Dechmont Law is small volcanic plug on the North side of Livingston, South of Dechmont itself and the M8 motorway. Click here for a location map provided by StreetMap.
Dechmont Law from the South-west
According to WJ Watson, Dechmont has possible Brythonic and Goidelic roots:
Dechmont and Dechmont Hill, Degmethe 1337 (Bain's Cal.); Dechmont, -ment (RMS I), is the same as Dechmont and Dechmont Hill in Cambuslang, Lanarkshire. The former hill is 686 feet, and 'commands a very extensive prospect'; the latter is 602 feet and 'commands a magnificent view.' The first part was probably O.W. dag, now da, good, displaced by O.Ir. dag-, deg-, now deagh, good...[1]
However, according to John Garth Wilkinson, the placename derives unproblematically from Brythonic teg ("fair") and mynydd ("mount"),[2] although a Latinised Brythonic of teg mont seems even likelier. Either way, several places around the hill still retain the name, from Nether Dechmont to the South, Wester Dechmont to the West, and Dechmont to the North.
Dechmont Law is the highest place in Livingston, and commands a surprisingly wide view across the Almond Valley out towards Arthur's Seat and the Pentland Hills to the East and South respectively. Ancient earthworks are noted both on the Ordnance Survey maps and in the CANMORE entry, but given the type and extent of the site, it seems highly likely that some form of defensive structure encircled the law in ancient times.
Possible Terrace on the West Side of the Law
On both the West and East sides of the law, possible terraces are visible suggesting, perhaps, a hillfort on the summit at some point.
Possible Terrace on the East Side of the Law
However, no significant features remain on the summit, and the designation of the site as a hillfort must remain to some extent conjectural.
footnotes
[1] WJ Watson, Celtic Place-Names of Scotland (Edinburgh: 1926), p.400.
[2] John Garth Wilkinson, West Lothian Place Names (Harburn: 1992), p.18.