Tom Gillies

ISLAND was two miles and a half from the pretty watering - place of Dixtown; it was a point of interest to visitors to the latter place, who enjoyed sailing across the bay to picnic there, when the day was calm and the sun shone brightly. It had lofty cliffs, which terminated here and there in abrupt points, deep caves, and picturesque coves. The view from the back of the island commanded a wide expanse of ocean, and was so wild that the sea - birds built their nests in the crannies of the rock, choosing such dangerous places that only daring lads like Tom Gillies and his friend Dick Potter attempted to plunder them of their eggs.