well dressing

Anthrop.: An old custom observed at Ti ington, in Derby shire, England, of dre ing the wells and springs with flowers on Ascension Day. After morning prayer, a proce ion is formed, headed by the clergymen, and the wells are visited and prayers offered and hymns sung at each well. The custom is said to commemorate a fearful drought which visited Derby shire in the summer of 1615, during which time the wells of Ti ington flowed as usual. More probably it is a survival of water-worship (q. v.). "In consequence of its questionable origin, whether Pagan or Popish, we have heard some good but straitlaced people condemn the well-dre ing greatly."-Cham bers: Book of Days, i. 597.