Tag: water

Marriage Well, Carmyle, Lanarkshire

megalithix

Sacred Well:  OS Grid Reference – NS 66765 62063

Getting Here

Marriage Well on 1864 map
Marriage Well on 1864 map

Get onto the A763 road several miles east of Glasgow city centre and go along Gardenside Avenue onto the Carmyle estate. A few hundred yards on, turn right down Carmyle Avenue, then left onto River Road. Follow the footpath along the edge of the River Clyde for nearly a mile—past the recently destroyed John’s Well—until you hit the remnants of Kenmuir Woods. You’ll reach some large polluted pools and when you reach the gap between the first and second pool, walk into the trees above the river and the Well is there.

Archaeology & History

The decaying remains of this old well can still be seen, incredibly, in the small copse of trees that are Kenmuir Woods, just a few yards above the River Clyde, 160 yards below the M8 and the same distance west of the Daldowie sewage treatment works, with polluted water treatment pools just yards away!  Not the sort of place you’d take a partner for any sort of marriage ceremony whatsoever nowadays!  But it wasn’t always like this of course. Only since the Industrialists stamped their mark…

When Hugh MacDonald (1860) wrote the finest narrative of this arena in the middle of the 19th century, his evocative words painted the entire landscape with a veil untouched since his days.  Indeed, it is truly like another world compared to the sacrilege of what we see today:

“It is a wild and bosky scene, covered with a picturesque profusion of timber, and is the habitat of flowers innumerable. The weaver herbalists of Camlachie and Parkhead find it a perfect storehouse of medicinal rarities; and on Sundays they may be seen in sickly groups prying into every green recess in search of plants which old Culpepper would have loved for their rare qualities, or carrying them home in odorous bundles, confident of having obtained a mastery over “all the ills that flesh is heir to.” The botanist may also occasionally be seen lurking here, vasculum in hand, or on bended knee, examining the structure of some strange flower. But even the mere general lover of flowers will here find much to reward his attention.  At present the May-flower (Caltha palustris), the wild hyacinth, the craw-flower of Tannahill, the red campion (Lychnis dioica), the odorous woodruff (Asperula oderata), the globe-flower or lucken gowan (Trollius europœus), and many others are in full bloom, and so thickly strewn that even as the poet says, “You cannot see the grass for flowers.”

“At the foot of the bank, near its upper extremity, there is a fine spring, which is known by the name of the ‘Marriage Well,’ from a couple of curiously united trees which rise at its side and fling their shadows over its breast. To this spot, in other days, came wedding parties, on the day after marriage, to drink of the crystal water, and, in a cup of the mountain-dew, to pledge long life and happiness to the loving pair whom, on the previous day, old Hymen had made one in the bands which death alone can sever.  After imbibing a draught of the sacred fluid from the cup of Diogenes, we rest a brief space on the margin of the well.”

One wonders how far back in time the attribution of ‘Marriage Well’ from the animism of the trees went; and whether marriage ceremonies were performed here, quietly, away from the prying eyes of the Church and invading english in centuries much earlier under the guidance of the Moon.  It’s probable…

Nature’s cloak was still intact here when, many years after Hugh MacDonald’s visit, the local writer Dan McAleer (1930) informed us that,

“Shy bridesmaids and their groomsmen used to visit after a wedding to drink the mystic waters of the Marriage Well.  Certain places about the woods were well adapted for picnics, etc. After tea and refreshments the lads and lassies passed hours in amusement trying to step over the well and anyone soiling the water in any way while stepping across it would not get married that year.”

Much of the beauty of the landscape and Her waters, and the rich romance that arises from Her cyclical forms are long gone from here now… Cold ‘progress’ bereft of the necessity of Nature’s sanctity is no progress at all…  Although the genius loci of the place may have long since gone, at the very least the regional council—or decent locals, if the council can’t be arsed—could erect some memorial and save the failing Marriage Well from what seems to be its close and final demise….

References:

  1. Carpenter, Edward, Civilization: Its Cause and Cure, George Allen & Unwin: New York 1914.
  2. McAleer, Dan, A Sketch of Shettleston, 1930.
  3. McDonald, Hugh, Rambles round Glasgow, John Cameron: Glasgow 1860.
  4. Michell, John, The Earth Spirit: Its Ways, Shrines and Mysteries, Thames & Hudson: London 1975.
  5. Michell, John, Simulacra, Thames & Hudson: London 1979.
  6. Morris, Ruth & Frank, Scottish Healing Wells, Alethea: Sandy 1982.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 


Priest’s Well, Glasgow, Lanarkshire

megalithix

Holy Well (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – NS 6029 6547

Also Known as:

  1. Minister’s Well

Archaeology & History

Site of the Priests Well in 1865
Site of the Priests Well in 1865

A ‘holy well’ with a bit of a difference when it was designated as such, however many centuries ago.  Found on the southern slopes below Glasgow ‘s Cathedral, just a few yards west above the Molendinar Burn (upon which Wishart Street now sits), this was deemed to be a well only to be used by the christian ministers or priests from above.  Local people were not supposed to drink here it seems!  Instead, they were supposed to either drink from the burn, or walk a short distance down to the Lady Well (now badly polluted) 175 yards to the southeast.  I don’t expect many Glasgow folk paid that much attention to such arrogant ministerial laws!

Shown on the earliest OS-map, simply as a ‘Well’, this is one of at least four water sources within a square mile of the Cathedral (including St. Mungo’s and Lady Well) that were deemed as ‘sacred’.  It truly makes you wonder what on Earth was here before the christians came along and built their huge temple on the rocks above…. What animistic heathen rites and traditions were suppressed around this natural landscape before the toxic blanket of christianity was imposed upon us?

References:

  1. Brotchie, T.C.F., “Holy Wells in and Around Glasgow,” in Old Glasgow Club Transactions, volume 4, 1920.
  2. MacGeorge, Andrew, Old Glasgow, Blackie & Son: Glasgow 1880.
  3. MacKinlay, James M., Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs, William Hodge: Glasgow 1893.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 


Trongate Well, Glasgow, Lanarkshire

megalithix

Healing Well (destroyed):  Os Grid Reference – NS 5931 6500

Also Known as:

  1. West Port Well

Archaeology & History

Once found near the old crossroads of Trongate, Arygle Street and Stockwell Street, the Trongate Well is another of old Glasgow’s lost sites, piped-off and added to the city’s water system sometime in the 19th century.  A pity, as the fresh water from here was highly regarded (moreso than the modern stuff with its chlorine and other unnecessary additives).  The well could be found where the Highland Gaelic Society built their own public house and, as a result, was very popular with local folk.  It was,

“Opposite the old Black Bull in Trongate…afterwards covered in, which was famous in the palmy days of cold punch, and which is alluded to in Cyril Thornton as ‘the West Port Well.’” (MacGeorge 1880)

Old cattle markets were held here and MacGeorge (1880) wrote how it was a very popular and favourite place in its day, “surrounded by large numbers of the town’s people waiting a supply.”

The old Black Bull pub was much used by drovers and across from it was the old draw well, whose waters were of such renown that they were described in the verse, The Lament of Capt Paton, thus:

“Or if a bowl was mentioned,
The Captain he would ring,
And bid Nelly to the West Port,
And a stoup of water bring;
Then he would mix the genuine stuff,
As they made it long ago,
With limes that on his property
In Trinidad did grow.
O! we ne’er shall taste the like
Of Captain Pateon’s punch no mo’!”

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul, Ancient and Holy Wells of Glasgow, TNA 2017.
  2. MacGeorge, Andrew, Old Glasgow, Blackie & Son: Glasgow 1880.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 


Barrasyett Well, Glasgow, Lanarkshire

megalithix

Healing Well (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – NS 594 645

Archaeology & History

Mentioned briefly in James MacKinlay’s (1893) classic survey, this site was an ancient draw-well sunk near the old city centre but, like the ancient Moot Hill close by, has long since been destroyed.  It is described amidst Andy MacGeorge’s (1880) historical survey of the ancient wells where he wrote:

“There was another…at the Barras Yet, near the port of that name at the foot of Saltmarket.  It is mentioned in a minute of council in 1664, which ordains that ‘in respect of the heighting of the calsay at the Barrazet the well there be heightit twa stones higher round about, for preservation of childerin falling therein.’”

Although its exact whereabouts is not known, the proximity of the old fountain known as the Sir William Collins Memorial Fountain 100 yards east into the Glasgow Green Park at the bottom of the Saltmarket, might have robbed the Barrasyett Well of its water supply to gain existence.

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul, Ancient and Holy Wells of Glasgow, TNA 2017.
  2. MacGeorge, Andrew, Old Glasgow, Blackie & Son: Glasgow 1880.
  3. MacKinlay, James M., Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs, William Hodge: Glasgow 1893.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 


Vennel Well, Glasgow, Lanarkshire

megalithix

Healing Well:  OS Grid Reference – NS 598 649

Site of Well, along Old Vennal
Site of Well, along Old Vennal

Archaeology & History

One of the many public wells in Glasgow, all trace of this site disappeared long ago.  Found at the ancient heart of the city, the name ‘Vennel’ comes from the old dialect meaning, “a narrow alley or lane between houses,” which is where it was once found, along the Old Vennel.  An early account of it was outlined in MacGeorge’s (1880) classic text, where it was described as,

“a draw well, as there is a minute of council in 1656 arranging with John Scott, mill-wright, to ‘rewle and governe’ this well and ‘the new well in Trongait’, he undertaking to uphold them ‘in cogis and rungis, the toun vphalding all ganging greth quhan athir it weirs or breckis.’”

A few years after this in 1663, it seems the Vennel Well had been closed due to it becoming regularly polluted and further council minutes told:

“Recommendis to the deane of gild to caus open again the wall at the Stincking Vennell, and to remove the old wark therof, and caus mak it lyk the wall in Trongait for service of the inhabitantis.”

Around this time a door and lock was put around the well to prevent people dumping and polluting the waters.  Further council minutes from April 1663 inform us that,

“The keyes of the well at the Vennell is delyvered to Robert Bell, tailyeour, and he is to have twa dollouris yeirlie for his attending thereupon.”

All healing virtues, folklore and traditions of this site have long since been forgotten.

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul, Ancient and Holy Wells of Glasgow, TNA 2017.
  2. Brotchie, T.C.F., “Holy Wells in and Around Glasgow,” in Old Glasgow Club Transactions, volume 4, 1920.
  3. Grant, William (ed.), The Scottish National Dictionary – volume 9, part 4, SNDA: Edinburgh 1974.
  4. MacGeorge, Andrew, Old Glasgow, Blackie & Son: Glasgow 1880.
  5. Marwick, J.D. (ed.), Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Glasgow, AD 1663-1690, SBRS: Glasgow 1905.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 


St. Constantine’s Well, Govan, Glasgow, Lanarkshire

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Holy Well (destroyed?):  OS Grid Reference – NS 553 658

Archaeology & History

This is the conjectural title conferred by T.C.F. Brotchie (1920) upon a Well uncovered during construction of the Pearce Institute in Govan in 1908.  It was certainly an old site and very well made by the sound of it: being “a stone-built well some ten feet deep (and) some eight feet below the present surface of the ground.”  Brotchie thought it to be medieval in age – and he may have been right.

On asking local people if they knew anything about the site, he was lucky to meet “a very old man, a Mr Rellie”, who told him that when he was a boy his granny spoke of a lost “guid well (that) was near the kirk.”  He continued:

“I have no doubt that the well discovered in 1908 was the guid well, and judging from its proximity to the god’s acre, and also from adjective ‘guid’, that the well was at one time the holy well of St. Constantine, who in the 6th century founded a church in Govan.  Of course, that is conjecture, but I venture to think that the conjecture is reasonably well founded.”

The church is immediately adjacent and is indeed dedicated to St. Constantine.  Inside of it are a variety of fascinating archaeological relics: not least of which is what Sam Small (2008) called the ‘Pagan Sun Stone’ upon which is carved an ancient swastika!  That – I’ve got to see!

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul, Ancient and Holy Wells of Glasgow, TNA 2017.
  2. Brotchie, T.C.F., “Holy Wells in and Around Glasgow,” in Old Glasgow Club Transactions, volume 4, 1920.
  3. Small, Sam, Greater Glasgow: An Architectural Guide, Rutland 2008.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 


St. Mark’s Well, Easterhouse, Glasgow, Lanarkshire

megalithix

Holy Well (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – NS 667 653

Archaeology & History

St Marks Well on 1864 map
St Marks Well on 1864 map

Information on this long forgotten holy well that once flowed a few miles east of Glasgow city centre, beneath what is now Wellhouse estate, is all but lost.  Local history works of the area tell us little (though there must surely be something somewhere?) and even the place-name surveyor of this area—Peter Drummond (2014)—could find nothing.  Noted by the Ordnance Survey lads in 1858, when they came to re-survey the area again in 1899 its waters had, it seems, been covered and carried into the ‘Well house’ less about 50 yards to the southwest (another ‘Wellhouse’ found 150 yards further west is the site that gives the estate its present name).  From thereon, this wellhouse and St. Mark’s Well fell into the forgotten pages of history and, sadly it seems, even its oral tradition has died…

The origin and nature of the ‘well house’ isn’t too troublesome, as Drummond (2014) explains:

“The name Wellhouse exists in several places in Scotland, and could indicate a ‘house beside wells’, or a protective ‘house over wells’; the early record here suggests the former, since the first Glasgow Water Company’s Act was obtained in 1806, many years later.”

However, the reasons behind the dedication to St. Mark at this probably heathen arena in times gone by, seems to be quite a mystery.  Perhaps the folklore of the saint concerned may be of some help.

Customs practiced on St. Mark’s Eve and St. Mark’s Day (April 24-5) are replete with animistic elements throughout and are certainly not christian!  Six months after the old New Year, we find rituals once more allowing, not for the passing of, but the emergence of the dead: bringing the spirits into the Spring and Summer. Divination rites were practiced with Cannabis sativa no less!  Prophecy and wise-women were advisors to the young.  Walking backwards around wells were known at some St. Mark’s wells; whilst others without his name—but on this saint’s day—were leapt across, symbolizing the crossing of danger and darkness in the ritual calendar. All around this period of time, up to and including Beltane, the end of the dark cold year has passed, and these plentiful rites are prequels to the lighter days, warm spring, summer and good autumn: all vital rites for the people in their myths of the eternal return…

St. Mark’s Well at Glasgow meanwhile, seems to have lost its old tales… Surely not?

References:

  1. Banks, M. MacLeod, British Calendar Customs: Scotland – volume 2, Folk-lore Society: Glasgow 1939.
  2. Bennett, Paul, Ancient and Holy Wells of Glasgow, TNA 2017.
  3. Drummond, Peter, An Analysis of Toponyms and Toponymic Patterns in Eight Parishes of the Upper Kelvin Basin, University of Glasgow 2014.
  4. Eliade, Mircea, The Myth of the Eternal Return, Arkana: London 1989.
  5. Greene, E.A., Saints and their Symbols, Sampson Low: London 1897.
  6. Hole, Christina, Saints in Folklore, M. Barrows: New York 1965.
  7. Wright, A.R., British Calendar Customs: England – volume 2, Folk-lore Society: London 1938.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 


Todds Well, Garthamlock, Glasgow, Lanarkshire

megalithix

Healing Well:  OS Grid Reference – NS 66826 66603

Also Known as:

  1. Back o’ Brae Well

Getting Here

Site location on 1864 map
Site location on 1864 map

Many ways to get here, via the M8 or the B806. Just get to the Glasgow Fort shopping centre on the northern edge of Easterhouse, above Provan Hall.  At the T-junction where the road from the Fort meets Auchinlea Road, note the sign saying ‘Todds Well’.  Walk along the winding path, keeping to the lower side, and as you swing round the small hill, keep your eyes peeled for the small burn emerging from the shrubs 10-20 yards off the track.  That’s the place.

Archaeology & History

Follow the track past the sign
Follow the track past the sign

Thankfully this site still exists and the waters—slow though they flow—are quite drinkable (us lot drank here anyway!).  It was illustrated on the early OS-map of the area as the ‘Back o’ Brae Well’—no doubt gaining its name from the surveyors who took the directions to the place as its title!  At the point where the spring water emerges from the Earth, very overgrown remains of low walling marks the opening well-head, and a number of larger stones mark the course of the tiny burn as you walk towards the track (though these could be more recent).

Getting ready for a drink!
Getting ready for a drink!
The slow-flowing water source
The slow-flowing water source

Thought to derive its name from the old word todd, meaning ‘fox’ (Grant 1973), a variant on the word may have meant that children’s games were played here (but without a confirmation of this in local folklore, we should urge caution).  As well as being used by local people, the water from Todds Well was one of the places used by them there ‘rich’ folk who lived at nearby Provan House.

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul, Ancient and Holy Wells of Glasgow, TNA 2017.
  2. Grant, William (ed.), The Scottish National Dictionary – volume 9, SNDA: Edinburgh 1973.

Acknowledgements:  Big thanks to the other doods – Nina Harris, Paul Hornby and Frank Mercer – in our visit to this site.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 


Lighthouse Well, Dunnet Head, Caithness

megalithix

Healing Well:  OS Grid Reference – ND 20422 75807

Getting Here

Lighthouse Well, Dunnet Head
Lighthouse Well, Dunnet

Take the B855 road northwards out of Dunnet village, through Brough and, nearly 4 miles on, you’ll see the waters of the Long Loch right by the roadside.  300 yards along the side of the loch, keep your eyes peeled to your left-hand side, where the white stone surround falls below the roadside just a couple of yards away.  By its side, a small stone with a plaque highlights its position. You can’t really miss it.

Archaeology & History

Stone & plaque by its side
Stone & plaque by its side

Marked on the earliest OS-map of the region in 1875 (simply as “Well”), this is the most northerly example of a healing well in mainland Scotland, being a good mile further north than John o’ Groats!  Consisting of a standard stone surround, the well has two stone troughs: one inside the surround, and another outside, where the water runs, before being directed back to Earth.

Secondary stone trough
Second stone trough

Although the waters here have long since quenched the thirst of crazy travellers, the well was the main water supply for the men who lived and manned the famous Dunnet Head lighthouse in earlier years, who would carry the water from here more than half-a-mile up to their remote abode, overlooking the great cliffs and out towards megalithic Orkney.  Its healing properties have, sadly, long since been forgotten.  When we visited the site, the waters did not look to be in a healthy state to drink.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Silver Well, Shouldham, Norfolk

megalithix

Holy Well (destroyed?):  OS Grid Reference – TF 6753 0817

Archaeology & History

Once found in the small woodland known as the High Plantation, this holy well has, seemingly, long since fallen back to Earth.  Mary Manning (1994) included it in her survey where she told that in earlier days it could be seen

“in a field which has drainage ditches and cultivation. Here was formerly marshy land draining to the Nar and lying on the south slope of the Nar valley.”

She thought that the title ‘Silver Well’ meant it was a holy site, but others told that it was due to a silver scum that formed on the surface of the waters—and it was a chalybeate (or iron-bearing spring) this is possible.

It was described in Francis White’s (1854) Directory of Norfolk for Shouldham:

“On Mr. Cotton’s estate is a fine chalybeate spring, called Silver Well, which gives rise to a small rivulet which passes through the village.  Near this a new spring was discovered about 20 years ago, and both of them possess similar properties to those of Tunbridge Wells.”

This secondary “spring” was another chalybeate well, above which a stone obelisk was erected in 1839.

Folklore

In relation to the object found in the well, Manning (1994) thinks “the objects found could have been pagan votive offerings in a venerated well.”  She also told that:

“The well is the subject of a local legend, which takes two forms.  One version is that at the Dissolution, treasure from one of the abbeys was hidden in the well.  The second says that workmen repairing the well brought up a container/box of silver ware, which was inadvertently dropped back and never recovered.  Both tales attribute the silver colour of the well water to the effect of passing over silver treasure.”

A variation on this was noted by folklorist W.B. Gerish (1892) who told that the silver which the workmen dropped back into the well, did so as a result of the devil fighting them over it, and they fled!

References:

  1. Anonymous, Kelly’s Directory of the Counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, Kelly’s Directories Ltd 1925.
  2. Gerish, W.B., Norfolk Folklore Notes, 1892.
  3. Hope, Robert Charles, Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England, Elliott Stock: London 1893.
  4. Manning, M., Taking the Waters in Norfolk, NIAS: Norfolk 1994.
  5. White, Francis, Gazetteer and Directory of Norfolk, 1854.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian