Arthur’s Seat is a massive hill in the centre of Edinburgh. A huge extinct volcano, it has dominated the area for 340 million years and today forms the centre of Holyrood Park. It is 825 feet (251m) high and its summit is the highest point in Edinburgh.
The volcano was formed during the Carboniferous age at a time when the land that is now Scotland was attached to the North American continent.
When you look at Arthur’s Seat it looks like a crouched lion. The ‘head’ and the ‘haunches’ of the lion are the ancient volcanic vents, smoothed over around 10,000 during the last ice age. As the great ice sheets scoured their way across Scotland from west to east, the top of the extinct volcano was smoothed over and the great cliffs known as Salisbury Crags were exposed.
After getting over the fact that this huge hill in the centre of Edinburgh is actually a volcano – albeit an extinct one – the next thing that people usually ask is, “why is it called Arthur’s Seat?”.
Why Is Arthur’s Seat So Called?
No one’s really sure why it’s called Arthur’s Seat. It’s certainly had other names over the centuries. A 12th century name for the hill was Mount Dolorous, possibly meaning ‘hill of sorrows’. Other texts from the 12th century documents refer to the hill as /Graggenemarf,/which is an early Welsh name for ‘dead men’s rock’.
There’s no accepted explanation for why it’s called what it’s called now. But there are theories as to why it’s called Arthur’s Seat.
1. It’s Linked To King Arthur
If you’ve even got a little knowledge of the history of the British Isles, you’ve probably heard of King Arthur. Arthur lived at a time after the Romans left, in the Early Middle Ages, what used to be called the Dark Ages., which is roughly the 5th or 6th century AD.
Arthur was the king that built the round table so that he and his knights could sit around it without anyone, including Arthur, sitting at the head of the table. A kind of a knight fellowship.
One of the mysteries about Arthur (if he existed at all, but that’s another story) is that he’s often linked to the Y Gododdin, a poem about the people of the early middle ages called the Gododdin (or Votadini, as the Romans called them).
The Y Gododdin poem is about the Battle of Catterick (or Catraeth) in 598. But it’s the interpretation of this very old text and it’s somewhat tenuous reference to Arthur that have spawned the link to the great hill in Edinburgh. For example, ‘Catraeth’ could be from ‘Cader Arth’, which translates to Arthur’s Chair or Seat.
Who knows? But there’s no other famous Arthur in history whose name is linked to the old volcano.
2. It’s From The Gaelic
Many place names in Scotland are originally Gaelic names that, over the years, have been Anglicised or corrupted in some way to become the name we’re familiar with today.
Àrd-na-Said translates roughly to the ‘height of the arrows’. It’s said that the hill was named after the highest height that an archer could fire an arrow.
And it’s true that many place names in Scotland come from the Anglicisations of the original Gaelic name. Another link is that the hill might have been called Archer’s Seat and over the years became known as Arthur’s Seat.
Alternatively Ard-thir Suidhemeans, roughly translated, as the place or seat on high ground. This derivation is a little bit of stretch because Gaelic places the adjective after the noun, so it would be said or written as Suidhe ard-tir.
With the word tir pronounced, roughly, as thir or chir, one can see how Ard-thir Suidhe (pron ard chir soo-he) became Arthur’s Seat!
It Was Named By King James IV
James was King of Scots from 1488 to 1513 and was regarded throughout Europe as a renaissance Prince. At the time in Scotland, the ancient Arthurian legends were being reimagined and a work by a poet of the king mentions the hill.
William Dunbar’s The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy, refers to Arthuris Sete. “On Arthuris Sete or on ane hyar hyll.” (On Arthur’s Seat or on a higher hill).
So it’s been Arthur’s Seat since probably at least the 15th century and it isn’t likely to change now. But perhaps it’s better to think of the origin of its name as being shrouded in the mists of time.
How Long Does It Take To Walk Up Arthur’s Seat?
It takes around an hour to walk to the top of Arthur’s Seat. There are many ways to get to the top of course, and depending on the path you take, will determine the time it takes you.
As well as climbing to the top of Arthur’s Seat, there are many walks around the hill too, which are very pleasant and also offer some great views of Edinburgh.
The summit of Arthur’s Seat is the highest point in Edinburgh so when you reach the top there’s literally nothing to get in the way and you will see the whole of Edinburgh as it spreads around the great hill.
Climb Arthur’s Seat From Holyrood Palace
This is the common route to the top and is the closest to the old town. Walking to the bottom of the Royal Mile, you’ll come to the Palace of Holyrood House and the Scottish Parliament. You’ll also see the great hill rising from the park. Head for the hill, with the Palace on your left and the Parliament on your right and you’ll come into Holyrood Park.
If you’re driving, there’s some limited parking in the park. Turn into the park from the roundabout at the bottom of the Royal Mile and drive past the Palace to the car park that will appear on your left. Note that parking in the car park is charged.
Once in the park, you’ll see a track opposite, heading up the hill. It’s a paved track extending from the pavement so it’s easy to walk on. You’ll recognise it because there are almost always people walking up and down the track.
Start on the track and it will take you eastward before turning south as you climb the hill. Near the top the track turns west toward the summit. Note that tarmac track eventually peters out and you’ll be walking on the grass as you climb to the top.
If you walk at a steady pace, you should reach the top in about an hour. But what a walk! As you gain height, you will see more and more of Edinburgh as it spreads out beneath you. Look especially to the north and you will see the city as it stretches out to touch the sparkling waters of the River Forth.
Look to the north-west and you will see the three great bridges that carry roads and the railway across the river to Fife.
Look to the east, which is the direction that you approached the summit and you will see all the way down the firth of Forth to East Lothian and the North Sea. Look for two hills rising out of the flat landscape. The one to the right, inland, is Traprain Law, the one to the left, near the sea, is Berwick Law and the town beside it is North Berwick.
Just off the coast from North Berwick is a huge rock that rises vertically out of the water. That’s the famous Bass Rock, home to the largest colony of nesting gannets in the world.
Climb The Radical Road
As you walk up the tarmac path from the pavement, instead of following the path off to the left (east) very quickly as you climb you’ll see a track off to the right. This is the Radical Road.
The Radical Road is a trickier way to the top, so watch your footing as you walk.
It’s called the Radical Road because it was built by so-called radical workers. In the 19th century after the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, a great many people were out of work. The unemployed were led by
weavers, who were very militant and threatened civil unrest.
Sir Walter Scott, the great poet and writer, diverted some of these weavers from radical political action by giving them work to build a new road to the top of the Salisbury Crags. Hence the path is therefore known as The Radical Road.