The Sleeping Warrior is the profile of the north Arran hills in Scotland as seen from the Ayrshire coast. It is a well-known site that takes its name from a resemblance to a resting human figure. Various interpretations of the profile exist although the view of the Witches Step and Caisteal Abhail from North Ayrshire and Bute is arguably the most convincing.
Although the idea is well known, the specific hills involved are variously described. Keay & Keay refer to "the profile of the 'Sleeping Warrior' of Arran as seen from the Clyde Coast", suggesting that several hills are included. [1] However, various websites claim the phrase refers to single hills, none of which individually resemble a reclining human figure, or to different parts of the north Arran range.
One interpretation is that all the hills north of Brodick on the island of Arran's coast are profiled, including Goat Fell, Caisteal Abhail and Cìr Mhòr. However, as other sources confirm, the Warrior does not include Goat Fell. High Spicer, for example writes: "And in broken weather the clouds would lie like a dingy blanket upon the heights until the wind blew them over, or the sun pierced them, and revealed the spire of Goatfell or the majestic figure of the Sleeping Warrior." [2]
Caisteal Abhail and the Witches Step are most often claimed as resembling the Sleeping Warrior when viewed from roughly northern directions. [3]
Claims are sometimes made for other views such as A' Chìr ridge (between Cìr Mhòr and Beinn Tarsuinn), that clearly suggests a humanoid head and shoulders (although no torso) or the rather less-compelling Beinn Nuis and Beinn Tarsuinn ridges, that are not visible from the Ayrshire coast. [4] [5]
However, as the view from St Ninian's Bay on Bute indicates the full profile begins with the Witches Step "face", includes Caisteal Abhail as the folded arms and continues along the ridge towards Meall Mòr in the direction of Lochranza and Catacol. This profile is visible from the direction of the North Ayrshire coast all the way round to Argyll and north Kintyre. [6] [7] [8]
The Islands of the Firth of Clyde are the fifth largest of the major Scottish island groups after the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland. They are situated in the Firth of Clyde between Argyll and Bute in the west and Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire in the east. There are about forty islands and skerries. Only four are inhabited, and only nine are larger than 40 hectares. The largest and most populous are Arran and Bute. They are served by dedicated ferry routes, as are Great Cumbrae and Holy Island. Unlike the isles in the four larger Scottish archipelagos, none of the isles in this group are connected to one another or to the mainland by bridges.
Brodick is the main village on the Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. It is halfway along the east coast of the island, in Brodick Bay below Goat Fell, the tallest mountain on Arran. The name is derived from the Norse "breda-vick" meaning "Broad Bay".
Whiting Bay is a village located on the Isle of Arran in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland four miles south of Lamlash and eight miles south of Brodick. With more than 600 inhabitants it’s the third largest village on the island of Arran, behind Lamlash and Brodick.
The County of Bute, also known as Buteshire, is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. Now replaced by Argyll and Bute for the Isle of Bute, with the Argyll and Bute Council. The Isle of Arran and the The Cumbraes are now in North Ayrshire Council area. Since the implimentation of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, on the 1 April 1996.
Goat Fell is the highest point on the Isle of Arran. At 874 metres (2,867 ft), it is one of four Corbetts on the island. The mountain, along with nearby Brodick Castle, is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland.
Beinn Alligin is one of the classic mountains of the Torridon region of Scotland, lying to the north of Loch Torridon, in the Highlands. The name Beinn Alligin is from the Scottish Gaelic, meaning Jewelled Hill. The mountain has two peaks of Munro status: Tom na Gruagaich to the south, and Sgùrr Mhòr at 986 metres (3,235 ft) to the north.
Ardrossan is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in southwestern Scotland. The town has a population of 10,670 and forms part of a conurbation with Saltcoats and Stevenston known as the 'Three Towns'. Ardrossan is located on the east shore of the Firth of Clyde.
Western Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, in Scotland, was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Western SMT Company Ltd and operated until 1997, when it became Western Buses Ltd. This successor company is now a part of Stagecoach West Scotland.
Caisteal Abhail is a mountain on the Isle of Arran in Scotland.
Corrie is a village on the north east coast of the Isle of Arran in Scotland, 6 miles north of Brodick. It lies 2 mi (3 km) due east under the island's highest mountain, Goat Fell. A path from High Corrie 3⁄4 mi (1.2 km) to the south, provides access to the hillside. Corrie, and its northern neighbour, Sannox, lie approximately halfway between Brodick and Lochranza.
Beinn Tarsuinn is a mountain on the Isle of Arran, Scotland. It is the southernmost of the four Corbetts on the island, lying between Glen Rosa to the east and Glen Iorsa to the west.
An Caisteal is a mountain in the Breadalbane region of the Scottish Highlands, south of the village of Crianlarich. It is a Munro with a height of 995 metres (3,264 ft).
Beinn a' Chroin is a mountain in the Breadalbane region of the Scottish Highlands, six kilometres south of Crianlarich. With a height of 941 metres (3,087 ft) it qualifies as a Munro.
Creag Ghlas Laggan is a hill on the Isle of Arran in south-western Scotland. It is the highest point of the seven-mile-long ridge of land that runs north-west to south-east between the A841 road and the Sound of Bute in the north-eastern part of the island. It is classed as a Marilyn.
The A841 road is the only A-road on the Isle of Arran and forms the island's primary transport route. Until 2009, the road circumnavigated the island around a 55-mile route. However, in 2009 the section between Dippen, just south of Whiting Bay and Lochranza via Blackwaterfoot was downgraded, leaving a truncated A841 to run between Whiting Bay and Lochranza via Brodick. At only one point does it venture inland, and this is to climb the 600-foot (180-metre) pass at Boguillie between Creag Ghlas Laggan and Caisteal Abhail in the north east of the island.
Beinn Mhòr is the highest mountain on the Cowal Peninsula, west of Loch Eck in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It has a high topographic prominence to height ratio and consequently commands a good all round view.
Sgairneach Mhòr is a Scottish mountain which lies in a group of seven Munros near the summit of the Pass of Drumochter and are known as the Drumochter mountains or informerly as the “A9 Munros”. The mountain is situated 13 km SSW of Dalwhinnie and four km east of the large Loch Ericht.
Beinn Udlamain is a Scottish mountain which stands just to the west of the summit of the Pass of Drumochter and east of Loch Ericht, some 30 km west-northwest of the village of Blair Atholl. The mountain’s summit stands on the border between the Highland and Perth and Kinross council areas.
The Isle of Arran or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at 432 square kilometres (167 sq mi). Historically part of Buteshire, it is in the unitary council area of North Ayrshire. In the 2011 census it had a resident population of 4,629. Though culturally and physically similar to the Hebrides, it is separated from them by the Kintyre peninsula. Often referred to as "Scotland in Miniature", the Island is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault and has been described as a "geologist's paradise".
Arran is one of the nine electoral wards of North Ayrshire Council. Re-established in 2022, the ward elects one councillor using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 4,649 people.
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