Schiehallion
Encyclopedia
Schiehallion is a prominent mountain
in Perth and Kinross
, Scotland
. Schiehallion has a rich botanical life, interesting archaeology, and a unique place in scientific history for an 18th-century experiment in 'weighing the world'. The mountain's popularity amongst walkers led to erosion on its footpath and extensive repairs were undertaken in 2001.
form of the Gaelic name Sìdh Chailleann, usually translated as 'Fairy Hill
of the Caledonians
' but may also be translated as 'The Maiden's Pap', or 'Constant Storm'.
and Loch Tummel
, 10 miles north of Aberfeldy in Perthshire
. The mountain (3547 ft/1083m) is isolated from other peaks and has an almost perfect 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
. The justification is that the line of latitude
midway between the most northerly and southerly points on the Scottish mainland, and the line of longitude
midway between the most easterly and westerly points, intersect very near the summit of Schiehallion.
s, moss
es and blaeberry. Blanket bog
and heather moorland change colour with the seasons. The limestone pavement
provides nutrients, supporting plants including dog's mercury
, lily of the valley
and wood anemone
.
Since 1999 the eastern side of the mountain has been owned by the John Muir Trust
.
Schiehallion's isolated position and regular shape led it to be selected by Charles Mason
for a ground-breaking experiment to estimate the mass of the Earth
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
G could be deduced. Mason turned down a commission to carry out the work and it was instead coordinated by 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
s.
The experiment was repeated in 2005 as an educational initiative led by scientific consultants Counting Thoughts.
, Schiehallion is popular with walkers due to its accessibility, ease of ascent and spectacular views. An estimated 17,500 to 20,000 walkers made the ascent in 2000. Most walkers start from the Forestry Commission
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 4.5 km in length.
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.
is named after the mountain. One of the major oilfields on the UK's continental shelf, it is operated by BP and situated in the North Atlantic approximately 180 miles west of Shetland.
Schiehallion was the setting for the final showdown in Grant Morrison
's comic series Zenith
. The Harviestoun Brewery produce a cask-conditioned
lager
called Schiehallion. A Scottish Country Dance
("Schiehallion") and figure, the Schiehallion Reel are both named after the mountain. Song "Schiehallion" featured on the 1994 album Time For A New Day by the independent band King Rizla.
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
in Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross is one of 32 council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee City, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Stirling, Argyll and Bute and Highland council areas. Perth is the administrative centre...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Schiehallion has a rich botanical life, interesting archaeology, and a unique place in scientific history for an 18th-century experiment in 'weighing the world'. The mountain's popularity amongst walkers led to erosion on its footpath and extensive repairs were undertaken in 2001.
Etymology
The name Schiehallion is an anglicisedAnglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
form of the Gaelic name Sìdh Chailleann, usually translated as 'Fairy Hill
Sídhe
The aos sí are a supernatural race in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology are comparable to the fairies or elves. They are said to live underground in the fairy mounds, across the western sea, or in an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans...
of the Caledonians
Caledonians
The Caledonians , or Caledonian Confederacy, is a name given by historians to a group of indigenous peoples of what is now Scotland during the Iron Age and Roman eras. The Romans referred to their territory as Caledonia and initially included them as Britons, but later distinguished as the Picts...
' but may also be translated as 'The Maiden's Pap', or 'Constant Storm'.
Location
Schiehallion lies between Loch TayLoch Tay
Loch Tay is a freshwater loch in the central highlands of Scotland, in the district of Perthshire.It is a long narrow loch of around 14 miles long, and typically around 1 to 1½ miles wide, following the line of the valley from the south west to north east...
and Loch Tummel
Loch Tummel
Loch Tummel is a long, narrow loch, 7 kilometres north west of Pitlochry in Perth and Kinross, Scotland .-Geography:The loch is approximately 11 kilometres long from east to west, and is just under 1 kilometre wide...
, 10 miles north of Aberfeldy in Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
. The mountain (3547 ft/1083m) is isolated from other peaks and has an almost perfect 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
Centre of Scotland
There is some debate as to the location of the geographical centre of Scotland. This is due to different methods of calculating the centre, and whether surrounding islands are included....
. The justification is that the line of latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
midway between the most northerly and southerly points on the Scottish mainland, and the line of longitude
Longitude
Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
midway between the most easterly and westerly points, intersect very near the summit of Schiehallion.
Botany
The slopes of Schiehallion are rich in botanical life, with heatherCalluna
Calluna vulgaris is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing perennial shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade...
s, moss
Moss
Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...
es and blaeberry. Blanket bog
Blanket bog
Blanket bog or blanket mire is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses of undulating ground. The blanketing of the ground with a variable depth of peat...
and heather moorland change colour with the seasons. The limestone pavement
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 where many of these landforms have developed distinctive surface patterning resembling block of paving...
provides nutrients, supporting plants including dog's mercury
Dog's Mercury
Mercurialis perennis, commonly known as dog's mercury, is a woodland plant found in much of Europe, but almost absent from Ireland, Orkney and Shetland. A member of the spurge family , it is a herbaceous, downy perennial with erect stems bearing simple, serrate leaves. The dioecious inflorescences...
, lily of the valley
Lily of the Valley
Convallaria majalis , commonly known as the lily-of-the-valley, is a poisonous woodland flowering plant native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia and Europe....
and wood anemone
Anemone nemorosa
Anemone nemorosa is an early-spring flowering plant in the genus Anemone in the family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe. Common names include wood anemone, windflower, thimbleweed and smell fox, an allusion to the musky smell of the leaves...
.
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
John Muir Trust
The John Muir Trust is a Scottish charity established as a membership organisation in 1983 to conserve wild land and wild places for the benefit of all...
.
The Schiehallion experiment
Schiehallion's isolated position and regular shape led it to be selected by Charles Mason
Charles Mason
Charles Mason was an English astronomer who made significant contributions to 18th-century science and American history, particularly through his involvement with the survey of the Mason-Dixon line, which came to mark the division between the northern and southern United States...
for a ground-breaking experiment to estimate the mass of the Earth
Earth mass
Earth mass is the unit of mass equal to that of the Earth. 1 M⊕ = 5.9722 × 1024 kg. Earth mass is often used to describe masses of rocky terrestrial planets....
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
Gravitational constant
The gravitational constant, denoted G, is an empirical physical constant involved in the calculation of the gravitational attraction between objects with mass. It appears in Newton's law of universal gravitation and in Einstein's theory of general relativity. It is also known as the universal...
G could be deduced. Mason turned down a commission to carry out the work and it was instead coordinated by Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the second is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834....
, Nevil Maskelyne
Nevil Maskelyne
The Reverend Dr Nevil Maskelyne FRS was the fifth English Astronomer Royal. He held the office from 1765 to 1811.-Biography:...
. He was assisted in the task by mathematician Charles Hutton
Charles Hutton
Charles Hutton was an English mathematician.Hutton was born at Newcastle-on-Tyne. He was educated in a school at Jesmond, kept by Mr Ivison, a clergyman of the Church of England...
, who devised a graphical system to represent large volumes of surveyed heights, later known as contour line
Contour line
A contour line of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value. In cartography, a contour line joins points of equal elevation above a given level, such as mean sea level...
s.
The experiment was repeated in 2005 as an educational initiative led by scientific consultants Counting Thoughts.
Footpath
A MunroMunro
A Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over . They are named after Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet , who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munros Tables, in 1891. A Munro top is a summit over 3,000 ft which is not regarded as a separate mountain...
, Schiehallion is popular with walkers due to its accessibility, ease of ascent and spectacular views. An estimated 17,500 to 20,000 walkers made the ascent in 2000. Most walkers start from the Forestry Commission
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
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 4.5 km in length.
By 1999, when the John Muir Trust bought the estate, the main path had become exceedingly eroded
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
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 oilfieldSchiehallion oilfield
The Schiehallion oilfield is a deepwater offshore oilfield approximately west of the Shetland Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Schiehallion and adjacent Loyal field were jointly developed by BP on behalf of the Schiehallion field partners; BP, Shell, Amerada Hess, Murphy Oil, Statoil and...
is named after the mountain. One of the major oilfields on the UK's continental shelf, it is operated by BP and situated in the North Atlantic approximately 180 miles west of Shetland.
Schiehallion was the setting for the final showdown in Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
's comic series Zenith
Zenith (comics)
Zenith is a British superhero, who appeared in the science fiction comic 2000 AD. Created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Steve Yeowell, with original character designs by Brendan McCarthy, he first appeared in 2000 AD #536 .Shallow and sarcastic, Zenith was a distinctly Generation X superhero...
. The Harviestoun Brewery produce a cask-conditioned
Cask ale
Cask ale or cask-conditioned beer is the term for unfiltered and unpasteurised beer which is conditioned and served from a cask without additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure...
lager
Lager
Lager is a type of beer made from malted barley that is brewed and stored at low temperatures. There are many types of lager; pale lager is the most widely-consumed and commercially available style of beer in the world; Pilsner, Bock, Dortmunder Export and Märzen are all styles of lager...
called Schiehallion. A Scottish Country Dance
Scottish country dance
A Scottish country dance is a form of social dance involving groups of mixed couples of dancers tracing progressive patterns according to a predetermined choreography...
("Schiehallion") and figure, the Schiehallion Reel are both named after the mountain. Song "Schiehallion" featured on the 1994 album Time For A New Day by the independent band King Rizla.
See also
- List of places in Perth and Kinross
- List of mountains in Scotland
- Maiden Paps
- Breast shaped hills
Footnotes
- Computer generated summit panoramas North
