[i]

THE LEGENDARY LORE

OF THE

HOLY WELLS OF ENGLAND

INCLUDING

Rivers, Lakes, Fountains and Springs.

COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED BY CURIOUS ORIGINAL WOODCUTS.

BY

ROBERT CHARLES HOPE, F.S.A., F.R.S.L.,

PETERHOUSE, CAMBRIDGE; LINCOLN'S INN;
MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY,
AUTHOR OF "A GLOSSARY OF DIALECTAL PLACE-NOMENCLATURE," "AN INVENTORY OF THE CHURCH PLATE IN RUTLAND," "ENGLISH GOLDSMITHS," "THE LEPER IN ENGLAND AND ENGLISH LAZAR-HOUSES;"
EDITOR OF BARNABE GOOGE'S "POPISH KINGDOME."

LONDON:
ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.
1893.

[iii]

PREFACE.

THIS collection of traditionary lore connected with the Holy Wells, Rivers, Springs, and Lakes of England is the first systematic attempt made. It has been said there is no book in any language which treats of Holy Wells, except in a most fragmentary and discursive manner. It is hoped, there that this may prove the foundation of an exhaustive work, at some future date, by a more competent hand.

The subject is almost inexhaustible, and, at the same time, a most interesting one. There is probably no superstition of bygone days that has held the minds of men more tenaciously than that of well-worship in its broadest sense, "a worship simple and more dignified than a senseless crouching before idols."

An honest endeavour has been made to render the work as accurate as possible, and to give the source of each account, where such could be ascertained. That sins of omission and of commission may herein be found, it is not denied, but they are, it is hoped, few and far between.

No attempt has been made at scientific classification or arrangement other than the placing of the wells under their respective Counties. Until those of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland have been collected, such a course would seem premature.

Should this work be favourably received, it is proposed to issue at no distant date similar collections of the Holy Wells, etc., in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The writer will be very grateful for any traditions or superstitions connected therewith, also any photographs or sketches illustrating the same for use and incorporation in the collections.

A portion of the legends appeared from time to time in the Pages of the Antiquary; these have been revised and largely [iv] added to. A considerable number of them, however, and all the illustrations, are new.

For the kind and willing loan of blocks, etc., for illustrating the book, the best thanks are due, and here given, to Messrs. Netherton and Worth, Printers, 6 and 7, Lemon Street, Truro, who have generously supplied no less than eighteen; Messrs. W. Bemrose and Sons, Derby, for fifteen; Derby and Derbyshire Archæological and Natural History Society, for those of St. Thomas à Becket's Well; Mr. J. P. Birtwhistle, Halifax, for that of Stainland, Yorkshire; Newcastle Society of Antiquaries, for those of Coventina and nymphs; Miss Cooper of Scarborough, for the well at Carrawburg; Messrs. Hall, for Bretton and Heath; and to Mr. John Owen for that of Oswestry.

For much valuable information respecting, and legends of, wells, my best thanks are given to Miss C. S. Burne, for so kindly placing her magnificent volume of Shropshire Folk-lore at the disposal of the writer; to Mr. G. T. Lawley, for Staffordshire Wells; to Mr. C. T. Phillips, Hon. Lib. Sussex Archæological Society, for those of Sussex; the Rev. J. Wilson, Chaplain to her Majesty's Prison, Carlisle, for those of Cumberland ; Mr. A. C. G. Cameron, H.M. Geological Survey, for those of Bedfordshire ; Rev. Dr. Cox., F.S.A., Editor of the Antiquary, for many of Derbyshire, etc., etc. ; and also to the writers of various articles on the subject in the numerous archæological and other publications.

[v]

CONTENTS.

Holy Wells Index | Introduction