The old Edinburgh to Lanark Road follows the line of the Pentland Hills, and is a right of way between Carlops and Dolphinton. At Melbourne, the route turned North West through Elsrickle (formerly known as Elridgehill) and on to Newbigging. Over the years, a number of famous travellers have left their mark on parts of this route.

Edward I of England was said to have ridden through Dolphinton in 1298 on his way to Ayr. By this time, the local manor was well established, belonging in the 12th Century to Dolfine, elder brother of Cospatrick, the first Earl of Dunbar, who acquired possession of the manor in the reign of Alexander I. After passing through numerous families, of whom several, such as Bothwell, were eminently distinguished, the manor was divided among various proprietors. The village was first named Dolfinestown and later Dolphinstown.

Sir Simon Fraser of Oliver and Neidpath led the Scottish victory at the Battle of Roslin in February 1303. The year before, he and Sir John Comyn, commanding the Scottish force, rode from Biggar through Dolphinton to intercept the English army.

James IV visited the Black Mount area in 1493, where it is said that he met with Perkin Warbeck, the pretender to the English throne. James carried out a brief invasion of England on his behalf in 1496.

During his first period of exile, and living at Holyrood, Charles X of France lodged at the Brig House Inn, now Medwyn House, while hunting on Slipperfield Moors. Brig House was at one time owned by James Wedderspuine, one of the Peeblesshire gentlemen charged with complicity in the murder of David Rizzio, Italian secretary to Mary Queen of Scots, in 1566.

By the 17th Century, a network of tracks and paths branched off the main Edinburgh to Lanark road, crossing the Black Mount area and joining the villages, hamlets and farms to the North and East of the main route. The most well-used of these tracks was that between Dolphinton and Newbigging, crossing the South Medwyn at Newholme and running through Dunsyre.

Dunsyre was once a seat of a barony. The parish of Dunsyre was created in 1687, and its kirk was a frequent retreat for Covenanters in the late 17th century. The parish of Walston was established soon after in 1679. Although not a parish, Newbigging is noted for its Old Cross dating from 1693. The parish of Dolphinton was created in 1717.

Buried in Dolphinton Church is Major Joseph Learmont of Newholm , who was the commander of the troop of horse belonging to the Covenanters at the Battle of Rullion Green in 1666. His estate was forfeited and given to Hamilton of Wishaw. Learmont also fought at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in 1679. He lay in hiding from pursuit by the authorities, but, on 7 April 1682, he was sentenced to imprisonment on the Bass Rock, where he remained until the Revolution, five years later.

In the late 1960s, a secret passage or hideaway was discovered at Newholm, believed to have been used by Learmont when hiding from the dragoons. Learmont was latterly an elder at Dolphinton Parish Church. It is thought that he may have been buried in the Newholm burial ground, a rectangular area of the churchyard, surrounded by a stone kerb, adjacent to the church door, but there is no gravestone to him there. A plaque was affixed to the Church in memory of Learmont on 25 May 2007 by the Scottish Covenanter Memorials Association. Within the church is preserved the original gravestone to the unknown Covenanter who was buried at Black Law, near Dunsyre.

Following the success of his volume of poems, the 'Kilmarnock Edition', in 1786, Robert Burns decided to further his literary ambitions by visiting Edinburgh. For a period of 18 months he stayed frequently in the city to arrange the publication of a second edition of his poems and to join in the social round. He passed through Dolphinton on a number of occasions, also visiting the Brig House Inn. On finding the proprietor away from home on two visits, he inscribed on a window 'Honest Graeme, aye the same, never to be found at hame!'

The railways came to Black Mount with the opening of the Leadburn line to Dolphinton in 1864 and the Caledonian line three years later. Within 70 years, the Black Mount railway era was over with the closure of both lines in 1933.

Click here to read about the impact of the railways in the Black Mount area.

The Gazetteer for Scotland web site offers an excellent range of information, both geographical and historical, on the Black Mount area. Click here to access this web site.

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