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.
Healing and holy have an etymological kinship. The one is commonly
associated with matters relating to the body, and the other with
those relating to the soul. If the body is healed, it is said to be
whole and its owner hale; and if the soul is healed, it is said to
be holy. All these words have one idea in common, and hence we need
not wonder that healing wells were, as a rule, reckoned holy wells,
and vice versa. When speaking of the virtues of such wells, Mrs. Stone,
in her "God's Acre," puts the point exactly, if somewhat quaintly, when
she says, "Before chemistry was born, when medical science was little
known, these medical virtues, so plainly and indisputably ostensible,
were attributed to the beneficence of the saint or angel to whom the
spring had been dedicated." Many still go to Moffat, Bridge-of-Allan,
and Strathpeffer to drink the waters, but probably, none of those
health-seekers now rely on magic for a cure. It was quite otherwise
in former times. Cures wrought at Lourdes are still believed, by many,
to be due to the blessing of the water by the Virgin Mary.
Not far from the highway between Ayr and Prestwick once stood a
lazar-house called King's Ease or King's Case, known in the sixteenth
century as Kilcaiss. Its ruins were to be seen till well on in the
present century. According to tradition, the hospital was founded
for lepers by King Robert Bruce, who was himself afflicted with a
disease believed to be leprosy. This was done as a thank-offering,
for benefit received from the water of a neighbouring well. The spring
was doubtless sacred to some saint, probably to Ninian, to whom the
hospital was dedicated, and we can safely infer that the patron got
the credit of the cure. To maintain the lepers the king gifted various
lands to the hospital, among others, those of Robertlone, in Dundonald
parish, and of Sheles and Spital-Sheles, in Kyle Stewart. The right
of presentation to the hospital was vested in the family of Wallace
of Craigie. At a later date the lands belonging to the charity passed
into other hands. In the third volume of his "Caledonia," published
in 1824, Chalmers remarks, "The only revenue that remained to it was
the feu-duties payable from the lands granted in fee-firm, and these,
amounting to 64 bolls of meal and 8 marks Scots of money, with 16
threaves of straw for thatching the hospital, are still paid. For more
than two centuries past the diminished revenue has been shared among
eight objects of charity in equal shares of 8 bolls of meal and 1 mark
Scots to each. The leprosy having long disappeared, the persons who are
now admitted to the benefit of this charity are such as labour under
diseases which are considered as incurable, or such as are in indigent
circumstances." In the time of Charles I., the persons enjoying the
benefit of the charity lived in huts or cottages in the vicinity of
the chapel. In 1787 the right of presentation was bought from the
Wallaces by the burgh of Ayr, and the poorhouse there is thus the
lineal descendant of King Robert's hospital. Mr. R. C. Hope, in his
"Holy Wells," alludes to the interesting fact that Bruce had a free
pass from the English king to visit Muswell, near London, close to the
site of the Alexandra Palace. This well, dedicated to St. Lazarus, at
one time belonged to the hospital order of St. John's, Clerkenwell,
and was resorted to in cases of leprosy. Bruce's foundation at
Ayr recalls another at Stony Middleton, in Derbyshire. The latter,
however, was a chapel, and not a hospital. Tradition says that a
crusader, belonging to the district, was cured of leprosy by means
of the mineral water there, and that in gratitude he built a chapel
and dedicated it to his patron saint, Martin.
In glancing at the history of holy wells, it is not difficult
to understand why certain springs were endowed with mysterious
properties. When there were no chemists to analyse mineral springs,
anyone tasting the water would naturally enough think that there was
something strange about it, a notion that would not vanish with the
first draught. The wonder, too, would grow if the water was found
to put fresh vigour into wearied frames. Alum wells, like the one
in Carnwath parish, Lanarkshire, would, through their astringent
qualities, arrest attention. A well at Halkirk, Caithness, must have
been a cause of wonder, if we judge by the description given of it
in the "Old Statistical Account of Scotland," where we read, that
"on its surface lies always a thin beautiful kind of substance, that
varies like the plumage of the peacock displayed in all its glory to
the rays of the sun."
The petrifying power of certain springs would also tend to bring them
into notice. There is a famous well of this kind near Tarras Water,
in Canonbie parish, Dumfriesshire. In Kirkmaiden parish, Wigtownshire,
is a dropping cave, known as Peter's Paps. In former times it was
resorted to by persons suffering from whooping-cough. The treatment
consisted in standing with upturned face below the drop, and allowing
it to fall into the open mouth. For more than two centuries and
a half, the mineral waters of Peterhead have been famous for both
internal and external use, though their fame is not now so great as
formerly. Towards the end of the seventeenth century, they were spoken
of as one of the six wonders of Buchan. The principal well is situated
to the south of the town, and is popularly called the Wine Well. Its
water is strongly impregnated with carbonic acid, muriate of iron,
muriate of lime, and muriate of soda. The chalybeate spring in the
Moss of Melshach, in Kennethmont parish, had at one time a considerable
local reputation for the cure of man and beast. Clothes of the former
and harness of the latter were left beside the well. Visits were
paid to it in the month of May. Another Aberdeenshire health-resort
formerly attracted many visitors, viz., Pannanich, near Ballater, with
its four chalybeate springs. These are said to have been accidentally
discovered, about the middle of last century, but were then probably
only rediscovered. They were at first found beneficial in the case of
scrofula, and were afterwards deemed infallible in all diseases. In his
"Antiquities and Scenery of the North of Scotland," Cordiner, under
date 1776, writes: "In coming down these hilly regions, stopped the
first night at 'Pananach-lodge:' an extensive building opposite to the
strange rocks and pass of Bolliter. There, a mineral well and baths,
whose virtues have been often experienced, are become much frequented
by the infirm. The lodge, containing a number of bed-chambers,
and a spacious public room, is fitted up for the accommodation of
those who come to take the benefit of the waters. Goat whey is also
there obtained in the greatest perfection." Almost a century later,
another visitor to the spot, viz., Queen Victoria, thus writes,
in her "More Leaves from the Journal of a Life in the Highlands":
"I had driven with Beatrice to Pannanich wells, where I had been
many years ago. Unfortunately, almost all the trees which covered
the hills have been cut down. We got out and tasted the water, which
is strongly impregnated with iron, and looked at the bath and at the
humble, but very clean, accommodation in the curious little old inn,
which used to be very much frequented." The Well of Spa, at Aberdeen,
was more famous in former times than it is now. There are two springs,
both of them chalybeate. The amount of iron in the water, however,
diminished very considerably more than fifty years ago--a change due to
certain digging operations in the neighbourhood. The present structure
connected with the well was renovated in 1851. It was built in 1670
to replace an earlier one, repaired by George Jamieson, the artist,
but soon afterwards completely demolished by the overflowing of the
adjoining Denburn. The present building, according to Mr. A. Jervise,
in the fourth volume of the "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries
of Scotland," "bears representations of the Scottish Thistle, the
Rose of England, and the Fleur-de-lis of France, surmounting this
inscription:--
'As heaven gives me
So give I thee.'
Below these words is a carving of the rising sun, and the following
altered quotation from Horace:--
'Hoc fonte derivata Salus
In patriam populumque fluat.'
"It appears," continues Mr. Jervise, "that the virtues of this Spa were
early known and appreciated, for in 1615 record says that there was
'a long wyde stone which conveyed the waters from the spring, with
the portraicture of six Apostles hewen upon either side thereof.' It
is described as having then been 'verie old and worne.'"
An unusual kind of holy well, viz., one, in which salt water takes
the place of fresh, is to be found in the case of the Chapel Wells
in Kirkmaiden parish, Wigtownshire, half way between the bays of
Portankill and East Tarbet. About thirty yards to the north-west are
the ruins of St. Medan's Chapel, partly artificial and partly natural,
a cave forming the inner portion. In days gone by, the spot was much
frequented on the first Sunday of May (O.S.), called Co' Sunday, after
this cave or cove. Dr. Robert Trotter, who examined the chapel and
the wells in 1870, gives the results of the observations in the eighth
volume of the "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland"
(new series). He says, "These wells--three natural cavities in a
mass of porphyritic trap--are within the tide mark, and are filled
by the sea at high water of ordinary tides. The largest is circular,
five feet in diameter at the top, and four feet at one side, shelving
down to five feet at the other, and is wider inside than at the top,
something like a kailpot in fact, and it is so close to the edge
of the rock that at one place its side is not two inches thick. The
other wells almost touch it, and are about one foot six inches wide
and deep respectively." Sickly children were brought to be bathed,
the time selected being just before sunrise. Dr. Trotter mentions
that children are still brought occasionally, sometimes from long
distances. The ceremony described to him by an eyewitness was as
follows:--"The child was stripped naked, and taken by the spaul--that
is, by one of the legs--and plunged headforemost into the big well till
completely submerged; it was then pulled out, and the part held on by
was dipped in the middle well, and then the whole body was finished
by washing the eyes in the smallest one, altogether very like the
Achilles and Styx business, only much more thorough. An offering was
then left in the old chapel, on a projecting stone inside the cave
behind the west door, and the cure was complete."
Much uncertainty attaches to Medan or Medana, the tutelar saint of
the spot. One legend makes her a contemporary of Ninian. According to
another, she lived about one hundred years later. Dr. Skene thinks
she is probably the same as Monenna, otherwise Edana, who is said
to have founded churches in Galloway, and at Edinburgh, Stirling
and Longforgan. Kirkmaiden parish, at one time called Kirkmaiden in
Ryndis, is believed to be named after her, like the other parish known
as Kirkmaiden in Farnes, now united to the parish of Glasserton. An
incident in her history has a bearing on the present subject. According
to the Aberdeen Breviary, she fled from her home in Ireland to escape
from the importunities of a certain noble knight who sought to marry
her. Accompanied by two handmaidens, she crossed to Galloway and took
up her abode in the Rhinns. The knight followed her. When Medana saw
him she placed herself along with her maidens on a rock in the sea. By
a miracle, this rock became a boat, and she was conveyed over the water
to Farnes. Again the knight appeared. This time Medana sought refuge
among the branches of a tree, and, from this coign of vantage, asked
her lover what it was that made him pursue her so persistently. "Your
face and eyes," replied the knight. Thereupon Medana plucked out
her eyes and threw them down at the feet of her lover, who was so
filled with grief and penitence that he immediately departed. On the
spot where her eyes fell a spring of water gushed forth, and in it
Medana washed her face, doubtless thereby restoring her sight. There
is much to favour the view taken by Dr. Trotter: that "possibly the
well was the original institution; the cave a shelter or dwelling
for the genius who discovered the miraculous virtues of the water,
and his successors; and the chapel a later edition for the benefit of
the clergy, who supplanted the old religion by grafting Christianity
upon it, St. Medana being a still later institution."
St. Catherine's Balm Well, at Liberton, near Edinburgh,
is still considered beneficial in the treatment of cutaneous
affections. The spring is situated on a small estate, called after
it, St. Catherine's. Peter Swave, who visited Scotland in 1535,
on a political mission, mentions that near Edinburgh there was a
spot in a monastery where oil flowed out of the ground. This was
his way of describing the Balm Well. Bitumenous particles, produced
by decomposition of coal in seams beneath, intermittently appear on
the surface of the water. This curious phenomenon must have attracted
attention at a very early period, and one can easily understand why the
well was in consequence regarded with superstitious reverence. When
speaking of this well, Brome, who visited Scotland about 1700,
observes, "It is of a marvellous nature, for as the coal whereof it
proceeds is very apt quickly to kindle into a flame, so is the oil
of a sudden operation to heal all scabs and tumours that trouble the
outward skin; and the head and hands are speedily healed by virtue
of this oil, which retains a very sweet smell." According to Boece,
the fountain sprang from a drop of oil, brought to Queen Margaret
of Scotland, from the tomb of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai. The same
writer mentions that Queen Margaret built a chapel to St. Catherine,
in the neighbourhood of the spring. In 1504 an offering was made by
James IV. in this chapel, described as "Sanct Kathrine's of the oly,
i.e., oily well." The later history of the spring is thus referred
to by Sir Daniel Wilson, in his "Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden
Time": "When James VI. returned to Scotland, in 1617, he visited the
well, and commanded it to be enclosed with an ornamental building
with a flight of steps to afford ready access to the healing waters;
but this was demolished by the soldiers of Cromwell, and the well now
remains enclosed with plain stone-work, as it was partially repaired
at the Restoration." About three miles to the north of the well,
once stood the Convent of St. Catherine of Sienna--a religious
foundation which gave name to the part of Edinburgh still called
"The Sciennes." What Sir Daniel Wilson describes as "an unpicturesque
fragment of the ruins" served to the middle of the present century,
and perhaps, even later, as a sheep-fold for the flocks pasturing in
the adjoining meadow. Lord Cockburn, in his "Memorials of His Time,"
mentions that in his boyhood, about 1785, "a large portion of the
building survived." Before the Reformation the nuns of this convent
walked annually in solemn procession to the Balm Well. The saints to
whom the convent and the spring were respectively dedicated were, of
course, not identical, though bearing the same name. The coincidence
of name, however, evidently led to these yearly visits. As it may be
taken for granted that the two Catherines were on friendly terms, the
pilgrimages doubtless proved a benefit to all who took part in them. At
any rate, it is safe to assume that the health of the pilgrims would be
the better, and not the worse, for their walk in the fresh country air.
In the valley below the Dean Bridge, Edinburgh, close to the Water of
Leith, is the sulphur spring known as St. Bernard's Well--traditionally
connected with Bernard the Abbot of Clairvaux. In his "Journey
through Scotland," about 1793, Heron remarks: "The citizens of
Edinburgh repaired eagerly to distant watering-places, without
inquiring whether they might find medicinal water at home. But within
these few years, Lord Gardenstone became proprietor of St. Bernard's
Well. His lordship's philanthropy and public spirit suggested to him
the possibility of rendering its waters more useful to the public. He
has, at a very considerable expense, built a handsome Grecian edifice
over the spring, in which the waters are distributed by a proper
person, and at a very trifling price. His lordship's endeavours
have accomplished his purpose. The citizens of Edinburgh are now
persuaded that these waters are salutary in various cases; and have,
particularly, a singular tendency to give a good breakfasting appetite;
in consequence of which, old and young, males and females, have,
for these two or three last summers, crowded to pay their morning
respects to Hygeia in the chapel which Lord Gardenstone has erected
to her." The last allusion is to a statue of Hygeia placed within the
building on its erection, in 1789. The goddess of health, however,
eventually showed signs of decrepitude; and, about a hundred years
later, the original statue was replaced by one in marble through
the liberality of the late Mr. William Nelson, who also restored the
pump-room and made the surroundings more attractive.
Coming next to consider the case of springs not possessing medicinal
qualities, in other words, such as have no taste save that of
clear and sparkling water, we find here, too, many a trace of
superstition. Springs of this kind were probably holy wells first,
and then healing wells. We have already seen that, in a large number
of instances, fountains became sacred through their connection with
early saints. It usually happened that the Christian missionary took up
his abode near some fountain, or river, whence he could get a supply
of water for his daily needs. In later times the well or stream was
endowed with miraculous properties. Water was also used for purposes
of bodily discipline. It was a practice among some of the early saints
to stand immersed in it while engaged in devotion. The colder the
water, the better was it for the purpose. Special significance, too,
was given to water through its connection with baptism, particularly
when the rite was administered to persons who had only recently
emerged from heathenism.
At Burghead, in Elginshire, is an interesting rock-cut basin supplied
with water from a spring. Burghead is known to have been the site
of an early Christian church, and Dr. James Macdonald believes that
the basin in question was anciently used as a baptistery. All trace
of it, and well-nigh all memory of it, had vanished till the year
1809. Extensive alterations were then in progress at the harbour, and
a scarcity of water was felt by the workmen. A hazy tradition about
the existence of a well, where the ground sounded hollow when struck,
was revived. Digging operations were begun, and, at a depth of between
twenty and thirty feet below the surface, the basin was discovered. We
quote the following details from Dr. Macdonald's article on the subject
in the "Antiquary" for April, 1892:--"Descending into a hollow by a
flight of twenty well-worn steps, most of them also hewn out of the
solid rock, we come upon the reservoir. The dimensions of the basin or
piscina are as follow--greatest breadth of the four sides, ten feet
eight inches, eleven feet, ten feet ten inches, and ten feet seven
inches respectively; depth, four feet four inches. One part of the
smooth bottom had been dug up at the time of the excavations, either
because it had projected above the rest, as if for some one to stand
upon, or because it was thought that by doing so the capacity of the
well and perhaps the supply of the water would be increased. Between
the basin and the perpendicular sides of the reservoir a small ledge
of sandstone has been left about two feet six inches in breadth. These
sides measure sixteen feet three inches, sixteen feet seven inches,
sixteen feet nine inches, and seventeen feet respectively; and the
height from the ledge upwards is eleven feet nine inches. The angles,
both of the basin and its rock walls, are well rounded. In one corner
the sandstone has been left in the form of a semi-circular pedestal,
measuring two feet nine inches by one foot ten inches, and one foot
two inches in height; whilst in that diagonally opposite there is a
circular hole, five inches in diameter and one foot four inches in
depth. From the ledge, as you enter, two steps of irregular shape
and rude workmanship lead down into the basin. The sides of the
reservoir are fissured and rent by displacement of the strata; and
portions of the rock, that have given way from time to time, have
been replaced by modern masonry. The arched roof is also modern." An
Irish legend accounts for the origin of Lough-shanan, in County Clare,
by connecting it with the baptism of Senanus, from whom it derived
its name. "The saint, while still an infant, was miraculously gifted
with speech and told his mother to pluck three rushes in a valley near
her home. When this was done, a lake appeared, and in it Senanus was
baptised according to a form of words prescribed by himself."
In the eighth volume of the "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries
of Scotland" (new series), Sir Daniel Wilson gives an account of the
ancient burying-ground of Kilbride, some three miles from Oban. "I
had visited the venerable cemetery repeatedly," he tells us, "and
had carefully investigated its monuments, without heeding the sacred
fountain which wells up among the bracken and grass, about a dozen
yards from the gate of the churchyard, and flows in a stream down the
valley. Yet, on inquiry, I learned that it was familiarly known as
Tober-an-easbuig, i.e., The Bishop's Well or The Holy Well. Here, as
we may presume, the primitive missionary and servant of St. Bridget,
by whom Christianity was introduced into the wild district of Lorne,
baptised his first converts; and here, through many succeeding
generations, the neophytes were signed with the sign of the cross,
and taught the mystic significance of the holy rite."
The thoughts suggested by the sight of a crystal spring are alluded to
by Mr. Hunt in his "Romances of the West of England," where he says,
"The tranquil beauty of the rising waters, whispering the softest
music, like the healthful breathing of a sleeping infant, sends a
feeling of happiness through the soul of the thoughtful observer,
and the inner man is purified by its influence, as the outer man is
cleansed by ablution." This is the poetic view; but the superstitious
view is not far to seek.
In the "Home of a Naturalist," Mrs. Saxby thus recounts a Shetland
superstition of a gruesome kind:--"There is a fine spring well near
Watlie, called Heljabrün, and the legend of it is this: A wandering
packman (of the Claud Halcro class) was murdered and flung into
Heljabrün. Its water had always been known to possess healing power,
and, after becoming seasoned by the unfortunate pedlar's remains,
the virtue in the water became even more efficacious. People came
from far and near to procure the precious fluid. All who took it away
had to throw three stones or a piece of 'white money' into the well,
and the water never failed to cure disease."
On Soutra Hill, the most westerly ridge of the Lammermoors,
once stood the hospital built by Malcolm IV., about 1164, for the
reception of wayfarers. It was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Every
vestige of the building was removed between forty and fifty years
ago except a small aisle, appropriated in the seventeenth century by
the Pringles of Beatman's Acre as a burial vault. A short distance
below the site of the hospital is a spring of pure water, locally
known as Trinity Well. In former times it was much visited for
its healing virtues. A similar reputation was for long enjoyed by
St. Mungo's Well, on the west side of St. Mungo's Hill, in the parish
of Huntly, Aberdeenshire. In Fortingall parish, Perthshire, on the
hillside near the Old Castle of Garth, is a limpid spring called by
the natives Fuaran n' Gruarach, and also Fuaran n' Druibh Chasad,
signifying the Well of the Measles and the Well of the Whooping-Cough
respectively. Mr. James Mackintosh Gow describes the locality in an
article in the eighth volume of the "Proceedings of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland" (new series). He says, "It was famous in the
district for the cure of these infantile diseases, and nearly all I
spoke to on the subject had themselves been taken to the well, or had
taken their own children to drink the water; and when an epidemic
of the maladies occurred my informant remarked on the curious and
amusing spectacle the scene presented on a summer morning, when groups
of children, with their mothers, went up the hill in procession. The
last epidemic of whooping-cough occurred in 1882, when all the children
of the neighbourhood were taken to the well." Some forty yards higher
up the slope than the well, is an earth-fast boulder of mica schist,
having on one of its sides two natural cavities. The larger of these
holds about a quart and is usually filled with rain water. "It was the
custom," Mr. Gow tells us, "to carry the water from the well (perhaps
the well was at one time at the foot of the stone) and place it in
the cavity, and then give the patients as much as they could take,
the water being administered with a spoon made from the horn of a
living cow, called a beodhare or living horn; this, it appears,
being essential to effect a cure." On the farm of Balandonich,
in Athole, is a spring famous, till a comparatively recent period,
for the cure of various maladies. A story is told in the district of
a woman, unable to walk through rheumatism, having been brought in a
wheel-barrow from her home four miles away. She bathed her limbs in
the spring, and returned home on foot.
Hugh Miller, in his "Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland,"
recounts a tradition concerning a certain spring near the town of
Cromarty known as Fiddler's Well, from the name of the young man
who discovered its virtues. The water gushes out from the side of
a bank covered with moss and daisies. The tradition, considerably
abbreviated, is as follows:--William Fiddler and a companion were
seized with consumption at the same time. The latter died not long
afterwards, and Fiddler, though wasted to a shadow, was able to follow
his friend's body to the grave. That night, in a dream, he heard the
voice of his dead companion, who told him to meet him at a certain spot
in the neighbourhood of the town. Thither he went, still in his dream,
and seated himself on a bank to await his coming. Then, remembering
that his friend was dead, he burst into tears. "At this moment a
large field-bee came humming from the west and began to fly round his
head.... It hummed ceaselessly round and round him, until at length
its murmurings seemed to be fashioned into words, articulated in the
voice of his deceased companion--'Dig, Willie, and drink!' it said,
'Dig, Willie, and drink!' He accordingly set himself to dig, and no
sooner had he torn a sod out of the bank than a spring of clear water
gushed from the hollow." Next day he took the bee's advice. He found
a spring, drank the water, and regained his health. Hugh Miller adds,
"its virtues are still celebrated, for though the water be only simple
water it must be drunk in the morning, and as it gushes from the bank;
and, with pure air, exercise, and early rising for its auxiliaries,
it continues to work cures."
We need not multiply examples of non-mineral healing wells. Whatever
benefit may be derived from them cannot be ascribed to any specially
medicinal quality in their waters. The secret of their popularity is
to be sought for in the annals of medical folklore, and not in those
of scientific medicine.
Certain springs got the credit of warding off disease. On the island
of Gigha, near the west coast of Kintyre, is a farm called Ardachad
or High Field. Tradition says that a plague once visited the island,
but that the people, belonging to the farm, escaped its ravages. This
immunity was ascribed to the good offices of a well, in an adjoining
field. The high situation of the farm and the presence of good water
would tend to prolong health, without the intervention of magic. The
Rev. Dr. Gregor, in his "Folklore of the North-East of Scotland,"
alludes to St. Olaus' Well in Cruden parish, Aberdeenshire. Its
virtues are recorded in the couplet--
"St. Olav's Well, low by the sea
Where peat nor plague shall never be."
On the top of the Touch Hills, in Stirlingshire, rises St. Corbet's
Spring. The belief formerly prevailed that whoever drank its water
before sunrise on the first Sunday of May would have life prolonged
for another year. As a consequence, crowds flocked to the spot early
on the day in question. In 1840 some old people were still living who,
in their younger days, had taken part in these annual pilgrimages. In
mediæval times, the belief prevailed that no one baptised with the
water of Trinity Gask Well, Perthshire, would be attacked by the
plague. When water for baptism was drawn from some holy well in the
neighbourhood, its use, in most instances, was doubtless due to a
belief in its prophylactic power. As already mentioned, baptisms in
St. Machar's Cathedral, Old Aberdeen, were at one time administered
in water taken from the saint's spring. Before the Reformation the
water used at the chapel of Airth, in Stirlingshire, is believed to
have been procured from a well, dedicated to the Virgin, near Abbeyton
Bridge. We do not know of any spring in Scotland with a reputation
for the prevention of hydrophobia. St. Maelrubha's Well, on Innis
Maree, is said to have lost its efficacy for a time through contact
with a mad dog. What happened, when a mad bull was plunged into the
Holy Pool at Strathfillan, will be alluded to later. In the village
of Les Saintes Maries, in the south of France, is an interesting
twelfth-century church with a well in the crypt. The water, when
drunk, is said to prevent any evil consequences from the bite of
a mad dog. Mr. E. H. Barker gives an account of this well in his
"Wayfaring in France." He says, "The curé told me that about thirty
people, who had been bitten by dogs said to be rabid, came annually
to drink the water; and, he added, 'not one of them has ever gone
mad.' M. Pasteur had become a formidable rival of the well."