Page:The International Folk-Lore Congress of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, July, 1893.djvu/572

492 with the popular beliefs and customs regarding these wells are the remains, or Christian modifications, of a primeval heathen well-worship. That this worship concerned the wells themselves directly appears from the names among which the word "holy" occurs more frequently than any other. The waters of the wells were supposed to possess miraculous virtues to cure physical ailments, diseases, and epidemics. At certain times the water turns to wine. Excursions and pilgrimages are commonly made to these wells, and festivities held around them. Myths and legends cling to them, the children are believed to come from their depths, the waters are consulted about future events. Some fountains are credited with a miraculous origin. The imagination of the country folk peoples them with nixies and elves of either sex; but there are few stories of them, as they do not like to mingle with men, and generally do so to the disadvantage of the mortals. Next to the trees of the sacred forests, the wells springing from the mysterious depths of the earth enjoyed the highest worship among the ancient Teutons. The sacred fountain of Duisburg is the most prominent and best known of the holy waters of the lower Rhine region."