ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 



987 



threatened by a man, who fancied 

 he had been injured by him, " with ' 

 *' the vengeance of St. Elian, and 

 *' a journey to his well, to curse 

 " him with'effcct."* 



" Some of these wells are held in 

 great repute for the cure of diseases ; 

 and the saints are also occasionally 

 applied to for the recovery of stolen 

 goods. In the parish of Aberc:eley, 

 in Caernarvonshire, there was for- 

 merly a well dedicated to St. (rcorge, 

 who was the Welsh tutelary saint of 

 horses. All these aiimals that were 

 distempered, were brought to the 

 well, sprinkled with water, and re- 

 ceived this blessing : Rkad Ditto a 

 Sunt Siors arnat, "the blessing of 

 " God and St. George be on thee." 

 It was the custom of those v,ho 

 kept a great number of horses, at 

 certain times, to make an offering of 

 one of them to the saint, in order to 

 secure his blessing on ail the rest. 

 If a well of any ;a at was near the 

 church, the v.aler for baptism was 

 always fetched from thence ; and, 

 alter the ceremony, the old women 

 would frequently wash their eyes in 

 the water of the font. 



*' Some years ago it wa.s a cus- 

 tom in the churches of North 

 Wales, whenever the name of the 

 devil occurred, for every one of the 

 congregation to spit upon the iloor. 

 This was done to shew their con- 

 tempt of the evil spirit. Whenever 

 the name of Judas was mentioned, 

 thev expressed their abhorrence of 

 him by striking their breasts. 



" On the morning of Christmas- 

 day, about three o'clock, the inha- 

 bitants used formerly to assemble 

 in the churches; and, after the 

 prayers and sermon were concluded, 

 they continued their singing psalms 



and hymns with great devotion fill 

 day-light. Those who through age 

 or inhrmity were disabled from at- 

 tending the church, invariably read 

 the prayers in their own houses, 

 and sang the appropriate hymns. 

 This act of devotion was called 

 {plij^uin,') " the crowing of the 

 " cock.«" If has been a general 

 belief among the superstitious, that 

 instantly 



" At his warning, 

 Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air, 

 Tir cxti-avas^aiit and crriug spirit hies 

 To his confaie."' ^ 



*' But during this holy season, th« 

 cock was supposed to exert his 

 power throughout the night. 



" Some s;iy, that ever 'gainst that season 



C'JIUf?, 



Whcrria rtur Siiviour's birth is celebrat- 

 ed. 



The bird of dawnuig singeth all uight 

 lonii ; 



And then, they say, no spirit walks u- 

 brond; 



1 lie nli;hts arc wholesonic ; then no pla- 

 nets sti JKe ; 



No fairy takui: no witch h:ith power to 

 charm; 



So halluwed and so gntcious is the time." 



'• The Welsh yet retain the cus- 

 tom of wearing leeks in their hats 

 on St. David's-day. On the first 

 of March 610, the Welsh forces 

 under command of king Cadwallo, 

 obtained a sigiia,l victory over the 

 Saxons. The battle happened near 

 a large piece of ground in which this 

 vegetatjle was cultivated, and the 

 soldiers put leeks into their hats, in 

 order to distinguish themselves. 

 Since tliis period, the leek has been 

 retained as a badge of honour. TJis 



• Tour ill Wales, li. 387. 



f-Peiniuut ii. M40. 



W«Khma« 



