Brewer's: Keyne

(St.). The well of St. Keyne, Cornwall, has a strange superstition attached to it, which is this: “If the bridegroom drinks therefrom before the bride, he will be master of his house; but if the bride gets the first draught, the grey mare will be the better horse.” Southey has a ballad on this tradition, and says the man left his wife at the church porch, and ran to the well to get the first draught; but when he returned his wife told him his labour had been in vain, for she had taken with her a “bottle of the water to church.”

Related Content Allusions Foreign Words and Phrases Latin and Greek Word Elements Names: Their Origins and Meanings Old Testament Names Mythology Ancient Greek Literature & Mythology The Bible (King James version) The Koran (translation by J. M. Rodwell) Shakespeare's Plays Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb) Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language