CARSE,
a term applied in Scotland to low grounds on the banks of rivers; e.g. the Carse of Gowrie, Falkirk, Stirling, etc.
CASA (It. and bas Lat.),
a house; e.g. Casa-Nova and Casa-Vecchia (new and old house), in Corsica; Casal, Les Casals, Chaise, Les Chaises (the house and the houses), in France; Chassepiare (corrupt. from Casa-petrea (stone house), in Belgium.
CASTEL, CHATEAU,
CASTELLO, CASTILLO,
CASTELL (Cym.-Cel.),
words in the Romance languages derived from the Lat. castellum (a castle). Caiseal, in the Irish language, either cognate with the Lat. word or derived from it, has the same meaning, and is commonly met with in that country under the form of Cashel; e.g. Cashel, in Tipperary; Cashelfean and Cashelnavean (the fort of the Fenians); Caislean-n’h-Oghmaighe, now Omagh (the castle of the beautiful field). It is often changed into the English castle, as in Ballycastle, in Mayo (the town of the fort); but Ballycastle, in Antrim, was named from a modern castle, not from a caiseal or fort; Castle-Dargan (of Lough Dargan); Castlebar, Irish Caislean-an-Bharraigh (the fort of the Barrys); Castle-Dillon, Castle-Dermot, and Castle-Kieran were renamed from castles erected near the hermitages of the monks whose names they bear. Castel, Lat. Castellum (the capital of the Electorate of Hesse-Cassel); Castel Rodrigo (Roderick’s castle), in Portugal; Castel-Lamare (by the sea-shore); Castel-bianco (white castle); Castel del piano (of the plain); Castiglione (little castle), in Italy. In France: Castelnau (new castle); Castelnaudary, anc. Castrum-novum-Arianiorum (the new castle of the Arians, i.e. the Goths); Chateaubriant, i.e. Chateau-du-Bryn (the king’s castle); Chateau-Chinon (the castle decorated with dogs’ heads); Chateau-Gontier (Gontier’s castle); Chateaulin (the castle on the pool); Chateau-vilain (ugly castle); Chateau-roux, anc. Castrum-Rodolphi (Rodolph’s castle); Chatelandrew (the castle of Andrew of Brittany); Chateaumeillant, anc. Castrum-Mediolanum (the castle in the middle of the plain or land, lann); Neufchatel (new castle); Newcastle-upon-Tyne, named from a castle built by Robert, Duke of Normandy, on the site of Monkchester; Newcastle-under-Line, i.e. under the lyme or boundary of the palatinate of Chester, having its origin in a fortress erected by Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, instead of the old fort of Chesterton; Castleton, in Man, is the translation of Ballycashel (castle dwelling), founded by one of the kings of the island; Bewcastle (the castle of Buith, lord of Gilsland); Old and New Castile, in Spain, so named from the numerous fortresses erected by Alphonso I. as defences against the Moors. Cassel, in Prussia, and various places with this prefix in England and Scotland, owe the names to ancient castles around which the towns or villages arose, as Castletown of Braemar, Castle-Douglas, Castle-Rising, etc.; Castlecary, in Stirlingshire, supposed to be the Coria Damnorum of Ptolemy, and the Caer-cere of Nennius; Barnard Castle, built by Barnard, the grandfather of Baliol; Castell-Llechryd (the castle at the stone ford), on the banks of the R. Wye, in Wales; Cestyll-Cynfar (castles in the air).
CASTER, CHESTER,
CEASTER (A.S.),
a fortress, city, town, from the Lat. castrum (a fortified place), and castra (a camp); e.g. Caistor, Castor, Chester (the site of a Roman fort or camp). The Welsh still called the city of Chester Caerleon, which means the city called Legio, often used as a proper name for a city where a Roman legion was stationed; Doncaster, Lancaster, Brancaster, Illchester, Leicester, Colchester (i.e. the camps on the Rivers Don, Lune, Bran, Ivel, Legre or Leir, Colne); Alcester, on the Alne; Chichester (the fortress of Cissa, the Saxon prince of the province); Cirencester, anc. Corinium-ceaster (the camp on the R. Churn); Exeter, Cel. Caer-Isc (the fortress on the river or water, wysk); Towcester, on the R. Towey; Gloucester, Cel. Caer-glow (the bright fortress); Godmanchester (the fort of the priest), where Gothrun, the Dane, in the reign of Alfred, embraced Christianity; Chesterfield and Chester-le-Street (the camp in the field and the camp on the Roman road, stratum); Winchester, Cel. Caer-gwent (the camp on the fair plain), p. 38; Dorchester (the camp of the Durotriges (dwellers by the water); Worcester, Hwicwara-ceaster (the camp of the Huiccii); Silchester, Cel. Caer-Segont (the fort of the Segontii); Manchester, probably the camp at Mancenion (the place of tents), its ancient name; Rochester, Cel. Durobrivae (the ford of the water), A.S. Hrofceaster, probably from a proper name; Bicester (the fort of Biren, a bishop); Alphen, in Holland, anc. Albanium-castra (the camp of Albanius); Aubagne, in Provence, anc. Castrum-de-Alpibus (the fortress of the Alps); Champtoceaux, Lat. Castrum-celsum (lofty fortress); St. Chamond, Lat. Castrum-Anemundi (the fortress of Ennemond); Chalus, Lat. Castrum-Lucius (the fortress by Lucius Capriolus, in the reign of Augustus); Passau, in Bavaria, Lat. Batavia-Castra (the Batavians’ camp), corrupted first to Patavium and then to Passau; La Chartre, Chartre, and Chartres (the place of the camps), in France; Chartre-sur-Loire, Lat. Carcer-Castellum (the castle prison or stronghold); Castril, Castrillo (little fortress); Castro-Jeriz (Cæsar’s camp); Ojacastro (the camp on the R. Oja), in Spain.
CAVAN, CABHAN (Irish),
CAVA, LA (It.),
CUEVA (Span.), a cave,
COFA (A.S.), a cove,
a hollow place, cognate with the Lat. cavea or cavus; e.g. Cavan (the hollow), the cap. of Co. Cavan, and many other places from this root in Ireland. Cavan, however, in some parts of Ireland, signifies a round hill, as in Cavanacaw (the round hill of the chaff, catha); Cavanagh (the hilly place); Cavanalick (the hill of the flagstone); Covehithe, in Suffolk (the harbour of the recess); Runcorn, in Cheshire, i.e. Rum-cofan (the wide cove or inlet); Cowes (the coves), in the Isle of Wight; La Cava, in Naples; Cuevas-de-Vera (the caves of Vera); Cuevas-del-Valle (of the valley), in Spain.