unspoken water

Definitions

Water that is collected by someone who remains silent, particularly from underneath a bridge which leads to a cemetery (though in some folkloric practices, from a well or spring instead), believed to have magical curative properties.

uncountable

Examples

“Of the virtues of south-running water, and 'onspoken water' it is unnecessary to speak⟳. It may be mentioned, however, that in this part of the country the use⟳ of unspoken water is not altogether discontinued, and that a south-running stream is still held in some reverence.”

“What you do when anyone who is dying has to be cured, is to go and fetch⟳ unspoken water. You tak'a pitcher, and get⟳ some water that flows under a bridge ovver which living folk walk⟳, and dead folk are borne.”

“If the shilling stuck to the bottom of the cog, the animal was under the spell⟳ of a witch, but the unspoken water had taken effect, and a cure would follow⟳. My informant has been sent on an errand of this kind.”

“When the young couple return⟳ from the spring⟳, they fill⟳ their mouths with the unspoken water and try⟳ to spirt it on each other inside the door of the house.”

“It is in connection with unspoken water. This name⟳ was given to "water from under a bridge over which the living pass⟳ and the dead are carried , brought in the dawn or twilight to the house of a sick person without the bearers speaking either in going or returning."”

“The old lady also claimed to be the last⟳ woman in Torry to have⟳ cured a child using 'unspoken water'. The infant was wasting away and the mother was convinced it was a fairy changeling or had been otherwise cursed by the fairies.”

“Those would be the bottles of unspoken water he had heard about, water taken from beneath a bridge over which the living walk⟳ and the dead are carried, brought to the house at twilight or dawn without the bringer ever saying a word ...”

CEFR level