cave

A large, natural, underground hollow, usually with a horizontal opening. Karst caves result from solution, but corrasion by water-borne sediments and pebbles is also important. The collapse of cave roofs causes much of the hummocky appearance of karst. Wave-cut caves are widely distributed, and their constantly changing outlines are related to the jointing and bedding of the parent rock.

The natural hollow in a mountain, hill, or cliff has been the subject of much speculation in the Celtic imagination. It is often the realm of the fairy or a route to the Otherworld. One tradition has Oisín living in a cave for 300 years. Creatures who live in caves include the ciuthach (see cughtagh of Scottish Gaelic tradition, the buggane and cughtagh on the Isle of Man, and Luchtigern in the famous cave of Dunmore, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland. The name of Forgall Monach's fortress, Lusca, employs an old word for cave. Caves were often entrances to the Otherworld. See John Rhŷs, ‘Welsh Cave Legends’, in Celtic Folklore (Oxford, 1891) 456–96. See also FINGAL'S CAVE; CRUACHAIN; LOUGH DERG (1). Modern Irish uaimh; Scottish Gaelic uaimh; Manx ooig; Welsh ogof; Cornish fogo, gogo, ogo; Bre. kev.