Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs

by James M. Mackinlay

Inan, probably the same as Finan, gave name to Inchinnan, in Renfrewshire, though the ancient church of the parish was dedicated, not to him, but to Conval. The church at Lamington, in Lanarkshire, was dedicated to Inan. St. Innian’s Well is in the parish. He is the patron saint of Beith, in Ayrshire. The annual fair held there in August is popularly called Tenant’s Day—Tenant being a corruption of St. Inan. St. Inan’s Well and St. Inan’s Chair keep his memory fresh in the district. Some particulars about them are given by Mr. Robert Love in the “Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland”, vol. xi.:—“This chair is in the rocky hill-face at the west end of the Cuff hills, and from its elevated position a wide tract of country from south to north is overlooked. At the base of the hill, and distant from the chair some hundred yards, is a well called St. Inan’s Well, a double spring, which issues from the rock at two points close by each other, and which is almost unapproachable in respect of its abundance and purity. This chair is formed in part, possibly by nature, out of the rock of the hill. Its back and two sides are closed in, while, in front, to the west, it is open. The seat proper is above the ground in front about two feet two inches, is two feet four inches in breadth, and one foot four inches in depth backwards.” Visitors to the seven churches at Glendalough, in county Wicklow, Ireland, are usually shown St. Kevin’s Seat on a block of rock. As a proof of its genuineness the mark made by the saint’s leg and the impression of his fingers are duly pointed out by the local guide.

In Kirkmaiden parish, Wigtownshire, the print of the Virgin’s knee was at one time shown on a stone where she knelt in prayer. There was a chapel dedicated to her in the neighbourhood. In Southend parish, Kintyre, are the remains of St. Columba’s Chapel, standing in the ancient burying-ground of Keil. In his “Ecclesiological Notes” Mr. Muir observes, “Under an overhanging rock, close by on the roadside, is St. Columba’s Well, and on the top of a hillock, overlooking the west end of the burial ground there is a flat rock bearing on its top the impress of two feet, made, it seems, by those of the saint whilst he stood marking out and hallowing the spot on which his chapel should rest.” In Bromfield parish, Cumberland, is a piece of granite rock called St. Cuthbert’s Stane, and near it is a copious spring of remarkably pure water. Brand, in his “Popular Antiquities,” says that “this spring, probably from its having been anciently dedicated to the same St. Cuthbert, is called Helly Well, i.e., Haly or Holy Well.”

Mr. R. C. Hope, in his “Holy Wells,” refers to a block of stone near St. Madron’s Spring, in Cornwall, locally known as St. Madron’s Bed. We are told that “on it impotent folk reclined when they came to try the cold water cure.” In the same parish is a pre-historic relic in the form of a granite block with a hole in the centre of it. It is known in Cornish as Mean-an-Tol, i.e., the Stone of the Hole. Its name in English is The Creeping Stone. Sickly children were at one time passed through the hole a certain number of times, in the belief that a cure would follow. This superstitious custom recalls what was at one time done beside St. Paul’s Well, in the parish of Fyvie, Aberdeenshire. Close to the well were the ruins of an old church. One of its stones was supported on other two with a space below. It went by the name of The Shargar Stone—shargar signifying a weakly child. The stone, in this instance, got its name from the custom in the district of mothers passing their ailing children through the space below the stone, in the belief that whatever hindered their growth would thereby be removed. Mr. Hope recounts a tradition concerning Morwenstowe, in Devon, and its patron saint, Morwenna, to the effect that when the parishioners wished to build a church, Morwenna brought a large stone from the foot of the cliff to form the font. Feeling fatigued by the climb she laid down the stone to rest herself, and from the spot a spring gushed forth.

On the top of green Dunfillan, in the parish of Comrie, is a rocky seat known in the district as Fillan’s Chair. Here, according to tradition, the saint sat and gave his blessing to the country around. Towards the end of last century, and doubtless even later, this chair was associated with a superstitious remedy for rheumatism in the back. The person to be cured sat in the chair, and then, lying on his back, was dragged down the hill by the legs. The influence of the saint lingering about the spot was believed to insure recovery. St. Fillan’s Spring, at the hill-foot, has already been referred to, in connection with its mysterious change of site. It was much frequented at one time by old and young, especially on 1st May and 1st August. The health seekers walked or were carried thrice round the spring from east to west, following the course of the sun. The next part of the ritual consisted in the use of the water for drinking and washing, in throwing a white stone on the saint’s cairn, near the spring, and in leaving a rag as an offering before departing. In 1791 not fewer than seventy persons visited the spot at the dates mentioned. The writer of the article on Comrie in the “Old Statistical Account of Scotland” supplies these particulars, and adds, “At the foot of the hill there is a basin made by the saint on the top of a large stone, which seldom wants water, even in the greatest drought, and all who are distressed with sore eyes must wash them three times with this water.” Fillan, to whom Comrie parish is thus so much indebted, flourished about the sixth century, and must not be confounded with the other missionary of the same name, who dwelt more than a century later, in the straths of the Fillan and the Dochart, between Tyndrum and Killin. Concerning the former, Dr. Skene writes in his “Celtic Scotland”: “Fillan, called Anlobar or ‘the leper,’ whose day is 20th June, is said in the Irish calendar to have been of Rath Erenn in Alban, or the fort of the Earn in Scotland, and St. Fillans, at the east end of Loch Earn, takes its name from him; while the church of Aberdour, on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth, is also dedicated to him.” The other Fillan had his Chapel and Holy Pool halfway between Tyndrum and Crianlarich. He is also connected with Fife. At Pittenweem, in that county, his cave is to be seen, and in it is his holy well, supplied with water from crevices in the rock. At the mill of Killin, in Perthshire, once stood a block of stone, known as St. Fillan’s Chair. Close to the spot flows the Dochart, and some person or persons, whose muscles were stronger than their antiquarian instincts, sought not unsuccessfully to throw the relic into the river. The Renfrewshire parish of Killallan, united in 1760 to that of Houston, got its name from Fillan. Its ancient church, now ruined, was dedicated to him. Near the ruins, are a stone with a hollow in it and a spring, called respectively St. Fillan’s Seat and St. Fillan’s Well.

About two miles and a half to the south-east of Dunfermline, is a block of stone, believed to be the last remnant of a group of pre-historic Standing Stones. According to tradition, it was used by Queen Margaret, as a seat where she rested, when on her way to and from the ferry over the Forth. A farm in the immediate neighbourhood is called St. Margaret’s Stone Farm, after the block in question. In his “Annals of Dunfermline” Dr. Henderson says, “In 1856 this stone was removed to an adjacent site, by order of the road surveyor, in order to widen the road which required no widening, as no additional traffic was likely to ensue, but the reverse; it is therefore much to be regretted that the old landmark was removed. It is in contemplation to have the old stone replaced on its old site (as nearly as possible) and made to rest, with secure fixings, on a massive base or plinth stone.” Not far from the town of Cromarty is St. Bennet’s Spring, beside the ruins of St. Bennet’s Chapel. Close to the spot once stood a stone trough, termed The Fairies’ Cradle. Hugh Miller, in his “Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland,” says that this trough was “famous for virtues derived from the saint, like those of the well. For, if a child was carried away by the fairies and some mischievous imp left in its place, the parents had only to lay the changeling in this trough, and, by some invisible process, their child would be immediately restored to them. The Fairies’ Cradle came to a sudden end about the year 1745. It was then broken to pieces by the parish minister, with the assistance of two of his elders, that it might no longer serve the purposes of superstition.”

The following, from the Rev. Dr. Gregor’s “Folklore of the North-East of Scotland,” has certainly nothing to do with a saint, but in other respects, has a bearing on the subject in hand:—“The Pot o’ Pittenyoul is a small but romantic rock-pool in a little stream called the ‘Burn o’ the Riggins,’ which flows past the village of Newmills of Keith. On the edge of the pool are some hollows worn away by the water and the small stones and sand carried down by the stream. These hollows to a lively imagination have the shape of a seat, and the story is, that the devil, at some far-back time, sat down on the edge of the pool and left his mark.” Probably at an equally distant date, the devil made his presence felt, further south, though in a different way. He had great objections to a church built at Invergowrie, in Perthshire, and, in order to knock it down, hurled a huge boulder across the Tay from the opposite coast of Fife. We are not aware that the stone struck the church. At any rate it can be seen in the grounds of Greystane, a property to which, according to local tradition, it gave name. Sir William Wallace, though never canonized, had certainly more of the saint about him than the last-mentioned personage. We find various traditions concerning him in the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire. His connection with Lanark is well known. At Biggar, he is said, by Blind Harry, to have defeated the English, who greatly outnumbered his forces. This battle took place on Biggar Moss. A few days before the fight, he entered the enemy’s camp, disguised as a cadger or pedlar, to discover the strength of the English army. Being pursued, he turned on his assailants while crossing a bridge over Biggar Water, a little to the west of the town. A foot-bridge there still goes by the name of The Cadger’s Bridge. A rock with a hollow in it, lying to the north of Vizzyberry, is locally styled Wallace’s Seat, and a spring near the spot is still known as Wallace’s Well.

CHAPTER VI.

Healing and Holy Wells.

Healing and Holy—Modern Health-resorts—King’s Ease—Poorhouse of Ayr—Muswell—St. Martin’s Chapel—Alum Wells—Petrifying Springs—Peterhead—Moss of Melshach—Well of Spa—Chapel Wells at Kirkmaiden—Medan—St. Catherine’s Balm Well—The Sciennes—St. Bernard’s Well—Non-mineral Wells—Early Saints—Water for Discipline—For Baptism—Burghead—Lough Shanan—Tobar-an-easbuig—Poetry and Superstition—Heljabrün—Trinity Hospital and Well—St. Mungo’s Well—Fuaran n’Gruarach—Spring in Athole—Fiddler’s Well—Water as a Prophylactic.