St. Fillan's Well

A well near Tyndrum, Perthshire, to which people formerly resorted to cure insanity. Sufferers were first plunged into the water, wherein they were tumbled and tossed about rather roughly. They were then carried into the adjacent Chapel of St. Fillan's and there secured with ropes, tied in a special way. A celebrated bell, which has a history of its own, was then placed with great solemnity on the patient's head. There the poor creature was left all night alone in the dreary chapel, and, if in the morning he was found unloosed, hopes were entertained that he would recover his reason, but the cause was hopeless if found still in his bonds.

References

Source

  • Macgregor, Alexander. (1901). Highland Superstitions. London: Gibbings & Company, p. 55.