389 



CASERTA. 



CASHMERE. 



370 



government to Ispahan. Although now of diminished importance, it 

 may still be considered a flourishing place. The town stands in au 

 extensive valley or plain upwards of twenty miles in breadth, callei 

 the Plain of Casbin. This plain affords good pasturage. An exten 

 sive system of irrigation by means of subterraneous aqueducts callec 

 ' kanauts,' with the natural fertility of the soil, formerly rendered the 

 plain of Casbin one of the most productive districts in Persia. Captain 

 \Vilbraham, who travelled through this part of Persia in 1837, describes 

 the plain of Casveen as almost destitute of cultivation, owing to the 

 want of water. "In the neighbourhood of Casveen," he adds, "long 

 lines of canauts, or subterranean aqueducts, now choked with rubbish, 

 intersect the plain, and bear evidence to the former cultivation of the 

 district." The town is approached through a vast extent of vineyards 

 and orchards interspersed with olive-trees and inclosed by high walls. 

 From this it is clear that in the immediate environs of the town the 

 system of irrigation still prevails. The grapes of Casbin are considered 

 the best in Persia ; and its pistachio-nuts also are abundant and highly 

 esteemed. " The wine of Casveen," says Captain Wilbraham, " made 

 by the Armenian inhabitants, is better than that generally met with 

 in Persia." The town itself is inclosed by a mud wall with towers, 

 but without any ditch. In extent it is said to exceed Teheran, 

 but " whole streets lie in ruins, and it contains no buildings of note." 

 The old traveller Herbert estimated the population at 200,000 : in 

 1812 the males were estimated at 25,000. Velvets, brocades, and a 

 coarse cotton-cloth called ' kerbas,' are manufactured at Casbin ; and 

 the place has also a considerable trade in raw silk and in rice obtained 

 from the provinces along the Caspian. Any grandeur or magnificence 

 which Casbin may once have possessed has been destroyed by repeated 

 earthquakes, which have left little remaining of the more ancient 

 structures but broken masses of domes, towers, and old walla. A 

 ruined mosque, with a conspicuous dome, and the palace built by the 

 Suffidt- princes, are the most remarkable remains. The palace, although 

 surrounded with ruins, and for the most part abandoned, still serves 

 as the residence of the prince-governor. 



CASERTA. [TERRA DI LAVORO.] 



CASHEL, couaty of Tipperary, Ireland, a bishop's sec, a parlia- 

 mentary borough, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, in the parishes 

 of St. John the Baptist and St. Patrick's Rock, and barony of Middle- 

 third, is situated in 52 31' N. lat., 7 54' W. long. ; distant 105 miles 

 S.W. from Dublin by the Great Southern and Western railway, from 

 the Dundrum station of which it is distant 5 miles east. The distance 

 from Dublin by the high road is 100 miles. The population in 1851 

 was 4793, besides 3449 inmates of the workhouse and other public 

 institutions. The borough returns one member to the Imperial 

 Parliament. Cashel Poor-Law Union comprises 24 electoral divisions, 

 with an area of 156,822 acres, and a population in 1851 of 45,176. 



The city is built round the eastern and southern slopes of the 

 remarkable eminence known as the Rock of Cashel, which rises 

 abruptly from a rich plain about two miles east of the Suir. In the 

 widest part of the main street are situated the market-house and 

 shambles, and a public fountain. The principal public buildings are 

 the modern cathedral, a large and handsome building with a lofty 

 spire ; the Roman Catholic chapel and a convent adjoining ; the 

 sessions court-house, bridewell, fever hospital, and infirmary. On the 

 north side of the main street are the barracks, and on the southern 

 acclivity of the hill is the deanery house, formerly the archiepiscopal 

 palace, a handsome mansion with fine gardens and a good diocesan 

 library of 9000 volumes annexed. Near the northern extremity of 

 the main street access ia had to the summit of the rock by a lane 

 which passes behind the deanery gardens. The assemblage of build- 

 ings which occupies the summit is of remarkable interest, comprising, 

 in addition to the extensive ruins of the old cathedral, a ruined tower 

 and singular stone-roofed chapel of early Norman architecture, 

 erected by Cormac Mac Carthy, petty king of Munster, in A.D. 1127. 



The cathedral is in the form of a cross, the choir and southern 

 transept embracing Cormac's chapel on two sides ; the chapel how- 

 ever not being built due east and west, stands a little out of line, 

 flanking the southern side of the choir, to which it serves as a chapter- 

 house, and which is interposed between it and the round tower on 

 the northern side. The other buildings on the rock are a hall for the 

 vicars-choral, built by Archbishop Rd. O'Hedian (1421), who also 

 repaired the cathedral, the old episcopal palace at the west end of 

 the cathedral, and the remains of the abbey of the Rock of Cashel, 

 founded by David Mac Carwell about 1260. A wall, intended for 

 defence, some bastions of which were standing at the beginning of 

 the present century, surrounds the platform on which the ruins stand, 

 and completes the pile of building which, from its commanding 

 situation, massive proportions, and singular variety of outline is 

 justly considered the finest of the kind in Ireland. The chapel, an 

 object of the highest architectural interest, consists of a nave and a 

 small choir. There is a slender square tower built in the re-entrant 

 angle of the choir at the eouth side, and rising considerably above 

 the roof, which is of stone, of a very lofty pitch, springing from 

 corbels, and concentrically vaulted underneath. The upper vault is 

 gothic, being the only arch of that description in the entire building, 

 and forms the ceiling of an apartment, the floor of which rests on the 

 arch of the lower vault, which is Norman, and in like manner forms 

 the ceiling of the nave below. This under-arch springs partly from 



OEOO. DIV. VOL. u. 



the thickness of the wall, and partly from the architraves of a double 

 range of rudely-carved columns at either side : those of the lower 

 range are square, adorned with a lozenge net-work, and form pedestals 

 to the round columns of the upper tier, which are ornamented with 

 bands and capitals. Outside, the corbela supporting the pedimented 

 roof form the architraves to two similar tiers of pillars at either side, 

 between the columns of the lower of which ranges the windows that 

 light the nave are pierced. The principal dimensions are as follows : 

 Length of the whole building outside, 53 feet; length of nave, 30 

 feet; breadth of nave, 18 feet; length of choir, 13 feet 8 inches; 

 breadth of choir, 11 feet 6 inches; height of the roof from ground 

 outside, 52 feet ; slant of roof, 24 feet ; mean thickness of the walls, 

 4 feet 1 inch ; length of square tower, 10 feet : breadth, 6 feet 8 inches : 

 height, 68 feet. These dimensions are given the more minutely as 

 Cormac's chapel is by far the most perfect specimen of this descrip- 

 tion of building in the country, and as it gives a convincing proof not 

 only of the existence but of the excellence of some works in stone 

 and lime, exclusive of round towers, in Ireland before the coming of 

 the English. 



Donat O'Lonargan, the first bishop of Cashel who received the 

 archiepiscopal pall, was succeeded in the see (1152) by Donald 

 O'Hullucan, in whose time (1172) the great synod was held here, 

 which has been so much celebrated by the early historians of the 

 conquest as that at which the Irish prelates are alleged to have 

 recognised the civil authority of the English king and the ecclesias- 

 tical superiority of the Anglican church. By this time a town had 

 grown up around the seat of authority, large enough to make its 

 burning in 1179 worthy of mention in the Irish annals. Donat 

 O'Lonargan, the third archbishop of the name, erected the town of 

 Cashel into a borough in 1223. David Mac Carwell, who became 

 archbishop in 1253, founded the Chantry of St. Nicholas, the Abbey 

 of the Rock of Cashel, and Hoar Abbey, a monastery for Cistercian 

 monks, in the vicinity of the town, the ruins of which, still standing, 

 attest its former splendour. 



In the wars subsequent to the rebellion of 1641, Cashel was for 

 some time garrisoned, and the rock put in a state of defence by Lord 

 Taaffe, on the part of the Irish royalists; but Lord Inchiquiu, who 

 commanded the Irish parliamentary forces, having approached the 

 town, which had been left by Lord Taafe to defend itself, the inhabit- 

 ants refused to accept Lord Inchiquin's terms, on which he carried 

 the place by assault. On this occasion there was a great slaughter of 

 the besieged, of whom above twenty priests and friars were slain 

 before the assailants gained possession of the cathedral, when at length 

 quarter was given, and the survivors suffered to return to their homes. 

 The city was again taken by Cromwell. Up to the end of the last 

 century Cashel seems to have been a flourishing place. Before the 

 passing of the Irish Municipal Reform Act the town had fallen greatly 

 to decay. The local administration is now vested in town commis- 

 sioners, under whose care much improvement has taken place. The 

 ancient water-works, alleged to be as old as the time of Edward II., 

 have been repaired^ and the streets have been lighted with gas. The 

 income of the borough was 3679Z. in 1849. Quarter sessions for the 

 county of Tipperary are held here in rotation. Cashel possesses a 

 National school and a savings bank. The market days are Wednesday 

 and Friday. Fail's are held on the 26th of March, 7th of August, and 

 on the third Tuesday in each month. 



Prior to the passing of the Church Temporalities Act, 3 and 4 

 William IV. cap 37, Cashel was an archiepiscopal see, nud united with 

 the diocese of Emly ; by that Act it was reduced to a bishopric, and 

 united with the sees of Emly, Waterford, and Lismore. The income 

 of the united dioceses is 50001. a year. The diocese of Cashel com- 

 prises thirty-eight benefices, including all in the county of Tipperary. 

 The chapter consists of a dean, archdeacon, precentor, treasurer, p.nd 

 five prebendaries. 



(Fraser, Handbook for Ireland; Petrie, Ecclesiastical Architecture 

 of Ireland ; Tram, Royal Irish Academy, vol. xx. ; Ordnance Survey 

 Map ; Thorn, Iriik Almanac.) 



CASHMERE, the most extensive of the alpine valleys of the 

 Himalaya range, .lies imbedded in high mountains, between 33 and 35 

 N. lat., 74 and 77 E. long. It extends from south-east to north-west, 

 oetweeu 74 and 75 miles, and about 40 milea in breadth, when the 

 declivities of tho mountains are included. In the middle of the 

 valley, near the capital, Sirinagur, there is a level plain some miles 

 n width, which seems to have been once a lake. The plain of Sirin- 

 agur is surrounded by high hills, with rather a gentle slope, and 

 covered with fine large trees and excellent pastures. Behind them 

 rise the mountains, the loftiest of which is about 15,000 feet high. 



Almost innumerable rivulets descend from the sides of the moun- 

 tains on the margin of the snow-line, and are abundantly filled with 

 water at all seasons. They join in the centre of the valley a river, 

 which rises at its south-eastern extremity. This river, called the 

 Jelum, or Behut (the Hydaspes of Alexander), has at Siriuagur, about 

 60 miles from its source, so much water, that Bernier compares it 

 with the Seine at Paris. Its course through the plain is gentle, and 

 t continues so to the Lake of Wulur, issuing from which in a westerly 

 direction, the river enters a hilly country, where it is soon narrowed 

 >y steep rocks. It forms several rapids and cataracts, until it reaches 

 ituzzufferabad, a town of the Panjab. The Jelum joins the Chenab 



