Chambers's Book of Days

Robert Chambers, The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection with the Calendar (2 vols, 1862-1864).

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Two volumes, 1862 to 1864. Facsimile reprints are easy to find, and original sets turn up second-hand.

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251 to 275 of 439 entries

23 June

Folklore from the old calendars

St Keyne’s Well Lore and belief CornwallSt Keyne's Well in Cornwall was roofed by the roots of four trees of different kinds, withy, oak, elm and ash.
St Madern’s Well Lore and belief CornwallSt Madern's Well in Cornwall was a popular resort for people seeking relief from aches and pains, and Bishop Hall wrote that he had strictly examined a cure of a cripple there and found neither art nor collusion in it.
St Tegla’s Well No longer kept DenbighshireAmong the holy wells Chambers gathers under 1 July, St Tegla's in Denbighshire was the resort of sufferers from the falling sickness, and it asked more of them than most.
St Winifred’s Well Still kept FlintshireOn 1 July 1652 John Taylor, the Water Poet, visited St Winifred's Well at Holywell, which Chambers calls the most famous holy well in the three kingdoms.
The Bowl on St Andrew’s Well Lore and belief Outer HebridesOn the Isle of Lewis the outcome of a sickness was read at St Andrew's Well.
The Drumming Well of Oundle Lore and belief NorthamptonshireSome wells were believed to give warning of trouble to come.
The Fly of St Michael’s Well Lore and belief BanffshireAt St Michael's Well in Banffshire an undying fly was believed to keep watch over the water.
The Shirt in St Oswald’s Well Lore and belief EnglandHoly wells were also used as divining pools to learn how an illness would end.
The Wells of St Kilda No longer kept Outer HebridesSt Kilda had springs of its own with special powers.