Loudoun Hill

Loudoun Hill

Loudoun Hill, also commonly Loudounhill is a volcanic plug in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located near the head of the River Irvine, east of Darvel. One real and one fictional battle have been fought around Loudoun Hill.

Location

The A71 Edinburgh - Kilmarnock road passes by the base of the hill. This route follows a Roman road which linked the Clyde Valley with the Ayrshire coast. Loudoun Hill's position at the highest point on this route gives it huge strategic significance. The hill stands above moorland, and commands 360 degree views. On clear days the coast, 15 km away, and the Isle of Arran beyond, are visible.

Loudoun Hill has long been a site of human occupation. An iron age settlement is located at the foot of the south east slope. Nearby at Allanton Beg a Roman fort was built. The Darvel and Strathaven Railway passed the hill, crossing a viaduct whose piers still stand, although the bridge itself was removed as unsafe in 1986.

William Wallace

Main article: Battle of Loudoun Hill (1296)

Sir William Wallace supposedly ambushed and defeated an English force at Loudoun Hill in 1296, during the Wars of Scottish Independence, but this is now regarded as unhistorical.

It is thought that the battle site was to the south of the hill, at the end of the 'Windy Wizzen' (or 'Winny Wizzen'), a narrow gully near the former Roman Fort. According to the account of the minstrel Blind Harry, the English force of around 200 mounted men was heading west to the garrison at Ayr. Wallace's rebels, numbering perhaps 50, hid in the gully, constructing dykes to further narrow the way. Blind Harry tells how the English General Fenwick, who supposedly killed Wallace's father, was killed during the battle. The remainder of his troops were scattered, and the supplies he was carrying were left to the Scots.

Maps of the area name a mound to the east of Loudoun Hill as 'Wallace's Grave'. Traditionally this is the burial site of the English dead, rather than Wallace's own grave. On the slope opposite the mound is a monument to Wallace. Called the 'Spirit of Scotland', it shows an outline of Wallace in steel, five metres high. It was designed and created by local artist Richard Price, and dedicated in September 2004.

The Battle of Loudoun Hill

Main article: Battle of Loudoun Hill

The engagement remembered as the Battle of Loudoun Hill took place ten years later, in 1307. Robert Bruce, following his flight to Ireland after the Battle of Methven, had returned to Scotland to begin his campaign to wrest his kingdom back from Edward I of England. He claimed his first major victory over the English at the Battle of Glen Trool in April 1307.

Robert Bruce adopted almost the same site, although slightly further east, and similar tactics, for another encounter with English forces, this time under Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. On 10 May, Bruce's men dug a series of trenches, forcing the English towards boggy ground around Loch Gait. This allowed the 500–600 Scots to repulse an army of 3000. The first attack broke, and the English fled the field. Following the battle, Bruce left his brother Edward Bruce in command of the area, and headed north to continue his guerilla campaign in Buchan.

Stone engraving at top of Loudoun Hill: WALLACE, 1273

Historical Marker at top of Loudoun Hill: BATTLE OF LOUDOUN HILL, MAY 10, 1307. THROUGH DEVOTION AND BY WILLING HANDS THIS STONE WAS HAULED HERE TO COMMEMORATE THE FIRST VICTORY OF KING ROBERT THE BRUCE WHO WON FOR US FREEDOM FROM SERFDOM.

Covenanters

On 1 June 1679 a large conventicle, or outdoor religious service, was held at Loudoun Hill. The service was organised by the outlawed Covenanters, but was well attended. John Graham of Claverhouse, recently appointed to suppress the religious rebels, heard about the conventicle and headed to the area. His attempt to break up the gathering led to a skirmish known as the Battle of Drumclog, in which Claverhouse's dragoons were humiliatingly routed. The battle site lies around 1 km east of the hill. This battle formed the initial action of Walter Scott's novel, OLD MORTALITY.

Rock Climbing

The hill is a popular rock climbing venue, being home to some of a small number of rocky outcrops in central Scotland. There is rock climbing information on Loudoun Hill available at Scottish Climbs and UK Climbing.

Ley tunnel

A Ley tunnel is said in Ayrshire legends to run from Loudoun Hill to the Elfhame at the Cleeve Cove caves above the Dusk Water near Kilwinning. The Laird of Auchenskeith's collie dog is said to have entered at Cleeve Cove and come out at Loudoun hill, all covered in porridge and milk having trampled on the fair-folks brose at the entrance where it had been left out to cool.

See also

• Battle of Loudoun Hill

Sources

• Service, John (1890). Thir Notandums being the literary recreations of the Laird Canticarl of Mongrynen. Edinburgh & London : Y. J. Pentland.