Hill of Kinnoull (Place)

A hill in Perth, Scotland, with a dramatic cliff face overlooking the Tay River. The hill rises on the east bank of the river, opposite the main part of the city, on the west bank.

In Memorabilia of the City of Perth (1806), two excursions were recommended respecting the hill, one at its base, and the other to its summit. The excursion around its base started “by a path which leads entirely round the Hill of Moncrieff. As far as we ride eastward, we accompany the Tay, which flows smoothly under the sublime Crag of Kinnoull, with which it unites to form a scene of uncommon grandeur. As the road turns round the hill, the view, formerly confined, now magnificently expands”. Formerly located “at the bottom of the hill, on the bank of the river opposite the South Inch”, stood the Castle of Kinnoul, “but the plough has now removed every vestige of this edifice” (pp. 36, 43).

The excursion to the summit was to be reserved for a full afternoon, but not because the climb was onerous: “The road to the summit is no where steep or rugged enough to overpower the most delicate inhabitant of drawing‐rooms. Montague Walk, winding through the wood nearly one half of the way, is too pleasant to permit any idea of fatigue. But, should any slight sensation of that kind be experienced, the view from the summit will repay such an expence a thousand fold”. After quoting Edgarʼs description of the dizzy view from the Cliffs of Dover, in act 4 of King Lear, the writer declares that, to complete the comparison, only the “noble river”, the Tay, need be subsituted for the ocean in Shakespeareʼs lines (pp. 42–43).

In 1812, John Ruskinʼs grandparents, the parents of Jessie Richardson of Perth and John James Ruskin—Catherine Tweddale Ruskin (1763–1817) and John Thomas Ruskin (1761–1817)—moved to a house, Bowerswell, on the slope leading to the Hill of Kinnoull (see Patrick Richardson (1774–1824)). Catherine may have been drawn to this situation for the same amenity that reconciled her to the seacoast town of Dysart where they lived for a brief time previously—“a variety of beautifull walks” including “a number of Gentlemans seats” (Catherine Ruskin to John James Ruskin, 25 October 1808, in Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters, 26).