Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/107

Rh ARKAN" ISLES. 97 AUEOW. consists of granite ; lower down are mica, slate, and red sandstone. Granite boulders are scattered about near its summit. Its Gaelic name signifies "wind moun- tain." Other hills are Kiddoe, Bennish, and Ben- hi-aran. The island has a great variety of rocks; but the most common is red sandstone. Steep cliffs are seen at some points of the coast, which is, however, generally, but slightly, elevated. Holy Isle has cliffs of columnar basalt, at some points 1,000 feet high. On the north coast there is a mass of sandstone which serves as a sea- mark, and has acquired the name of the " Cock of Arran." Off the south coast is a small island, called 1'ladda, on which there are two lights, one at a height of 77, the other of 130 feet. A small lake, Loch Tana, high up among the hills in the north. Several small streams run down from the interior of the island, through glens of extraordinary beauty, to the sea. The climate of the island is mild, and it attracts numerous visitors in summer time. Only a small part of it is capable of cultivation. The inhabitants are mostly employed in the herring fishery. The Duke of Hamilton is chief heritor, whose seat is Brodick Castle on the eastern
 * . The island formerly belonged to the Macdonalds,

lords of the isles, and was covered with woods, the haunts of the red deer, wild boar and other wild animals. There are many remains of antiquity : ruins of a castle at Lc ich Ranza in the north, and of another in the south ; of a monastery in Holy Island, besides cairns, forts, and obelisks in various places. On the western coast is King's Cove, 11-i feet in length, interesting as the re- treat of Robert Bruce. There in a road across the island and another round it, and constant communication is kept up by steamers with Ayr, Ardrossan, and Glasgow. Alior the Duke of Hamilton, the Marquis of Bute, Hon. Mrs. Westenra, and Mr. Fullarton are the largest proprietors. AKKAN ISLES, three islands, each a separate par., forming the bar. of Arran, in the co. of Galway, and prov. of Connaught, Ireland. They are situated in the Atlantic Ocean at the entrance to the bay of Gal- way. They extend in a lino from N.W. to S.E. about 12 miles, and comprise an area of 11,288 acres. Their names are Inishmore or Arranmore, Inishmaan, and Inishere. The surface is hilly, and slopes upward from the bay toward the ocean : the cliffs facing the south-west rising in some parts to the height of 200 feet. Agriculture is in a rude state, and most of the people are engaged in fishing. The coracle, or boat of wicker- work, covered with skins, is still in use here. There are two vils. in Inishmore, Killcany and Kilronan, the for- mer of which has the only good harbour in that island. A pier has been erected. The living of the parish of Inishmoro is a vie. in the dioc. of Tuam, Killala, and Achonry, val. with the rect. of BallynakiU, 263. There are marble quarries on this island ; and its rocky coast, in which there are many caves, is haunted by crowds of puffins. A lighthouse was erected in 1817, with a light at an elevation of nearly 500 feet above the sea, and visible at a distance of 28 miles. The livings of the other two parishes are vies, also united with the rcctoiy of Ballynakill. But whatever charms of natural beauty these islands possess, those charms are surpassed in fascinating power over the imagination by the remarkable relics of antiquity existing here. Several fortresses, cir- cular in form, and constructed of loose masses of stone, remain to testify the mechanical power of tribes that have long vanished, and whose name is known but to few. The largest of these fortresses is Dun Arngus, situated on the north-western coast of Inishmore, 220 feet above the sea. The remains of churches and other religious houses are numerous. Some of these are found within the walls of the fortresses. Inishmaan has a church of the 7th century entire except its roof. Its dimensions are singularly small, and its walls enor- mously thick. Its length inside is 164 feet, which is less than three times the thickness of its two end walls. There is one stone, three feet in thickness, which extends over the full breadtli of the building 18 feet. Inishmore was early occupied by many who sought religious retire- ment, and was called Arran of the Saints. Their huts and oratories still stand, after a thousand years. The Gore family take from these islands the title of Earl of Arran. AURAS, a tnshp. in the par. of Market Weighton, and wap. of Harthill, in the East Riding of the co. of York, 3 miles from Market Weighton. ARRATHORNE, or AEROWTHORNE, a tnshp. in the par. of Brompton Patrick, and wap. of East Hang, in the North Hiding of the co. of York, 5 miles to the N.E. of Leyburn. ABRETON, a par. iuthelib. of East Medina, in the Isle of Wight and co. of Southampton, 3 miles to the S.E. of Newport, its post town, and 8 S.W. of Ryde. The vil., which consists of a long straggling street and some widely scattered farms, is situated on the south side of a lofty down, on which are some large barrows, where Roman armour has been lately discovered. The limit, of Bid- dlesford is included in this par. The living is a vie. * in the dioc. of Winchester, val. 220, in the patron, of J. Fleming, Esq. The church, which was one of those given to the Abbey of Lyra, in Normandy, by William Fitz-Osborne, contains a brass of the year 1430, and is dedicated to St. George. In the churchyard is the grave of the " Dairyman's Daughter," of Legh Rich- mond's well-known story. There is an endowment, founded in 1688, by John Mann, for the bringing up and apprenticing of poor orphans. It amounts to 37 per annum. There are other charities amounting to 27 per annum. In 1852 a district church was built at Haven Street, which is a hmlt., 4 miles N. of Arreton. ARBINGTON, or ERMINGTON, a par. in the hund. of Wetherley, in the co. of Cambridge, 6 miles to tho N.W. of Royston railway station, and 10 S.W. of Cam- bridge. It is situated on the old British way, Ermine Street, a little to the north of the bridge over the river Cam. Tho living is a vie. in the dioe. of Ely, val. 69, in the patron, of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, who are impropriators of the great tithes. The church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, is a plain ancient structure, built upon a mound in the centre of the parish. Tho register of marriages and burials dates from 1538, and the register of baptisms, 12 years later. Petty sessions are held in the village. The par. con- tains 1,388 acres, the sole property of the Earl of Hard- wicke. AEROCHAR, or ABBOQUHAB, a par. with a postal vil., in the co. of Dumbarton, Scotland. It includes the par. of Tarbet, and is situated at the foot of Ben Lomond, between Loch Lomond and Loch Long. It is a hilly and pastoral district, with some woods, and is watered by tho rivers Douglas, Falloch, and Invern- glass. It was formerly called the land of the Macfar- lanes, to whom it chiefly belonged. The living, val. 245, is in the presb. of Dumbarton, and in the patron, of Sir J. Colquhoun, of Luss. The hill Beuvoirlich, 6 miles to the N.W. of Tarbet, has an elevation of 3,180 feet. The par. extends over an area of 31,011 acres. ARROW, a tnshp. in the par. of Woodchurch, in the lower div. of tho hund. of Wirrall, in the co. palatine of Chester, 3 miles from Birkenhead. ABBOW is a par. and suburb of Alcester, in the hund. of Barlichway, in the co. of Warwick, 1 mile from Al- cester, its post town. It is situated on the river Arrow, which works several mills, and contains the hmlt. of versley. Tho living is a rect. * in the dioc. of Wor- cester, val. 248, in tho patron, of tho Marquis of Hertford. The church, which is dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is ancient and has a tower, which was rebuilt in 1760. Ragley Hall, a mansion erected by Lord Con- way, about 1750, is the seat of the Marquis of Hertford: it is a magnificent pile, three stories high, with four faces of great architectural beauty, and contains a dining hall of 60 feet by 40, together with a library of 30,000 volumes, and many ancient paintings by Rubens, Vandyke, and others. It is at present unoccupied, and is open for the inspection of visitors on every day except Sundays.