remarked that the patridge, at prefent .inhabits this ifland, a
^jfoof of the advancement of agriculture,
■The climate is very fevere : for befides the violence o f winds,
the cold is very rigorous ■, and fnow lay here in the vallies or
Birteen weeks of the laft winter. In fummer the air is remarkably
falubrious, and many invalids refort here on that account,
! «id to drink the whey of goats milk,
1 6 The
M o u n t a i n s *
L a k e s .
Q u a d r u p e d s .
B ir d s .