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FAMOUS SONGS
of the service he raised Winifreda to life again; and on the spot where her blood fell a well of water sprang forth, which is called Winifreda's Well unto this day. The waters of this well— which is situated at Holywell—are supposed to possess miraculous virtues, and pilgrims from all parts of the world still resort thither to be healed by them."
Before finishing up this brief account let me say something about" St David's Day"; if it be contended that I have quoted too much in this chapter, and told too little, I can only plead in the words of Dr. Johnson, that it is all through " sheer ignorance, sheer ignorance." Many con-flicting legends exist as to the real origin of wearing the leek on the 1st of March, but the most generally accepted tale is that King Cad-wallader, in 640, gained a complete victory over the Saxons by the special interposition of St David, who ordered the Britons to wear leeks in their caps that they might recognize each other. The Saxons, for want of some common cognizance, often mistook friends for foes. Drayton gives another version. He says the saint lived in the valley Ewias, situated between the Hatterill Hills, in Monmouthshire. It was here " that reverend British saint to contempla-tion lived."
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