| |
| 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. | |
| |
| An oak and an elm tree stand beside, | 5 |
| And behind doth an ash-tree grow, | |
| And a willow from the bank above | |
| Droops to the water below. | |
| |
| A traveller came to the Well of St. Keyne; | |
| Joyfully he drew nigh; | 10 |
| For from cock-crow he had been travelling, | |
| And there was not a cloud in the sky. | |
| |
| He drank of the water so cool and clear, | |
| For thirsty and hot was he; | |
| And he sat down upon the bank, | 15 |
| Under the willow-tree. | |
| |
| There came a man from the house hard by, | |
| At the well to fill his pail; | |
| On the well-side he rested it, | |
| And he bade the stranger hail. | 20 |
| |
| “Now, art thou a bachelor, stranger?” quoth he; | |
| “For, an if thou hast a wife, | |
| The happiest draught thou hast drank this day | |
| That ever thou didst in thy life. | |
| |
| “Or has thy good woman, if one thou hast, | 25 |
| Ever here in Cornwall been? | |
| For, an if she have, I ’ll venture my life | |
| She has drank of the Well of St. Keyne.” | |
| |
| “I have left a good woman who never was here,” | |
| The stranger he made reply; | 30 |
| “But that my draught should be the better for that, | |
| I pray you answer me why.” | |
| |
| “St. Keyne,” quoth the Cornish-man, “many a time | |
| Drank of this crystal well; | |
| And, before the angel summoned her, | 35 |
| She laid on the water a spell,— | |
| |
| “If the husband of this gifted well | |
| Shall drink before his wife, | |
| A happy man thenceforth is he, | |
| For he shall be master for life; | 40 |
| |
| “But if the wife should drink of it first, | |
| God help the husband then!” | |
| The stranger stooped to the Well of St. Keyne, | |
| And drank of the water again. | |
| |
| “You drank of the well, I warrant, betimes?” | 45 |
| He to the Cornish-man said; | |
| But the Cornish-man smiled as the stranger spake, | |
| And sheepishly shook his head:— | |
| |
| “I hastened, as soon as the wedding was done, | |
| And left my wife in the porch; | 50 |
| But i’ faith she had been wiser than me, | |
| For she took a bottle to church.” | |
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