There's The Flum Way...

...and there's the easy way.

Mr Flum suggested we take a close look at the monument to the poet Allan Ramsay, as seen from the Lime Tree Walk of Penicuik House. From the house we took a new path past the fountain but brought us out by the Roman Bridge further East than we intended.

Nothing daunted, we had sight of the monument, so crossed the bridge and took a muddy track - not a path by any description - directly opposite, straight up the slope, crossed an established track, over tussocks and a muddy burn, through a stone wall, round the edge of a field, over a barbed wire fence brought low by a fallen tree...and eventually reached the monument. I doubt this is a recognised route!

Category B listed, it is described as: Ca 1760 High obelisk pierced by oval oculi
on high round arch, Latin inscription on intrados, borne on pedestal. Droved Ashlar.
Erected by Sir James Clerk, of Penicuik, 3rd Bt. whose father,
Sir John, judge and antiquary, had been a patron of the post (sic ?poet).

Main photo looks through the arch to Penicuik House, the white Chinese Gates with the Lime Tree Walk between.
Extra 1 is  the monument with the house and spire of the stable block (this is the residence of the owners) showing through the trees on the left and the tower (folly) on the right.
 Extra 2 collage shows (top row, l-r) the side as seen from the approach from the West, front view with Mr Flum for scale and a view from the road to the south, from which a far easier approach could be made; (bottom row) the inscriptions within the arch, which are badly eroded in places, but indicate (l) that the monument was erected in honour of the Scottish poet Allan Ramsay by James Clerk of Penicuik House, (where Allan Ramsay was a frequent visitor) and the date, 1759 and (r) the year1756.

Our route back was much simpler and more direct - turn left, follow the field and down a well-made track to the bridge by the Low Pond (as our original plan) and up to the house.

We then drove round to the South,  the Auchencorth Moss road, to observe the monument from the back, only to find there was a straightforward level, route. Well. why do things the easy way when there's a difficult one we could do instead?