Red Burn

[2] It flows west through Palacerigg Golf Course and becomes a significant geographic feature where it fills the Glencryan Reservoir[3] south of Forest Road in Cumbernauld.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust owns the land around the river at this point with the exception of a sewage pipeline which runs through the Vault Glen.

[5] The Vault Glen has very steep sides with the stream some 25-30m below the brow of the hill and any rubbish dropped is difficult to remove although there have been some attempts to clean it up.

[6] The Red Burn crosses the railway under a large viaduct before its confluence with the Bog Stank[7] just down river from the bridge over the path from the Park above.

In support of this argument the oldest maps of Cumbernauld still in existence show the “Rid Burn” joining three other streams.

It's entirely possible it refers to a stream whose source would have been the high moor near to where the southern edge of the Town Centre is sited.

The name Condorrat, formerly a separate village but now part of the town, has a Gaelic origin too: "Comh Dobhair Alt" - The joint river place.

[25] In other words from its high point in the Central Belt, The Luggie Water and the Red Burn flow either west to the River Clyde or east to the Firth of Forth so Cumbernauld is a watershed.

Jim Carruth, poet laureate of Glasgow, has a poem called Watershed[26] which is inscribed on the base of Andy Scott's Arria, The Angel of the 'Naud, statue which overlooks the A80 in Cumbernauld.

Hugo Millar, the respected local historian and author of two books about the town, espoused this view.

The wall, built by Urbicus's men is named on the Unesco World Heritage list as a Frontier for the Roman Empire.

[32] However the land has been considerably worked for the Forth and Clyde Canal, the Glasgow to Edinburgh railway[33] and the A80 now M80 road system.

[37] It involves the killing of Agricola's Roman soldiers whose bodies were dumped in the river at Castlecary making it run red.