Dunse
14th. Octr. 1852
Mr. Wm. Kemp | Galashiels
My Dear Sir,
I had much pleasure in receiving your welcome letter of the 11th. cur⟨t.⟩ It is a long time indeed since I last heard from you.— I purposed writing you some time ago, but various matters prevented me, among others the want of something to write about.—
I am glad to perceive that alth⟨ough⟩ you are too much confined to admit of your prosecuting your geological enquiries so much as you & I could wish, yet you still continue to keep up the pleasing acquaintanceship of the Muse, as appears from the excellent song appended to your letter, whi⟨ch⟩ shews that the poetic fire still glow⟨s⟩ in you.— I have never attempted to write poetry myself, believing that it ⟨[one line excised] a⟩ppreciate the compositions of others.—
I heard when in Glasgow some ⟨w⟩eeks ago that John was about to be ⟨m⟩arried.— Miss Kemp had told Mrs. Laidlaw.— I presume the Captain’s ⟨d⟩aughter he has got is no other than ⟨t⟩he quondam Miss Roe.— I wish ⟨t⟩hem heartily the full enjoyment of ⟨m⟩atrimonial felicity.—
I regret much that circumstances ⟨s⟩hould have prevented you from fulfilling your purpose of visiting Dunse this season.— It is not yet too late,— the weather is good ⟨&⟩ October is (but for the shortness of the days) decidedly the best month ⟨of⟩ the year for geologizing or for ⟨a⟩dmiring the picturesque. Mrs. S. ⟨&⟩ I shall be delighted to see you.—
Spite of being now “done into duplicate” and the consequent addl. ⟨c⟩ares, &c.—I have found a little time ⟨[one line excised]⟩ necessities of my nature— Besides sev⟨eral⟩ short excursions in this & the adjoining Counties of E. Lothian & Northumberlan⟨d⟩ I had a 10 days tour in the West of Scotland in the course of last month.— Of this I must give you a sho⟨rt⟩ acct. reserving particular details till I see you here, which I hope will be soon.—
I left Dunse on the 8th. Septr. and after spending half a day in Edinburgh reached Glasgow in the evening.— Next day I railed into Ayrshire, visit⟨ing⟩ Mauchline & the Great Viaduct at Ballochmyle, and wandered from there, “adown the winding Ayre”, engrosse⟨d⟩ partly with geology & partly with tho⟨ughts⟩ of the Bard who has rendered class⟨ic⟩ the woody banks of this fine stream I staid in Ayr that night & next d⟨ay⟩ proceeded via Kilwinning & Ardross⟨an⟩ to that paradise of geologists, Arra⟨n⟩ A few minutes after touching ground ⟨[one line excised⟩ ⟨“⟩vi et armis”.— I took the route of the Cnocan burn recommended by Prof. Ramsay ⟨as⟩ being most interesting geologically.— I did ⟨f⟩ind it so, but to give an account of ⟨th⟩e geological wonders of Arran would be ⟨to⟩ write a book of greater extent than ⟨a⟩ll that has yet been written upon this ⟨re⟩markable island.— The sun was setting ⟨as⟩ I reached the top of Goatfell, but the ⟨v⟩iew was most magnificent, particularly ⟨l⟩ooking down into the dark recesses of Glens Sannox & Rosa, overshadowed by ⟨t⟩he wild & spiry granitic peaks of Bens ⟨C⟩hnuis, Ciormhor, Caistael Abhael & Ceum⟨b⟩ra-cailleach.— I required to hurry down ⟨th⟩e descent, but reached mine inn in ⟨g⟩ood time, quite prepared to do ample ⟨j⟩ustice to anything which my worthy ⟨h⟩ostess Mrs. Jameson should set before me.—
My next days duty was a geol. examination ⟨of⟩ the NE coast of Arran as far as the Fallen Rocks, including detours into Glen Sannox, North Glen Sannox, &c., returning to ⟨[one line excised]⟩ rambles, Glen Shurag, Glen Dhu, Glen C⟨loy⟩ Windmill hill, the Sheeans, Lamlash B⟨ay⟩ and round the coast by Clachland P⟨t⟩ Corriegill &c. to Brodick.—
Next day was occupied with Glen Ros⟨a⟩, the ascent of Caistael Abhael from the head of Glen Sannox (a most difficul⟨t⟩ climb in some places) and the descent by Glen Eis-na-bearradh to Loch Ranz⟨a⟩
The forenoon of the following day wa⟨s⟩ devoted to the North end of the Island from Loch Ranza to the old coal pits.— In the afternoon I got the Steamer for Campbeltown where I spent two days examining that part of Cantire in compa⟨ny⟩ with M⟨r. Innes the Comptroller of Custo⟨ms⟩ (formerly of Eyemouth).— I returned ho⟨me⟩ by way of Ayr, Glasgow, Edinburgh &c.
Altho’ Arran has been repeatedly visited by some of the most eminent geologists, British & Foreign, much stil⟨l⟩ remains not only to glean but to correct.— I had long been doubtful as to the ⟨[two-thirds of a line excised]⟩ ⟨I⟩ have no doubt that all the strata ⟨o⟩n Arran considered as such, belong ⟨t⟩ruly to the Carboniferous formation. In fact, they appear to be strictly equivalent to the beds of red Sanstone found in Berwickshire and elsewhere ⟨a⟩ssociated with the Carboniferous Limestone.— They are however very ⟨l⟩argely developed in Arran, and contain many intercalated beds of quartzose ⟨c⟩onglomerate.— The fossils, where such ⟨o⟩ccur, are decidedly Carboniferous.— There are a great many points in Profr. Ramsay’s book & map which ⟨w⟩ould, notwithstanding his general ⟨a⟩ccuracy, require some correction.— ⟨I⟩n these, however, I cannot at present ⟨e⟩nter.— If you have the book I could ⟨r⟩efer you to the points in question.
The neighbourhood of Campbeltown is geologically, of great interest, but has been much neglected.— By ⟨[one line excised]⟩ find a tract there coloured as lia⟨s⟩ This is a blunder, for the strata at that place are Carbonif. Sandston⟨e⟩ shale, &c. with at least 3 beds of coal.— Within a mile of the coal-pits I found a porphyry, lithological⟨ly⟩ identical with that of Kyles hill, whi⟨ch⟩ is so peculiar that I have not seen it to be matched anywhere else. There are many interesting dykes of basalt, porph⟨yry⟩ &c. The terraces or marks of raised beaches are numerous, and by far the most distinct & beautiful that I have seen.— Time however will not permit me to enter upon particu⟨lars⟩ at present.—
I shall be happy to hear from you soon.— Give my kindest regard⟨s⟩ to Miss Kemp, also to the new marr⟨ied⟩ couple & all the other members of your family.— | Believe me, | Yours Ever Sincerely, ⟨[one line excised]⟩
By the way, I am now satisfied that ⟨t⟩he Cheviots (or at least the great bulk ⟨of⟩ the igneous rocks of which they consist) ⟨ar⟩e newer then the lower part of the ⟨C⟩arboniferous System.— Perhaps some ⟨of⟩ the porphyries at the West end are ⟨o⟩lder, but of this I am not quite ⟨s⟩atisfied.— Generally speaking I ⟨b⟩elieve them to be of the same age as ⟨t⟩he Derringtons, Wintock, the Garletons, the Conglomerate dykes, &c.— | W. S.
Please cite as “KEMP99,” in Ɛpsilon: The William Kemp Collection accessed on 30 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/epsilon-testbed/kemp/letters/KEMP99