Geograph - photograph every grid square

NO7254 : View from near Fishtown of Usan toward Boddin Point The Blue Hole is the site given by Dr Matthew Forster Heddle in "The Mineralogy of Scotland" (1901) as the source of what are many of his largest and most spectacular agates. Examples of his agates, from this site, are housed in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Other agate collectors such as Robert Miln also collected from the Blue Hole so the site was not only known by Dr Heddle. I have collected agates in the area of grid square NO7254 which are similar in colour and pattern to those of Dr Heddle's agates though they are not generally as large. The main varieties include fortification, landscape, onyx and sardonyx. Sometimes these agates contain areas of quartz, amethyst or morion. Mossy areas of green minerals can be present or may coat the skin of the agates. The colours of the agates here are very varied and include inky blue, pale blue, white, red, pink, brown and occasionally yellow. I have described and pictured agates from this area in more detail in the article, "Chalcedony Gems of Craig Parish", (Gem Craft, July, 1977)
Agates have long been collected in this area. Thomas Pennant in his " A Tour of Scotland", 1769, noted that at Usan, "agates of a very beautiful kind are gathered in great quantities beneath the cliffs and are sent to the lapidaries in London". D. H. Edwards in, "Among the Fisher Folks of Usan and Ferryden", 1921, records that, "We have on many occasions engaged in the work of 'houking' pebbles from the rocks at Usan, and we have several specially finely marked specimens. Many of the visitors have been very lucky hunters, and possess well-polished stones set in brooches, pendants and sleeve- links and ear-rings. The salmon fishers also secure not a few, one of those men having a complete outfit for cutting and polishing the stones in a snug little workshop attached to his bothy at Marywell, quite close to the ancient graveyard on the site where stood the chapel of St Mary. That the work was engaged in with success about one hundred years ago is proved by the ruins of the cottage we have already spoken of as still to be seen"'along the braes"', known as "the pebble hoose". In this humble and lonely abode, almost washed by the sea, a man lived by himself and worked as a lapidary. We believe specimens of his handicraft are to be seen in several mansions in the district - notably in Usan House, the top of a round table formed with stones of many colours, and set with fine taste and skill".
Although the exact location of the Blue Hole is not known with certainty, it is widely thought to be in this general area. It may be that it was once a quarry which has has been filled in or it may have been a site which is now covered by the sea. For obvious reasons, agate collectors can be secretive about the locations for their best finds and they may create their own names for them. The Blue Hole is not marked on old maps of the area. After Dr Heddle's death, maps with his mineral collecting sites shown on them, were lodged with the Scottish Mountaineering Club but unfortunately they disappeared. Over the years, the Blue Hole has acquired almost legendary status as the source of some of Scotland's finest and most famous and agates. The exact location of the Blue Hole, however, remains a mystery.