Eldion Hills Scottish Borders Mini 4 Pro Nov 2024

Hills are so often described as ‘focal points’ in a landscape. But what happens when the hills are shapeshifters? Such is the way of the Eildon Hills, whose three highest peaks are perhaps the most recognisable and beloved landmarks of the Scottish Borders. Their shadows touch, quite literally, upon the remnants of ages past that altogether shaped the identity of the area. In the low winter sun, the shadow cast from Eildon Hill North breaches the boundaries of the vast, and almost entirely vanished, Roman fort of Trimontium astride the River Tweed. It has also been noted, only quite recently, that the Midwinter shadow of Eildon Mid Hill very nearly touches the high altar of Melrose Abbey. Most would say that there are three Eildons – Eildon Hill North, Eildon Mid Hill, and Eildon Wester Hill. There is, however, a fourth, aptly called ‘Little Hill’, nestled at the edge of a shallow valley on the western edge of the range between Eildon Mid and Eildon Wester hills. Still, from most perspectives it is the three highest peaks that dominate. Depending on where you stand, even this is subject to change. The tendency of these hills – so sudden and magnetic in their otherwise low-lying and placid surrounds – to become three, two, or even one has bolstered belief in their magical quality. Seen from the west and south, for instance from high ground above Sir Walter Scott’s home of Abbotsford or the Minto Hills, they stand as triplets, with Eildon Wester stretching away from the others. From the north, as at the old monastic site of Gattonside, Eildon North and Mid hills appear as twins, with perspective playing tricks as to which is the highest (Eildon Mid Hill comes out on top, barely, at 422 metres compared with Eildon North’s 404). From the east, the three become one as Eildon Hill North seems to engulf them all.