Re: Trade Secrets
Posted: 11:29 pm
St Margaret's well at Binsey was a 'treacle' well, as mentioned in Alice In Wonderland. Treacle seems to have meant 'treatment' or healing. Like many holy wells, this one was said to cure eye problems
St Margaret being such a famous 'dragon saint' is presumably why the therapeutic well was named for her rather than Frideswide. The etymology proposed for 'treacle' is somewhat garbled but quite interesting if taken with a dose of salt
Lewis Carroll would have been au fait with the Frideswide story as her shrine is in Christ Church where he lectured.
Algar, in search of her, was blinded by lightning. Frideswide cured his blindness by water from St Margaret's Well, which she caused to appear close to the west end of the church by praying to St Margaret of Antioch. In medieval times, "treacle" meant "a healing fluid", and Lewis Carroll referred to it as a "treacle well" in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
St Margaret being such a famous 'dragon saint' is presumably why the therapeutic well was named for her rather than Frideswide. The etymology proposed for 'treacle' is somewhat garbled but quite interesting if taken with a dose of salt
treacle:
From Old French triacle, from Late Latin *triaca, late form of theriaca, from Ancient Greek θηριακή (thēriakḗ, “antidote”), feminine form of θηριακός (thēriakós, “concerning venomous beasts”), from θήρ (thḗr, “beast”).
Lewis Carroll would have been au fait with the Frideswide story as her shrine is in Christ Church where he lectured.