*Ø* Blogmanac October 8 | Feast day of St Keyne

Which spouse will be the boss?
Keyne (Cain Wyry – Cain the virgin) (461-505), a Celtic saint who lived in the 5th century, was the daughter of Brychan, King of Brecknock, England. Keyne spent her life performing good deeds in the West Country, where she is remembered by the well bearing her name. She planted four trees around this well – an oak, an elm, a willow and an ash – and as she was dying, she imparted to its waters a strange power.

Folklore records a quaint tradition associated with St Keyne's Well, near Liskeard, Cornwall. Legend has it that the first spouse to drink from its waters will have the upper hand in the marriage. This curious old legend has been charmingly related in a poem by Southey which appeared on December 3, 1798 in the London Morning Post.

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.
Robert Southey (1774 - 1843), English poet