The Sleeping Warrior on Arran
The Sleeping Warrior on Arran

Ten fascinating facts about… Arran

August 15, 2019 / Kenny Smith /
August 15, 2019 |

The Isle of Arran is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh largest Scottish island.

It’s an island of adventure and history, and here are 10 fascinating facts about Arran.

Lochranza Castle was used as the model for the castle in the Tintin adventure The Black Island.

The island is also known as ‘Scotland in miniature’, as it is divided into  Highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault.

Brodick Castle features on the Royal Bank of Scotland £20 note.

In 2010, an Isle of Arran version of the board game Monopoly was launched.

The island has three endemic species of tree: the Scottish or Arran Whitebeam, the Bastard Mountain Ash or Cutleaved Whitebeam, and the Catacol Whitebeam. They are among the most endangered tree species in the world.

Arran is one of the very few places in Scotland to have a climate that is temperate enough for palm trees to grow.

The Sleeping Warrior on Arran

The profile of the north Arran hills seen from the Ayrshire coast is referred to as the ‘Sleeping Warrior’ due to its resemblance to a resting human figure.

The daughter of the famous Celtic warrior Fingal is said to be buried beneath a standing stone situated on Arran’s west coast.

A person belonging to Arran is known as an Arranach.

The Arran Banner, founded in 1974, earned itself a place in The Guinness Book of Records as the newspaper ‘most read within its circulation area’ in 1984, when the paper’s circulation was 97% of the island’s population.

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