Jack thought about "Rammer-Lammer-Ding-Dong" as a title for this
cache; happily he was persuaded against it. We went with a pun on
the altitude of this fine viewpoint instead.
At 1730 feet, Lammer Law is not quite the highest of the
Lammermuir Hills - that honour goes to Meikle Says Law (see
GCVG3V) which is a whole 25 feet higher! The small
difference in height from one top to another says much about the
rolling moorland quality of these hills.
Lammer Law lies beside the old route through the hills between
Haddington and Lauder which is now a path taking walkers and riders
through the western Lammermuirs. You can start this route from the
north near Longyester (as described) or from the south near
Carfraemill. Or you can follow the hardy folk of times gone by and
take in the top as part of a journey from the sea and the fertile
coastal plain to the markets of the Border abbey towns. You can
also reach the top of Lammer Law from the hills round Hopes
reservoir.
"Lammer", which gives a name to this hill and to the
whole upland range which runs east from the divide of the Gala
Water, means "yellow" or "amber" in the local Scots. A dialect
which historically is properly known as "Inglis". "Law" as a
common term for a hill in the Border regions of both Scotland and
England is Scandanavian in origin. National distinctions are
complex things when you scratch the surface! So it's maybe fitting
that the cache was placed by an American and an Irishman (whatever
those terms mean!).
Why walk this hill? There is an abundance of wild and cultivated
life - as Firth of Forth's photo medley above shows. There is a
history that runs deep. And, if you choose the right day, there are
views that make the effort more than worth your while. The
Cicerone Guide to the Lammermuirs goes in a bit for purple
prose and this is what it has to say about Lammer Law:
as an example of classic mountain form it has little to
offer; as a grandstand and provider of views it is of the first
rank. Immediate views of Lauderdale, the Lothian coastal plain and
Edinburgh, with its plume of Pentland Hills streaming south-west.
More distant is the Firth of Forth, lapping the Kingdom of Fife;
and in the hazy distance the Perthshire highlands. Over the
heather-clad Lammermuir plateau, flat save for an occasional
pimpled top, or crevassed by a meltwater channel, can be seen the
bountiful Tweed valley, its patchwork ringed by the border bastions
of the Cheviots, Ettrick forest and the Tweedsmuir hills.
Getting There
From Gifford take the road to Longyester and south from there
down a single track road marked with a "no through road" sign.
Expect to meet many suicidal game birds and other poultry en route.
When the surfaced road runs out, park at N55.51.888
W002.44.256 and take to your heels along the track signposted
by the Scottish Rights of Way Society. Follow the track until a
gate on your right at N55.50.727 W002.45.321 leads to a path
along a fence towards the top of Lammer Law. The path joins a
Landrover track and soon reaches a junction at N55.50.863
W002.45.755. Turn left to approach the summit cairn and trig
point.