The Eildons Wild Walks

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It's a windy, wintry morning on the Scottish Borders

and I'm just above the town of Melrose -

world-famous, of course, for its rugby sevens.

But it's another number that I'm interested in today -

not seven, but the number three,

because the hills we're going to climb today

were once known to the Romans as Trimontium.

The three conical mounds of the Eildons are, on that side,

Mid Hill, North Hill,

and away round the corner there, Wester Hill.

They were formed a long, long time ago by an immense lava flow

that once covered this whole area.

That lava flow intruded into the sandstone below,

the underlying sandstone,

and through countless centuries of rain and wind and ice,

they've been weathered down into three distinct tops

that have become a well-loved symbol of the Scottish Borders.

And you know, on a day like this,

you can be assured that that weathering process

is still going on.

The wind is really fierce today.

In fact, it's so fierce,

that tomorrow we might even have six Eildons.

Here's the first of our three hills of the Eildons - Eildon Hill North.

Not very far now.

This looks like a fairly substantial track I'm walking up,

indeed you could get a horse and cart up here.

And I suspect its origins are pretty ancient,

because at one time, there was quite a large settlement up here.

This is the first of our three Eildon Hills

and archaeologists reckon

that 2,000 years ago, the people of the Selgovae tribe

had built about 300 hut circles up here on the slopes of the hill.

Can you imagine that - 300 hut circles?

It must have been like an ancient city.

You know, it's not surprising,

because by building their homes up here,

they could see enemies approaching from a long way away.

Later on, the Romans took over the site

and they used it as a signal station.

And by lighting a fire up here,

it could be seen for dozens of miles all around.

I've developed a real passion for walking here in the Borders,

a passion that was born

when I tackled a section of the Southern Upland Way

about 20 years ago.

I discovered this was an area of Scotland

rich in legend and folklore,

with some great hills into the bargain.

Although it's not a long walk,

the triple tops of the Eildons offer an excellent leg-stretch

for these shorter days of winter.

This is Eildon Mid Hill - 442 metres or 1,385 feet.

Unlike the other tops of the Eildons,

it really reeks of ancient history.

There was apparently a burial cairn up here

and today, we've got this view indicator

and it's showing me the Teviots of Northumberland

are over in that direction,

the Moorfoots are over in that direction,

and the Lammermuirs across that way.

It's interesting,

both the Moorfoots and the Lammermuirs have got snow on them,

so winter has arrived with a vengeance.

I'm heading towards the last of our Eildons, Wester Eildon.

You know, while I'm fascinated by the geology of hills like this,

I'm equally fascinated by the alternative theories

of how a landscape developed.

There's a lovely here that the Eildons were actually formed

by a man called Michael Scott the Wizard

and he was ordered by Old Nick, the devil himself,

to turn the one single Eildon into three.

So, using his supernatural powers, that's exactly what he did.

It's also claimed in this area

that the 13th century bard, Thomas the Rhymer,

was captured by the fairy folk and spent seven years in Efland,

which was apparently below the Eildons, right here in the Borders.

But, you know, the one thing that bothers me is this name,

Michael Scott the Wizard. It's a lousy name for a wizard!

You really need a Merlin, or a Gandalf, or something like that.

But I think what really worries me about it

is I once had an accountant by the name of Michael Scott,

and he was certainly no wizard!

Here we are, the final top of our Eildons trio.

You know, these might not be big hills in terms of elevation,

but they are prominent hills

in relation to the rolling landscape around them.

They've also got one other good thing going for them

from this final top, it's only about 30 or 40 minutes down to Melrose

and a particularly good coffee shop that I know.

With all this talk of supernatural powers and wizards,

I think I can hear the distant magical call of a latte

summoning me down below to somewhere warmer.

See you next time.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd