I Love Arran Trivia Quiz

Answer: Brodick

The Caledonian MacBrayne ferry goes from Ardrossan in Ayrshire to Brodick. Brodick is not the largest village in Arran (that honour goes to Lochranza), but as the main ferry port, Brodrick is regarded as the 'capital'. Brodick Castle is made of red sandstone and there has been a castle on the site since the fifth century, commanding as it does the approach to the Firth of Clyde. The gardens have extensive rhododendrons that need periodically cutting back and burning, which I have done! Caledonian MacBrayne is the sole ferry operator in the Western Isles, which gives us the poem:
"The Earth belongs unto the Lord
And all that it contains
Except the Kyles and the Western Isles
And they are all MacBrayne's"
This is not definitive, there are many versions of this!

Answer: Goatfell or Goat Fell

Whilst all the answers are Scottish mountains, Goatfell is the only one of those listed on Arran. The name either means Mountain of Wind (from Gaelic 'goath') or Goat Mountain (from Norse 'geita'). Arran itself means 'Peaked Island' in Gaelic. Goat Fell is a very popular climb that takes several hours and can be quite challenging in bad weather.

Answer: John Laurie

John Laurie was convicted of murdering Edwin Rose on the summit of Goatfell, but there remains doubt to this day as to whether he committed the murder or whether Rose fell and Laurie robbed his body. He protested his innocence until the day he died. John Laurie was sentenced to death, later commuted to life in prison, and died aged 69 in 1930, in what was known as the 'lunatic division' of Perth Prison. John Laurie the actor played Private James Frazer in the BBC sitcom 'Dad's Army' with his catchphrase 'We're all doomed!'. Mount Yamnuska is the native name of Mount John Laurie, in the Canadian Rockies.

The mountain was named for a founder of the Indian Association of Alberta. All the wrong answers are 'Dad's Army' actors, none of whom (as far as I know) have mountains named after them or their namesakes.

Answer: Glacial erratics

A glacial erratic is defined as 'a boulder transported and deposited by a glacier having a lithology different than the bedrock upon which it is sitting'. The geology of Arran is fascinating, and the last Ice Age left many marks on the island, including classic U-shaped valleys, hanging valleys, corries, knife-edged ridges, moraine ridges, thick till (boulder clay) deposits and these glacial erratics.

Answer: Robert the Bruce

The prehistoric fort is known as 'Bruce's Castle', but as astute quizzers will have noted, Robert the Bruce lived from 1274 to 1329, which is somewhat later than the fort. I have been in the cave at Drumadoon, near Blackwaterfoot and am quite prepared to believe that the encounter with a spider--having been defeated in battle, Bruce escaped and hid in a cave for three months.

He was at the lowest point of his life and was going to leave Scotland and never come back. However, a spider was building a web in the cave's entrance and although it fell down time after time it finally succeeded in building a web. So Bruce decided also to emulate the spider and told his men: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again"--happened there, but there are at least three other sites (Bruce's Cave in Kirkpatrick Fleming, Dumfriesshire, Uamh-an-Righ (The Royal Cave) at Craigruie in the Trossachs and Bruce's Cave on Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland) claiming the honour. Bruce went on to secure Scottish Independence from England following the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. William Wallace and Rob Roy MacGregor were also Scottish heroes (though I beg you not to believe the Hollywood film versions of either!) and Rod Stewart is a Scottish rock star with a penchant for marrying leggy blondes.

Answer: An Arranach

Arranach means 'of Arran' in Gaelic. An anorak is a semi-affectionate British nickname for a person who has an incredibly boring hobby (like trainspotting - sorry trainspotters!) and is named from the Inuit garment. I made up Arrandonian and Arranonian. Originally one of the wrong answers was 'Arranite', but research revealed that this is also a name for someone from Arran!

Answer: Standing stones and stone circles

The site dates from the neolithic period but the famous stone circles belong to the Bronze Age, around 1800 to 1600 BC. The whole moor has many remains of early man, including hut circles, chambered cairns and standing stones. There are a total of six stone circles in a small area.

There is a legend that the stone with a hole in it was used by the legendary warrior and giant Fingal to tether his dog, Bran. It is believed that the circles had some sort of astronomical purpose. Arran does have a whiskey distillery at Lochranza, opened in 1995, but no battlefields or devil dog.

Answer: Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford is probably best known for his design and construction of the Menai Straits suspension bridge, but the String Road goes through extremely difficult terrain and removes the need to go all the way around the island. Both the Stevensons, relatives of the author Robert Louis Stevenson ('The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde') were civil engineers of repute and built the lighthouse just off Arran on Holy Island. Mcadam is another Scottish civil engineer, immortalised in tarmacadam.

There is a borough in Pennsylvania, formerly Hendrick's Blacksmith in Montgomery County, that changed its name to Telford in 1857 in honour of Thomas Telford.

Answer: It was hoped that the farmers would become fishermen and they could distinguish their house when their wives lit a candle in that room

The windows faced the Firth of Clyde and they envisaged that the fishermen would be able to distinguish their lighted windows. Unfortunately, the people involved didn't agree and most emigrated rather than completely alter their lifestyle. For a while, the houses were known as 'hungry row' as they stood empty. I made all the wrong answers up.

Answer: Catacol Whitebeam

There used to be three specimens, but one was eaten by deer! Catacol (named from old Norse as the 'gully of the cat') is home to Arran Whitebeams and Cut-leaved Whitebeams as well as this unique species. Well, I've hardly touched the surface of this beautiful island, so I hope you've enjoyed the quiz, and it may inspire you to visit one day and say with me "I Love Arran"!