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                FOLKLORE OF SCOTTISH LOCHS AND SPRINGS.

                                   BY

                 JAMES M. MACKINLAY, M.A., F.S.A.Scot.

                      GLASGOW: WILLIAM HODGE & Co.
                                 1893.








PREFATORY NOTE.


No work giving a comprehensive account of Well-worship in Scotland
has yet appeared. Mr. R. C. Hope's recent volume, "Holy Wells: Their
Legends and Traditions," discusses the subject in its relation to
England. In the following pages an attempt has been made to illustrate
the more outstanding facts associated with the cult north of the
Tweed. Various holy wells are referred to by name; but the list makes
no claim to be exhaustive.


J. M. M.

4 Westbourne Gardens,
Glasgow, December, 1893.








CONTENTS.


     CHAP.                                        PAGE

        I. Worship of Water,                         1
       II. How Water became Holy,                   24
      III. Saints and Springs,                      39
       IV. More Saints and Springs,                 56
        V. Stone Blocks and Saints' Springs,        72
       VI. Healing and Holy Wells,                  86
      VII. Water-Cures,                            108
     VIII. Some Wonderful Wells,                   128
       IX. Witness of Water,                       140
        X. Water-Spirits,                          155
       XI. More Water-Spirits,                     171
      XII. Offerings at Lochs and Springs,         188
     XIII. Weather and Wells,                      213
      XIV. Trees and Springs,                      230
       XV. Charm-Stones in and out of Water,       241
      XVI. Pilgrimages to Wells,                   263
     XVII. Sun-Worship and Well-Worship,           280
    XVIII. Wishing-Wells,                          314
      XIX. Meaning of Marvels,                     324








Among the works consulted are the following, the titles being given
in alphabetical order:--


A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland. By John MacCulloch,
M.D. 1819.

A Description of the Western Islands. By M. Martin. Circa 1695.

A Handbook of Weather Folklore. By the Rev. C. Swainson, M.A.

A Historical Account of the belief in Witchcraft in Scotland. By
Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe.

A Journey through the Western Counties of Scotland. By Robert
Heron. 1799.

Ancient Legends: Mystic Charms and Superstitions of Ireland. By
Lady Wilde.

An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language. By John Jamieson,
D.D.

Annals of Dunfermline and Vicinity. By Ebenezer Henderson, LL.D.

Antiquities and Scenery of the North of Scotland. By Rev. Charles
Cordiner. 1780.

Archæological Sketches in Scotland: Districts of Kintyre and
Knapdale. By Captain T. P. White.

A Tour in Scotland and Voyage to the Hebrides, MDCCLXXII. By Thomas
Pennant.

A Tour in Scotland, MDCCLXIX. By Thomas Pennant.

Britannia; or, A Chorographical Description of the Flourishing Kingdoms
of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the Islands adjacent, from the
Earliest Antiquity. By William Camden. Translated from the edition
published by the Author in MDCVII. Enlarged by the latest discoveries
by Richard Gough. The second edition in four volumes. 1806.

Celtic Heathendom. By Professor John Rhys.

Celtic Scotland: A History of Ancient Alban. By William Forbes Skene.

Churchlore Gleanings. By T. F. Thiselton Dyer.

Daemonologie in Forme of a Dialogve. Written by the High and Mightie
Prince James, by the Grace of God King of England, Scotland, France,
and Ireland; Defender of the Faith. 1603.

Descriptive Notices of some of the Ancient Parochial and Collegiate
Churches of Scotland. By T. S. Muir.

Domestic Annals of Scotland from the Reformation to the Revolution. By
Robert Chambers, LL.D.

Ecclesiological Notes on some of the Islands of Scotland. By
T. S. Muir.

English Folklore. By the Rev. T. F. Thiselton Dyer, M.A.

Essays in the Study of Folk Songs. By the Countess Evelyn
Martinengo-Cesaresco.

Ethnology in Folklore. By G. L. Gomme.

Folklore.

Folklore Journal.

Folklore of East Yorkshire. By John Nicholson.

Folklore of Shakespeare. By Rev. T. F. Thiselton Dyer, M.A. Oxon.

Folklore; or, Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland within
this Century. By James Napier, F.R.S.E.

Gairloch in North-west Ross-shire: Its Records, Traditions,
Inhabitants, and Natural History. By John H. Dixon.

Historical and Statistical Account of Dunfermline. By Rev. Peter
Chalmers, A.M.

Kalendars of Scottish Saints. By the late Alexander Penrose Forbes,
Bishop of Brechin.

Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland to his Friend in
London. Burt's Letters. 1754.

List of Markets and Fairs now and formerly held in Scotland. By Sir
James David Marwick, LL.D.

Memorabilia Domestica; or, Parish Life in the North of Scotland. By
the late Rev. Donald Sage, A.M., Minister of Resolis.

New Statistical Account of Scotland. Circa 1845.

Notes and Queries.

Notes on the Folklore of the North-east of Scotland. By the Rev. Walter
Gregor.

Notes on the Folklore of the Northern Counties of England and the
Borders. By William Henderson.

Observations on Popular Antiquities, including the whole of
Mr. Bourne's Antiquitates Vulgares. By John Brand, A.M.

Old Glasgow: The Place and the People. By Andrew MacGeorge.

Old Scottish Customs, Local and General. By E. J. Guthrie.

Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. Edited by Francis H. Groome.

Peasant Life in Sweden. By L. Lloyd.

Popular Antiquities of Great Britain. By John Brand, M.A.

Popular Romances of the West of England. By Robert Hunt, F.R.S.

Popular Tales of the West Highlands. By J. F. Campbell.

Pre-historic Annals of Scotland. By Daniel Wilson, LL.D.

Pre-historic Man. By Daniel Wilson, LL.D.

Primitive Culture. By Edward B. Tylor, D.C.L.

Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Old Series,
1851-1878; New Series, 1878-1891.

Rambles in the Far North. By R. Menzies Fergusson.

Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland; or, The Traditional
History of Cromarty. By Hugh Miller.

Scotland in Early Christian Times. By Joseph Anderson, LL.D.

Scotland in Pagan Times: The Bronze and Iron Ages. By Joseph Anderson,
LL.D.

Scotland in the Middle Ages. By Professor Cosmo Innes.

Social Life in Scotland. By Charles Rogers, LL.D.

Statistical Account of Scotland. By Sir John Sinclair. Circa 1798.

The Antiquary.

The Archæological Journal. Published under the direction of The Council
of the Royal Archæological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.

The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in connection
with the Calendar. Edited by R. Chambers.

The Darker Superstitions of Scotland. By John Graham Dalyell. 1834.

The Early Scottish Church: Ecclesiastical History of Scotland from
the First to the Twelfth Centuries. By the Rev. Thomas M'Lauchlan.

The Every-Day Book. By William Hone.

The Folklore of Plants. By T. F. Thiselton Dyer.

The Gentleman's Magazine Library--Manners and Customs. Edited by
G. L. Gomme, F.S.A.

The Gentleman's Magazine Library--Popular Superstitions. Edited by
G. L. Gomme, F.S.A.

The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion. By J. G. Frazer,
M.A.

The History of St. Cuthbert. By Charles, Archbishop of Glasgow.

The History of St. Kilda. By the Rev. Kenneth Macaulay, minister of
Ardnamurchan. 1769.

The Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England, including Rivers,
Lakes, Fountains, and Springs. By R. C. Hope, F.S.A.

The Origin of Civilisation. By Sir J. Lubbock, Bart.

The Past in the Present. By Arthur Mitchell, M.D., LL.D.

The Popular Rhymes of Scotland. By Robert Chambers. 1826.

The Popular Superstitions and Festive Amusements of the Highlanders
of Scotland. By William Grant Stewart.

The Surnames and Placenames of the Isle of Man. By A. W. Moore, M.A.

Traditions, Superstitions, and Folklore (chiefly Lancashire and the
North of England). By Charles Hardwick.

Tree and Serpent Worship. By James Fergusson, D.C.L., F.R.S.

'Twixt Ben Nevis and Glencoe: The Natural History, Legends, and
Folklore of the West Highlands. By the Rev. Alexander Stewart, LL.D.

Unique Traditions, chiefly of the West and South of Scotland. By John
Gordon Barbour.

Wayfaring in France. By E. H. Barker.

Weather-lore: A Collection of Proverbs, Sayings, and Rules concerning
the Weather. By R. Inwards, F.R.A.S.

Witch, Warlock, and Magician. By W. H. Davenport Adams.








FOLKLORE OF SCOTTISH LOCHS AND SPRINGS.


CHAPTER I.

WORSHIP OF WATER.

    Archaic Nature-worship--Deification of Water Metaphors--Divination
    by Water--Persistence of Paganism--Shony--Superstitions of Sailors
    and Fishermen--Sea Serpent--Mer-folk--Sea Charms--Taking Animals
    into the Sea--Rescuing from Drowning--Ancient Beliefs about
    Rivers--Dead and Living Ford--Clay Image--Dunskey--Lakes--Dow
    Loch--St. Vigeans--St. Tredwell's Loch--Wells of Spey
    and Drachaldy--Survival of Well-worship--Disappearance of
    Springs--St. Margaret's Well--Anthropomorphism of Springs--Celtic
    Influence--Cream of the Well.


In glancing at the superstitions connected with Scottish lochs and
springs, we are called upon to scan a chapter of our social history
not yet closed. A somewhat scanty amount of information is available
to explain the origin and growth of such superstitions, but enough can
be had to connect them with archaic nature-worship. In the dark dawn
of our annals much confusion existed among our ancestors concerning
the outer world, which so strongly appealed to their senses. They
had very vague notions regarding the difference between what we now
call the Natural and the Supernatural. Indeed all nature was to them
supernatural. They looked on sun, moon, and star, on mountain and
forest, on river, lake, and sea as the abodes of divinities, or even
as divinities themselves. These divinities, they thought, could either
help or hurt man, and ought therefore to be propitiated. Hence sprang
certain customs which have survived to our own time. Men knocked at
the gate of Nature, but were not admitted within. From the unknown
recesses there came to them only tones of mystery.

In ancient times water was deified even by such civilised nations as
the Greeks and Romans, and to-day it is revered as a god by untutored
savages. Sir John Lubbock, in his "Origin of Civilisation," shows, by
reference to