Casʹtaly

A fountain of Parnassus sacred to the Muses. Its waters had the power of inspiring with the gift of poetry those who drank of them.

“The drooping Muses [Sir Industry]

Brought to another Castalie,

Where Isis many a famous nursling breeds,

Or where old Cam soft paces oʹer the lea

In pensive mood.”

“Isis” means the University of Oxford, and “Cam” the University of Cambridge, so called from the respective rivers on which they stand.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.