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on the silvery waves at moonlight, playing his harp to the Elves
and Fays who dance on the flowery margin, in obedience to his
summons—
“ Come queen of the revels-—come, form into bands
The Elves and the Fairies that follow your train;
Tossing your tresses, and wreathing your hands, _
Let your dainty feet dance to my wave-wafted strain.
The Grseco-Latin Naiades, or Water-nymphs, were also of this
family : they generally inhabited the country, and resorted to the
woods or meadows near the stream oyer which they presided.
It was in some such locality on the Asiatic coast that the ill-fated
Hylas was carried off by Isis and the River-nymphs, whilst
obtaining water from a fountain.
“ The chiefs composed their wearied limbs to rest,
But Hylas sought the springs, by thirst opprest;
A t last a fount he found with flow’rets graced:
On the green bank above his urn he placed.
’Twas at a time when old Ascanius made
An entertainment in his watery bed,
For all the Nymphs and all the Naiades
Inhabitants of neighb’ring plains and seas.”
These inferior deities were held in great veneration, and received
from their votaries offerings of fruit and flowers ; animal sacrifices
were also made to them, with libations of wine, honey, oil, and
milk ; and they were crowned with Sedges and flowers. A remnant
of these customs was to be seen in the practice which formerly
prevailed in this country of sprinkling rivers with flowers on Holy
Thursday. Milton, in his ‘ Comus,’ tells us that, in honour of
Sabrina, the Nymph of the Severn—
“ The shepherds at their festivals
Carol her good deeds loud in rustic lays,
And throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream.
Of Pansies, Pinks, and gaudy Daffodils.”
A belief in the existence of good spirits who watched and
guarded wells, springs and streams, was common to the whole
Aryan race. On the 13th of October the Romans celebrated at the
Porta Fontinalis a festival in honour of the Nymphs who presided
over fountains and wells: this was termed the Fontinalia, and
during the ceremonies wells and fountains were ornamented with
garlands. To this day the old heathen custom of dressing and
adorning wells is extant, although saints and martyrs have long
since taken the place of the Naiades and Water-nymphs as patrons.
In England, well-dressing at Ascension-tide is still practised, and
some particulars of the ancient custom will be found in the chapter
on Floral Ceremonies.
“ The fountain marge is fairly spread
With every incense flower that blows,
With flowry Sedge and Moss that grows,
For fervid limbs a dewy bed.”—Fane.
Pilgrimages are made to many holy wells and springs in the
United Kingdom, for the purpose of curing certain diseases by the
virtues contained in their waters, or to dress these health-restoring
fountains with garlands and posies of flowers. It is not surprising
to find Ben Jonson saying that round such “ virtuous” wells the
Fairies are fond of assembling, and dancing their rounds, lighted
by the pale moonshine—
“ By wells and rills, in meadows greene,
We nightly dance our hey-day guise;
And to our Fairye king and queene
We chant our moonlight minstrelsies. ”—Percy Reliques.
In Cornwall pilgrimages are made in May to certain wells
situated close to old blasted Oaks, where the frequenters suspend
rags to the branches as a preservative against sorcery and a propitiation
to the Fairies, who are thought to be fond of repairing at
night to the vicinity of the wells. From St. Mungo’s Well at
Huntly, in Scotland, the people carry away bottles of water, as a
talisman against the enmity of the Fairies, who are supposed to
hold their revels at the Elfin Croft close by, and are prone to resent
the intrusion of mortals.
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