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The Campsie Fells (also known as the Campsies;
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 ...
: ''Monadh Chamaisidh'') are a range of hills in central
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, stretching east to west from Denny Muir to Dumgoyne in Stirlingshire and overlooking Strathkelvin to the south. The southern extent of the range falls within
East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire ( sco, Aest Dunbartanshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north of Glasgow and contains many of the affluent areas to the north of the city, including Bear ...
. The range overlooks the villages of Strathblane, Blanefield, Milton Of Campsie, Lennoxtown and Torrance to the south; Killearn to the west, and Fintry and Strathendrick to the north. The
Fintry Hills The Fintry Hills form the western end of a range of hills which stretch west from the city of Stirling, Scotland. They culminate in the peak of Stronend, which overlooks Strathendrick and the village of Fintry. The northern, western and souther ...
lie further to the north; Kilpatrick Hills lie to the west and the Kilsyth Hills to the east.


Walking

Earl's Seat is the highest point of the Campsie Fells, measuring 578 m (1,896 ft). On the top of Earl's Seat is a trig point. Two main ways of climbing Earl's Seat are by going past Dumgoyne from the Glengoyne Distillery or going up the Fin Glen from
Clachan of Campsie Clachan of Campsie or Campsie Glen ( gd, Clachan Chamais) is a settlement in the East Dunbartonshire area of Scotland. It was formerly part of the county of Stirlingshire. It is situated to the south of the Campsie Fells at the foot of Campsie Gl ...
.


Etymology

The name is taken from one of the individual hills in the range, called Campsie; meaning "crooked fairy hill", from the Scottish Gaelic ''cam'', meaning "crooked", and ''sìth'' meaning "fairy". "Fell" originates from the
Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
word , meaning "hill".


Geology

Erosion along the line of a
geological fault In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectoni ...
known as the Campsie Fault has left tiers of rock representing some 30
lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or ...
flows which date from the
Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carboniferou ...
period. The headwaters of the River Carron rise in the Campsies.


Cultural relevance

The Campsie Fells have cemented their place in history as the birthplace of Scottish skiing, when William W. Naismith of Glasgow skied the area, becoming the first ever man to ski in Scotland in March 1892. The
Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over fou ...
film '' Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'' used the Campsies as a location, standing in for Natal during the
Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, cou ...
of 1879. On one day it was so cold that the extras acting as the Zulu warriors refused to put on their costumes and that day's filming was abandoned.


References


External links

* Computer-generated virtual panorama
Earl's Seat
{{coord, 56, 01, N, 4, 18, W, display=title, region:GB_type:mountain_source:GNS-enwiki Hills of the Scottish Midland Valley Volcanoes of Scotland Carboniferous volcanism Mountains and hills of Stirling (council area) Mountains and hills of East Dunbartonshire Mountain ranges of Scotland