Scotland has a long tradition of healing wells, with 600+ water sources once deemed to have curative powers. Some date back to the druids, while others were adopted by Christians and dedicated to particular saints, such as St Fumac's Well, in Moray (pictured). #FolkloreThursday

St Maelrhuba’s Well in Wester Ross was once one of the most famous in Scotland. It sits on a site long associated with the Druidical sacrifice of bulls and other livestock, and the adjacent shore is still called Creag nan Tarb (Cliff of the Bull) as a result. #FolkloreThursday

The Cheese Well on Minchmoor, Peeblesshire, sits on an ancient cattle droving route that runs right across Scotland, & it's said that an offering of cheese would (& perhaps still will) allow travelers to pass unmolested, thanks to the protection of the fairies. #FolkloreThursday

The waters of Melshach Well in Aberdeenshire were said to restore fertility in barren women. Rituals were still held there as late as the 1860s, and were popular among “married women who had proved childless and had come ... to experience its fertile virtues” #FolkloreThursday

The well at Burghead in Moray is said to have existed since Pictish times, and is thought to have been a shrine to Celtic water deities, or perhaps even a place of ritual drowning. Some accounts claim it was sanctified by St Colm Cille, then used for baptisms. #FolkloreThursday

The Reformation led to a clampdown on Scotland's holy wells. In 1629 the Privy Council ordered its commissioners to search “all such pairts where this idolatrous superstition is used,” & to “take and apprehend” offenders, regardless of their “rank and quality.” #FolkloreThursday

Today, the Clootie Well at Munlochy in Scotland’s Black Isle is probably one of the most famous of the holy wells still visited.  Tradition has it that a small scrap of cloth, tied to a tree above the waters will, as it degrades in the elements, heal the sick. #FolkloreThursday