Natural and cultural history
Poetry and art
The Pentland Hills have historically been a source of inspiration to some of Scotland's most celebrated artists, poets and authors.
Allan Ramsay based The Gentle Shepherd at Habbie's Howe near Carlops.
Robert Ferguson: perhaps Robert was thinking of the Pentlands in his wintery poem, The Daft Days.
Sir Walter Scott took inspiration from Carnethy Hill:
"I think I never saw anything more beautiful then
the ridge of Carnethy against a clear frosty sky,
with its peaks and varied slopes.
The hills glowed like purple amethyst;
the sky glowed topaz and vermillion colours.
I never saw a finer screen than Pentland,
considering that it is neither rocky or elevated."
Robert Louis Stevenson: residing at his summer home at Swanston, Robert used the Pentland Hills in numerous peoems at the beginning and end of his literary life.
Will H Ogilvie - took inspiration from the Pentlands to write, 'In Pentland Wine'.
For more information about these and other Scottish writers, visit the Writers Museum in Lady Stairs Close, Edinburgh.