The most remarkable mountains in Derbyshire, are the High Peak, Matlock High Tor, Mam Tor or the Shivering Mountain, and Thorp Cloud at the entrance of Dove Dale; but all of these are only hills when compared with the mountains which have been already explained.
Peveril Castle occupies the entire summit of the mount called the High Peak; and on the east and south sides extends a narrow ravine about 200 feet deep; while on the west, the precipice has a perpendicular fall of nearly 300 feet. Even on the north, which is the only accessible side, the ascent is obliged to be carried on by a series of transverse paths.
Mam Tor, or the Shivering Mountain, has received its somewhat singular name from its being composed of alternate layers of shale and grit stone, both which, when the shale decomposes from the influence of the weather, fall into the valley below in detached masses, which make a loud ringing sound, which is sometimes heard as far as Castleton. This constant shivering of Mam Tor has, according to vulgar report, been going on for ages without occasioning any sensible diminution in its bulk, which is very considerable, the mountain rising about 800 feet above the level of the valley, and being almost perpendicular on every side but one.
WELSH MOUNTAINS.
The Welsh hills lie to the west, and extend from the Irish Sea to the Bristol Channel, occupying nearly the whole of Wales. Of these mountains, Snowdon is the chief, and it rises to the height of upwards of 3,500 feet. South of the Snowdon range, is another stretching across Wales, to the middle of Cardigan Bay, of which Cader Idris is the highest mountain, having an elevation of nearly 3000 feet. The Plynlimmon range only rises in the slopes.
SCOTCH MOUNTAINS.
The Scotch mountains are of considerable size. In the Grampian range, Cairngorum and several of the other mountains are about 5000 feet high. "The soil of the Grampians is very sterile, and the whole have a very desolate appearance, the sides of the rock being steep, covered with blocks of stone, broken and scattered about. One of the passes is worthy of mention. It is named the Killiecrankie, and it is half a mile in length, being cut out of the mountain, while below, at the foot of a high precipice, the Garry dashes along a ravine over ragged rocks. At the northern extremity of this pass, the army of William III., under Mackay, was defeated in 1689, by the troops of James II., under the well known Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, who fell in the moment of victory."
Ben Nevis is the highest of the Scotch mountains, it being nearly 4,400 feet above the level of the sea, and its circumference at the base being about twenty five miles. Its northern front consists of two grand terraces, the level top of the lowest of which, at an elevation of nearly 2000 feet, contains a mountain lake. The outer acclivities of the lower mountain are very steep, though covered with a short grassy sward mixed with heath. The surface of the upper mountain, on the contrary, is strewed with angular masses of rock of various sizes, wedged together so as to form an excessively rugged covering. On the north east side, there is a broad and terrific precipice, which reaches to a depth of 1,500 feet.
IRISH MOUNTAINS.
There are many groups of these, but the principal are the Wicklow mountains, the loftiest of which is about 3,000 feet in height; and the Mourne mountains, some of which are about 2,500 feet high. Slieve-naman in Tipperary; and the Mount Leinster range in Carlow, are also lofty mountains, the height of which ranges between 2,000 and 3,000 feet.
CHAPTER II. ROCKS.
In many parts of the world are found rocks of extraordinary shapes, for which it is very difficult to account, but which probably once belonged to mountains partly composed of earths of a softer texture, which have been gradually washed away, or have crumbled into dust. Rocks of various curious shapes are found in almost every part of the world; and though it would fill a volume to describe them all, it will be interesting to give a short account of a few of the most remarkable; particularly as most of these belong to our own country.
BRITISH ROCKS.
The Rocks in Dove Dale take various curious and picturesque forms, some rising abruptly like gigantic needles, and others forming domes, castellated walls, and canopies. In Knight's Journey Book of England, the following description is given of Dove Dale, which is nearly three miles long, and takes its name from the river Dove running through the opening in the rocks which forms the dale. This narrow dell is in no place more than a quarter of a mile wide, while in some places it almost closes, scarcely leaving room for the passage of the river. The hills that enclose the dell are "very precipitous, and bear on their sides fragments of rock that, in the distance, look like the remains of ruined castles. After proceeding a little way, a deep and narrow valley appears, into the recesses of which the eye is prevented from penetrating by the winding course it pursues, and by the shutting in of its precipices, which fold into each other and preclude all distant view. A further progress exhibits an increase of majesty and rudeness in the scene; and the objects, which, at a distance, appeared to be ruins, are found to be rude pyramids, and grand isolated masses of rock ornamented with ivy, rising in the middle of the valley. The rocks which enclose the dale, forcing their scattered and uncovered heads into the clouds, overhang the narrow path that winds through its dark recesses, and frowning in craggy grandeur, and shaggy with the dark foliage that grows out of the chinks, and clings to the asperities of the rocks, form a scene unrivalled in romantic effect. The mountain which rises in the background is known by the name of Thorp Cloud. On proceeding about a mile into the vale, fantastic forms and uncouth combinations are exhibited in vast detached mural masses, while the sides of the dell are perforated by many small natural caverns, which are difficult of access."
There are many other curious rocks in Derbyshire, and amongst others, the curious chasm called the Lover's Leap, near Buxton, from which it is said a young girl threw herself who had been deserted by her lover. Some of the rocks in Devonshire bear considerable resemblance to those of Dove Dale, particularly the Tors on Dartmoor. Carrington, in the notes to his Poem on the wild tract of country, gives the following description of the general appearance of the moor.
"Dartmoor, although in some respects an elevated table land, is not strictly a plain, but a series of hemispherical swellings or undulations, gradually overtopping each other, and here and there interrupted by deep depressions, yet without forming what may be called distinct mountains. It is covered with black and brown peat, and crowned at intervals with granitic rocks called tors; some rising like pillars or turrets, others composed of blocks piled together, others divided into horizontal or perpendicular strata, and others so symmetrically arranged as to resemble the ruins of ancient castles. Innumerable masses of stone, more or less rounded and smoothed, lie scattered over the general surface. To a person standing on some lofty point of the moor, it wears the appearance of an irregular broken waste, which may be best compared to the long rolling waves of a tempestuous ocean, fixed into solidity by some instantaneous and powerful impulse."
Among the more remarkable rocks in this county, Carrington enumerates the following:
Roborough. — "The appearance of this rock, as the passenger travels from Plymouth to Tavistock or Dartmoor, is exceedingly impressive, particularly when it is half veiled by the shadows of evening; and, although no such fact is recorded, it may be considered as likely, in superstitious times, to have been applied to some religious worship. In Dunn's old map of Devon, it is called Ulster or Ullestor Rock, but it is scarcely ever so denominated in the present day. The rock itself consists of strata of gneiss, and the points around emerging from the surface are of the same kind of stone." It does not stand on Dartmoor, but on a separate common called Roborough Down, which is supposed, at some former period, to have formed part of the Moor, though it is now separated from it by numerous enclosures.
Dewerstone Cliff. — "The most remarkable cliff in the valley of the Cad is the Dewerstone. This huge mass of rock rises perpendicularly from the margin of the stream to an immense height. Its whole surface is jagged and seamed in the manner so peculiar to granite, which makes the beholder imagine that the stones are regularly piled on each other. It is profusely overgrown with ivy and other creeping plants, which spread their pleasant foliage over its shattered front, as if anxious to bind up the wounds that time and tempest have inflicted. To add to the striking effect of its appearance, numerous hawks, ravens, &c., may be seen floating around its rugged crest and filling the air with their hoarse screamings. He who has sufficient nerve to gaze from the summit of the Dewerstone into the frightful depth beneath, will be amply remunerated for the trouble which may be experienced in ascending. The rocks immediately beneath the view seem as if they had been struck at once by a thousand thunderbolts, and appear only prevented from bursting asunder by chains of ivy. A few wild flowers are sprinkled about in the crevices of the cliff, — tufts of broom wave like golden banners in the passing breeze, and these, with here and there a mountain ash clinging half way down the precipice, impart a wild animation to the spot."
Hound Tor, near Ilsington, is "a magnificent group of rocks, like the remains of some ruined castle, rising in the horizon with its beetling front from the dreary plain; its toppling crags having the appearance of pinnacles, which the hand of time has loosened; and as it throws its dark shade across the heath, it increases the natural wildness of the desolate downs, in the midst of which it is situated."
Sheep's Tor is both grand in feature and stupendous in dimensions, its base covering a space of more than a hundred acres, and being, according to an ancient prophecy, rich in all kinds of minerals. Even gold has been found in the river, apparently washed down from the rock; and enough of this precious substance was collected some years since, by a miner named Wellington, to sell at Plymouth for forty pounds.
"The scenery around Lydford is singularly picturesque and romantic; but the most prominent objects of curiosity and admiration are, the Bridge and the two Cascades. The former bears great analogy, in situation and character, to the celebrated Devil's Bridge in Wales. It consists of one rude arch, thrown across a narrow rocky chasm, which sinks nearly eighty feet from the level of the road. At the bottom of this channel the small river Lyd is heard rattling through its contracted course. The singularity of this scene is not perceived in merely passing over the bridge: to appreciate its character, and comprehend its awfully impressive effects, it is necessary to see the bridge, the chasm, and the roaring water, from different projecting crags which impend over the river. A little distance below the bridge the fissure gradually spreads its rocky jaws; the bottom opens; and instead of the dark precipices which have hitherto overhung and obscured the struggling river, it now emerges into day, and rolls its murmuring current through a winding valley, confined within magnificent banks, darkened with woods which swell into bold promontories, or fall back into sweeping recesses, till they are lost to the eye in the distance. Thickly shaded by trees, which shoot out from the sides of the rent, the scene at Lydford bridge is not so terrific as it would have been, had a little more light been let into the abyss, just sufficient to produce a darkness visible. As it is, however, the chasm cannot be regarded without shuddering; nor will the stoutest heart meditate unappalled upon the dreadful anecdotes connected with the spot."