The Purpose of the Tables

Scottish hill lists are not just tick sheets. They are carefully maintained catalogues that give walkers a shared language for the landscape. The best known is Munro's Tables, the rolling set of lists published by the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC). The tables define which summits count, how they are grouped and, crucially, when those definitions change. For anyone chasing a round of Munros, Corbetts or Grahams, the tables are the rulebook. They are also a record of how our understanding of the hills has sharpened over more than a century.

What Makes a Munro?

The original table was compiled by Sir Hugh Munro and published in 1891 in the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal. His simple headline rule was a height of 3,000 feet (914.4 metres). Munro listed 538 summits, including many subsidiary tops. Today the SMC recognises 282 Munros and 227 Munro Tops. The difference comes down to prominence, or relative height. To be a separate Munro, a summit must rise at least 150 metres (492 feet) above the surrounding col. A summit with a drop of between 30 metres and 150 metres is classed as a Munro Top. The 30-metre rule also defines the Murdos, a separate list of 3,000-foot summits that captures those in-between bumps.

The Wider Family of Hill Lists

The Munros are only one shelf in the library. The SMC and other list keepers maintain several families of Scottish hills, each with its own height band and drop rule. The most useful to know are:

• Munros: Scottish hills of 3,000 feet (914.4 m) or more, with at least 150 m of drop. Currently 282.
• Munro Tops: 3,000-foot summits with 30–150 m of drop. Often overlooked, but many are superb viewpoints.
• Corbetts: hills between 2,500 and 3,000 feet (762–914.4 m), with at least 500 feet (152.4 m) of drop. There are 222.
• Grahams: hills between 2,000 and 2,500 feet (609.6–762 m), with at least 150 m of drop. There are 219.
• Donalds: Lowland hills over 2,000 feet (609.6 m) with a substantial drop — originally 1,000 feet (304.8 m). Around 140 remain.
• Marilyns: a UK-wide list of hills with 150 m of drop, regardless of height. Useful when you cross the border.

There are also Hewitts and Nuttalls for England and Wales, Wainwrights for the Lake District, and many local lists. Each has its own quirks, but the principle is the same: height plus prominence equals a place on the page.

Tops, Murdos and the Small Print

Newer baggers often ask why a fine-looking summit is “only a Top”. The answer is usually a shallow col. A ridge can carry several 3,000-foot points, but only the highest or most prominent earn Munro status. The rest become Tops. This matters because your Munro total is not the same as your total number of 3,000-foot summits. If you have completed the Munros, you have almost certainly stood on dozens of Tops without realising it. The Murdos give those points their own list, and some walkers find them a more satisfying challenge because they force you onto wild, pathless ground between the famous peaks.

Why Revisions Happen

Hill lists are living documents. Early tables were built from barometric readings, map contours and hand levelling — remarkably good, but not perfect. Modern surveys use GPS, precise levelling and, increasingly, remote sensing. When a summit is found to be a few inches short of 3,000 feet, or when a col turns out to be deeper than mapped, the list changes. In 2012, for example, Beinn a’ Chlaidheimh was demoted from Munro to Corbett after a survey found it below the magic height. Other summits have been promoted or reclassified as prominence rules were refined. The SMC reviews the tables periodically, and each revision can ripple through completion claims, logbooks and guidebooks. For a bagger, a revision is not a disaster. It is a reminder that the hills are real, messy and far more interesting than any spreadsheet.

Using the Tables Well

Treat the current SMC tables as your master reference, and check them before you plan a completion. Keep a simple log: date, summit, route, weather and who you were with. Note whether you bagged the Munro, the Top, or both. If a hill is reclassified, update your records and decide whether you want to revisit. Many do, because the walk is usually worth repeating. Above all, remember that the lists are a framework, not the whole experience. The best days on the hill are rarely the ones where the numbers line up perfectly. They are the ones where the cloud lifts, the ridge goes on, and you are simply glad to be there. Bagging is a fine hobby; the hills themselves are the reward.