CHAPTEE VII 

 "OUR LADY OF THE DEW" 



THE PILGRIMAGE TO THE SHRINE OF NUESTRA SENORA DEL ROCIO 



Pilgrimages by the pious to distant shrines are a ^vell-known 

 phase in the faith both of the Moslem and of the Romish Church, 

 and require no definition by us ; but one that is yearly performed 

 to a tiny and isolated shrine not a dozen miles from our 

 shooting-lodge of Doiiana deserves description. 



First as to its origin. Twelve hundred years ago when Arab 

 conquerors overran Spain much treasure of the churches, with 

 many sacred emblems, relics, etc., w^ere hurriedly concealed in 

 places of safety. But not unnaturally, since Moorish domina- 

 tion extended over 700 years, all trace or record of such 

 hiding-places had long been lost, and it was merely by chance 

 and one by one that, after the Reconquest, the hidden treasures 

 were rediscovered. 



The story of the recovery of our Lady of the Dew is related 

 to have occurred in this wise. A shepherd tending his flocks 

 in the neighbourhood of Almonte was induced by the strangely 

 excited barking of his dog to force a way into the dense thickets 

 known as La Rocina de la Madre (a wooded swamp, famous as 

 a breeding-place of the smaller herons, egrets, and ibises), in the 

 midst of which the dog led him to an ancient hollowed tree. 

 Here, half-hidden in the cavernous trunk, the shepherd espied 

 the figure of " a Virgin of rare beauty and of exquisite carving," 

 clothed in a tunic of what had been wdiite linen, but now stained 

 dull green through centuries of exposure to the weather and 

 dew {7'ocio). 



Overjoyed, the shepherd, bearing the Virgin on his shoulders, 

 set out for Almonte, distant three leagues ; but being overcome 

 by fatigue and the weight of his burden, he lay down to rest by 



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