Abstract
Synopsis A careful reading of Playfair’s Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth reveals that he identified a large granite erratic on the Isle of Arran as a specific example in Britain of the type of problem posed by the famous Jura erratics: massive granite blocks transported 90 kilometres from their source in the Mt. Blanc massif. Both Playfair and Hutton invoked glaciers, together with torrents, (flash floods and/or mudflows) as potential agents in moving such erratics together with the supposition that the mountains had been more elevated and the regional slopes more continuous. Both applied the idea to any granite mountains and Playfair gives a specific Scottish case. It is concluded that Playfair, and probably also Hutton, should be given credit for first extending the glacial idea to Scotland.
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