File:Flickr - law keven - Down....on the beach.....jpg

Bass Rock ~ North Berwick, Scotland - Sunday November 2nd 2008. Click here to see the Larger image

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This is dedicated to my Flickr mate Duncan ~ (NACNUD) ~ Thanks for the wonderful testimonial you left me yesterday, I am not worthy...:O)))) His awesome images can be seen here ~ www.flickr.com/photos/duncanjohnston/ ~ Stop by and have a gander, you won't be dissapointed...:O))) I hope he and all of you wonderful people out there are having an awesome Thursday..:O))

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ~ The Bass Rock, or simply The Bass, is an island in the outer part of the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, approximately one mile off North Berwick. Its name, "Bass" is pronounced so that it rhymes with "mass", rather than as "base", as the term "bass" is used in music. It is 100 metres at its highest point. Geography and geology ~ The island is "a volcanic plug of phonolite", dating to the Carboniferous period. The rock was first recognised as an igneous intrusion by James Hutton, while Hugh Miller, who visited in 1847, wrote about the Rock's geology in his book Edinburgh and its Neighbourhood, Geological and Historical: with The Geology of the Bass Rock. The island, which has been privately owned by the Hamilton-Dalrymple family for 300 years, is a volcanic plug and stands over 100 m high in the Firth of Forth Islands Special Protection Area which covers some, but not all of the islands in the inner and outer Firth. The Bass Rock is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in its own right, due to its Gannet colony. It is sometimes called "the Ailsa Craig of the East". It is of a similar geological form to nearby North Berwick Law, a hill on the mainland. There are a couple of related volcanic formations within nearby Edinburgh, namely Arthur's Seat and Edinburgh Rock. Much of the island is surrounded by steep cliffs, and rocks, with a slope facing south south west, which inclines at a steep angle. The Bass does not occupy the skyline of the Firth, quite as much as its equivalent in the Clyde, Ailsa Craig, but it can be seen from much of southern and eastern Fife, most of East Lothian, and high points in the Lothians and Borders, such as Arthur's Seat, and the Lammermuir. Surrounding Islands ~ Craigleith with Bass Rock behindThe Bass is one of a small string of islands off part of the East Lothian coast, which in turn are considered some of the Islands of the Forth. To the west are Craigleith, and the Lamb, Fidra and finally to the west of Fidra, the low lying island of Eyebroughy. These are also mainly the result of volcanic activity. To the north east, can be seen the Isle of May. History ~ The Lauder Family ~ Historically the home of the Lauder of The Bass family (from whom Sir Harry Lauder is descended, who are the earliest recorded proprietors. According to later legend, the island is said to have been a gift from King Malcolm III of Scotland, though in reality the family do not appear until the 14th century. Their crest is, appropriately, a Gannet standing upon a rock.