Arran, an island of Buteshire, in the mouth of the Firth of Clyde, 5½ miles SW. of Bute, 10 W. of Ayrshire, and 3 E. of Kintyre, from which it is separated by Kilbrannan Sound. It is of an oval form, 19 miles long and 10½ broad, with an area of 168 sq. m., about a seventh part being cultivated. Pop. (1821) 6541; (1881) 4730; (1891) 4824. The general aspect of Arran is mountainous, and in the north the jagged peaks are singularly grand. All around the coast is the low platform of an ancient sea-margin, with lofty cliffs on the S. and SW., from which the country rises abruptly. The highest point is Goatfell (a corruption of the Gaelic Gaoth Bheinn, 'wind mountain'), which, rising to a height of 2866 feet, forms a prominent feature of the island. From its sides slope the romantic glens of Rosie and Sannox, and at its base to the SE. opens Brodick Bay, at the head of which lay, until lately, Brodick 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 Invercloys, where there is a spacious hotel. To the south of this, round a bluff headland, is Lamlash Bay, the chief harbour of Arran, and the best on the Firth of Clyde, sheltered by Holy Island, once the seat of a monastery. A picturesque mass of columnar basalt, 1030 feet high, succeeds. Farther south lies Whiting Bay, near which are two cascades 100 and 50 feet high respectively. At the SE. point of Arran 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 SW. coast. In one of these, the 'King's Cave,' in the basaltic promontory of
Drumadoon, Robert the Bruce hid himself for some time. Shiskan Vale, opening into Drumadoon Bay, is the most fertile part of Arran. Loch Ranza, a bay in the north end of Arran, runs a mile inland, and is a herring-fishing rendezvous. Arran is a favourite resort for summer quarters; there is daily communication with it by means of steamboats from Ardrossan and the Clyde, the ports touched at being Brodick, Lamlash, and Corrie. The geology of Arran is almost unique, and displays a greater succession of strata than any other part of the British Isles of equal extent. The SE. half consists of Devonian sandstone, extending from the east coast 4 or 5 miles inland, and running SW. from Brodick beyond the centre of the island; and of trap rocks and carboniferous strata, which occupy the middle and western portions. The NW. half consists of a central granite nucleus, including Goatfell, bordered on the west by a tract of mica-slate, and on the north, east, and south by Lower Silurian rocks, which, again, have a run of Devonian sandstone on the east and south. Lias and oolite lie on the mica-slate. There are only rivulets in Arran; one of them tumbles over a precipice 300 feet high. Some level parts in the south half of Arran are fertile. The chief crops are oats and potatoes. Cattle, sheep, fish, and oats are exported. With the exception of the Kirk-michael estate of 3632 acres, the whole island belongs to the Duke of Hamilton, whose seat is Brodick Castle. Many antiquities occur, such as cairns, standing stones, and stone circles. Several stone coffins were found in a cairn 200 feet in circumference. Loch Ranza Castle, now in ruins, was once a residence of the Scots kings. From Brodick Bay, Bruce sailed to Carrick on his expedition for the recovery of the crown. See D. Landsborough's Arran (2d ed. 1875), and J. Bryce's Geology of Arran (4th ed. 1875).