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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Giant's Causeway
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Promontory in northern Ireland, in County Antrim, formed of vertical stone columns, most of which are irregular hexagons. They are the result of the rapid cooling of molten basalt, forced some 60 million years ago through a volcanic rift which stretches due north under the sea to *Staffa, where the same shapes occur. The name derives from the ancient legend that these are stepping stones laid by a giant so that he could cross the sea. Dr Johnson, a reluctant traveller, declared the Giant's Causeway to be 'worth seeing, yes, but not worth going to see' (a very precise anticipation of the later distinction in Michelin guides between vaut la visite and vaut le détour).
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