Dunse,
25th. Septr 1851
Mr. Wm. Kemp
My Dear Sir,
I received your lett⟨er⟩ of the 6th. current, just as I was starting for a tour in the Highlan⟨ds⟩ & West of Scotland.— Many than⟨ks⟩ for your promptitude in attendi⟨ng⟩ to my last letter.— I was very mu⟨ch⟩ pleased by the receipt of the specimen of greywacke slate y⟨ou⟩ enclosed, as I think it confirms my ideas regarding the prolonga⟨tion⟩ of the Thornilee strata to Eastwa⟨rds⟩ and enables us more confidently ⟨to⟩ speculate upon the precise plac⟨es⟩ among the Lammermuirs where th⟨e [one line excised] ar⟩e likely to be found.— I have ⟨s⟩trong hopes now of being able to ⟨f⟩ind graptolites in various localities ⟨am⟩ong the Berwickshire Lammermuirs, ⟨bu⟩t this will of course require some ⟨s⟩earch.— I have not yet heard ⟨f⟩rom Sir R. I. Murchison regarding ⟨t⟩he graptolite which I sent him:— ⟨I⟩ believe he is on the continent ⟨a⟩t present.— I will of course ⟨le⟩t you know of any other discovery ⟨of⟩ the kind which may be made. ⟨I⟩ certainly had strong objections to our greywacke rocks being ⟨S⟩ilurian, but facts must be yielded ⟨t⟩o.— Fossils are certainly very rare ⟨in⟩ them, compared with what they ⟨ar⟩e in the Welsh Silurians.—
I had a few very pleasant days ⟨[one line excised]⟩ Lismore, the shores of Loch Linnh⟨e⟩ Loch Etive, &c. I observe that the various formations are very inaccurately lai⟨d⟩ down in Prof. Nicol’s map, which ⟨is⟩ mainly founded on MacCulloch⟨’s.⟩ Lismore, for instance, is coloured a⟨s⟩ quartz rock, whereas it is almost wholly limestone with some clay-slate interstratified.— The opposi⟨te⟩ shores of Morvern are marked as gneiss, but I found all that p⟨art⟩ of it (adjoining Kingairloch) which I had time to examine, to consi⟨st⟩ of granite.— There is also much quartz rock & chlorite slate nea⟨r⟩ Port Appin, which is not indic⟨ated⟩ on the map.— In fact in som⟨e⟩ of the more remote parts of the Highlands any maps we have, topographical or geological, ⟨[one line excised]⟩
I spent nearly a whole day ⟨on⟩ the shores of Upper Loch Etive ⟨e⟩xamining the base of Cruachan ⟨at⟩ the interesting junctions of the ⟨g⟩ranite with the stratified rock. ⟨I⟩n thousands of instances masses ⟨of⟩ the latter are imbedded in the ⟨g⟩ranite, which varies very much ⟨i⟩n appearance, and that in such ⟨a⟩ manner as strongly to confirm ⟨t⟩he opinion I formed last year ⟨r⟩egarding the granites & porphyr⟨ies of⟩ Glencoe & Ben Nevis, vizt. tha⟨t th⟩ese are simply stratified rock⟨s m⟩elted down by the pure felspar ⟨ ⟩ porphyry.— The granites of these localities are beyond all doub⟨t n⟩ewer than the strata with whi⟨ch t⟩hey are associated.—
I had also ⟨[half a line excised]⟩ in company with a Mr. Mc.C⟨ ⟩ a townsman of mine & a keen geologist.— We visited Campsie glen, the spout of Balagan, a coal pit, some limestone quar⟨ries⟩ &c.— The district is in many res⟨pects⟩ a highly interesting one, so that our excursion was very profitab⟨le⟩
I saw Mrs. Laidlaw in Glasgow.— She was much delig⟨hted⟩ with her jaunt to Galashiel⟨s⟩ &c. & with the attention paid to her by Miss Kemp and yourse⟨lf⟩
Hoping to hear from you soon & with kindest regard⟨s⟩ to Miss Kemp & your Sons | I remain | My Dear Sir ⟨[signature excised]⟩
P.S. I might have given you longer geological detail ⟨b⟩ut am at present far too ⟨m⟩uch occupied by a multiplicity ⟨o⟩f matters.— If you feel a ⟨p⟩articular interest in any phen⟨o⟩mena known to be visible ⟨a⟩t any of the places I have mentioned, I shall be happy ⟨to⟩ communicate to you all I ⟨k⟩now about them.— | W.S.
Please cite as “KEMP95,” in Ɛpsilon: The William Kemp Collection accessed on 30 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/epsilon-testbed/kemp/letters/KEMP95