Ailsa Craig
Ailsa Craig (
Gaelic:
Creag Ealasaid, meaning
Elizabeth's rock) is an
island 2 miles in circumference in the outer
Firth of Clyde,
Scotland.
The island is located approximately 10 miles west of
Girvan, and belongs to the administrative district of
South Ayrshire, in the ancient
parish of
Dailly. Rising to 338 metres, the island consists entirely of a
volcanic plug.
There is a
lighthouse on the east coast facing the mainland and a ruined
keep of uncertain origins perched on the hillside above.
Ailsa Craig was a haven for
Roman Catholics during the
Scottish Reformation.
In
1831, the twelfth earl of Cassillis became first
Marquess of Ailsa, taking the title from the Craig, which was his property.
From the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries, the island was quarried for its rare type of
micro-granite with
riebeckite (known as "Ailsite") which was used to make
curling stones. The floor of the Chapel of the Thistle in
St Giles Cathedral,
Edinburgh is also made of this rock.
Ailsa Craig is now uninhabited, the lighthouse having been automated in the
1970s and the quarry long since disused. The island is now a bird sanctuary. Huge numbers of
gannets nest here and following a pioneering technique to eradicate the island's imported population of
rats a growing number of
puffins are choosing to return to the Craig from nearby
Glunimore and
Sheep Islands.
The name Elizabeth is actually a corruption of Elspeth, and refers to Elspeth McCrudden, daughter of
Alexander "Sawney" Bean who planted The Hairy Tree in the Ayrshire town of Girvan (which is visible from Ailsa Craig). Local legend holds that Elspeth tried (unsuccesfully) to swim to Ailsa Craig to escape the mob who later hanged her from The Hairy Tree.
The name of the island is an anglicisation of the
Gaelic,
Aillse Creag, or
Creag Ealasaid, Elizabeth's rock. However as a result of being the most conspicuous landmark in the channel between
Ireland and
Scotland the island features in a number of early
Celtic texts and is known by a number of different names;
*
A' Chreag: "the rock"
*
Creag Alasdair: "Alasdair's rock"
*
Ealasaid a' Chuain: "Elizabeth of the ocean"
*
AlasanToday the island is known locally as
Paddy's Milestone as it approximately marks the halfway point of the sea journey from
Belfast to
Glasgow, a traditional route of emigration for many
Irish labourers coming to Scotland to seek work.
*
Entry on the Maybole Home Page*
Ailsa Craig Index — computer-generated virtual panoramas
* 1.
The Scottish Islands, Hamish Haswell-Smith ISBN 1841954543
* 2.
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
