"Mineralogy of the Scottish Isles," &c. &c., by Robert Jameson, 1800, 2 vols. "View of the Mineralogy, Agricultnre, Manufactures, and Fisheries of the Island of Arran," &c. &c., by Rev. James Headrick (1807). "The New Picture of Scotland" (1807), 2 vols. The Scots Magazine 66 "Remarks made in a Tour to Arran during May and June A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland, including the "The Scottish Tourist's Steam-boat Pocket Guide" (1835). "Sketches of the Coasts and Islands of Scotland and of the Isle of Man," by Lord Teignmouth (1836), 2 vols. 66 Excursions through the Highlands and Isles of Scotland in 1835 and 1836," by Rev. C. Lesingham Smith (1837). "The Geology of the Island of Arran from Original Survey," by A. C. Ramsay (1841). "Arran a Poem in six Cantos and Excursions to Arran," &c., by Rev. David Landsborough (1847). "Autumnal Rambles among the Scottish Mountains," by Rev. Thomas Grierson, A. M. (1850). "Circuit Journeys," by the late Lord Cockburn (1889). (Lord Cockburn was in Arran in 1842.) "The Geology of Arran," &c., by James Bryce, M.A., Fourth Edition, 1872 (First Edition, 1855). "Days at the Coast," &c., by Hugh Macdonald, 1874 (First Edition, 1857). Scotsman, 25th April to 1st May 1872. Articles by Alexander Nicolson entitled, "A Geological Excursion in Arran.” "The Antiquities of Arran," &c., by John M'Arthur (Second Edition, 1873). "Notes of Holidays in Arran," The Edinburgh Courant, 17th August 1876, by J. M. Gray (Reprinted in "John Miller Gray, Memoir and Remains," 1895). "Fifty Sonnets," by Cuthbert E. Tyrer (1888). "Studies of Nature on the Coast of Arran," by George Milner (1894). "The Clyde from the Source to the Sea," by W. J. Millar. "Place-Names of Scotland," by Rev. J. B. Johnston (Second Edition, 1903). "Memoirs of the Geological Survey: The Geology of North Arran," &c., 1903. (This Memoir contains a very full bibliography of publications relating to the geology of Arran, pp. 181-190.) Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal "The Glen Sannox Hills," by T. Fraser S. Campbell. Vol. I., pp. 31-36. "Cir Mhor from Glen Sannox," by W. W. Naismith. Vol. II., pp. 17-24. "A' Chir," by T. Fraser S. Campbell. Vol. II., pp. 75-81. "A Night on A' Chir," by W. W. Naismith. Vol. II., p. 139. "Cir Mhor to Beinn Nuis," by Gilbert Thomson. Vol. III., p. 108. "The Granite Peaks of Arran," by W. Douglas. Vol. III., Pp. 195-211. "Cir Mhor," by Gilbert Thomson. Vol. III., pp. 212-217. “A Variation on Cir Mhor (Bell's Groove)," by J. H. Bell. Vol. III., pp. 347, 348. "On Boulders," by T. Fraser S. Campbell. Vol. IV., pp. 52-56. "Ben Nuis Precipice." Vol. IV., p. 63. "Cir Mhor Face-New Route-B and C Gullies." Vol. IV., pp. 63, 64. "Scottish Mountains" (weathering of Arran granite), by Sir A. Geikie. Vol. IV., pp. 117-119. "Cioch na h' Oighe and Cir Mhor: Variations," by W. W. Naismith. Vol. IV., pp. 173, 174. Vol. IV., p. 247. "Cir Mhor," by J. H. Bell (short note). "A Day on Cir Mhor," by W. Inglis Clark. Vol. V., pp. 29-36. "The Rosa Pinnacle of Cir Mhor," by W. Inglis Clark. Vol. V., pp. 143, 144. "A Wet Day on the Arran Hills," by James Maclay. Vol. VI., pp. 49-51. "Ben Nuis Chimney," by Lehmann J. Oppenheimer. Vol. VII., pp. 1-9. "Arran in September," by G. Bennett Gibbs. Vol. VII., pp. 50-52. Chimney on Chleibhein, 'A' Gully, Cir Mhor," by H. Raeburn. Vol. VII., pp. 113-115. "Cir Mhor, 'B' Gully." Vol. VIII., p. 82. Cairngorm Club Journal— "Observations from fifty Scottish Mountains," July 1894. Vol. I., No. 3, p. 169. (Giving the bearings in degrees of hills seen from summit of Goatfell.) Climbers' Club Journal, June 1901– "The Hills of Arran," by Edred M. Corner. Vol. III., No. 12, pp. 169-175. S.M.C. GUIDE BOOK. THE EASTERN CAIRNGORMS. (DIVISION II. GROUP V.) Lat. 57°5'; W. Lon. 3° 30'. Ordnance Survey Map, oneinch scale, Sheets 74, 75, 64, 65. Bartholomew's Reduced Ordnance Map, No. 16. BEINN AVON, 3,843 feet Meall na Gaineimh (The Sandy Hill), 2,989. Big Brae, 3,000 feet contour. Stuc Garbh Mhòr (The Great Rough Stack), 3,625 feet. BEINN A' BHUIRD (Broad Mountain), N. Top 3,924 feet, S. Top 3,860 feet Cnap a' Chleirich (The Priest's Hillock), 3,811 feet. CAIPLICH, 3,573 feet BEINN BYNAC, 3,296 feet PAPERS RELATING TO THE DISTRICT. PAGE 42 47 48 48 "Beinn a' Bhuird, Ascent of," by Francis J. Dewar. S.M.C.J., Vol. I., p. 315. "Ben Avon," by Professor Heddle. S.M.C.J., Vol. II., p. 225. "Eastern Cairngorms, Notes on," by C. B. Phillip. S.M.C.J., Vol. I., p. 174. 66 Ben Avon, Ascent of," by W. Tough. S.M.C.J., Vol. II., p. 273. "In Ptarmigan Land," by Lionel Hinxman. S.M.C.J., Vol. IV., p. 214. "The Eastern Cairngorms," by Alex. I. M'Connochie. Cairngorm Club Journal, Vol. I., p. 236. "A Week-end in Glen Gairn," by Wm. Skea. C.C.J., Vol. II., P. 321. Less well known than the Central Group, and yielding in impressiveness to the scenes of savage grandeur that surround Loch Avon and the headwaters of the Dee, the Eastern Cairngorms yet present many points of interest, and exhibit in great perfection some of the characteristic features of granite mountain-scenery. Beinn Avon, Beinn a' Bhuird, and Beinn a' Chaoruinn, with their subsidiary tops and dependencies, form integral portions of that part of the great Cairngorm plateau which extends eastwards from the Learg an Laoigh and Glen Derry, and are separated from one another by comparatively slight depressions of the central ridge or watershed. Caiplich and Ben Bynac form a more isolated group, being cut off from the main mass by the deep valleys of Glen Nethy and Glen Avon. BEINN AVON.-This mountain-mass may be defined as that part of the range which lies between the Avon on the north, the Gairn on the south and south-east, Glen Builg on the east, and Allt an Sluichd and the Quoich on the west. Meall na Gaineimh and the Big Brae, the eastern ramparts of Beinn Avon, rise steeply from Glen Builg and the shores of Loch Builg, but are on that side comparatively featureless, and covered with coarse sand due to the disintegration of the granite. On the north-west face of the Big Brae rise the fine crags of East and West Meur Gorm, the latter forming a sharplyserrated ridge between the Meur Gorm (blue finger) burn and the deep corrie in which lies Lochan nan Gabhar (loch of the goats), a typical alpine tarn, whose clear green waters reflect the snow-streaked precipices that overhang its southern shores. Three-quarters of a mile farther west, another range of granite crags falls from Stob Dubh Bruach na Fhuarain (black peak of the hillside of the springs) into the depths of Slochd an Araich. A peculiar vein of white quartz and greenish felspar is conspicuous amongst the red granite rocks in this corrie, and can be traced north-north-east for nearly two miles to the top of Da Dhruim Lom. From Sron na h' Iolaire (nose of the eagle), the western arm of this corrie, a more or less continuous line of precipitous crags and scree slopes extends southwards to the Garbh Coire, which forms the head of the Slochd Mhor (great ravine). This deep and rocky glen, which divides Beinn Avon from Stob an t' Sluichd, the northern spar of Beinn a' Bhuird, is one of the finest defiles in the Cairngorm range. The valley expands considerably towards its mouth, and its floor is covered with a mass of terraced morainic material, which has been cut and dressed by the streams into forms resembling huge railway embankments. Stuc Garbh Mhòr, Carn Eas, and Creag na Dala, the subsidiary eminences south of the main watershed, present no particular points of interest. With tops generally smooth and rounded, and covered with alpine sedge or granite debris, they fall in long scree or sand-covered slopes to the lonely valley of the Upper Gairn. The burns which drain these southern slopes flow in parts of their course through deep rock gullies with waterfalls, and near the head of the Allt an Eas Mhoir (big burn of the waterfalls) can still be seen the pits of the old cairngormdiggers. The most striking feature of Beinn Avon are the "tors" or castellated rock-masses-weathered - out portions of harder granite-which rise in many places above the sandy plateau, and form the summit-peak of the mountain. No one who has climbed Beinn Avon will have failed to notice the smooth circular basins of varying depth and size upon the surfaces of many of these tors. These curious "wind pot-holes" have been produced by the whirling round of rainwater and loose grains of quartz by the furious gusts that eddy amongst the hollows of the wind-swept plateau. They are well described by Professer Heddle in his paper on Ben Avon.* One of the largest of these "tors" is the Clach Bun Ruadhtair (2,994), which rises on the west side of the Caol Ghleann, about half a mile west-north-west from Lochan nan Gabhar. It is formed of three immense masses of smooth slabby granite, of which the central one must be at least eighty feet in height. There is, as far as I am aware, no record of an ascent of this tor, but it will * "Ben Avon," by Prof. Heddle, S.M.C.J., Vol. II., p. 225. |