Criffle Diamonds
It is strongly reported that this hill is full of these precious stones, but never can any of them be obtained; sailors passing it on the sea in their barks by night, are said to see them sparkle in the cliffs, but when they haul their wind, and go ashore in boats to get them, their guiding radiance vanishes, and so they come aboard sadly disappointed. Inventive fancies have suggested the firing of cannon balls at them through the nocturnal gloom; then finding in day-light the places struck by the bullets, which would be in the neighbourhood of the rare minerals; but I know not whether this plan has ever been yet tried.
Source
- John Mactaggart, The Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia (1824), p. 146