Limoges

“ The new name was to him what a degree from some famous university is to the modern scientist. When a man was called Guy of Limoges, William of Sens, or Cornelys of Arras, it usually meant that he was a good example of whatever made the place mentioned famous. Guy Bouverel might be anybody. The name was known among the goldsmiths of Guthrum’s Lane in London; that was all. But Guy of Limoges meant a reputation for enamel-work.
The matter on which he was meditating, however, as he left Cold Harbor and walked up toward the house of Wilfrid the potter, was clean outside his own craft. ”

“ Limoges, the capital, is the seat of a bishopric and of a court of appeal, and is the headquarters of the XII. army corps. The other principal towns are St Yrieix and St Junien. Solignac, St Léonard and Le Dorat have fine Romanesque churches. ”

“ Enamelling, which flourished at Limoges in the middle ages and during the Renaissance (see Enamel) , but subsequently died out, was revived at the end of the 19th century. There is an extensive trade in wine and spirits, cattle, cereals and wood. The Vienne is navigable for rafts above Limoges, and the logs brought down by the current are stopped at the entrance of the town by the inhabitants of the Naveix quarter, who form a special gild for this purpose.
Limoges was a place of importance at the time of the Roman conquest, and sent a large force to the defence of Alesia. ”

“ Limoges is the center of the porcelain industry in France. Its exports to the United States are very large. The consul at Limoges was instructed to do all possible to aid the Commission, and, per contra, the Consul at Rouen was instructed not to accept any invitations or recognize the Commission in an official way. ”

“ The Abbé Texier, whose learned Historical Essay on the Artists of Limoges affords the most valuable information hitherto published on the subject of Enamel [14] , supposes that the art was introduced from Constantinople into France by way of Venice, towards the close of the tenth century. The artificers of Limoges appear to have excelled in the art of enamelling, and during a long series of years their productions were highly esteemed in many countries of Europe. ”

“ The French war, delayed occasionally by a truce, was still in progress when a certain Lord named Vidomar, Viscount of Limoges, chanced to find in his ground a treasure of ancient coins. As the King’s vassal, he sent the King half of it; but the King claimed the whole. The lord refused to yield the whole. The King besieged the lord in his castle, swore that he would take the castle by storm, and hang every man of its defenders on the battlements.
There was a strange old song in that part of the country, to the effect that in Limoges an arrow would be made by which King Richard would die. ”

“ Each lodge, to obtain its charter, had to bind itself to rebuild some ruined church, name some special mission of good it was to accomplish and choose some special color for its costume. Thus at Limoges we find Black, Blue, Gray, White, Purple, Violet and Dead-Leaf Penitents, each charged with some special benevolent function, such as settling disputes between alienated members of one family, escorting the condemned to the scaffold and holding the crucifix to their lips, relieving imprisoned debtors, and so on. People of all ages and conditions flocked to their ranks. ”

“ On the other side at the north lies, as we have just seen, a second primitive population, less changed from the prehistoric type than any other in Europe. This Cro-Magnon race has been preserved apparently by the dike of the Limousin hills with their miserable population; for these hills have cut across the Paris-Bordeaux axis of fertility and have stopped the Teutonic race at the city of Limoges from expanding farther in this direction—that is to say, economic attraction having come to an end, immigration ceased with it. ”

“ The main axis of fertility from Paris to Bordeaux
does not appear, for two reasons. The area about Limoges and Perigueux (see map of cephalic index on page 293) , with the shortest population of all, is the seat of a prehistoric people which we shall describe in our next paper; and north of it toward Orleans local causes with which we have not time to deal here have been operative.
Brittany and Normandy are two of the most interesting regions in Europe to the traveler and the artist. The pleasing landscapes and the quaint customs all serve to awaken interest. ”

“ The massacre of Limoges caused, throughout France, a feeling of horror and indignant anger towards the English name. In 1373 an English army landed at Calais, under the command of the Duke of Lancaster, and overran nearly the whole of France, being incessantly harassed, however, without ever being attacked in force, and without mastering a single fortress. “Let them be,” was the saying in the king’s circle; “when a storm bursts out in a country, it leaves off afterwards and disperses of itself ”

“ Numerous processional crosses and crosiers still exist, of the work of Limoges. It was customary to deposit the crosier in the tomb of the prelate to whom it had belonged, and several interesting examples have thus been preserved. The most remarkable work of this kind is the crosier discovered in a tomb at Chartres cathedral, and attributed to Ragenfroi, bishop of that see, who died A.D. 941. It bears the inscription FRATER WILLIELMVS ME FECIT. The design is exceedingly elaborate ; the costume and ornament shew that it is not more ancient than the twelfth century. ”

“ Guy, Count of Limoges, having imprisoned Grimoald Bishop of that city for taking possession of a disputed monastery, and afterwards released him, Grimoald repaired to Rome, and complained to the Pope, who cited Guy to his presence. ”

“ Soon the banner of the lilies waved within a few leagues of Bordeaux, and ancient towns of the English obedience, like Bazas and Bergerac, fell into the enemy's hands. With the capture of Périgueux, the Limousin was isolated from Gascon succour. In August the Duke of Berri appeared before the walls of the cité, or episcopal quarter, of Limoges, and the bishop promptly handed it over to him.
Disasters at last stirred up the English to action. In 1370 John of Gaunt was sent with one army to Gascony and Sir Robert Knowles with another to Calais. ”

“ The Art Gallery contains a fine collection of modern paintings, including masterpieces of David Cox, Millais, Hunt, Henry Moore, Albert Moore, Briton-Riviere, Burne-Jones, In the industrial hall are rich stores of Oriental metal work, Limoges enamel, English and foreign glass, Japanese ceramics. ”

“ The Revolution dealt what was practically a deathblow to the order, for, though revived in 1804, it provoked ridicule as out of keeping with modern ideas. The Ostension procession of 1862 saw the six surviving lodges parade together for the last time. The events of 1870-71 finished the work of disorganization, and to-day the costumes and ornaments of the Penitents Noirs—who, it seems, had survived all the others—remain as curiosities in the possession of the last treasurer of the lodge.
The stranger at Limoges is perforce an early riser. ”

“ For Limerick grew into an important city in the century following its capture by the English, and many wealthy people put up handsome town-houses, four or five stories high, with wide halls and sweeping stairs and beautiful doorways and tall windows framed in sculptured stone. It is these old houses which shadow the narrow lanes of "English Town," and they are all tenements now, for the well-to-do people—such of them as are left—have moved over to the newer, more fashionable, more sanitary quarter. ”

“ The end of the six months’ training at Woolwich being completed, I was appointed to a Garrison company, with its headquarters at Limerick—good old Limerick—which was then known as the paradise of hard-up subalterns. Limerick is a quaint town. There is Old Limerick and Modern Limerick. The old town is situated round the 64 castle, which is on the banks of the Shannon, and where—across the river—stands the old Treaty Stone. It is difficult to describe Old Limerick. One must really see it and live in it to appreciate its dirty houses, poor tenements, its smells and other unhealthy attributes. ”

“ CHAPTER XII. LIMERICK UNDOUBTEDLY, there is solace for the forlorn in the pleasant city of Limerick. Justly celebrated for its Hooks, it is far more to be admired for its Eyes, for, although the former are the best in all the world, the latter are much more killing! No sooner did we emerge from Mr. Cruise's very excellent and extensive hotel, than we were attacked and surrounded by the lace-girls, in their blue cloaks, drooping gracefully, with heads uncovered, or rather most becomingly covered with thick and glossy hair. ”

“ Limerick is a city which, by very reason of her great past and her matter-of-fact and decidedly ordinary present, presents great and disappointing contrasts. One may read the statistics in the guide-books and learn that 350,000 pigs are killed every year in the town, and of a great many other mundane things which happen here and have no interest whatsoever for him. ”

“ This, the people say, is the site of a sunken city, whose towers and turrets make the roughness of the water. The whole city can be seen every seven years, but, as the sight is said to be unlucky, every body avoids it. The whole story is about as probable as the one I have told you of the damp and dubious palace of the O'Donoghue.
Limerick is a pleasant and prosperous city, and has a very honorable name in Irish history. The most interesting object that it contains is the Castle, which was built by King John, and has stood for more than six hundred years. ”

“ Our stature map of Limousin indicates the courses of these streams. Here is a true parting of the waters; for the Charente flows directly to the sea on the west; the affluents of the Loire run to the north; and the Vézère, part of the system of the Garonne, to the south. These hills of Limousin are the western outposts of the granitic area of Auvergne; and just here the country changes abruptly to a calcareous formation along the south and west. The district is accounted the very poorest in all France. Its soil is worthless even for grazing ”

“ The name of Sarsfield, the Jacobite general, is for ever identified with Limerick. The city was taken and retaken more often than we should care to state; it was—and is—fortified up to the very limit; and, whenever anything exciting of a political nature went on, in times past, Limerick was ever to the fore front, ready to emphasize her opinions with the high-shouldered fat little cannon that have somehow got left out on the ramparts, quite{100} forgotten except by “tourist touts,” though, truth to tell, not many tourists ever come to Limerick. ”

“ LIMERICK, ASKEATON, AND ADARE
Limerick looks like a medieval city, and it is one of the oldest in Ireland. There is an old tower that was built seven centuries ago, and portions of walls forty feet high and thirty-six feet thick which date back to the time of King John in the twelfth century. The castle is one of the finest Norman fortresses yet remaining in the kingdom and overlooks the River Shannon in a most formidable manner. ”

“ The first gray halftones of dawn were creeping into the sky, so that the outlines of Limehouse loomed like dim silhouettes about us. There was abundant evidence in the form of noises, strange and discordant, that many workers were busy on dock and riverside, but the streets through which our course lay were almost empty. Sometimes a furtive shadow would move out of some black gully and fade into a dimly seen doorway in a manner peculiarly unpleasant and Asiatic. ”

“ The arable land is seldom divided to any extent, and the scenery is little enriched by the seats of the gentry or the elegancies of cultivation. Limestone, both white and blue, is frequent in this county; and the latter is often used in building, being not unlike marble: yet it is sometimes found in so friable a state as to be capable of being spread as manure without burning. ”

“ There are but few New England farms where a large amount of labor and time are not worse than wasted in repairs of cross walls, set up by our fathers and grandfathers, which would be used to a much better purpose if employed in their demolition.
LIMERICK. After a ride of five hours, having on the way passed back through Mallow, we arrived in Limerick, where we took rooms at the Royal George Hotel. Valises deposited, and the usual toilet operations gone through with, we walk out to see this place, so like Cork and Dublin. Limerick is the capital of the county of Limerick. ”

“ A summer evening on the shores of the Shannon, "the silver Shannon spreading like a sea," gardens sloping down to the river's brink, mists of twilight slowly spreading over the tops of the hills, clothing them with mystery. From the City of Limerick—Limerick the Beautiful—boats flit up and down, It was a time for whispering lovers, for music, for romance. The silence was broken by the sound of a voice—a voice clear and silvery, sweet and strong; it seemed to be coming from a woodbine-covered arbour in the grounds of the Earl of Limerick, wnich bordered the river. Who was singing? ”

“ That chivalrous but improvident ruler was always pecuniarily embarrassed, and never, it appears, more so than on that October day when, preceded by the flower of the military, magistracy and ecclesiastical dignitaries of the province, he rode in through the gorgeous gateway surmounted by a colossal figure of the giant Limovex, the traditional founder of the city, which held a silver key in the right hand and a heart in the left, by way of tendering to His Majesty the submission and affections of the city. The butchers' guild was at that period notoriously prosperous and wealthy. ”