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Change from Paganism to
Christianity --- Columba -- Spirits of Fountains — Hurtful Wells — Stone
Circles — Superstitions regarding them—Standing Stones and Springs—Innis
Maree—Maelrubha--Influence of early Saints—Names of
Wells—Stone-coverings—Sacred Buildings and Springs—Privilege of Sanctuary —
Some Examples — Freedstoll — Preceptory of Torphichen and St. John's
Well—Cross of Macduff and Nine-wells.
WE come next to ask how water
became holy in the folklore sense of the word. Fortunately we get a glimpse
of springs at the very time when they passed from pagan to Christian
auspices. The change made certain differences, but did not take away their
miraculous powers. We get this glimpse in the pages of Adamnan, St.
Columba's biographer, who narrates an incident in connection with the
saint's missionary work among the Picts in the latter half of the sixth
century. Adamnan tells us of a certain fountain "famous among the heathen
people, which the foolish men, having their senses blinded by the devil,
worshipped as God. For those, who drank of this fountain, or purposely
washed their hands or feet in it, were allowed by God to be struck by
demoniacal art, and went home either leprous or purblind, or at least
suffering from weakness or other kind of infirmity. By all these things the
pagans were seduced and paid divine honour to the fountain." Columba made
use of the popular belief in the interests of the new faith, and blessed the
fountain in the name of Christ in order to expel the demons. He then took a
draught of the water and washed his hands and feet in it, to show that it
could no longer do harm. According to Adamnan the demons deserted the
fountain, and many cures were afterwards wrought by it. In Ireland more than
a century earlier, St. Patrick visited the fountain of Findmaige, called
Sian. Offerings were wont to be made to it, and it was worshipped as a god
by the Magi of the district.
It is difficult to determine
exactly from what standpoint our pagan ancestors regarded wells. The
nature-spirits inhabiting them, styled demons by Adamnan, were malignant in
disposition, if we judge by the case he mentions; but we must not therefore
conclude that they were so in every instance. Perhaps it is safe to infer
that most of them were considered favourable to man, or the reverse,
according as they were or were not propitiated by him. Even in modern times,
some springs have been regarded as hurtful. The well of St. Chad, at
Lichfield, for instance, causes ague to anyone drinking its water. Even its
connection with the saint has not removed its hurtful qualities. In west
Highland Folk-Tales allusion is made to poison wells, and such are even yet
regarded with a certain amount of fear. In the article on the parish of
Kilsyth in the "Old Statistical Account of Scotland," it is stated that
Kittyfrist Well, beside the road leading over the hill to Stirling, was
believed to be noxious. Successive wayfarers, when tired and heated by their
climb up hill, may have drunk injudiciously of the cold water, and thus the
superstition may have originated.
Stone circles have given rise
to much discussion. They are perhaps best known by their popular name of
Druidical temples. Whatever were the other purposes served by them, there is
hardly any doubt that they were primarily associated with interments. Dr.
Joseph Anderson has pointed out that a certain archaeological succession can
be traced. Thus we find first, burial cairns minus stones round them, then
cairns plus stones, and finally, stones minus cairns. At one time there was
a widely-spread belief that men could be transformed into standing stones by
the aid of magic. This power was attributed to the Druids. There are also
traditions of saints thus settling their heathen opponents. When speaking of
the island of Lewis, Martin says, " Several other stones are to be seen here
in remote places, and some of them standing on one end. Some of the ignorant
vulgar say that they were men by enchantment turned into stones. Such
monoliths are still known to the Gaelic-speaking inhabitants of Lewis as Fir
Chreig, i.e., false men, We learn from the "New Statistical Account of
Scotland" that the two standing stones at West Skeld, in Shetland, were
believed by the islanders to have been originally wizards or giants. Close
to the roadside on Maughold Head, in the Isle of Man, stands an ancient
runic cross. A local tradition states that the cross was once an old woman,
who, when carrying a bundle of wool, cursed the wind for hindering her on
her journey, and was petrified in consequence.
With superstitions thus
clinging to standing-stones it is not to be wondered that springs in their
neighbourhood should have been regarded with special reverence. In the " Old
Statistical Account of Scotland" allusion is made to Tobir-Chalaich, i.e.,
Old Wife's Well, situated near a stone circle in the parish of Keith,
Banffshire, and to another well not far from a second circle in the same
parish. The latter spring ceased to be visited about the middle of last
century. Till then offerings were left at it by persons seeking its aid. The
writer of the article on the island of Barry, Inverness-shire, in the same
work, says, "Here, i.e., at Castle-Bay, there are several Druidical temples.
Near one of these is a well which must have been once famous for its
medicinal quality, as also for curing and preventing the effects of
fascination. It is called Tobbar-nam-buadh or the Well of Virtues." Under
the heading "Beltane," in "Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary," the following
occurs:—"A town in Perthshire, on the borders of the Highlands, is called
Tillie (or Tullie) Beltane, i.e., the eminence or rising ground of the fire
of Baal. In the neighbourhood is a Druidical temple of eight upright stones,
where it is supposed the fire was kindled. At some distance from this, is
another temple of the same kind, but smaller, and near it a well still held
in great veneration. On Beltane morning, superstitious people go to this
well and drink of it, then they make a procession round it, as I am
informed, nine times; after this, they in like manner go round the temple."
Gallstack Well, at Drumlanrig, in Dumfriesshire, is near a group of standing
stones. From examples like the above, we may infer that some mysterious
connection was supposed to exist between standing stones and their adjacent
wells. In the Tullie Beltane instance indeed, stones and well were
associated together in the same superstitious rite.
A striking instance of
Christianity borrowing from paganism is to be seen in the reverence paid to
the well of Innis Maree, in Loch Maree, in Ross-shire. This well has been
famous from an unknown past. It is dedicated to St. Maelrubha, after whom
both loch and island are named. Maelrubha belonged to the monastery of
Bangor, in Ireland. In the year 673, at the age of thirty-one, he settled at
Applecrossan, now Applecross, in Ross-shire, and there founded a church as
the nucleus of a conventual establishment. Over this monastery he presided
for fifty-one years, and died a natural death in 722. A legend, disregarding
historical probabilities, relates that he was slain by a band of pagan Norse
rovers, and that his body was left in the forest to be devoured by wild
beasts. His grave is still pointed out in Applecross churchyard, the spot
being marked by a pillar slab with an antique cross carved on it. For
centuries after his death he was regarded as the patron saint, not only of
Applecross, but of a wide district around. Pennant, who visited Innis Maree
in 1772, thus describes its appearance: "The shores are neat and gravelly;
the whole surface covered thickly with a beautiful grove of oak, ash,
willow, wicken, birch, fir, hazel, and enormous hollies. In the midst is a
circular dike of stones, with a regular narrow entrance, the inner part has
been used for ages as a burial-place, and is still in use. I suspect the
dyke to have been originally Druidical, and that the ancient superstition of
Paganism had been taken up by the saint, as the readiest method of making a
conquest over the minds of the inhabitants. A stump of a tree is shown as an
altar, probably the memorial of one of stone; but the curiosity of the place
is the well of the saint; of power unspeakable in cases of lunacy." Whatever
Pennant meant by Druidical, there is reason to believe that the spot was the
scene of pre-Christian rites. In the popular imagination the outlines of
Maelrubha's character seem to have become mixed up with those of the heathen
divinity worshipped in the district. Two circumstances point to this.
Firstly, as Sir Arthur Mitchell remarks in the fourth volume of the
"Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland," "The people of the
place speak often of the God Mourie instead of St. Mourie, which may have
resulted from his having supplanted the old god." Secondly, as the same
writer shows, by reference to old kirk session records, it was customary in
the parish to sacrifice a bull to St. Mourie. This was done on the saint's
day, the 25th of August. The practice was still in existence in the latter
half of the 17th century, and was then denounced as idolatrous.
We thus see that the
sacredness of springs can be traced back through Christianity to paganism,
though there is no doubt that in some instances it took its rise from
association with early saints. In deciding the question of origin, however,
care must be taken, for, as already indicated, the reverence anciently paid
to wells led to their selection by the early missionaries. The holy wells
throughout the land keep alive their names. An excellent example of a
saint's influence on a particular district is met with in the case of St.
Angus, at Balquhidder, in Perthshire. In his "Notes in Balquhidder" in the
"Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland," vol. ix. (new
series), Mr. J. Mackintosh Gow remarks, " Saint Angus, the patron saint of
the district, is said to have come to the glen from the eastward, and to
have been so much struck with its marvellous beauty that he blessed it. The
remains of the stone on which he sat to rest are still visible in the gable
of one of the farm buildings at Easter Auchleskine, and the turn of the road
is yet called 'Beannachadh Aonghais' (Angus's blessing). At this spot it was
the custom in the old days for people going westward to show their respect
for the saint by repeating, 'Beannaich Aonghais ann san Aoraidh' (Bless
Angus in the oratory or chapel), at the same time reverently taking off
their bonnets. The saint, going west, had settled at a spot below the
present kirk, and near to a stone circle, the remains of which, and of the
oratory, persons now living remember to have seen." After alluding to
another stone circle in a haugh below the parish church manse, Mr. Gow
mentions that this haugh is the stance of the old market of Balquhidder,
long a popular one in the district. It was held on the saint's day in April
and named Feill-Aonghais, after him. In the immediate neighbourhood there is
a knoll called "Torn Aonghais," i.e., Angus's hillock. In the grounds of
Edinchip there is a curing well called in Gaelic, "Fuaran n'druibh chasad,"
i.e., the Whooping-cough Well, beside the burn "Alt cean dhroma." "It is
formed of a water-worn pot hole in the limestone rock which forms the bed of
the burn, and is ten or twelve inches in diameter at the top and six inches
deep. There must be a spring running into the hollow through a fissure, as
no sooner is it emptied than it immediately refills, and contains about two
quarts of water. The well can easily be distinguished by the large
moss-covered boulder, round and flat, like a crushed ball, and about seven
feet in diameter, which overshadows it, and a young ash tree of several
stems growing by its side." This well was famous for the cure of
whooping-cough, and children were brought to it till within recent years.
The water was given in a spoon made from the horn of a living cow. When the
patients could not visit the spring in person, a bottleful of the healing
liquid was taken to their homes, and there administered. The district round
the lower waters of Loch Awe, now comprising the united parishes of
Glenorchy and Inishail was held to be under the patronage of Connan. There
is a well at Dalmally dedicated to him. According to a local tradition he
dwelt beside the well and blessed its water.
In addition to springs named
after particular saints, there are some bearing the general appellation of
Saints' Wells or Holy Wells. There are Holy Rood and Holy Wood Wells, also
Holy Trinity and Chapel Wells. There are likewise Priors', Monks',
Cardinals', Bishops', Priests', Abbots', and Friars' Wells. Various springs
have names pointing to no ecclesiastical connection whatever. To this class
belong those known as Virtue Wells, and those others named from the various
diseases to be cured by them. On the Rutherford estate, in the parish of
West Linton, Peebles-shire, there is a mineral spring called Heaven-aqua
Well. Considering the name, one might form great expectations as to its
virtues. There is much force in the remarks of Dr. J. Hill Burton, in his
"Book Hunter." He says, "The unnoticeable smallness of many of these
consecrated wells makes their very reminiscence and still semi-sacred
character all the more remarkable. The stranger in Ireland, or the Highlands
of Scotland, hears rumours of a distinguished well, miles on miles off. He
thinks he will find an ancient edifice over it, or some other conspicuous
adjunct. Nothing of the kind. He has been lured all that distance, over rock
and bog, to see a tiny spring bubbling out of the rock, such as he may see
hundreds of in a tolerable walk any day. Yet, if he search in old
topographical authorities, he will find that the little well has ever been
an important feature of the district ; that century after century it has
been unforgotten; and, with diligence he may perhaps trace it to some
incident in the life of the saint, dead more than 1200 years ago, whose name
it bears." There are a few wells with a more or less ornamental stone
covering, such as St. Margaret's Well, in the Queen's Park, Edinburgh, and
St. Michael's Well, at Linlithgow. St. Ninian's Well, at Stirling, and also
at Kilninian, in Mull; St. Ashig's Well, in Skye; St. Peter's Well, at
Houston, in Renfrewshire; Holy Rood Well, at Stenton, in Haddingtonshire;
and the Well of Spa, at Aberdeen, also belong to this class.
As already indicated,
standing stones and the wells near them were associated together in the same
ritual act. A curious parallelism can be traced between this practice and
one connected with Christian places of worship. Near the Butt of Lewis are
the ruins of a chapel anciently dedicated to St. Mulvay, and known in the
district as Teampull-mor. The spot was till quite lately the scene of rites
connected with the cure of insanity. The patient was made to walk seven
times round the ruins, and was then sprinkled with water from St. Ronan's
Well hard by. In Orkney it was believed that invalids would recover health
by walking round the Cross-kirk of Wasbister and the adjoining loch in
silence before sunrise. In some instances sacred sites were walked round
without reference to wells, and, in others, wells without reference to
sacred sites. But when the two were neighbours they were often included in
the same ceremony. In the early days when Christianity was preached, the
structures of the new faith were occasionally planted close to groups of
standing stones, and it may be assumed that in some instances, at least, the
latter served to supply materials for building the former. Even in our own
day it is not uncommon for Highlanders to speak of going to the clachan,
i.e., the stones, to indicate that they are going to church. The reverence
paid to the pagan sites was thus transferred to the Christian, and any
fountain in the vicinity received a large share of such reverence.
In former times, both south
and north of the Tweed, churches and churchyards were regarded with special
veneration as affording an asylum to offenders against the law. In England
the Right of Sanctuary was held in great respect during Anglo-Saxon times,
and after the Norman Conquest laws were passed regulating the privileges of
such shelters. When a robber or murderer was pursued, he was free from
capture if he could reach the sacred precincts. But he had to enter unarmed.
His stay there was only temporary. After going through certain formalities
he was allowed to travel, cross in hand, to some neighbouring seaport to
quit his country for ever. In the reign of Henry VIII., however, a statute
was passed forbidding criminals thus to leave their native land on the
ground that they would disclose state secrets, and teach archery to the
enemies of the realm. In the north of England, Durham and Beverley contained
noted sanctuaries. In various churches there was a stone seat called the
Freedstoll or Stool of Peace, on which the criminal, when seated, was
absolutely safe. Such a seat, dating from the Norman period, is still to be
seen in the Priory Church at Hexham, where the sanctuary was in great
request by fugitives from the debatable land between England and Scotland.
The only other Freedstoll still to be found in England is in Beverley
Minster. The Right of Sanctuary was formally abolished in England in the
reign of James I., but did not cease to be respected till much later. Such
being the regard in the middle ages for churches and their burying-grounds,
it is easy to understand why fountains in their immediate neighbourhood were
also reverenced. Several sanctuaries north of the Tweed were specially
famous. In his "Scotland in the Middle Ages," Professor Cosmo Innes remarks,
"Though all were equally sacred by the canon, it would seem that the
superior sanctity of some churches, from the relics presented there, or the
reverence of their patron saints, afforded a surer asylum, and thus
attracted fugitives to their shrines rather than to the altars of common
parish churches." The churches of Stow, Innerleithen, and Tyningham were
asylums at one time specially favoured. The church on St. Charmaig's Island,
in the Sound of Jura —styled also Eilean Mor or the Great Island—was
formerly a noted place of refuge among the Inner Hebrides. So much sanctity
attached to the church of Applecross that the privileged ground around it
extended six miles in every direction. In connection with his visit to
Arran, Martin thus describes what had once been a sanctuary in that island:
"There is an eminence of about a thousand paces in compass on the sea-coast
in Druim-cruey village, and it is fenced about with a stone wall; of old it
was a sanctuary, and whatever number of men or cattle could get within it
were secured from the assaults of their enemies, the place being privileged
by universal consent." The enclosure was probably an ancient burying-ground.
The Knights of St. John of
Jerusalem, otherwise known as the Knights of Rhodes, and also as the
Hospitallers, received recognition in Scotland as an Order about the middle
of the twelfth century. They had possessions in almost every county, but
their chief seat was at Torphichen, in Linlithgowshire, where the ruins of
their preceptory can still be seen. This preceptory formed the heart of the
famous sanctuary of Torphichen. In the graveyard stands a stone, resembling
an ordinary milestone with a Maltese cross carved on its top. All the ground
enclosed in a circle, having a radius of one mile from this stone, formed a
sanctuary for criminals and debtors. Other four stones placed at the
cardinal points showed the limits of the sanctuary on their respective
sides. At some distance to the east of the preceptory is St. John's Well,
"to which," the writer of the article in the "New Statistical Account of
Scotland" says, "the Knights of St. John used to go in days of yore for a
morning draught; " and he adds, "whether its virtues were medicinal or of a
more hallowed character tradition can not exactly inform us, but still its
waters are thought to possess peculiar healing powers, if not still rarer
qualities which operate in various cases as a charm." Perhaps no Scottish
sanctuary has been more talked about than the one at Ho]yrood Abbey,
intended originally for law-breakers in general, but latterly for debtors
only. De Quincey found a temporary home within its precincts. Through recent
legislation, chiefly through the Debtors (Scotland) Act of 1880, the
sanctuary has been rendered unnecessary, and its privileges, though never
formally abolished, have accordingly passed away.
In a pass of the Ochils, near
Newburgh, overlooking Strathearn, is a block of freestone three and a half
feet high, four and a half feet long, and nearly four feet broad at the
base. This formed the pedestal of the celebrated cross of Macduff, and is
all that remains of that ancient monument. The shaft of the cross was
destroyed at the time of the Reformation, in the sixteenth century. In
former days the spot was held to be a privilege and liberty of girth. When
anyone claiming kinship to Macduff, Earl of Fife, within the ninth degree
committed slaughter in hot blood and took refuge at the cross, he could
atone for his crime by the payment of nine cows and a colpindach or year-old
cow. Those who could not make good their kinship were slain on the spot.
Certain ancient burial mounds, at one time to be seen in the immediate
neighbourhood, were popularly believed to be the graves of those who thus
met their death, and a local superstition asserted that their shrieks could
be heard by night. A fountain, known as the Nine Wells, gushes out not far
from the site of the cross, and in it tradition says that the manslayer who
was entitled to claim the privilege of sanctuary washed his hands, thereby
freeing himself from the stain of blood. |
