File:Mount Misery - geograph.org.uk - 917867.jpg

English: Mount Misery. At the time this photo was taken, the pathways that now provide access from Balloch Park to Whinny Hill Woods were fairly new, only about a year old. At the end of the new Whinny Hill Woodland walk is a circular section; the furthest point on that loop is the location shown here, on Knockour Hill, which provides excellent views of Loch Lomond, the islands, and the glens on the other side of the Loch.

This point therefore marks the end of the outward leg of the circular route (see 1045903), and the start of the return leg.

It seems puzzling that the summit of Knockour Hill, which is such a scenic viewpoint, should also be known as Mount Misery, a name that does not appear on present-day maps, but which was already in use as early as 1839 (even then, its origin was a mystery). There are various colourful theories to account for this name, but there seems to be no agreed explanation. For the splendid view from this spot, see: 1171835.

As for the name "Knockour", it is spelled "Knokgowr" in an old charter of the Earls of Lennox. It is "Knockowyr" on the Pont/Blaeu map of the Lennox (surveyed in 1580s-90s), and is "Knockourhill" by the time of Roy's Military Survey of Scotland (1747-55). This is only a partial list; while the oldest of these spellings does suggest some interesting possibilities, it is unwise to speculate on the meanings of place-names without collecting an exhaustive list of early spellings (see the beginning of the second chapter of "Scottish Place-names", by W.F.H.Nicolaisen).

[Curiously, Roy's survey does include a "Mountmisery"; however, it was located about 5 miles to the SSW of Knockour Hill. Careful comparison of maps reveals that this other site was in NS3678; in fact, it seems to have been very close to where the remains of a chambered cairn are visible: 915070.]

[In the above discussion, I used the form "Whinny", the form used by the Woodland Trust and (some) local signage, in preference to the form "Whinney" that is, at the time of writing, shown on the 1:25000 OS map. The name is said to come from the abundance of gorse (which is also known as "whin"), which, if true, suggests that "Whinny" is more likely to be the authentic spelling.]

Next section of the route: 1045936.