AR'RAN, an island in the mouth of the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, about 5 m. s.w. of Bute, 13 w. of Ayrshire, and 4 e. of Cantire, from which it is separated by Kilbrennan sound. It is of an oval form, about 20 m. long and 12 broad; area, 165 sq.m., about 15,000 acres, or a seventh part, being cultivated. Pop. '71, 5234. The general aspect of A. is mountainous and heathy, the n., the jagged peaks are singularly grand. Around the coast is a low belt of ground, with lofty cliffs on the s. and s.w.. from which the country rises abruptly. The highest point is Goatfell (in Gaelic named Gaoth Bheinn or Being Ghaoith, mountain"), an obtuse pyramid, 2865 ft. high, and a promi nent feature of the island. From its sides slope the romantic glens of Rosa and Sannox, and at its base to the s.e. opens Brodick bay, at the head of which lay, until lately, Bro dick village. The houses which composed it have now been removed, and a new village has sprung up on the opposite side of the bay, called Invercloy, where there is a spacious hotel. To the s. of this, round a bluff headland, is Lamlash bay, the chief harbor of A., and the best on the Firth of Clyde, sheltered by Holy island, once the seat of a monastery. A picturesque mass of columnar basalt, 900 or 1000 ft. high, succeeds. Further s. lies Whiting bay, near which are two cascades 100 and 50 ft. high respec tively. At the s.e. point of A. is Kildonan castle, opposite which is the small isle of Pladda, crowned by a lighthouse. Large caverns occur in the cliffs of the s. and s.w. coasts. In one of these, the " king's cave." in the basaltic promontory of Druimodune, Robert the Bruce hid himself for some time. Shiskan vale, opening into Druimodune
bay, is the most fertile part of A. Loch Ranza, a bay in the n. end of A., runs a mile inland, and is a herring fishing rendezvous. There is daily communication with A. by means of steamboats from the Clyde, the ports touched at being Brodick, Lamlash, and Corrie.
The geology of A. is almost unique, and displays a greater succession of strata than any other part of the British isles of equal extent. The s.e. half of A. consists of Devo nian sandstone, extending from the e. coast 4 or 5 in. inland, and running s.w. from Brodick beyond the center of the island; and of trap-rocks and carboniferous strata, which occupy the middle and western portions. The n.w. half consists of a central granite nucleus, including Goatfell, bordered on the w. by a tract of mica-slate, and on the n., e., and s. by lower silurian rocks, which, again, have a run of devonian sand stone on the e. and south. Lias and oolite lie on the mica-slate. There are only rivu lets in A., and one of them tumbles over a precipice 300 ft. high. Some level parts in the a. half•of A. are fertile. The chief crops are oats and potatoes. Cattle, sheep, fish, and oats are exported, The greater part of A. belongs to the duke of Hamilton, whose seat is Brodick Castle. A. forms part of the county of Bute, and contains two parishes. Many antiquities occur, such as cairns, unhewn obelisks, monumental stones, am; Druid ical circles. Several stone coffins were found in a cairn 200 ft. in circumference. Loch Ranza castle, now in ruins, was once a residence of the Scots kings. See Landsborough's Arran. etc. (1875;.