140 ST. aldhelm's chapel. 



were absent at sea. As the storm gathered and increased, and 

 howled -wildly around this lonely cell, we may picture to our- 

 selves the priest, clad in his robes, kneeling before the altar and 

 offering up his prayers to Him who alone can calm the winds 

 and bid the waves be still, that he would protect their barque 

 and restore them to their homes ; whilst at a little distance we 

 may suppose an aged matron, urging her supplications for the 

 welfare of a son, a young bride for her husband, or a maiden 

 for her betrothed. 



This was indeed a sacred shrine. No wonder therefore, that 

 something of its sacredness, even though in the form of a super- 

 stition, should yet remain. As long as the priest continued at 

 the chapel, the offering was doubtless a piece of money in anti- 

 cipation of the fee which afterwards might become his due. 

 But when at the dissolution of monasteries, the maintenance for 

 the priest ceased, or the chantry was suppressed, it is not likely 

 that those who had been accustomed to frequent the place imder 

 circumstances of so great interest, would suddenly desert, or 

 cease to value it. It is rather to be supposed that for many a 

 year, the wild deserted chapel would be visited and venerated, 

 although at length the prayer degenerated into a simple wish, 

 and the substantial into a nominal offering; whilst the place 

 itself became apparently ranked in that class with accounts of 

 which our British topography abounds. 



Although it was chiefly to wells and fountains that virtues 

 were attributed, and which were usually dedicated to some saint, 

 and honoured with his name ; still in many instances the pro- 

 ceedings at them, and the offerings made, are similar to those at 

 St. Aldhelm's chapel. Mr. Pennant in his account of St. Winifred's 

 well, in North Wales, mentions that near the steps, two feet 

 beneath the water is a large stone, called the wishing 

 stone ; it receives he says, many a kiss from the faithful, who 

 are supposed never to fail in experiencing the completion of their 

 desires, provided the wish is delivered with full devotion and 

 confidence. On the outside of the great well, close to the road, 

 is a small spring, once famed for the cure of weak eyes. The 

 patient made an offering to the nymph of the spring of a crooked 

 piriy and sent up at the same time a certain ejaculation by way 

 of charm. 



In Borlase' Natural History of Cornwall, is recorded another, 



