PARK AND CCMCTCRY 
385 
The St. Winifred Fountain, Hudson, N. Y. 
The beautiful gift of the statue of St. Winifred 
to the City of Hudson, N. Y., by General J. Watts 
de Peyster, was formarly unveiled early last month. 
General de Peyster is evidently bent on attaining 
further fame, — to alsolive in the “hearts of his coun- 
trymen,” by his many splendid beneficences to serve 
his fellowmen or adorn their abiding places. The 
statue of St. Winifred was modeled by Mr. Geo. E. 
Bissell of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. , and portrays the 
saint sword in hand, standing on a pedestal of rough 
hewn and naturally grouped stones, the center piece 
of a pool and fountain located on Promenade Hill. 
It was cast in bronze in France under Mr. Bissell’s 
personal supervision and attention to avoid mishaps 
and secure good work. 
The occasion of the unveiling was quite an 
event, the circumstances attending the gift promot- 
ing general interest. The Hon. C. P. Collier, on be- 
half of General de Peyster, made the presentation 
speech, in the course of which he gave the follow- 
ing particulars regarding St. Winifred: “Chambers’ 
Encyclopedia informs us that St. Winifred was a 
saint of the ancient British Church, and held in great 
veneration in Wales; that her name is notable in 
connection with a well-knov/n well, to the tradition- 
ary miraculous virtues of which the City of Holy 
Well in Wales, situated near this well, owes its 
origin and celebrity. 
“Dr. Brewer of Cambridge, England, in his book 
of Miracles and Legends, gives as the legend of St. 
Winifred that she was of high rank and loveliness, 
and that she was beheaded by Caradoc, the son of 
Alan, king of North Wales, for refusing to marry 
him; and that where her head fell a fountain, from 
the tears which she shed, sprang forth from the 
ground; and that that fountain was thereafter called 
Winifred’s Well, or the Holy Well; and that the 
waters flowing from that well possessed miraculous 
properties. It is also further stated by Dr. Brewer 
as part of the legend that St. Beno, her spiritual in- 
structor, after she had been beheaded by Caradoc, 
adroitly set her head on again, and that she re- 
turned to her home safe and sound. 
“All accounts of St. Winifred are legendary. 
None of the accounts that I have seen state when or 
where, or why she was made a saint, nor when or 
where she died; but that she was a saint held in great 
veneration is stated as I have said. 
“As no legend that I have seen gives any ac- 
count of the reason for placing her in the calendar 
of saints we may suppose that for good reasons she 
was made the tutelary saint of this healing well, and 
that the sword in her hand was placed there to de- 
fend it; or she may have smitten the rock from 
which the healing waters flow, and for that reason 
was made a saint; or because that where her head 
fell as stated by Dr. Brewer, this medicinal spring, 
now called Holy Well, burst forth from the rocks a 
lasting supply of remedies for human ills.” 
THE ST. WINIFRED FOUNTAIN, HUDSON, N. Y. — GEO. E. BISSELL, SC. 
