La Fontaine de Mirtre
by Philip Ahier
Early Guide Book compilers dwelt upon the magical and medicinal properties of this Spring, which is also known as La Belle Hougue Spring and La Fontaine des Mittes.
The Spring itself is on the promontory of La Belle Hougue at the North of the parish of Trinity.
Two Guide Books of the Forties of the last century expatiated at considerable length upon it.
The anonymous compiler of "A Week's Visit to Jersey," compiled after 1844, wrote concerning La Fontaine de Mirtre (p. 162):—
"At the foot of Belle Hougue point, we are told by one authority, there is a miraculous spring, which has the power of loosening the tongue, nay, even of giving speech to the dumb, provided that the draught be taken before sunrise.
"It is a mineral spring, of a ferruginous quality, called 'La Fontaine de Mirtre,' to which some few resort; but being in a part little frequented, and at some distance from any house, it is not so much sought after as if it were placed in a more favourable situation, added to which it is but little known, except to those who reside in the neighbourhood
"Its waters are said to be also a beneficial for sore eyes. The whereabouts of this tongue-loosening spring, my dear sister, your not being with us, we did not take the pains to verify. In our case, its virtues would, of course, have been superflous."(!)
The above account of "La Fontaine de Mirtre" or "Fontaine des Mittes," appeared in many Guide Books after 1844, and, in 1856, our old friend, Mr. Octavius Rooke, in his "Channel Islands" (pp. 65) "dedicated the following legend" to it:—
"In ages gone by, when yet the world was young, two fairies dwelt there, together they lived, enjoying all that was glad and beauteous upon God's earth. There was then no sin to mar, no crime that could pollute earth, heaven, sea, air and sky; all sang the Almighty's praise; sweet sounds of music rolled from sphere to sphere, and bright glad spirits wandered where now man slaves to gain his daily bread by the hard labour of his toil-worn hands.
"Down mid the ever-blooming flowers, these fairies sat-Arna and Auirna were their names—together they had lived and loved for many an age, but now their state was soon to change, for they had passed the time allotted to them on earth, and soon their God would place them in a still higher sphere of joy.
"Together, hand in hand, they sat, and while they gazed, an angel's form swept down, and thus he spoke:-
" 'Arm and Aiurna, I come to take thee to a new bright home beyond the Stars, there wilt thou be nearer placed to the Almighty throne.'
"Joy flowed through all their veins, they raised their hymn of praise, aloft they rose, led by the angel, up to where their seats in heaven should be for ever fixed among the blest.
"But, ere they went, the recollection of their long loved ones came o'er them, and from each sinless eye, one pearly drop fell down, pure as themselves, . . . these tears were earthly, so to earth they fell. But springing from those who so immortal were, they could not die; so up again from earth they sprang, and the twin fountain flows for ever, fraught with twin blessings to mankind."
This, as can be suspected, is a fabricated or made-up legend; it in nowise bears any resemblance to the native types. It was "dedicated" as Mr. Rooke put it, to the guardian fairies of "La Fontaine des Mittes," at Trinity.
Its subsequent history is interesting; in spite of its being an "imported" legend, it was translated into French by Mr. J. Le Bas, and the French version appeared in the "Almanach of the Chronique de Jersey" for 1891. It was re-translated and adapted by Major L'Amy in 1927 in his "Jersey Folk Lore," (pp. 63-66).
The water from this spring is still used for bathing sore eyes. Chemical analysis has revealed that it contains a mixture of Sodium, Calcium, Magnesium, Chlorine besides small quantities of Sulphuric Acid and Carbonic Acid.
by Philip Ahier
Early Guide Book compilers dwelt upon the magical and medicinal properties of this Spring, which is also known as La Belle Hougue Spring and La Fontaine des Mittes.
The Spring itself is on the promontory of La Belle Hougue at the North of the parish of Trinity.
Two Guide Books of the Forties of the last century expatiated at considerable length upon it.
The anonymous compiler of "A Week's Visit to Jersey," compiled after 1844, wrote concerning La Fontaine de Mirtre (p. 162):—
"At the foot of Belle Hougue point, we are told by one authority, there is a miraculous spring, which has the power of loosening the tongue, nay, even of giving speech to the dumb, provided that the draught be taken before sunrise.
"It is a mineral spring, of a ferruginous quality, called 'La Fontaine de Mirtre,' to which some few resort; but being in a part little frequented, and at some distance from any house, it is not so much sought after as if it were placed in a more favourable situation, added to which it is but little known, except to those who reside in the neighbourhood
"Its waters are said to be also a beneficial for sore eyes. The whereabouts of this tongue-loosening spring, my dear sister, your not being with us, we did not take the pains to verify. In our case, its virtues would, of course, have been superflous."(!)
The above account of "La Fontaine de Mirtre" or "Fontaine des Mittes," appeared in many Guide Books after 1844, and, in 1856, our old friend, Mr. Octavius Rooke, in his "Channel Islands" (pp. 65) "dedicated the following legend" to it:—
"In ages gone by, when yet the world was young, two fairies dwelt there, together they lived, enjoying all that was glad and beauteous upon God's earth. There was then no sin to mar, no crime that could pollute earth, heaven, sea, air and sky; all sang the Almighty's praise; sweet sounds of music rolled from sphere to sphere, and bright glad spirits wandered where now man slaves to gain his daily bread by the hard labour of his toil-worn hands.
"Down mid the ever-blooming flowers, these fairies sat-Arna and Auirna were their names—together they had lived and loved for many an age, but now their state was soon to change, for they had passed the time allotted to them on earth, and soon their God would place them in a still higher sphere of joy.
"Together, hand in hand, they sat, and while they gazed, an angel's form swept down, and thus he spoke:-
" 'Arm and Aiurna, I come to take thee to a new bright home beyond the Stars, there wilt thou be nearer placed to the Almighty throne.'
"Joy flowed through all their veins, they raised their hymn of praise, aloft they rose, led by the angel, up to where their seats in heaven should be for ever fixed among the blest.
"But, ere they went, the recollection of their long loved ones came o'er them, and from each sinless eye, one pearly drop fell down, pure as themselves, . . . these tears were earthly, so to earth they fell. But springing from those who so immortal were, they could not die; so up again from earth they sprang, and the twin fountain flows for ever, fraught with twin blessings to mankind."
This, as can be suspected, is a fabricated or made-up legend; it in nowise bears any resemblance to the native types. It was "dedicated" as Mr. Rooke put it, to the guardian fairies of "La Fontaine des Mittes," at Trinity.
Its subsequent history is interesting; in spite of its being an "imported" legend, it was translated into French by Mr. J. Le Bas, and the French version appeared in the "Almanach of the Chronique de Jersey" for 1891. It was re-translated and adapted by Major L'Amy in 1927 in his "Jersey Folk Lore," (pp. 63-66).
The water from this spring is still used for bathing sore eyes. Chemical analysis has revealed that it contains a mixture of Sodium, Calcium, Magnesium, Chlorine besides small quantities of Sulphuric Acid and Carbonic Acid.
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