Looking for xenoliths on Criffel

 

We used Chapter 8 from this book to look for the boundary of the pluton below Millour (page 465 onwards). We couldn't find the contact in the stream because it is now a jungle of gorse and brambles where the leat leaves the Kirkbean Burn. But we did have success on the slope just above. The map on page 467 promises strong foliation and dipping outwards at 50 degrees. And that seems to be the angle of the slope on these crags. The highlight was what appeared to be a paving slab cemented onto the granodiorite at the same angle in a place that cannot possibly be artificial. Turns out we had found a huge xenolith. Page 466 says that they are country rock and that they align with the foliation. And it can't have been much more that 100 metres from the pluton boundary. I like it when what you find matches what you've read!