According to Cecil Walter Creed, who wrote the West Country Folklore Series pamphlets published in the late 1960s, locals in the area of west Dorset and Marshwood Vale put great importance onto wishing wells and other spots of spiritual importance. (Image: NQ)Residents in the area with bad eyes were known to splash the water into their eyes and wish or pray for recovery. Near Bridport, at Bettiscombe, it was reported that there was a wishing stone situated halfway up Sliding Hill. This stone was believed to roll down the hill on Midsummer’s Eve and roll back up the hill on Midsummer’s Day, with folk touching the stone to make a wish. More grizzly folklore from the time warned that, if a magpie hovered over a person for a whole day this was to foretell that person’s early death.