Castleton. 49 



elevation of the surrounding country that it seems quite 

 inconsiderable. On account of the continual dribbling 

 away upon one side, of the loose material of which 

 it consists, Mam Tor is locally called the Shivering 

 Mountain. 



Opposite, a little way down the hill, is that ancient 

 and famous mine which supplies the world with the 

 violet-coloured spar familiarly called Blue-John, and by 

 chemists, fluate-of-lime. It is extracted to the extent of 

 ten or twelve tons every year, and in the rough is worth 

 about ^40 per ton. The Romans, who had military 

 strongholds hereabouts, were acquainted with its beauty 

 and adaptedness for ornamental purposes, and there can 

 be little doubt that it was from this very spar that artists 

 at home wrought the famous vasce murrhince. The mine, 

 entered by a flight of steps, is open to the inspection 

 of visitors, and very interesting, having many sinuous 

 passages and natural fissures, and containing beautiful 

 stalactites and other crystals. To see it properly re- 

 quires some time ; it is better accordingly to make the 

 visit special, and at present to go on to Castleton. 

 Curling round the foot of Mam Tor, we come in view of 

 Hope Dale, an oblong green basin, extending to a length 

 of many miles, and dotted and lined, in every part, with 

 the results of men's activity ; a few minutes more, zig- 

 zagging down the road, we are on the level, and again, 

 after a few minutes, in the 'pretty little village itself, noted 

 as one of the most interesting in Derbyshire, alike in its 



