Here we may bring to a close our analysis of water-worship in East and West. Enough evidence has been adduced to establish the identity of ideas and usages connected with the worship of water in India with those prevailing in Europe, particularly in the British Isles. Of all the great objects of nature water impressed people the most. It came to be worshipped everywhere. The foundation of the cult everywhere was the same. The forms and rituals were, therefore, part and parcel of the same common cult. There is, however, a difference in the degree in which they have survived in different places according to the stage of culture attained by the inhabitants of the place. These variations enable us to compare the stages of culture of different communities at different intervals, stages of culture which are practically lost to history, but to which folklore affords many a clue. In the legendary lore and traditional materials known as folklore there are precious fragments of information from which can be reared enduring monuments of history if these are carefully handled and scientifically sifted. The value, therefore, of these seemingly unmeaning beliefs and customs to the student of ethnology and folklore cannot be over-estimated, and this, if nothing else, may be pleaded in justification of the author’s attempt to revive the dying fame of the miraculous pools and rivers and their wonder-working denizens.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Even to this day people in rural England scare away the spirit of ague by saying “Ague! farewell till we meet in hell.” Similarly, they appease the spirit of cramp by saying “Cramp, be thou faultless, as our Lady was when she bore Jesus.”
[2] Folklore Notes, Vol. I.—Gujarat.
[3] Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay. Paper on the Cult of the Bath by Mr. K. M. Jhaveri, Vol. IX.
[4] With this incident may be compared the English traditions concerning the preservation of the holy wells of England, [vide page 75].
[5] The Athenæum, August 26th 1893.
[6] Evans Wentz: The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries.
[7] Latham: Descriptive Ethnology.