Ailsae Craig

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Ailsae Craig
Gaelic nameCreag Ealasaid
Meanin o nameElizabeth's rock or Fairy rock
Location
Ailsae Craig is located in South Ayrshire
Ailsae Craig
Ailsae Craig
Ailsa Craig shawn within Sooth Ayrshire
OS grid referenceNX019997
Coordinates55°15′N 5°07′W / 55.25°N 5.11°W / 55.25; -5.11
Physical geography
Island groupFirth o Clyde
Aurie99 hectare (240 acre)[1]
Aurie rank150=[1][2]
Heichest elevation338 m (1,109 ft)
(a Marilyn)
Admeenistration
Sovereign stateUnitit Kinrick
KintraScotland
Cooncil aurieSooth Ayrshire
Demografics
Population0[3]
References[1][4][5]

Ailsae Craig[6] (Inglis: Ailsa Craig Scots Gaelic: Creag Ealasaid) is an island o 99 hectare (240 acre) in the ooter Firth o Clyde, 16 kilometre (9.9 mi) frae mainland Scotland, upon which blue hone granite wis quarried tae mak curlin stanes.[7] [8] Aa the stanes playit in the Olympics come fae Ailsae Craig.[9] The stanes are honed in Mauchline across the watter, sin 1851, bi Kay's Curling, wha wir alane in uisin the granite, bi coortesy o the laird, the Marquess o Ailsa.[10]

The nou uninhabitit island is formed frae the volcanic plug o an extinct volcano,[11] an is 340m hicht. It can bi seen frae GlenApp Castle in Sooth Ayrshire. It is hame tae ain o the warld's biggest colony o the solan guiss. It his bin cried 'Paddy's Milestane' fur it is haufweys atween Glesgae an Belfast. There is a lichthoose bit unmanned sin 1990, an its narrow-gauge railwey is no uised ony mair. In tha saxteent century Hugh Barclay o Ladyland attemptit to mak it a place o haud fir Catholics.[10]

The rock is mentioned in the Burns sang Duncan Gray, ti confer the deafness o the chiel's wife Meg.[12] It is mentioned in a poem (in Inglis) for childer aboot the luik o the clouds oan the tap:

"When Ailsa Craig has on its coat,

The Weather will be very hot.

When Ailsa Craig has on its hat,

You can be sure it will be wet.

When Ailsa Craig has on its tie,

That's a sign its going to be dry"[13]

John Keats spikks tae 'a craggy ocean pyramid' and says 'Drown’d wast thou till an earthquake made thee steep', in his poem "To Ailsa Rock."[14]

The Scots weemen wha wir the Gowd Medal winnin core at the curlin' in the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, were amang the teams whit played wi' the 132 curlin' stones in yon competeetion , wir aw frae Ailsae Craig.[10]

References[eedit | eedit soorce]

  1. a b c Haswell-Smith (2004) p.2
  2. Aurie an population ranks: thare are c. 300 islands ower 20 ha in extent an 93 permanently inhabitit islands war leetit in the 2011 census.
  3. Naitional Records o Scotland (15 August 2013) (pdf) Statistical Bulletin: 2011 Census: First Results on Population and Household Estimates for Scotland - Release 1C (Part Two). "Appendix 2: Population and households on Scotland’s inhabited islands". Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  4. Get-a-map (Map). 1:25,000. Leisure. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  5. Mac an Tàilleir (2003) p.3
  6. https://d3lmsxlb5aor5x.cloudfront.net/library/document/Map_of_Scotland_in_Scots-Guide_and_gazetteer.pdf
  7. "Geology, petrology and geochemistry of Ailsa Craig, Ayrshire. 1987". BGS Report. British Geological Survey. 6 (9): 1–41. 1987.
  8. "Ten things you didn't know about curling". BBC Sport (in Inglis). 10 Februar 2014. Retrieved 17 Januar 2022.
  9. "Every Curling Stone Ever Used In The Olympics Has Come From One Tiny Island". HuffPost (in Inglis). 18 Februar 2018. Retrieved 17 Januar 2022.
  10. a b c McKelvie, Robin (26 Februar 2022). "The island key to our stunning Olympics success". The National. p. 23.
  11. "Ailsa Craig". earthobservatory.nasa.gov (in Inglis). 17 Mairch 2018. Retrieved 17 Januar 2022.
  12. "Duncan Gray". The Robert Burns World Federation. Archived frae the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  13. "At School eduweb - Girvan". 11 Februar 2009. Archived frae the original on 11 Februar 2009. Retrieved 17 Januar 2022.
  14. "To Ailsa Rock by John Keats". Scottish Poetry Library (in Inglis). Retrieved 17 Januar 2022.

Coordinates: 55°15′7″N 5°6′59″W / 55.25194°N 5.11639°W / 55.25194; -5.11639