Great Cumbrae (also known as Cumbrae or the Isle of Cumbrae) is the larger of the two islands known as The Cumbraes in the lower Firth of Clyde in western Scotland. Both islands have been inhabited since the end of the last ice age, and have examples of the raised beach effect - as the ice melted, the land rose many metres relative to the sea level. Ailsa Craig (commonly referred to as Paddy’s Milestone) is visible to the south east of Little Cumbrae.
CUMBRAY, LITTLE, an island, in the county of Bute, ecclesiastically annexed to the parish of West Kilbride, in the county of Ayr, and containing 8 inhabitants. This island is situated in the Frith of Clyde, between the island of Bute and the promontory of Portincross, from each of which it is distant about two and a half miles. It anciently formed part of the domains of the Stuart family, ancestors of the kings of that line, and, on the erection of the principality of Scotland by Robert III., in 1404, in favour of his son, was concluded within its limits. It was for many years retained as a royal preserve, and in 1515 was conferred upon Hew, Earl of Eglinton, whose descendants are its present proprietors.
THE BATLIC SEA REGION In the North Sea the pattern of current movement of surface waters is in an anticlockwise direction with the general direction of flow down the east coast of Scotland and England, along the coasts of mainland Europe, and up the western seaboard of Sweden and the coast of Norway. There is also a movement of Atlantic water at depth toward the coast of Norway. In the Irish Sea, surface water flow is generally from south to north on the western side of the Isle of Man and in a circular motion within Liverpool Bay. Surface waters move up the English Channel from west to east and into the North Sea.
The Glaidstane at the top of the island gives a panoramic view of the upper Clyde estuary, the much larger islands of Arran and Bute and onwards to Ben Lomond in the north and the Paps of Jura to the west. The stratu met with in the Great and Little Cumbrae belong to the Upper Old Red Sandstone and Carboniferous systems. The former, consisting of false-bedded sandstones and conglomerates, are confined to the la~ger island. The Carboniferous rocks of the Cumbrae belong to the lower part of the Calciferous Sandstone series with the accompanying volcanic zone. In the larger island these sediments, comprising sandstones, red, purple and mottled clays with occasional bands of nodular limestone or cornstone, occupy a considerable area on the north side of Millport Bay. The island was formerly distributed into a number of small baronies, the owners of the principal of which were the families of Hunter, Stuart, and Montgomerie. The barony of Kames, belonging to the Hunters, has given the name to one of the finest bays in the island, and on this property, also, once stood the village of Kames.The barony of Ballykellet, belonged to the Montgomeries, who possessed the patronage of the parish.
CUMBRAY, parish, consisting of Great Cumbray Island, in Buteshire. Cumbrae's past has long been linked to Christianity in Scotland, and at one time the island had many standing stones and are a group of islands in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland- Great and Little. The Cumbrays are two small islands, lying in the Firth of Clyde, betwixt the Isle of Bute and Ayrshire; the greater Cumbray lies highest up the Firth, and is two miles and a half in length, by a breadth of one and a half, distant from the coast of Ayrshire about two miles. The islands belong to the traditional county of Bute and the modern unitary authority of North Ayrshire. The mainland portion of it lies in the traditional county of Ayrshire, and borders onto the regions of Renfrewshire, East Ayrshire, and South Ayrshire. These two islands are divided by a broad sound called The Tan. There are also a number of uninhabited islets in the group: The Eileans, The Broad Islands, Castle Island, Trail Isle. The Cumbraes are separated from the Scottish mainland by a busy shipping channel known as Fairlie Roads.
As the Vikings from Scandinavia expanded around the west coast of Scotland (and on to the eastern seaboard of Ireland) they became established around the end of the 8th century on Bute (and the neighbouring islands of Arran and the Cumbraes (the latter not far from the Scottish mainland. These Cumbrays once belonged to the Norwegians, and were frequently the objects of contest with the Scots. They are said to have been dispossessed of the property after many successive encounters with the Scots, by the decisive battle of Largs, when they were completely routed and driven from the coast. However, in 1158 a lord of Argyll named Somerled (believed to be of mixed Celtic and Norse origins) successfully challenged the rule of the Norse king. When Somerled died, the Outer Western Isles returned to Norse control and the Inner Isles were divided amongst his sons. Not long after, King William the Lion of Scotland seized control of Bute - but he and his descendants had to defend their western territory from the Vikings. In 1230 King Hakon of Norway sent a force to Bute to retake it - and were confronted by the Scots in a castle overlooking Rothesay Bay. Although the Vikings successfully captured the castle, it was retaken and the castle repaired.
The Aberdeen Breviary (printed in Edinburgh) of 1509 gives an account of two of the island's early female missionaries, Saints Bees and Maura. Along with St. Britta, Maura's story was lost, but their relics were discovered by Saint Euphronius and St. Gregory of Tours related the discovery. St Kessock came here even before Saint Columba reached Iona; St Maura opened her Hospice dedicated to St Oswald in 642 A.D.; St Bride probably taught here and St Beya held sway on Little Cumbrae. A cathedral once stood here, which was dedicated to Saint Columba, but no remains of it are now visible.
The cathedral, originally the collegiate church, was founded in 1849 by the earl of Glasgow and opened in 1851. In 1876 it was constituted the cathedral of Argyll and the Isles.The cathedral church of the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles, within the Episcopal Church of Scotland (Anglican Communion) have formal gardens and woodland surround the cathedral, the highest building on Great Cumbrae and the smallest cathedral in the British Isles (and probably in Europe).
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