King's Cave ( gd, Uamh an Rìgh) is the largest of a series of seafront

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s north of

Blackwaterfoot Blackwaterfoot ( gd, Bun na Uisge Dubh ) is a village on the Isle of Arran in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. The village is within the parish of Kilmory. It is located in the Shiskine valley in the south-west of the island. It is one of the small ...

on the

Isle of Arran The Isle of Arran (; sco, Isle o Arran; gd, Eilean Arainn) or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at . Historically part of Butesh ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The caves were formed around 10,000 to 6,000 years ago during an

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

when the mass of ice forced the land down, so the sea was relatively higher, with high tide around up from its present level. When the ice melted the land rose due to a process called

isostatic rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound a ...

, forming a raised shoreline or

raised beach A raised beach, coastal terrace,Pinter, N (2010): 'Coastal Terraces, Sealevel, and Active Tectonics' (educational exercise), from 2/04/2011/ref> or perched coastline is a relatively flat, horizontal or gently inclined surface of marine origin,P ...

with

relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...

sea-cliffs. The hillside above the cliffs has a shallow slope resulting from an earlier raised beach, nominally above present high tide. Kilmory Parish church records suggest the cave may have been used for church meetings in the eighteenth century, and it is also said to have been used as a school. Before being known as the King's Cave it was known as Fingal's Cave after

Fionn mac Cumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill ( ; Old and mga, Find or ''mac Cumail'' or ''mac Umaill''), often anglicized Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of ...

The current name of the cave is linked to the legend of

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...

seeking refuge in a cave where he is said to have been inspired by watching a spider's numerous and ultimately successful attempts to build a web, but this story is widely considered apocryphal. In January 1909, an archeological dig was conducted within the cave. A 32 foot long trench was dug and examined, but aside from a small bronze ornament and some animal bones nothing of interest was found, so the dig was halted on the fourth day.

References

Caves of Scotland Landforms of the Isle of Arran {{NorthAyrshire-geo-stub