Hagierae Moss

I followed the course of this burn for about a mile. Not only is it quite picturesque in places, the going is fairly easy - certainly in comparison to a lot of the open country round here. West Burn joins with Mid Burn just downstream of here. After another unnamed burn to the West (following the naming pattern round here it should really be called Wester, or Westmost Burn) joins the flow it takes on its more famous name - Water of Leith - shortly before it enters Harperrig Reservoir, which starts around a mile North of this spot. The name 'Colzium', to me anyway, always has a rather ancient and menacing feel to it. Maybe it is because it contains the letter 'z'; it gives it an almost biblical importance. I have my doubts as to whether the origin of the name can really be the one which all online sources confidently suggest. Whilst the internet is a wonderful thing, this might be one of those instances in which one theory has just been copied and pasted by everybody since. Apparently it is a corruption of the old Gaelic word 'cuingleum' which is said to have meant 'gorge leap', which presumably means that in order to cross it you had to take a running jump over the water below. My arguments against are: (1) This is quite a big change in spelling/pronunciation over time. Spelling, however, varied enormously when literacy levels were low and there was no standardisation, so I am prepared to accept this might be wrong. (2) It seems too small a watercourse to have such a feature. I will at some point follow its course further though, to hunt out the supposed gorge. (3) Gaelic was rarely ever spoken round here. It may be relevant that there is a more famous 'Colzium' in North Lanarkshire which maybe does have a narrow gorge nearby. And Gaelic was spoken there to a certain degree at various points I believe. Online sources also differ in their guides to pronouncing it. These days - with this Colzium anyway - I have only ever heard it spoken as Coll-Zee-Um, with the stress on the first syllable.

A shower of rain and hail is passing through.

The sign warns of a live firing range. I couldn't recall this from my last visit here, about seven years ago (although I might've just forgotten), but there has been military training activity in some other parts of the Pentland Hills for a long time.

A faint rainbow is visible, on a day of sunshine and showers.

A shower of rain and hail is passing through.

Looking towards Harperrig Reservoir.

Very much the open heather moorland of the wilder part of the SW area of the Pentland Hills between West Cairn Hill, Byrehope Mount and Craigengar.

The boundary between Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire on the moorland ridge.

The headstreams on the slopes of West Cairn combine to become the Water of Leith near Colzium. It flows into Harperrig Reservoir and out to Balerno, from which it can be followed to Leith on the excellent footpath through Edinburgh.

A sign originally put up in the 1880s by the Scottish Rights of Way Society, in the days when pedestrians took the train to West Linton and walked over this route to Midcalder station.

The Thieves Road, an old drove road, crosses the ridge of the Pentlands here between Harperrig on the N side and West Linton on the S. The back of the Victorian sign NT1158 : A Victorian footpath sign, Cauldstane Slap is in the foreground. A walker can be seen to the left of the fence making his way up East Cairn Hill.

Heather management in the Pentland Hills. Patches of old heather are burnt to encourage new growth, which is good for the grouse.NT0644 : The west end of the Black Mount

Summit camp on West Cairn Hill with the lights of Livingston in the distance.

Wall, fence, cairn and Trig Point at the summit of West Cairn Hill on a wet morning.

Cool journey over frozen ground from west, A70. West Lothian current county/UA top. Name: West Cairn Hill Hill number: 1810 Height: 562m / 1844ft Area: 28A: Firth of Forth to the River Tweed Class: Hu,5D,CoU Grid ref: NT 10734 58399 Summit feature: cairn by trig point Drop: 132m Col: 430m NT118589

A steepening path has been worn up this side of the hill, although a gentle ascent to the summit can be had by going via the Cauldstane Slap.

Frozen ground makes for good walking conditions on West Cairn Hill.

The drystane dyke in the foreground is the march (boundary) fence between West Lothian and Peeblesshire.