Isle of Arran – an island full of history

I just spent Easter weekend on the Isle of Arran. As with most trips to Scotland the weather can be a bit hit and miss but I love trips up here and try and get “North of the Border” every couple of years.

Arran is an island with a rich and LONG history.

People have lived on the island since about 5000 b.c. The old peoples  burial cairns and stones circles litter the landscape. Only 800 yards from the Lagg hotel where we stayed was this burial cairn dating back 5000 years:

The greatest collection of stone age and bronze age remains is on Macrie Mhor which has no less than 6 stone circles and a burial cairn and several other remnants. These date back to between 1000 and 2000 BC:

Along the west shore not far from Macrie Mhor is “King’s Cave” . This is one of the caves that it is claimed Robert the Bruce hid from the English in his campaign to free Scotland. Here is where he is supposed to have seen the spider weaving its web, then when the web blown away by wind, the spider tried again. From this he got the inspiration to return to the fight but also the saying “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” was invented.

At Lochranza on the northern tip of the island is a small but intriguing baronial castle from 14th century which later became a residence of the local Laird.

So, not a bad weekend of walks and exploring. The food in Lagg Hotel was very nice too!!