File:The Quarterly journal of the Geological Society of London (12826362445).jpg

1858..
JAMIESON — PLEISTOCENE, ABERDEENSHIRE.
513
hillocks of blown sand overgrown with bents, which margin the beach,
occurring sometimes singly, sometimes in clusters, and of various
sizes up to 1 1 or 12 feet in length. Their surfaces are either rounded
or rugged, scarcely ever angular, while in mineral character they are
generally of greenstone and syenite.
Fig. 2. — Diagram showing the position of the Boulders at the top
and on the surface of the Gravel-mounds at Menie Coast-guard
Station.
In a field on the farm of Drums a gigantic boulder of granite
occurs, known as " the Grey Stane." I found it to measure 54 feet
in circumference, with a height of about 7 feet above the ground.
It has no sharp angles, and most of its exterior is rounded. Another
immense block, also apparently a transported mass, is seen lodged
in the surface of a field near Menie. I found it to be 78 feet in
circumference, and projecting 6 feet out of the ground. It is a
coarse-grained greenstone.
Drums seems to take its name from these tumuli and hillocks
of gravel, — Druim in the Celtic language meaning a ridge or little
hill, and being of frequent application in the names of places.
I found these ridges to consist of highly-rolled fragments of rock
of all sizes, from coarse gravel up to boulders 2 feet in diameter.
Those of gneiss are perhaps most numerous, often of a hard, tough,
crystalline nature, yet much worn and rounded, showing the great
attrition which they have undergone. Granite, both grey and red,
is also plentiful, and lumps of serpentine occasionally occur, with
other varieties of trap ; but, besides these, there are a good many
rounded fragments of red sandstone in several places, both at Drums
and near Menie. On the top of one of these gravel-ridges, a little
to the north of Drums, I found a boulder of coarse crystalline rock,
of a greenish tint, measuring 8 feet in length by 5 in breadth.
No sharp angles occur on its surface. A layer of red clay, about
9 inches thick, overlies the gravel at this spot ; and I found traces
of a similar clay covering the gravel at Drums. This boulder rested
immediately upon the gravel; but the clay encircled its base. An-
other large boulder of greenstone lay beside it ; and many other
blocks were observed in the adjoining fields.
Here, then, are clear instances of large transported boulders sitting