Dumyat or Dunmyat (

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 ...

: Dùn Mhèad) is a hill at the western extremity of the

Ochil Hills The Ochil Hills (; gd, Monadh Ochail is a range of hills in Scotland north of the Forth valley bordered by the towns of Stirling, Alloa, Kinross, Auchterarder and Perth. The only major roads crossing the hills pass through Glen Devon/ Gl ...

in central

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The name is thought to originate from ''Dun'' (hill fort) ''of the

Maeatae The Maeatae were a confederation of tribes that probably lived beyond the Antonine Wall in Roman Britain. The historical sources are vague as to the exact region they inhabited, but an association is thought to be indicated in the names of two h ...

''. Although relatively small (its height is 418 metres), the characteristic shape of the hill forms an important part of the distinctive scenery of the

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

area, and it is often depicted (particularly in postcards and calendars) in combination with the nearby

Abbey Craig The Abbey Craig is the hill upon which the Wallace Monument stands, at Causewayhead, just to the north of Stirling, Scotland. Physical geography The Abbey Craig is part of a complex quartz-dolerite intrusion or sill within carboniferous stra ...

. The hill is a popular climb with tourists and visitors to the Stirling and

Trossachs The Trossachs (; gd, Na Tròiseachan) generally refers to an area of wooded glens, braes, and lochs lying to the east of Ben Lomond in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The name is taken from that of a small woodland glen that lies at t ...

area, due to the historical nature of Stirling and the proximity of the

Wallace Monument The National Wallace Monument (generally known as the Wallace Monument) is a 67 metre tower on the shoulder of the Abbey Craig, a hilltop overlooking Stirling in Scotland. It commemorates Sir William Wallace, a 13th- and 14th-century Scottish hero ...

. Dumyat has two principal summits: Castle Law on the west, and Dumyat proper on the east. On the summit of Castle Law the remains of an ancient

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

, originally occupied by the Maeatae, are still clearly discernible. The fort is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

From Dumyat looking towards Grangemouth (geograph 3766267)

At one time the favourite route to the summit of either Dumyat or Castle Law was via the prominent gulley which runs almost straight up the southern scarp face, and continues down the gently sloping north face. This gulley was formed by the erosion of a fault, resulting from the juxtaposition of soft pyroclastic rocks on one side against harder

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predo ...

and

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

on the other."Sherrifmuir Road to Menstrie Burn", M. A. E. Browne (2007), Geological Conservation Review - http://www.jncc.gov.uk/pdf/gcrdb/GCRsiteaccount2509.pdf This has resulted in an area where hard

slightly overhangs, and is the darkest and least exposed part of the climb, which is not particularly difficult. Further gullies, formed by secondary tearing around the main fault (itself a product of the major disturbance which resulted from the

Ochil Fault The Ochil Fault is the geological feature which defines the southern edge of the Ochil Hills escarpment in Scotland. North of the fault, Devonian lava flows and pyroclastic deposits slope gently down, thinning towards the north. These are in pa ...

) extend to the right into Dumyat, and form potential shortcuts to the summit. The first of these, Raeburn's Gulley, is particularly dangerous and should only be attempted by experienced and properly equipped rock climbers, however the second, Siart Gulley, is climbable by anyone of average ability, if care is taken in scrambling up the steep step at the end. The third, fourth and fifth gullies are not named, and become progressively easier. Nowadays many people park their cars on

Sheriffmuir Sheriffmuir (or Sheriff Muir; Scottish Gaelic: Sliabh an t-Siorraim), the site of the inconclusive 1715 Battle of Sheriffmuir (part of the Jacobite rising of 1715), lies on the slopes of the Ochil Hills in Scotland, just inside the Perthshire ...

and take a longer but more gently sloping path to the summit, passing behind, i.e. slightly to the north of, the summit of Castle Law. The third route is via Menstrie Glen from the east, and is a somewhat gentle ascent in the beginning, which steepens satisfactorily for those who like a decent climb, as the summit is approached. The exposed terrain of Dumyat and the surrounding muir are suitable only for

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

farming, with several sheep folds dotting the hill's sides, along with the ruins of a shepherd's stone house. Dumyat was formerly the site of small-scale mining for

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

and barytes, although these workings are now abandoned. The

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ...

on the scarp face of Castle Law is a source of

agate Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Anci ...

s, not necessarily of the finest quality, but occasionally other specimens such as

smoky quartz Smoky quartz is a brownish grey, translucent variety of quartz that ranges in clarity from almost complete transparency to an almost-opaque brownish-gray or black crystals. The smoky color results from free silicon formed from the silicon dioxide ...

and citrine can be found, along with the inevitable

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 ...

, calcite, barytes, and two ores of copper,

malachite Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses, in fracture ...

, and less commonly,

azurite Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the type locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon, France. The mineral, a basic carb ...

. At the top is a memorial to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, a memorial bench to Mr Michael Simpson (a long serving and much loved member of the Open University) a

trig point A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they a ...

, and a characteristic cairn with a beacon on top that is currently filled with stones. The stones which are placed in the beacon are all wishes that have been made by others. The beacon on the top of Dumyat was commissioned for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977. It was carried up and erected by the Menstrie Scout Group and was part of the UK chain of beacons lit as part of the Jubilee celebrations.

References

External links

Information about the hill fort

Aerial photo of Dumyat
Web page and image P000728 (1 January 1976) fro
British Geological Survey

Photographs of Dumyat and the surrounding area
{{Authority control Hills of the Scottish Midland Valley Mountains and hills of Clackmannanshire Geology of Scotland Mountains and hills of Stirling (council area) Marilyns of Scotland Hill forts in Scotland Archaeological sites in Stirling (council area) Scheduled monuments in Scotland nl:Dumyat