Hi, Mara!
Interesting question. Rattue has some statistics in 'Living Stream', esp.
table on p. 71. Half the 'top ten' well dedications are female, and the top
three are women, whereas only Mary gets into the 'top ten' church
dedications. (She's no. 1 for both wells and churches.) He also
discusses probable dates of dedications.
>From my limited experience: in the 'legendary'
examples, where wells appear miraculously at sites of martyrdom or the like,
they seem to
be associated with women, old men/hermits, and occasionally children -- i.e.
unarmed.
These legends seem the most prone to be influenced by pre-Christian
elements.
There are a few examples of more provably historical Anglo-Saxon well saints
who are
males in the prime of life -- I'm thinking of Alcmund/Ealhmund at Derby,
Ethelbert at Hereford, Oswald at Oswestry and Edward the Martyr who had a
well dedicated to him at Stow-on-the-Wold, then (re-)named Edwardstow (does
anyone know what links he had with the area??). These wells seem part of the
effort to establish the saint's cult, and Rattue describes a few examples
after the Conquest, presumably with the same motive. Some historical female
Anglo-Saxon saints also have
wells, of course.
There's a third group, wells dedicated to 'international'
saints, e.g. Mary, Helen, Catherine, Margaret. This is the largest group, 9
out of
10 in Rattue's list. Only Chad is native (his high rating may be because
'Chadwell' can derive from the AS for 'cold well'). Margaret is possibly
accountable
for, as she was a patron of childbirth, and women may have continued to
visit wells that had a pre-Christian reputation for help in that area (is
there a similar RB deity, does anyone know?). However, 'my' St Margaret's
well
doesn't appear to have been dedicated to her until 14th C at the earliest.
One apocryphal book has the Annunciation taking place by a well, which might
influence the choice of Mary, but I don't know if the book would have been
widely known in the AS or medieval periods. I suspect the motivation was the
same as dedicating so many churches to her and including her in so many
plant names.
My impression is that on balance there are more female than male, as you
say. In Worcs, I've come across St Peter (Martley), St Richard (Droitwich)
and St Kenelm (Romsley) vs St Ann (Malvern; apparently late naming), St
Margaret (Halesowen) and St Catherine (Bredon Hill and possibly Cattern's
Well at Leigh), based on Richardson (1930). You could also add one
foundation legend of Evesham Abbey, in which the Virgin Mary (and two other
ladies, according to one version) appeared to the shepherd Eoves beside the
river and said she wanted an abbey built there. (Archaeological excavations
found Roman bits and pieces in the Abbey courtyard. Nymphs, anyone?)
Christine Buckley
----- Original Message -----
From: Mara Freeman <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 20 December 1999 22:24
Subject: wells and women
> Hi there!
> I have always had the impression that holy wells in Britain and Ireland
are
> dedicated more to female saints than males, in keeping with the usual
> mythic correlation of water with the feminine. But I wonder if that is
> factually the case -- does anyone happen to know?
>
> Thanks for any help anyone can throw my way,
>
> Mara
>
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