Earl’s link to hill... and to Nova Scotia
DIGGING INTO THE PAST with Dr Murray Cook
One of the less dramatic peaks round Stirling is Earl’s Hill, which is a little lump at the eastern end of a ridge in amongst the Touch and Fintry hills.
It bristles with telecommunication masts and is not much of a climb, and it even has a road running up to the summit.
There are however, some great views from it though.
Ben Lomond is seen to the west and Falkirk to the east, and of course the vast Ochil fault line to the north.
To the north-east is where the Bannock Burn rises, bubbling and spurting from a spring under the peat: always cold, sharp and fresh.
That name of course most likely means the burn from Bannock and Bannock probably corrupts something from‘Ben’, Gaelic for hill.
The Bannock or Bannawc as it appears is first recorded in an ancient poem The Goddodin, the first to be written in what would become Scotland.
It records a fallen hero: Llif son of Cian‘from beyond Bannawc’whose fame was spread far and wide and who always bought a round!
He died around 1500 years ago in a cold, muddy field in North Yorkshire.
But who was the Earl? The name first appears in the late 17th century after the Earldom of Stirling had been created.
So it seems likely that the hill that dominates the south of the Earldom was named for the newly minted earl.
The first Earl was born in Menstrie House in 1567 and was highly regarded as a poet in his day (though his stuff has dated for me!).
His chief claim to fame was founding Nova Scotia, although he lost it and most of his money to the French!
Still, his hill is still there and a nice stroll of a Sunday afternoon.