The Sidlaws are a range of hills in the counties of

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

and

Angus Angus may refer to: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

that extend for 30 miles (45 km) from

Kinnoull Hill Kinnoull Hill is a hill located partly in Perth and partly in Kinfauns, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It shares its name with the nearby Kinnoull parish. Summit In view from the -high south-facing summit is the Friarton Bridge, a stretch of the ...

, near

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, northeast to

Forfar Forfar (; , ) is the county town of Angus, Scotland, and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million-pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town had a population of 16,280. The town ...

. A continuation of the

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

, they separate Strathmore to the north from the

Carse of Gowrie The Carse of Gowrie is a stretch of low-lying country in the southern part of Gowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It stretches for about along the north shore of the Firth of Tay between Perth and Dundee. The area offers high-quality agricultu ...

on the shore of the Tay. At 1492 feet (455 metres),

Craigowl Hill Craigowl Hill is a summit towards the eastern end of the Sidlaw Hills in Angus, Scotland. Northeast of Kirkton of Auchterhouse and approximately eight kilometres north of Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Sc ...

, north of Dundee, is the highest of the Sidlaws. Points of interest include

Dunsinane Hill Dunsinane Hill ( ) is a hill of the Sidlaws near the village of Collace in Perthshire, Scotland. It is mentioned in Shakespeare's play ''Macbeth'', in which a vision informs Macbeth that he "shall never vanquished be, until Great Birnam woo ...

, mentioned in

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

play ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'', and Auchterhouse Hill, which was the site of an ancient

hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

. The ruined observatory on

Kinpurnie Hill Kinpurnie Hill is one of the most famous hills of the Sidlaw range in south-east Angus. Kinpurnie Hill is located near Newtyle and is popular with hillwalkers. Name and etymology The name ''Kinpurney'' was recorded in 1317 as ''Kylprony'' ...

was built in the 18th century and can be seen for many miles on the Strathmore side of the Sidlaws. There is a local legend that a poacher named Brandon Henderson lived as a hermit in the tower for seven years in order to win a £100 bet. ''Sidlaw Hills'' is also the name of a "

Schottische The schottische is a partnered country dance that apparently originated in Bohemia. It was popular in Victorian-era ballrooms as a part of the Bohemian folk-dance craze and left its traces in folk music of countries such as Argentina (Spanish ...

" marching tune composed for the

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

by Jim Watson of Blairgowrie (1868–1931).

Geology

The Sidlaws are formed from a mix of

igneous Igneous rock ( ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The magma can be derived from partial ...

and

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...

s originating during the early part of the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

period. The Dundee Flagstones are a mix of slabby and

cross-bedded In geology, cross-bedding, also known as cross-stratification, is layering within a stratum and at an angle to the main bedding plane. The sedimentary structures which result are roughly horizontal units composed of inclined layers. The original ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

s with some

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility. Although its permeabil ...

s and

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility.Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' New York, New York, ...

s which interleave with the rocks of the overlying Ochil Volcanic Formation. They form the bulk of the hills along the southern margin of the range from Scotston Hill and the eastern slopes of Balkello Hill in the west, through Craigowl Hill, much of Gallow Hill, Ironside Hill and Finlarg Hill to Kincaldrum Hill in the east, together with the outlying Fothringham Hill and Carrot Hill ridge. The Dundee Flagstones were intruded by rocks of the 'Midland Valley Siluro-Devonian Mafic Intrusion Suite'; these outcrop on parts of Auchterhouse and Scotston hills, Blacklaw and West Mains hills. The Ochil Volcanics form the sometimes craggy King's Seat, Gask Hill, Northballo and Southballo hills and the ridge north and west of Long Loch; Lundie Craigs are a significant southeast facing exposure of this formation. They are also found across the larger part of Carlunie Hill and Berry Hillock together with Kinpurney Hill. The overlying Scone Sandstone forms the hill of Castleward and underlies the low ground of Strathmore to the north. Much of the lower ground around and within the hills is covered by glacial

till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

, a legacy of the last ice age.

Glaciofluvial deposits Fluvioglacial landforms or glaciofluvial landforms are those that result from the associated erosion and deposition of sediments caused by glacial meltwater. Glaciers contain suspended sediment loads, much of which is initially picked up from the ...

from the late stages of the ice age and post-glacial

alluvium Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

are also widespread. Beautifully coloured

agates Agate ( ) is a banded variety of chalcedony. Agate stones are characterized by alternating bands of different colored chalcedony and sometimes include Macroscopic scale, macroscopic quartz. They are common in nature and can be found globally in ...

, which formed over millions of years in cavities (originally gas bubbles) in the volcanic lava which formed the hills, are occasionally to be found weathered out of the rock in the surrounding fields.

References

External links

Hills of the Scottish Midland Valley Mountains and hills of Angus, Scotland Mountains and hills of Perth and Kinross Volcanism of Scotland Devonian volcanism Mountain ranges of Scotland {{Authority control

Geology

See also

References

External links