The peat-fire flame : folk-tales and traditions of the Highlands & Islands

THE PEAT-FIRE FLAIME
woke up with some deformity in the morning. But the
inhabitants were immune to such deformities, even if they
should have lain there for several nights. The other well
on Eigg is called St. Catherine's Well. It is situated at the
opposite end of the island, and was believed to be a
catholicon for all diseases.
A well near to the village of Borve, in Harris, was long
held to be efficacious in cases of loss of appetite. Even if
one had eaten but an hour previously, a sip of water from
this well readily restored the appetite alike of the native and
the stranger.
The Wells of Lewis.
Near the Butt of Lewis is a well, the water of which was
considered a remedy for insanity. Patients going there to
be cured were first of all required to walk seven times round
the Temple of St. Molochus, the ruins of which stand a few
yards away. It was called Teampnll Mdr in Gaelic, meaning
the Great Temple. But this name must have referred
only to its holiness, because the place was very small.
Having journeyed round seven times, he who sought relief
from madness was besprinkled with water, which was
conveyed in a little jar from St. Ronan's Well. This jar
was entrusted to the hereditary custody of a family whose
early ancestors were designated ' the dark of the temple.'
After the patient had been sprinkled with water, he was
laid on the site of the altar, where, if he slept soundly, he
was bound to recover from his malady. St. Andrew's Well,
in Lewis, was also consulted in cases of illness. From it a
tub of water was borne to the bed-side of a sick person.
Then a plate or a saucer was placed gently on the surface
of the water. If this moved round sun-wise, the invalid
was sure to recover; and, conversely, if it sank or moved
round the other way, nothing but death could be expected.
In a churchyard close to the shore of Loch Torridon there
is a well wherein for hundreds of years " three stones have
been perpetually whirled round and round." By conveying
one of these stones in a pail of water to a person afflicted
with anv kind of illness, a cure was effected whenever the
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