ISSUE ONE (MAY 2000)

WELLS IN DEPTH –  Tristan Gray Hulse

(Browne Willis 1801, pp.27-8).

We know that Ffynnon Ddeier was still being visited by local people in the episcopacy of one of Fleetwood’s successors at St Asaph, Bishop Maddox (1736-43), just as we know that the Holywell pilgrims continued to travel across Denbighshire to Gwytherin. In performing this journey they were following the traditional route taken by Winifred in her lifetime, the outline of which was given by Robert of Shrewsbury, and the memory of which is still alive in parts of Denbighshire to the present day. The aim of this extra pilgrimage, it seems clear, was deliberately to follow the original route of St Winifred; what more natural then, than that the pilgrims would include in their itinerary a devotional visit to the only other holy well mentioned in the Vita Wenefredae? However, it must still be remembered that there is no actual mention of any such devotional visits.

I.   Topographical Dictionary of Wales.

II.   Pennant, Tours in Wales, vol. II, p.117.

III.  Ibid, vol. III p. 157 (Smedt 1887, p.734).

This impressive total, along with the willingness of the Bollandist to plough through Lewis’ two weighty volumes, gives a clear indication of the depth and thoroughness of de Smedt’s research; it indicates, too, that Lewis is an important source of information about such Welsh sacred wells as survived into the nineteenth century (and though it is to be noted that Lewis was an incorrigible plagiarist, and regularly recycled the words of other authors without attribution, he at least brought together a mass of otherwise often unnoticed information).

William Cathrall (who is another important source of information on Welsh holy wells) wrote:

‘In a wood near the town is a well called St Michael’s, close to a very romantic rock on which a Roman Catholic Chapel is supposed to have once been situated, and concerning which some superstitious ideas are still entertained; as persons go early on Easter morning to drink the rock water mixed with sugar’.

(Cathrall 1828, II, p.228).

In Lewis this becomes:

‘In a wood in the vicinity is a well, called St Michael’s, the water of which has obtained, among the superstitious inhabitants of the neighbourhood, the reputation of possessing a peculiar miraculous efficacy, and the spring was formerly much resorted to by the credulous, on the morning of Easter-day, for the purpose of drinking it.’

(Lewis 1848, I, p.152. This is a fair example of Lewis’ plagiarising style.)

Cathrall’s ‘very romantic rock’, which is probably to be identified with the Kr[aig] Mihangel (‘St Michael’s Rock’) noted by Lhuyd as being tan y dre (‘below the town’ – Lhuyd 1909, p.67), is equally probably the cliff rising above the well. The name seems to be lost, but a natural hole or niche in the cliff-face immediately above the well is still pointed out locally as the place where St Michael’s image formerly stood. This tradition was apparently preserved as a piece of local oral lore, and only appeared in print as late as 1974, in Margaret Lewis Ellis’ account of Caerwys wells – see Lewis Ellis (1974). If it is genuinely old, it may be that it is in fact a corruption of a much earlier tradition which told of an apparition of St Michael at the spot – the cult of St Michael in the West was substantially promoted by a number of relatively early accounts of visions of St Michael, on Monte Gargano, in Italy, and on Mont S-Michel, in Normandy, where in both instances he is associated with cliffs and mountains [‘rocks’], caves or crypts [the hole in the rock], and miraculous healing springs. A notice of the church erected on the site of the Normandy apparition – at the time of which, the Mount was still part of Celtic Brittany – by the visionary bishop St Aubert appears in numbers of medieval Welsh chronicles [for instance, Brenhinedd y Saesson has, under the year 717: ‘D.CC.XVII. the church of Michael was consecrated’ – Jones 1971, p.7], and, unusually, the feast of this apparition, 16 October, was observed as a patronal festival at a number of Welsh churches, including one near to Caerwys, at Cilcain – Lhuyd 1909, p.79, is the single witness of this fact. Ffynnon Mihangel is one of a discrete group of toponyms [including two further Michael wells, at Cilcain and Trelawnydd – Jones 1954, p.179 – and another Michael’s Hill or Rock in Tremeirchion] which suggests a strong localised cult of St Michael in this small area of North Wales in the early middle ages. Liber Landavensis charters note the existence of Michael churches in South Wales by the tenth century, and Michael was the first non-Celtic saint to have churches dedicated to him in Wales. Caerwys and Cilcain churches, if perhaps not Trelawnydd, were founded in the pre-Norman period. Whether or not an apparition was ever believed to have been seen at Caerwys, the Caerwys Ffynnon Mihangel undoubtedly played a part in establishing devotion to the Archangel so strongly in this part of Flintshire.

Despite its inclusion in Parochiale Wallicanum as an extinct capella (Wade-Evans 1910, p.100), it seems improbable that any ‘chapel’ ever stood by Ffynnon Mihangel. The well is a natural pool of water formed by several springs rising at the foot of a cliff at the bottom of a narrow precipitously-sided wooded gorge. The Royal Commission Inventory inspectors described it as ‘a natural basin of limestone, about 12 feet across East and West, and 20 feet North and South, in which the water collects from the springs above, the spring within the basin adding its quota’ (Inventory 1912, p.9 – only the springs rising in the basin are now in evidence). That Lhuyd failed to mention the chapel is probably conclusive evidence against it.

Ffynnon Fair, Aberdaron (Jones 1954, pp.149-50: origin legend; associated chapel, Capel Mair; prayer/charm ritual; liminal situation in shallow cave on cliff-face, where the well is covered by the sea at each high tide); Ff. Fair, Llanbedrog (Ibid., p.150: cure of any human or animal complaint; well ritual to detect the identity of thieves); Ff. Fair, Llanfairfechan (p.150: pins offered; bewitched articles bathed to remove curses); Ff. Fair, Beddgelert (p.150: according to the Caernarfonshire antiquary Myrddin Fardd [J. Jones], local tradition attributed ‘a multitude of magical virtues’, lawer o rinweddau swyngyfareddol, to the well – Fardd 1908, pp.170-1); Ff. Fair, Bryncroes (Jones 1954, p.150: near an extinct capella called Ty Fair, ‘Mary’s House’ – cf. Wade-Evans 1910, p.87, note 1) – thus, of the five Caernarfon wells dedicated to our Lady noticed by Jones, all five have corroborative traditions of full sacral status – 5/5.

Cardigan:

Ff. Fair, Llangynllo (Jones 1954, p.158: curative) – 1/7.

Carmarthen:

Ff. Fair, Kidwelly (Ibid., pp.165, 46: pins offered; visited on Lady Day; peculiar local legend of the martyrdom of our Lady within the parish, though apparently not specifically in connection with the well); Ff. Fair, Llangeler (p.165: ‘probably’ associated with the chapel called Capel Mair) – 2/4.

Denbigh:

Ff. Fair, Cefn Meiriadog (Ibid., p.174: well-chapel; pilgrimage at Assumption-tide; fair; cures); Ff. Fair, Llanrhaeadr (p.174: close to Ff. Ddyfnog, and thus possibly associated in some way with that once-popular curative and pilgrimage well; the waters of both springs collect together in a single large bath) – 2/6

Flint:

Ff. Fair, Bodrhyddan Hall, Rhuddlan (Ibid., p.179: the fact is not noted by Jones, but its substantial baroque reconstruction – traditionally attributed to Inigo Jones, though the style is too late to be actually his – with a large exterior bath, argues for its continued cultic use in the post-Reformation period) – 1/8.

Glamorgan:

Ff. Fair, St George (Ibid., p.181: ‘reputed to possess great restorative powers’); Ff. Fair, Monknash (p.181: near an old chapel); Ff. Fair, Penrhys (pp.182, 6, 19, 47, 60, 93-4: holy well closely associated with the premier Marian sanctuary in Wales) – 3/14.

Meirionydd:

Ff. Fair, Llanenddwyn (Ibid., p.191: cured rheumatism); Ff. Fair, Dolgellau (p.191: cured rheumatism); Ff. Fair, Llanfair (pp.191, 46: legend of origin) – 3/8.

Monmouth:

Lady’s Well, Tredegar (Ibid., p.194: a bath-house constructed there in 1719 argues for a healing cult – but, it seems possible that it was originally named for St Gwladys) – 1/1.

Montgomery:

Ff. Fair/St Mary’s Well, Llanfair Caereinion (Ibid., pp.197-8: curative) – 1/4.

Pembroke:

Ff. Fair, Maenclochog (Ibid., pp.207, 16: curative; associated in local tradition with a nearby ruined cromlech); St Mary’s Well, St Davids (p.207: immediately outside the cathedral, where in the middle ages there was a cult of our Lady as ‘Mary of Menevia’); St Mary’s Well, Angle (p.207: ‘near the site of St Mary’s Chapel’) – 3/15.

Radnor:

Ff. Fair, Rhaeadr (Ibid., p.216: cured eye complaints; visited regularly by courting couples, who drank sugared water there) – 1/1.

Of the two remaining counties, Breconshire has a single Mary well (Ff. Fair, Patrishow – p.144) which lacks any form of tradition beyond the name; while the Ffynhonnau Fair on Anglesey (pp.141, 143) are more commonly known by other names, and the Marian dedication is therefore uncertain.

This is also the case with other Mary wells. For instance, all that Jones found to note regarding Ff. Fair, Gwyddelwern, Meirionydd (p.191), was that it was alternatively known as Ff. Gwern Beuno (‘the Well of St Beuno’s Alder-grove’, or, ‘of St B’s Swamp’), Ff. Wen (‘it is widely believed that wells containing in their names the elements -wen [‘white, blessed, holy’] and -llwyd [‘grey, old, holy’] possess a religious origin [but] I have not found evidence to support such theories’: Ibid., p.4), and Ff. Isa (‘Lower Well’). Gwyddelwern features prominently in Buchedd Beuno, the Welsh Life of St Beuno (Wade-Evans 1930, p.317 – in view of the overall context of this paper, it is worth noting that the Buchedd appears to offer independent testimony to the antiquity of the Holywell St Winifred tradition). The toponym appears to mean ‘the Irishman’s gwern’, and as one of Beuno’s disciples was St Llorcan Wyddel (i.e. Llorcan the Irishman), whom he is said to have restored to life and taken as a disciple, it seems likely that Gwern Beuno and Gwyddelwern essentially refer to the same place, which was once associated in tradition with the two saints. Gwyddelwern church is dedicated to Beuno, and there is also a Ffynnon Beuno on the outskirts of the village, a little way from the church, to the north (once celebrated for the cure of cattle – Ibid., pp.189, 106), which is also occasionally known was Ff. Ucha (‘Upper Well’). The upper-lower parallel, in addition to the fact that both wells are named for Beuno, seems to confirm that the name Ff. Fair has been intruded upon the Lower Well, arguably in the high middle ages (see below); but that the new dedication, lacking any form of cultic support, failed to supplant the older associations of the well.

Farewell to every defect that desires them!

White wine runs in the rill,

That can kill pain and fatigue.

(Ibid., p.399);

While Gwilym Tew invoked:

The Virgin Mary of the ruddy cheek –

She is in foaming water, the mother of the nine spheres,

Gentle Mary, the mother of mercy!’

(Ibid., p.398).

But it is clear from these texts that the principal object of devotion at Penrhys was the miraculous image of Mary ‘nursing Jesus for a kiss’ (Rhisiart ap Rhys – Ibid., p.399).

For the history and archaeology of the Penrhys sanctuary, see Ward 1914; the well is discussed pp.371-8, and illustrated with a photograph, excellent line drawings, and a plan. For a succinct modern account of Penrhys, see Gray 1996, and references therein.)

In North Wales, the main Marian shrine was her church on Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island – ‘Mary’s sea-girt isle, fair isle of her fair ones’, as the poet Meilir described it in the twelfth century) off the end of the Lleyn peninsula in Caernarfonshire. Ffynnon Fair, Aberdaron, on the headland looking out towards the island, was associated with the pilgrimage, pilgrims visiting the well and its associated chapel before sailing to Enlli. (As yet, there is no complete account of the Enlli pilgrimage, but cf. Hartwell Jones 1912, pp.353-68; for some of the island’s traditional associations with the Celtic saints, see Fisher 1926.) The wells at St Davids and Beddgelert appear likely to have been associated in some manner with images venerated in the cathedral and priory churches, respectively, as Blessed Mary of Menevia and Blessed Mary of Snowdon; but there is little information about either shrine. And there were other, more purely local shrines, as the instance of Nercwys cited above demonstrates.

That Marian sanctuaries were not automatically associated with Marian wells is revealed in the instance of Llanystumdwy, in Caernarfonshire. In this local shrine an image known as Our Lady of the Throne was venerated; but though three holy wells are noted for the parish, none are dedicated to the Virgin. The Llanystumdwy wells are: Ff. Ddefaid, ‘Sheep Well’, noted as curative – Jones 1954, p.154; Ff. y Gwaenydd, ‘Meadows’, or Moors’ Well’, pins offered, crutches hung on the surrounding trees by the cured – pp.154, 101; and Ff. Rhufeinig, ‘Roman Well’, or Ff. Betws Fawr, which can apparently mean either ‘great oratory’ or, much more likely here, ‘great birch-grove’ – p.156. For the Llanystumdwy wells, see Fardd 1908, p.175 [Ff. Ddefaid], p.176 [Ff. y Gwaenydd], and p.192 [Ff. Rhufeinig]. Similarly, there is no evidence for a Mary Well at Cardigan, where an image known as Our Lady of the Taper was popularly venerated until the Reformation (for this shrine, see Harris 1954).

It is also relevant to note that, although the dedication of the first church in Wales to Mary, at Meifod in 1156, was thought sufficiently important to merit mention in the princely annals (cf. e.g. Jones 1971, p.157), the church never developed as a centre of particular devotion to the Virgin. Perhaps the long-established veneration of the local saints Tyssilio and Gwyddfarch, both of whom already had churches and shrines in the Meifod llan, hindered any such development? Much more surprising is that neither Mary, Tyssilio, nor Gwyddfarch appear to have had wells named in their honour, although there were a number of celebrated wells in Meifod parish: Hally/Holy Well (Jones 1954, p.200 – Jones writes of Hally Well and Holy Well as two separate sites, but the Royal Commission Inventory makes it clear that they were one and the same: Inventory 1911, p.151; local tradition recorded a chapel near the well); Clawdd Llesg Well (Jones 1954, pp.200-1, 84 – also called Ff. y Clawdd Llesg [‘Well of the Weak, or Old, Dyke’], Pistyll y Clawdd [‘the Dyke Spout’], Ff. Spout, and The Spout Well; a curative well on the parish boundary; visited on Trinity Sunday to drink sugared water); Ff. y Groftydd (Ibid., p.201 – curative; ‘Well of the Crofts’); Ff. Darogan (p.303 – ‘Prediction Well’); and Gallt y Maen Well (p.203 – on Gallt y Maen, the ‘Hill of the Stone’, where young people once gathered to drink the water and play games). Ff. y Clawdd Llesg is on Moel y Sant, ‘the Saint’s Mountain’ (cf. Inventory 1911, pp.150-1, which has a good account of the well as it was in 1910), which fact, with the details of its cult, perhaps suggests a former association with one or other of the Meifod saints.

For a general account of Marian pilgrimage in medieval Wales, now badly in need of updating, see Hartwell Jones 1912, pp.335-44.