I asked an old weaver from Blackburn once what Waterloo porridge meant , and I also asked him what "never picked o'er in his life meant". He thought a bit and said "I don't know, Greg". I thought that bit of local wisdom worth passing on! I cannot swear to the Waterloo cattle cake explanation but it certainly existed and you could certainly make a kind of porridge out of it and could nick it from a barn so it seems logical,