Donalds
The hills and mountains in Scotland's Lowlands with a height of over 2,000 feet high are referred to as Donalds.
Percy Donald’s list of all hills above 2000ft in height in the Scottish Lowlands, were first published in the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal in 1935 and later included in the SMC's publication "Munro’s Tables and Other Tables of Lower Hills".
The SMC has maintained the list ever since.
Donald personally visited every point above 2000ft in the Scottish Lowlands, in the process developing a formula to distinguish 'Hills' from 'Tops', mirroring the format of the earlier 'Munro's Tables'. Summits on Donald’s list are therefore classified as Donalds and Donald Tops.
While the exact geographic scope of Donald’s Lowlands was never explicitly defined, the inclusion of the Ochill Hills suggests a geological approach - essentially all land south of the Highland Boundary Fault. A small group of hills south of Glen Artney, rising above 2000ft and initially overlooked, was later added to the list.
'Donald Tops' are elevations of at least 2000ft (610m) with a drop of at least 50ft (15m) from surrounding higher ground - elevations with less than a 100ft (30m) drop qualify only if they possess sufficient topographical merit.
'Donalds' are the higher points in a group of 'Donald Tops' based on a further formula of distance and prominance (see the SMC's 'The Donalds' for more info).
The current list contains 141 summits: 89 Donalds and 52 Donald Tops.
See all the Donalds on an interactive map.
More information on the Donalds and several other categories of hills in Scotland and further afield can be found in the Database of British and Irish Hills.
