Ailsa Craig from Turnbery Castle - Scotland
Artist: Bartlett, Engraver: Cousen
In
front of this castellated promontory, the basaltic rock of Ailsa-floating like a
vast iceberg in the sea-presents a most singular imposing feature. It is
the " Bass" of the western coast; and, towering in isolated
grandeur to the height of nearly a thousand feet above the waves, forms the
great object of attraction from the Carrick shore. If Staffa may point "
the finger of contempt at the puny imitation of her temples on Iona, Ailsa may
well smile in pity on the pyramids of Egypt!" It produces a powerful effect
upon the senses. It unites the sublime and the beautiful, by combining vastness
of dimensions, simplicity of form, and variety of features-all under the control
of an almost architectural regularity-and all comprehended in one grasp of the
eye. There is nothing which we are obliged to infer or conjecture-no
unattainable point to wish for, whence it might appear to the
greatest advantage ; at one view we are overwhelmed with its magnitude, and
struck by its sublimity and elegance.