The WELL of St. KEYNE.

I know not whether it be worth the reporting that there is in Cornwall, near the parish of St. Neots, a Well arched over with the robes of four kinds of trees, withy, oak, elm, and ash, dedicated to St. Keyne. The reported virtue of the water is this, that whether husband or wife come first to drink thereof, they get the mastery thereby.

Fuller:

A Well there is in the west country,
And a clearer one never was seen;
There is not a wife in the west country
But has heard of the Well of St. Keyne.

An oak and an elm tree stand beside,
And behind does an ash tree grow,
And a willow from the bank above

Droops to the water below.

A traveller came to the Well of St. Keyne;
Joyfully he drew nigh,

For from cock-crow he had been travelling
And there was not a cloud in the sky.

He drank of the water so cool and clear,
For thirsty and hot was he,

And he sat down upon the bank
Under the willow tree.

There came a man from the neighbouring town

At the Well to fill his pail;

On the Well-side he rested it

And he bade the stranger hail.

Now art thou a batchelor, Stranger? quoth he,

For, an if thou hast a wife,

The happiest draught thou hast drank this day That ever thou didst in thy life.

Or has thy good woman, if one thou hast,
Ever here in Cornwall been?

For an if she have, I'll venture my life

She has drank of the Well of St. Keyne.

I have left a good woman who never was here, The stranger he made reply.

But that my draught should be better for that, I pray you answer me why.

St. Keyne, quoth the countryman, many a time
Drank of this crystal well,

And before the Angel summoned her
She laid on the water a spell.

If the husband of this gifted Well
Shall drink before his wife,
A happy man thenceforth is he

For he shall be master for life.

But if the wife should drink of it first,..`
God help the husband then!

The stranger stoopt to the Well of St. Keyne,
And drank of the water again.

You drank of the Well I warrant betimes ?

He to the countryman said:

But the countryman smil'd as the stranger spake, And sheepishly shook his head.

I hasten'd as soon as the wedding was done And left my wife in the porch.

But i' faith she had been wiser than me,

For she took a bottle to church.

BISHOP BRUNO.

66

"Bruno, the Bishop of Herbipolitanum, sailing in the river of Danubius, with Henry the third, then Emperour, being not far from a place which the Germanes call BEN STRUDEL, or the devouring gulfe, which is neere unto Grinon, a castle in Austria, a spirit was heard clamouring aloud, Ho, ho, Bishop Bruno, whether art thou travelling? but dispose of thyselfe how thou pleasest, thou shalt be my prey and spoile." At the hearing of these words they were all stupified, and the Bishop with the rest crost and blest themselves. The issue was, that within a short time after, the Bishop feasting with the Emperor in a Castle belonging to the Countesse of Esburch, a rafter fell from the roof of the chamber wherein they sate, and strooke him dead at the table."

Heywood's Hierarchie of the blessed Angels.

Bishop Bruno awoke in the dead midnight,
And he heard his heart beat loud with affright:
He dreamt he had rung the palace bell,
And the sound it gave was his passing knell.

Bishop Bruno smiled at his fears so vain,
He turned to sleep and he dreamt again :
He rung at the palace gate once more,

And Death was the porter that opened the door.