TISSINGTON WELL-DRESSING. 3 



Other place lacked water, Tissington alone, had a plentiful supply, 

 and the festival was instituted as a thanksgiving at that time, 

 and has continued ever since. It is the writer's opinion that 

 we should have to go back to Neolithic times to find the origin 

 of what is now a Christian festival. 



It is believed that well-and-water worship — that is to say, the 

 worship of the spirits of wells and springs — was prevalent 

 among our Neolithic precursors, for, wherever Neolithic remains 

 are plentiful, there we find also vestiges of water worship — 

 holy wells, wishing wells, etc., and, even to this day, it is cus- 

 tomary to hang rags, and sometimes wreaths, to the bushes 

 near by, or to the sides of such wells, or to drop a pin or a 

 coin into them. Not to mention other instances, this is notably 

 the case in Ireland, where the Neolithic period was of very 

 long duration, and during which the people rose to a height 

 of culture and civilization unsurpassed elsewhere. 



The hill country of Derbyshire abounds in Neolithic remains : 

 tumuli, stone circles, and single " standing stones " are of 

 frequent occurrence. It seems possible that the well-dressing 

 at Tissington may be the representative of an ancient pre- 

 historic custom. When the Romans came they would bring 

 their own religion, and they were always ready to adopt gods 

 and ceremonies belonging to other beliefs. May we not suggest 

 that they assimilated to their own Floralia the custom they 

 found already in existence ? 



As time went on, Christianity spread over the hills and 

 valleys of our country, and we find that it has always been the 

 method of the Church to christianize heathen customs, rather 

 than do away with them. The holy wells in Ireland have 

 usually received the name of some saint, and we find heathen 

 gods transformed into Christian saints, S. Elias, for instance, 

 a saint much venerated in parts of Greece, being a Christian 

 form of the Greek god Helios. Thus it seems possible 

 that the well-dressings may have assumed something of their 

 present form when, circa 460 a.d., the Rogation Days were 

 instituted by Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne. It is also po.ssible 

 that the procession to the wells may have been added or 



