A Marilyn is a type of mountain or hill in Great Britain, Ireland or surrounding islands with a relative height of at least 150 metres (492 ft), regardless of absolute height or other merit. The name was coined as an ironic contrast to the designation Munro, used of a Scottish mountain with a height of more than 3,000 feet (914.4 m), which is homophonous with (Marilyn) Monroe.
There are 1555 Marilyns identified in Great Britain and surrounding islands: 1215 in Scotland, 178 in England, 157 in Wales and 5 on the Isle of Man. (The Black Mountain, on the border between England and Wales, was formerly counted in both countries but is now treated as being in Wales only.[1]) There are a further 455 in Ireland (66 in Northern Ireland and 389 in the Republic of Ireland) bringing the total to 2010. The list of Marilyns in Britain was compiled by Alan Dawson in his book The Relative Hills of Britain,[2] and continues to change as the Ordnance Survey brings out new maps with revised heights for hills and the passes between them. The list was extended into Ireland by Clem Clements in a booklet, The Hewitts and Marilyns of Ireland.[3]
Many of the islands' largest hills are Marilyns, including Ben Nevis, Carrantuohill, Scafell Pike and Snowdon. On the other hand, many large hills, including some Munros, and other well-known hills such as Bowfell, the Langdale Pikes and Carnedd Dafydd, are not Marilyns because they do not have sufficient relative height. However, some infrequently-visited or lower hills such as Seatallan and Watch Hill on the edges of Lakeland and the Long Mynd in Shropshire do qualify because of their isolation from higher peaks. Not all of the Marilyns are even hills in the usual sense: one lies within the East Sussex town of Crowborough, whilst the top of the Yorkshire Wolds, Bishop Wilton Wold lies alongside the A166 road. At the other extreme are Stac Lee and Stac an Armin, the two highest sea stacks in the British Isles, in the St. Kilda archipelago, over 81 miles (130 km) west of the Scottish mainland.
In Scotland, Marilyns tend to be sidelined by other lists of hills based primarily on absolute height, such as the Munros, Corbetts, Grahams and Donalds, though all Corbetts and Grahams, about two-thirds of the Munros, and around half of the Donalds are also Marilyns. Some hillwalkers attempt to climb as many Marilyns as possible as a form of peak bagging. Some radio amateurs attempt to operate from the summit of every Marilyn.[4] As of the end of 2008, no one has completed the list; however, six people are only four or five short of completing the Great Britain list (because of the inaccessibility of five of the St Kilda Marilyns).[5]
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See also
- Hill lists in the British Isles
- List of mountains of the British Isles by relative height — a list of the top 119 Marilyns by relative height.
External links
- Marilyn News Centre
- Lakes24 24 Marilyns in 24 hours in the English Lake District
- Winter wanderland -- Guardian travel article about the Marilyns
- Google Earth .kmz file showing all Marilyns
- List and introduction to 2993 British "HuMPs", or hundred metre prominences.
References
- ^ Dawson, Alan (2006). "Update to The Relative Hills of Britain". http://www.rhb.org.uk/updates/up200604.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-06.
- ^ Dawson, Alan (1992). The Relative Hills of Britain. Milnthorpe, Cumbria: Cicerone Press. ISBN 1-85284-068-4. http://bubl.ac.uk/org/tacit/marilyns/.
- ^ Clements, E.D. 'Clem' (1998). The Hewitts and Marilyns of Ireland. Cambuskenneth, Stirling: TACit Press. ISBN 0-9522680-8-6.
- ^ Earnshaw, Jon (2006). "Summits on the Air". http://www.sota.org.uk/. Retrieved 2006-01-12.
- ^ Dawson, Alan (2009). "Marilyn Hall of Fame". http://www.rhb.org.uk/marhofn/marhofn196/. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
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