Once upon a time (you must not ask _when_) the Christians of Hawarden, a few miles down the river, were in a sad strait for lack of rain. Now it so happened that in the church of that place there stood an image of the Virgin Mary, called Holy Rood. To her shrine then repaired the faithful and fearful of all classes to pray for rain. Among the rest, Lady Trawst, the wife of the governor of Hawarden, prayed so heartily and so long, that the image, grown desperate we suppose, fell down upon the lady and killed her. Mad with rage at this “answer to their prayers,” a jury of the inhabitants was summoned, and the Holy Rood summarily convicted of wilful murder and other heinous sins. Fearful, however, of the consequences if they executed the offender, the jury determined to lay her upon the beach at low water; whence the next tide carried her away to the spot where she was found, under the Walls of Chester. The citizens held a _post-mortem_ examination, and seeing that she was _Holy Rood_, decided on burying her where she was found, and erected over her a simple stone Cross, which, tradition says, once bore an inscription to the following effect: The Jews their God did crucify, The Hardeners theirs did drown: Because their wants she’d not supply,— And she lies under this cold stone. Another version affirms she was carried to ST. JOHN’S CHURCH, and there set up in great pomp, and that this Cross was erected on the spot where she was found. So much for the legend: yonder is the remnant of the Cross under which her holiness was laid; and as Little she’ll reck, if they’ll let her sleep on, We will leave her alone in her glory. The spot now marks the boundary of St. Mary’s parish. The athletic sports and Olympian games of the Romans, the military displays of the Edwards and Henries, the pageants and plays of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, were each in their day “set forth” on the Roodeye before hundreds of wondering and admiring citizens. And it is pretty much the same “even in this our day;” for martial reviews and rejoicings, cricket and other athletic games are all celebrated and fostered on its rich green sward.