is the main peak of the group of hills which form most of
Holyrood Park , a remarkably wild piece of highland landscape in the centre of the city of
Edinburgh , about a
Mile to the east of
Edinburgh Castle . The hill rises above the city to a height of 822
Feet (251
Metre s), provides excellent panoramic views of the city, is quite easy to climb, and is a popular walk. Though it can be climbed from almost any direction, the easiest and simplest ascent is from the East, where a grassy slope rises above
Dunsapie Loch .
Like the castle rock on which
Edinburgh Castle is built, it was formed by an extinct
Volcano system which was swept by a
Glacier moving from west to east, exposing rocky
Crag s to the west and leaving a tail of material swept to the east. This is how the
Salisbury Crags formed and became basalt cliffs between Arthur's Seat and the city centre.
Hillfort defences are visible round the main massif of Arthur's Seat at
Dunsapie Hill and above
Samson's Ribs , in the latter cases certainly of prehistoric date. These forts are likely to have been centres of power of the
Votadini , who were the subject of the poem 'Y
Gododdin ' which is thought to have been written about
600 CE in their hillfort on Edinburgh castle crag. The poem includes a simile comparing a warrior to
King Arthur which (if not a later addition) may be one of the earliest references to Arthur, and hints at a possibility that his fame might have led to one of the hillforts and hence the hill being named after him.
The hill bears a strong resemblance to the
Cavehill in
Belfast in terms of its geology and proximity to a major urban site.
- Stuart Piggott: ''Scotland before History'', Edinburgh University Press, 1982
