16 MOUNTAINS. 



CHAPTER II. 



MOUNTAINS OF YORKSHIRE. 



[In the following descriptions the heights of the mountains are expressed 

 in feet above the sea, as Mickle Fell, 2580 feet. Where O.S. is ap- 

 pended, the authority is the Ordnance Survey, and in like manner N. 

 refers to the careful results of the late Mr. Nixon's Survey. For many 

 other elevations the author and his friend Mr. Gray are responsible. A 

 general table of these measures will be given in the Appendix.] 



MICKLE FELL GROUP. Mickle Fell (Teut. Great Mountain], in 

 the extreme north-western angle of Yorkshire, is the highest 

 of some thirty summits which rise more than 2000 feet above 

 the sea, and are scattered along the Penine Chain between 

 Teesdale and the region of Ribblesdale or Low Craven. These 

 well-known points may be designated mountains or hills to 

 suit the general reader, but they are better known locally by 

 the ancient name of ' fell/ which, like the Yorkshire name of 

 waterfall, ' force/ is equally characteristic of Norway*. 



Mickle Fell, situate between Teesdale and Lunedale, rises 

 above the point where these valleys meet about 2000 feet, above 

 the sea 2580 feet. Across the western, which is the highest 

 part of its curved summit, runs the boundary, by agreement, 

 between the Yorkshire and Westmoreland Manors, so that each 

 of these counties may claim a share in this noble hill. The 

 Manf erected here stands on millstone grit; the eastern part of 

 the mountain, which is 2472 feet high, is chiefly formed of the 

 uppermost thick limestone of the Yoredale series, and between 

 this point and the High Force the whole of that series may be 

 traced. 



* Like the Norwegians, the men of Yorkshire place a circumflex accent 

 on the word Fell (Fjall, Norw.), and in both countries the word for water- 

 fall (fors in Norway) is pronounced 'foss.' 



t Maen in Cymraic signifies ' rock.' It is not so generally employed to 

 designate the conspicuous stone heaps in Yorkshire as in the Cumbrian 

 country. 



