Marilyn (hill)
From Free net encyclopedia
A Marilyn is a hill with a relative height of at least 150 metres, regardless of absolute height or other merit. The name is a used as a humorous contrast to the designation Munro, used of a mountain with a height of more than 3000 feet, which is homophonous with Monroe.
There are currently 1554 Marilyns identified in Great Britain: 1214 in Scotland, 180 in England, 156 in Wales and 5 on the Isle of Man. (Black Mountain is in both England and Wales.) There are a further 453 Marilyns in Ireland. The list of Marilyns in Britain was compiled by Alan Dawson in his book "The Relative Hills of Britain" (ISBN 1852840684). The list continues to change as the Ordnance Survey bring out new maps with revised heights for hills and the passes between them.
Many of the largest hills are Marilyns, including Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon. On the other hand, many large hills, including some which are classed as Munros, and other well-known hills such as Bowfell, the Langdale Pikes, and Carnedd Dafydd, are not Marilyns because the relative height criteria for Marilyns means that they do not qualify. However, some infrequently visited or minor fells such as Seatallan and Watch Hill on the edges of Lakeland, and The Long Mynd in Shropshire, do qualify because of their large relative height.
Marilyns tend to be sidelined in Scotland by the existence of several other systems, e.g. Graham, Donald and Munro.
See also
- List of Marilyns in England
- List of Marilyns in Wales
- List of Marilyns in Scotland
- List of Marilyns on the Isle of Man
- List of Marilyns in Northern Ireland
- List of Marilyns in Ireland