"
The tradition is said to be due to the saintly request being
disregarded, with the result that, when his remains were about to be
translated, a heavy rain burst forth, and continued without ceasing for
the forty succeeding days. This was interpreted as a divine warning, so
that, instead of disturbing the saintly bones, a chapel was erected over
them. As a matter of fact, Professor Earle and other authorities assure
us that the legend is fictitious, and that the translation was attended
by the utmost eclat and success, and blessed with fine weather.
[Illustration: WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL FROM THE DEANERY GARDENS]
Foreign pilgrims coming from Normandy and Brittany, on their way to the
shrine of St. Swithun, or to that of St. Thomas of Canterbury, would
land, many of them, at Southampton, and journey to Winchester, there
to await other bands of pilgrims bound for the great Kentish shrine.
This was the route taken by Henry II when he did penance before the tomb
of the murdered Becket, in July, 1174. Although clearly seen in the wold
of Surrey and the weald of Kent at the present time, it must be
confessed that but faint traces of the Pilgrims' Way remain in
Hampshire, although early chroniclers speak of an old road that led
direct from Winchester to Canterbury.
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