The textbook blurb : Arran - largest
island in the district of Cunninghame, Strathclyde region, Scotland, on the
Atlantic coast at the mouth of the Firth of Clyde. Arran is approximately 32 km
long and has a mean breadth of 14 km and an area of about 425 square km. Arran
is called "Scotland in miniature" because of the beauty and variety
of its scenery. The north of the island includes the most dramatic scenery, dominated
by Goat Fell (874 m). The surrounding glens, notably Glen Rosa, Glen Sannox,
and Glen Monamore, abound in hill and rock climbs and are well stocked with
game, including grouse and red deer. In the south, the landscape is gentler and
more pastoral and abounds in standing stones dating from approximately 2000 BC.
Norse raiders inhabited Arran for a considerable period prior to the defeat of
Haakon IV in 1263. The King's Caves, on the west coast, sheltered Robert I the
Bruce in the early 14th century. In 1503 Arran was awarded by royal charter to
Sir James Hamilton, whose castle still dominates Brodick, the island's
unofficial capital. Three miles south of Brodick in Lamlash Bay lies Holy
Island, a cone of basaltic rock, 1,030 ft high, containing St. Molais' Cave,
the cell of a hermit of the 6th century. Because of its scenery and its
accessibility to densely populated urban areas such as Glasgow, Arran has
become an extremely popular holiday island and yet remains unspoiled. It is
reached by ferry from Ardrossan, southwest of Glasgow. Population 4,726.
