On a short walk around the ruined Penicuik House I noticed the gate with the view looking across the valley towards the Ramsay Monument on the distant horizon.  The monument is a stone obelisk with three oval apertures with an arched base and was built in 1759 by Sir James Clerk in commemoration of the poet Allan Ramsay who frequently visited him at the house. Ramsay was described as perhaps the most important literary figure of the Scottish Enlightenment in the early 18th century.  I waited in vain for the sun to light up the gate but shortly afterwards there was a shower of rain.