The Bass
| Meaning of name | Uncertain |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 Bass Rock
Bass Rock shown within East Lothian
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| OS grid reference | NT602873 |
| Coordinates | 56°05′N 2°38′W / 56.08°N 2.64°W |
| Physical geography | |
| Island group | Islands of the Forth |
| Area | 3 hectares (7 acres) |
| Highest elevation | 107 metres (351 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | Scotland |
| Council area | East Lothian |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
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| References | |
The Bass Rock, or simply the Bass (pronunciation: /ˈbæs/), is an island in the outer part of the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland. Approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) offshore, and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north-east of North Berwick, it is a steep-sided volcanic rock, 107 metres (351 ft) at its highest point, and is home to a large colony of gannets. The rock is currently uninhabited, but historically has been settled by an early Christian hermit, and later was the site of an important castle, which after the Commonwealth period was used as a prison. The island belongs to Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple, whose family acquired it in 1706, and before to the Lauder family for almost six centuries. The Bass Rock Lighthouse was constructed on the rock in 1902, and the remains of an ancient chapel survive.
The Bass Rock features in many works of fiction, including Robert Louis Stevenson's Catriona and The Lion is Rampant by the Scottish novelist Ross Laidlaw.
The island is a volcanic plug of phonolitic trachyte rock of Carboniferous (Dinantian) age. The rock was first recognised as an igneous intrusion by James Hutton, while Hugh Miller visited in 1847 and wrote about the rock's geology in his book Edinburgh and its Neighbourhood, Geological and Historical: with The Geology of the Bass Rock.
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