Hide their name: The Wishing-Well by E.F. Benson

"These wishing-wells," he said, "are common to the whole of early European beliefs, but nowhere do we find that the power which supposedly presided over them was at the beck and call of any chance persons who invoked their efficacy. Only witches and those who had occult powers could set the spell working, and the origin of that spell was undoubtedly Satanic, and not till Christian times were these wells used for any purpose but that of invoking evil. The form of these wells is curiously similar; an arch or shelter of stonework is invariably built over them, and in the sides are cut small niches where, in Christian days, candles were placed or thank-offerings deposited. What they were previously used for is uncertain, but they were beyond doubt connected with the evil spells, and I conjecture that the name of the person devoted to destruction was scratched on a coin, or written on a slip of linen or paper, to await the action of the diabolical power. The most perfectly preserved of these wishing-wells known to me, is that of St. Gervase in Cornwall; its arched shelter is in excellent condition, and the well, as is usual, very deep. The local belief in its efficacy has survived to this day, though its power is never invoked, as far as I can ascertain, for evil purposes. A woman in pregnancy, for instance, will drink of the well and pray beside it, a girl whose lover has gone to sea will scratch her name on a silver coin and drop it into the water, thus insuring his safe return. The village folk are curiously reticent about such practices, but I can personally vouch for cases of this kind...."

*

I have been reading the E.F. Benson story collection Sea Mist (Ash Tree Press 2005).

I'll probably post a few comments on each story when I am done with the fiction portion of the book. But I wanted to make special mention of the story "The Wishing-Well."  It takes place in the village of St. Gervase on the northern coast of Cornwall.

Here 40 year old Judith keeps house and assists her father, the Reverend Lionel Eusters, in his church work and his study of occult folkways. Judith is of, yet not of, the community.

Her budding romantic desires are thwarted by her status as a "spinster." She is drawn to the authority of two local witches to resolve her crisis: the recently buried crone Sally, and the much more powerful Mrs. Penarth.

It's an acute story that reminds me, in its handling of the predicament of a woman thwarted in her development, of Hardy's "The Withered Arm." Not quite as hopeless as that, though!  This is E.F. Benson, after all.

Jay

June 1 2017