" It is the capital of the rich Province
of Munster, "the wheat of Ireland," says a Gaelic proverb, and while it
preserves the characteristics of an old Irish town, here, too, the
traveller, familiar with the quaint cities of the Continent, will meet
with much that is suggestive of foreign scenes.
Cork sits snugly at the foot of, and leans her back up against, high
hills that shelter her from the north, and the breeze that blows up from
the sea is fresh and mildly bracing. From a height to the north
overlooking the city a bird's-eye view can be had of the entire
surroundings, and of what the poet Spenser called--
"The pleasant Lee, that like an island fayre
Encloseth Cork in his divided flood."
Away to the west the eye can easily trace the river, winding with haste
to the sea, through the barony of Muskerry, "the fair country," from its
fountain home over the hills and far away.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Patrick-street, Cork.]
More than halfway along the Mardyke Walk there is a sidepath leading
down to a ferry across the Lee. Here a good view may be had of the river
looking towards the city, with Sunday's Well, Blair's Castle, and
Shandon standing high on the hill.
The history of the foundation of Cork City, and its progress through the
centuries, is well authenticated.
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