ARRAN, the largest island of the county of Bute, Scotland, at the mouth of the Firth of Clyde. Its greatest length, from the Cock of Arran to Bennan Head, is about 2om., and the greatest breadth—from Drumadoon Point to King's Cross Point—is I'm. Area I 65sq.m. Pop. The scenery of Arran is very fine, and the geological struc ture complex. The greatest elevations are found in the north, where Goatfell reaches 2,866f t. The name of this hill is said to be a corruption of the Gaelic Goadli Bliein, "Mountain of the Winds." It belongs to the series of intrusive igneous rocks of Tertiary age—granites—which occupy most of the northern half of the island and form its grandest natural features. These rocks are partly surrounded by an incomplete ring of the oldest rocks in the island—slate, mica-schists, and grits—while in the south the rocks are mainly Triassic, the Sedimentary rocks, however, being metamorphosed or broken at many points by volcanic intrusions. Many beautiful glens, notably Glen Rosa and Glen Sannox, score the flanks of the mountains, and Loch Ranza, an inlet in the north, is one of the finest sea-lochs in Scotland. The streams or "waters," as they are called, are generally hill burns, and they and their small mountain-lochs carry trout. Blackcock and grouse are numerous, and there are a few red deer. Cattle and sheep are raised in considerable numbers. The sea fisheries, centring on Loch Ranza, are of some importance. Brodick is the chief village in Arran ; most of the dwelling-houses have been built at Inver cloy close to the pier. Three miles south is Lamlash, on a fine bay so completely sheltered by Holy Island as to form an excel lent harbour. Four miles north lies the village of Corrie, tak ing its name from a rugged hollow in the hill of Am Binnein (2,17 2f t.) which overshadows it. Daniel Macmillan (1813-1857), the founder of the publishing firm of Macmillan and Co., was a native of Corrie. Steamers from Glasgow and Ardrossan com municate with Brodick, Lamlash, Whiting Bay, Corrie and Loch Ranza, especially in summer when the island receives many visitors.
About I zm. east of Lamlash village lies Holy Island, 14m. long, nearly 4m. wide, and its finely marked basaltic cone rises to a height of 1,o3of t. St. Molios, a disciple of St. Columba, founded a church near the north-west point. In the saint's cave on the shore may be seen the rocky shelf on which he made his bed. Off the south-east coast, Im. from Port Dearg, lies the pear-shaped isle of Pladda on which are a lighthouse and telegraph station from which the arrival of vessels in the Clyde is notified to Glas gow and Greenock.
Standing stones, cairns and other antiquities occur near Tor more, on Machrie Bay, Lamlash, and other places. The Norse raiders found a home in Arran for a long period until the defeat of Haakon V. at Largs (1263) compelled them to retire. Robert Bruce found shelter in the King's Caves on the western coast. From the point still known as King's Cross he crossed over to Carrick, in answer to the signal for the supreme effort. Ruins in Glen Cloy bear the name of Bruce's Castle, in which his men lay concealed. On the southern arm of Loch Ranza stands a pic turesque ruined castle said to have been his hunting-seat.