Traditions, Superstitions and Folk-lore (Chiefly Lancashire and the North of England:) Their Affinity to Others in Widely-Distributed Localities; Their Eastern Origin and Mythical Significance.

CHAPTER XIV.

Chapter 14124 wordsPublic domain

WELL WORSHIP AND SUPERSTITIONS CONNECTED WITH WATER.

Well worship. Medical virtues of water. Symbol of purity. Sacred wells. St. Helen's well, at Brindle, near Preston. Curious examples of local corruption of names. Pin dropping. Pin wells in France, Wales, Scotland, Northumberland, and the West of England. A form of divination. Protection against hanging. Other curious forms of this superstition. Curing rickets in children and insanity. Reported miraculous cures. Well dressing. Recent death of Margery Grant, a "Scotch witch," who worked cures with holy water. The deification of rivers and streams. Ancient lake dwellings, Healing lake in Scotland. Bottomless pools. Stagnant water. Jenny Greenteeth. "Nickar, the soulless." Scotch kelpies. Burns's "Address to the Deil." Superstition on the Solway. African superstition of this class. Page 267