Schiehallion (; gd, Sìth Chailleann, ) is a prominent cone-shaped

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

in the Breadalbane region of the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...

, in the county of

Perthshire Perthshire ( locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the nort ...

. It rises to and is classed as a Munro. Schiehallion has a rich botanical life, interesting archaeology, and a unique place in scientific history for an 18th-century experiment in " weighing the Earth". It is near the centre of mainland Scotland. The mountain's popularity amongst walkers led to erosion on its footpath and extensive repairs were undertaken in 2001.

Name

The name ''Schiehallion'' comes from

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

''Sìth Chailleann'', meaning " fairy hill of

Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the part of Great Britain () that lies north of the River Forth, which includes most of the land area of Scotland. Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all ...

" or "-of the

Caledonians The Caledonians (; la, Caledones or '; grc-gre, Καληδῶνες, ''Kalēdōnes'') or the Caledonian Confederacy were a Brittonic-speaking ( Celtic) tribal confederacy in what is now Scotland during the Iron Age and Roman eras. The Gre ...

". Maskelyne (1772), however, reported a translation of "constant storm", and a Lowland Scots name of "Maiden Pap".

Location

Schiehallion lies between

Loch Tay Loch Tay ( gd, Loch Tatha) is a freshwater loch in the central highlands of Scotland, in the Perth and Kinross and Stirling council areas. It is the largest body of fresh water in Perth and Kinross, and the sixth largest loch in Scotland. Th ...

, Loch Rannoch and Loch Tummel, about to the west-north-west of Aberfeldy in

. The mountain, with an elevation of , is isolated from other peaks and has an almost perfectly conical shape from the west. The view of the broad eastern flank attracts many visitors to the shores of Loch Tummel. Schiehallion is sometimes described as the centre of Scotland, as it lies only 5 km west of the

centre of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force may ...

of mainland Scotland. The folk group '' Gaberlunzie'' sang a song "The Back of Schiehallion", meaning Scotland.

Botany

The slopes of Schiehallion are rich in botanical life, with heathers,

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ...

es and blaeberry. Blanket bog and heather moorland change colour with the seasons. The

limestone pavement A limestone pavement is a natural karst landform consisting of a flat, incised surface of exposed limestone that resembles an artificial pavement. The term is mainly used in the UK and Ireland, where many of these landforms have developed dis ...

provides nutrients, supporting plants including

dog's mercury ''Mercurialis perennis'', commonly known as dog's mercury, is a poisonous woodland plant found in much of Europe as well as in Algeria, Iran, Turkey, and the Caucasus, but almost absent from Ireland, Orkney and Shetland.lily of the valley and

wood anemone The phrase wood anemone is used in common names for several closely related species of flowering plants in genus ''Anemonoides'', including: * ''Anemonoides nemorosa'', the ''wood anemone'' in Europe and Asia * '' Anemonoides quinquefolia'', the '' ...

Geology

The majority of Schiehallion consists of

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tec ...

, a rock formed from an original sand by heat and pressure. Quartzite is a white or pinkish rock, in which the dominant mineral is

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical f ...

. People often mistakenly think that Schiehallion is an extinct volcano because its shape is reminiscent of an active volcano; in fact, it was formed by sedimentary processes and the shape is the result of erosion by ice during the ice ages.

History

The slopes of Schiehallion have been inhabited and cultivated since the first millennium BC until approximately two hundred years ago. Schiehallion has been used for grazing sheep and stalking red deer. Since 1999 the eastern side of the mountain has been owned by the John Muir Trust.

The Schiehallion experiment

Schiehallion's isolated position and regular shape led it to be selected by the English astronomer Charles Mason (of

Mason–Dixon line The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virginia ...

fame) for a ground-breaking experiment to estimate the

mass of the Earth An Earth mass (denoted as M_\mathrm or M_\oplus, where ⊕ is the standard astronomical symbol for Earth), is a unit of mass equal to the mass of the planet Earth. The current best estimate for the mass of Earth is , with a relative uncertainty ...

in 1774. The deflection of a pendulum by the mass of the mountain provided an estimate of the mean density of the Earth, from which its mass and a value for Newton's

gravitational constant The gravitational constant (also known as the universal gravitational constant, the Newtonian constant of gravitation, or the Cavendish gravitational constant), denoted by the capital letter , is an empirical physical constant involved in ...

''G'' could be deduced. Mason turned down a commission to carry out the work, and it was instead coordinated by the Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne. He was assisted in the task by mathematician Charles Hutton, who devised a graphical system to represent large volumes of surveyed heights, later known as

contour line A contour line (also isoline, isopleth, or isarithm) of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value, so that the curve joins points of equal value. It is a plane section of the three-dimensional gr ...

Footpath

A Munro mountain, Schiehallion is popular with walkers due to its accessibility, ease of ascent and views from its summit. An estimated 17,500 to 20,000 walkers made the ascent in 2000. Most walkers start from the

Forestry and Land Scotland Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) ( gd, Coilltearachd agus Fearann Alba) is responsible for managing and promoting Scotland's national forest estate: land, predominantly covered in forest, owned by the Scottish Government on behalf of the nation. ...

car park at Brae of Foss, which lies just outside the boundary of the John Muir Trust estate. The route, which initially heads southwest before turning west to follow the main ridgeline of the hill, is about in length. Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles, can be seen to the west from the summit of Schiehallion. By 1999, when the John Muir Trust bought the estate, the main path had become exceedingly eroded by the passage of many thousands of walkers. The scar was visible from quite a distance. The organisation therefore decided to construct a new path, following a different line, better able to handle the pressure of visitors.

In culture

The Schiehallion oilfield in the North Atlantic is named after the mountain. One of the major oilfields on Scotland's continental shelf, it is operated by BP and situated approximately west of

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the n ...

. Schiehallion was the setting for the final showdown in Grant Morrison's comic series ''

Zenith The zenith (, ) is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction ( plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location ( nadir). The zenith is the "high ...

''. The Harviestoun Brewery produce a

cask-conditioned Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous c ...

lager called Schiehallion. A Scottish country dance ("Schiehallion") and figure, the Schiehallion Reel, are both named after the mountain. The song "Schiehallion" was featured on the 1994 album ''Time For A New Day'' by the independent band King Rizla. Pipe Major Donald Shaw Ramsay composed a 3/4 march entitled "Schiehallion". The England-based band "Schiehallion Pipes and Drums" (named for the Munro) led by Drum Major Jim (Jaimie) Gibb, has adopted the march as their signature tune. It is the lead-in tune on their album ''Hail! Schiehallion.'' The Anglo-Swiss

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

band

Gloryhammer Gloryhammer (often stylized in all capital letters as GLORYHAMMER) is a British power metal band founded by keyboardist Christopher Bowes, lead vocalist of the band Alestorm. Each member of the band represents a character in the story concept. ...

features a fictional alternate-universe version of Schiehallion in the song "The Fires of Ancient Cosmic Destiny" from the album ''

Legends from Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex ''Legends from Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex'' is the third studio album by Anglo-Swiss symphonic power metal band Gloryhammer. It was released on 31 May 2019. It is the final album to feature vocalist Thomas Winkler. Story After Earth was ...

''. In the song it is described as having "raging volcanic fires" in reference to the popular misconception of the mountain being a volcano. The protagonist of the album, Angus McFife XIII King of Dundee, ends his life at Schiehallion.

Gallery

Schiehallion NW ridge.jpg, The north-west ridge of Schiehallion in April Image:SchiehallionSummit(wfmillar)Jun1998.jpg, View from the summit of Schiehallion looking over Loch Rannoch into the setting sun Image:schiehallion-little.jpg, View from summit of Schiehallion towards Loch Tummel

External links

360Routes.com
- virtual tours up to the summit of Shiehallion

Footnotes

* Computer generated summit panorama
North
{{Authority control Munros Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Southern Highlands Mountains and hills of Perth and Kinross Sites of Special Scientific Interest in West Perth One-thousanders of the British Isles