wonderful historical picture "Bartered Away,"[4] represents the nuptials
as taking place on the battlefield, dyed with the blood of the
vanquished Irish. There could not have been much love in the match after
all. Strongbow was scarcely dead when his young widow wrote to Raymond
Le Gros that "a great tooth had fallen out," which he understood to mean
that the time had arrived for him to come and make her his own, which he
did. The patron saints of the diocese of Waterford and Lismore are Saint
Cartach and Saint Otteran, the latter being a Dane who embraced
Christianity. The Cathedral (Episcopalian) occupies the site of the old
Danish Cathedral, the existence of which, together with that of Christ
Church in Dublin, bears testimony to the zeal with which the Danes
embraced Christianity. The Quay is the most characteristic bit of
Waterford. Across the bridge, from Mount Misery or Cromwell's Rock, two
points of vantage, excellent views of the surroundings can be had. The
Suir, shining silvery, steals in and out among the hills and by the old
town into the sea. The most interesting of the ancient monuments in
Waterford is what is commonly called the "French Church," which, more
correctly, is entitled "The Holy Ghost Friary." Authorities agree in
assigning the date of its foundation to 1240, but its history has never
been written. After the Edict of Nantes, the fugitive Huguenots formed a
little colony in Waterford. The Corporation granted a salary to their
minister, and they were provided with a place of worship in the choir of
the old church. All that remain of this once gorgeous pile of
buildings are the ruins of the tower, Lady Chapel, chancel, and nave.
The style is Early English, and the most attractive feature is the
graceful three-lighted east window. The Catholic Cathedral is worth a
visit. Within easy reach of the Quay is Ballybricken, the heart of the
bacon industry, and the home of the best known body of pig-buyers in
Ireland. These men are almost a community to themselves. They have their
own traditions, and are more like an organisation which would have
sprung up from a church guild centuries ago than in any way a modern
trades union. Formerly Waterford was remarkable for the manufacture of
beautiful cut glass, but the industry has died away. The housekeeper who
possesses specimens of the art considers herself lucky indeed in her
possession, as collectors are continually on the alert to procure them.
In the imme