After some narrow escapes from random driving and the falling of horses, we were at last set down in the evening at Cummins' Hotel, on the celebrated Quay of Waterford. This quay is a mile in length, and, being well lighted with two rows of lamps, had a brilliant effect as we approached it. The opposite banks of the Suire, which is here not less than a quarter of a mile wide, are very lovely, consisting of gently swelling hills,
The first public object of interest visited by us was the school for the province of Munster, belonging to the Society of Friends. It is supported by subscription amongst the members of the Society, and contains thirty-six boys and thirteen girls; the tickets for admission being only twelve guineas per annum. The cost of each child to the institution, amounts to £25, but the classes are charged extra. William Allen, a minister in the Society, is the superintendant, at a salary of £120 per annum, and his wife takes charge of the female department. The situation of the school is airy and commodious, and the children appeared remarkably cheerful and healthy; but as it was not a school-day when I visited the institution, I had no means of judging of the plan of education.
The House of Industry, supported by assessment, is a well managed institution. It was
The Mendicity Society, similar in principle to that in Dublin, is, or ought to be, supported by private subscription; the institution is miserably neglected. It contained, when we visited it, 65 women and two men; 45 boys and 23 girls. Thirty-three of the boys were in the school, in
Here, then, is one, amongst the numerous instances in which the spirit of party, arising from political and religious feeling, blasts the work of charity and benevolence; the sufferers belonging to that class of society, which, though it possesses, in the adjustment of abstract questions, an interest at least equal to that possessed by the more favoured ranks, most assuredly takes a far less prominent and officious part in effecting the desired arrangement. The poor, in fact, suffer for the violent animosities of the rich. Why cannot the gentlemen of Ireland, instead of contending so obstinately for the supremacy of a sect or party, apply themselves, without regard to either, to the attainment of those great ends which concern the advantage of all? Sinking the petty distinctions of religion and politics, how much more exalted an object of ambition would it be, to seek for the People of Ireland the laws and institutions which the people of England enjoy; to cease to regard
The harbour of Waterford is very commodious; in some places the river is seventy-two feet deep at low water; opposite the city, it varies from twenty to sixty-five feet; and on the bar, at low water, there are twelve feet of water. Vessels of 800 tons burden may come up to the quay; and cattle are conveniently shipped, by means of a large frame of wood, supported by a barge between the vessel and the shore. Reginald's Tower, supposed to have been erected by a Danish Prince in 1003, stands on the quay. We observed a cannon-ball, said to be one of Cromwell's, half buried in the front wall of this tower. On the old walls of the town several of the ancient towers still remain. My accidental discovery of them afforded me a pleasure unknown to those who feel indifferent to the motives and actions of former ages.
The trade of Waterford consists of grain, pork, and butter; and it is celebrated for its glass works. The river Suire is a considerable width, its north bank, opposite the quay, being abrupt, rocky, and picturesque. Waterford has a population of about 30,000.
The public buildings of this important city are scarcely worthy of remark, and the streets are generally narrow, and by no means clean. The river, its banks, and the quay, certainly constitute the principal attractions of Waterford, and are most deservedly admired. The bridge, designed and built by Mr. Samuel Cox of America, consists of American oak, is 832 feet in length, and 40 in breadth, and is supported by stone abutments, and forty sets of oaken piers. The architect recommended the shareholders to case one pier with stone every year, which might easily have been effected, but it was neglected. The building of this structure, including remuneration for the previous ferry, cost £28,000, the money being raised by a Company in 1793, incorporated by Act of Parliament. It has been a good speculation,
An Agricultural Society formerly existed here, but, in consequence of the violent state of party feeling, it has been suspended. Within a mile of the city, the rent of land is £5 per acre; within two miles, 50s.: within six, from twenty to 30s. The rent of conacre for old grass land, is £8 per acre; for old ploughed land manured, £6. 10s. The crop, when good, is worth £13. The assessment amounts to 1s. 6d. in the pound, at the rack rent. The wages of labourers are in the town 1s. per day, without diet; masons get 3s. 6d. per day. The prices of meat are as follows: — beef, for prime pieces, 6d. per lb., and from 3d. to 4d. per lb., by the quarter. Mutton 6 1/2 d.; veal from 4d. to 6d.; Staggering Bob 1s. 3d. per quarter. A goose, weighing 2 1/2 lb., 1s. 4d.; turkeys 4s. 6d.
The climate in the neighbourhood of Waterford is remarkably mild; in the garden of one of my friends I observed myrtles twelve feet high, fresh and vigorous — also the salvia fulgens, a great height, and full of fine scarlet blossoms.
The prevailing rock in the vicinity of Waterford, and indeed throughout the entire county, except where limestone is found, is argillaceous shistus. The summits of the hills are composed of silicious breccia, over which red sandstone occurs. On the sea coast near the harbour of Waterford, the silicious conglomerate, and sandstone, are found interstratifying each other. In the neighbourhood of Waterford the following rocks occur: sienite and hornblende, talkose slate, lydian stone, hornstone and jasper; these are found alternating with flinty slate on the road to
The author from whom the matter of the preceding paragraph is taken, states that the condition of the inhabitants of the county of Waterford, at the close of Elizabeth's reign, is represented in the most dismal language. Those whom the sword had spared, were reduced to the extreme of misery and famine; they were seen creeping from the woods, in search of the vilest food, and endeavouring to prolong a miserable existence by eating carrion, and, in some instances, human flesh. The land itself was become unfruitful; deprived of its cultivators, it resembled a frightful wilderness, and from one extremity of the county to the other, except in towns and cities, scarcely any living creature was to he seen, save wolves and beasts of prey.
By one of Bianconi's cars we travelled to Pilltown to breakfast, having the Suire close to the road-side on our left, and passing the ruins of
Mr. Anthony, the landlord of the inn where we stopped, is an antiquarian, and possesses a Museum, which he established in the summer of 1834, and which proves a source of considerable amusement to travellers. It consists of ancient Irish gold, silver, and bronze ornaments, and implements of war. A cabinet of ancient coins, medals, statuary, and gems; and contains the Turkish pistols and cimetar, taken by Lord Byron in the Greek war. These interesting curiosities are of massive silver, gilt, and beautifully chased. Amongst the gold coins is an exceedingly beautiful one of the time of Alexander the Great; and some silver tortoises, struck off in the reign of Phidon, King of Argos, 820 years before the Christian sera: many also of the time of Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander,
Pilltown also contains a charitable Loan Society. Those who avail themselves of its conveniences are required to bring two securities, and the largest sum lent is £3. Generally, however, £2 is the sum obtained, and this is repaid in forty-two weekly instalments of one shilling — leaving two shillings for interest. The clerk is paid sixpence in the pound on the money taken out.
Mr. Anthonys Museum, and the Loan Society, are not, however, the only public establishments which Pilltown, though but a small village, possesses. The Hon. Miss Ponsonby, Lord Duncannon's eldest daughter, supports here an Infant School, in which sixty children, Protestant and Catholic, receive their education. On the Besborough estate also there is a school for boys, the number being generally 105, and more than half of them Roman Catholics. The master belongs to the Church of Rome — the mistress is a Protestant; and, on days devoted exclusively to religious instruction, the children are under the tuition respectively of the teacher to whose religious communion they belong. Major Curry, Lord Besborough's agent, pointed out to me a spot where his attention, some time before, had been arrested by a humming noise, which he soon found to proceed from about a hundred children, collected together in a small spot where they had scarcely room to stand, and assembled for the purpose of obtaining instruction from a master who attended them. They were learning to write, on
The land in this district is good, and the rent of farms of from twenty to five-and-twenty acres, within six or seven miles from Waterford, ranges from thirty to forty shillings per acre, which is well paid. The produce will average eight barrels of wheat.
Pigs constitute an important part of a farmer's stock; one tenant, for instance, on the Earl of Besborough's estate, a short time ago, sold eleven for £78,and one of Lord Donoughmore's tenants, a widow, sold thirty-five for £350. At one establishment in Carrick, between the 1st of November and the 1st of April, no fewer than 150 were daily killed, for six days in the week.
The agriculture of the county is considerably improved. Ten years ago the farmers were accustomed to plough with four people and two horses, but now they generally use the iron swing plough, with a pair of horses and only one man.
Major Curry admitted that Poor Laws are inevitable; at the same time he was of opinion that the administration of them, and the discrimination of proper objects, would be attended with great difficulty. The money, he added, now so liberally bestowed upon mendicants, does not appear to be so much the consequence of real charity, as of a superstitious dread of beggars' curses.
The mansion of Besborough contains some good paintings, and in other respects is said to be well worth visiting. We had, however, no time for inspecting it; besides I thought it more important to examine the agricultural state of the country, and to investigate the physical and moral condition of its people, than to wander through the stately interiors of the seats of noblemen. Lord Besborough had been making extensive improvements in more completely draining a tract of
From Pilltown to Carrick-on-Suire, in the county of Tipperary, the picturesque and rich valley of the Suire is seen to great advantage. After crossing the bridge, into the county of Waterford, and going leisurely up the long hill on the road towards Portlaw and Mayfield, the scenery was indeed truly beautiful; I think I never saw more verdant fields, or a richer prospect. The town of Carrick — with its fine old castle, its ancient bridge, and the curious square tower of the monastery in Carrick Beg — lay below. In the distance were the mountains of Kilkenny; and in the valleys at their feet, lay the mansions and spreading woods of Castletown and Besborough.
The country afterwards possesses but little interest
Although I possessed a letter of introduction to a gentleman at Portlaw, for the purpose of obtaining permission to view these celebrated grounds, it was of no avail. The Marquis, he informed me, previously to leaving the country, had given the strictest orders that no person should be allowed to see his grounds. The character of the Marquis of Waterford has been too frequently before the public to require any comments from me; but I may, perhaps, be permitted to express my regret, that the rashness and fearlessness of personal danger, for which this young nobleman is so extensively distinguished, should be unaccompanied, in his case, by the liberal and generous feelings which usually attend those dangerous qualities. To be a practical illustration of the fable of the dog in the manger, ought to be beneath the ambition, one would suppose, of even the Marquis of Waterford.
Before reaching Curraghmore, we passed a tall stone of granite, standing erect on the right of the road. It was about eight feet high, and
In the neighbourhood of the Marquis of Waterford's wide-extending and exclusive domain, a manufacturing establishment, which gives employment, and dispenses happiness, amongst the once destitute population of the district, prefers a strong claim to the attention of the traveller. I allude to the cotton factory established at Mayfield, by David Malcolmson, a member of the Society of Friends, and a man well known and much respected in Ireland. The cotton here goes
No attempt, I was glad to find, had ever been made to injure the mills or machinery, nor had any regular turn-outs, so frequent in England, taken place. The work-people receive wages from the
My visit to the cotton factory at Mayfield yielded me much gratification. It is the only establishment of the kind in the south of Ireland; but from what I saw in it I am confirmed in the opinion which I had previously formed, that manufactures, if commenced and conducted on a proper principle, may safely be established in any
We returned to Carrick by a more level road, nearer the Suire, which affords a view lower down the river. Having two or three hours here before the coach came up, I visited the old castle, which formerly belonged to the Duke of Ormond. Part of the old tower walls remain. At Carrickbeg, on the south side of the Suire, in the county of Waterford, is seen the narrow and very singular tall tower of the Franciscan chapel or monastery founded by the Duke of Ormond in 1336. The foundation of the steeple, says Ryland, consists of a single stone, on which the lower part rests, and supports the entire weight of the superstructure.
Inglis, and other travellers, speak disparagingly of Carrick, but, in the short time I had an opportunity of seeing the place, I was disposed to think considerable improvement was going on. Fortunately it was the market day, and I had a better chance of forming a correct opinion of the countrypeople, as well as of the town. I saw very few of