Keyne

[ Keen ] or St. Keyna , daughter of Braga´nus, prince of Garthmatrin or Brecon, called “Keyna, the Virgin.” Her sister Melaria was the mother of St. David. Many nobles sought her in marriage, but she refused them all, being resolved to live and die a virgin. She retired to a spot near the Severn, which abounded with serpents, but at her prayer they were all turned into Ammonites , and “abide to this day.” Subsequently she removed to Mount St. Michael, and by her prayer a spring of healing waters burst out of the earth, and whoever drinks first of this water after marriage will become the dominant house-power. “Now,” says Southey, “a Cornishman took his bride to church, and the moment the ring was on ran up to the mount to drink of the mystic water. Down he came in full glee to tell his bride; but the bride said, ‘My good man, I brought a bottle of the water to church with me, and drank of it before you started.’”—Southey, The Well of St. Keyne (1798).