# Folk-Lore/Volume 3/Guardian Spirits of Wells and Lochs

GUARDIAN SPIRITS OF WELLS AND LOCHS.
The following beliefs regarding Guardian Spirits of Wells and Lochs were collected in Strathdon and Corgarff, Aberdeenshire, by the help of Mr. William Michie Farmer, Coull of Newe, and Mr. James Farquharson, Corgarff. Distance from libraries and want of books of reference have prevented me from quoting similar beliefs among other nations and tribes except in the very slightest way. I have contented myself with merely stating the beliefs.
Tobar-fuar-mòr, i.e., The Big Cold Well.
This well is situated at the bottom of a steep hill in a fork between two small streams on the estate of Allargue, Corgarff There are three springs that supply the water, distant from each other about a yard. The well is circular, with a diameter of about twelve feet. The sides are about five or six feet deep, with an opening on the lower side through which the water flows out.
The water running from these springs is of great virtue in curing diseases—each spring curing a disease. One spring cured blindness, another cured deafness, and the third lameness. The springs were guarded by a Spirit that lived under a large stone, called "The Kettle Stone", which lay between two of the springs. No cure was effected unless gold was presented to the Spirit, which she placed in a kettle below the stone. Hence its name of "Kettle Stone". If one tried to rob the Spirit, death, by some terrible accident, soon followed. My informant, James Farquharson, more than fifty years ago, when a lad ​resolved to remove the "Kettle Stone" from its position, and so become possessor of the Spirit's gold. He accordingly set out with a few companions, all provided with picks and spades, to displace the stone. After a good deal of hard labour the stone was moved from its site, but no kettle-full of gold was found.
An old woman met the lads on their way to their homes, and when she learnt what they had been doing she assured them they would all die within a few weeks, and that a terrible death would befall the ringleader.
Tobar-na-glas a Coille, i.e., The Well in the Grey Wood.
This well lies near the old military road, near the top of the hill that divides the glen of Corgarff from Glengairn. In a small knoll near it lived a spiteful Spirit that went by the name of Duine-glase-beg, i.e., the Little Grey Man. He was guardian of the well and watched over its water with great care. Each one on taking a draught of water from it had to drop into it a pin or other piece of metal. If this was not done, and if at any time afterwards the same person attempted to draw water from it, the Spirit resisted, annoyed, and hunted the unfortunate till death by thirst came. My informant has seen the bottom of the well strewed with pins. Last autumn (1891), I gathered several pins from it.
The Bride's Well.
This well was at one time the favourite resort of all brides for miles around. On the evening before the marriage the bride, accompanied by her maidens, went "atween the sun an the sky" to it. The maidens bathed her feet and the upper part of her body with water drawn from it. This bathing ensured a family. The bride put into the well a few crumbs of bread and cheese, to keep her children from ever being in want.
Tobar Vacher.
This is a fine well, dedicated to St. Machar, near the present farm of Corriehoul, Corgarff, Strathdon. A Roman Catholic chapel was at one time near it, and the present graveyard occupies the site of the chapel. This well was renowned for the cures it wrought in more than one kind of disease. To secure a cure the ailing one had to leave a silver coin in it. Once there was a famine in the district, and not a few were dying of hunger. The priest's house stood not far from the well. One day, during the famine, his housekeeper came to him and told him that their stock of food was exhausted, and that there was no more to be got in the district. The priest left the house, went to the well, and cried to St. Machar for help. On his return he told the servant to go to the well the next morning at sunrise, walk three times round it, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, without looking into it, and draw from it a draught of water for him. She carried out the request. On stooping down to draw the water she saw three fine salmon swimming in the well. They were caught, and served the two as food till supply came to the faminestricken district from other quarters.
Ben Newe Well.
There is a big rugged rock on the top of Ben Newe in Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, On the north side of this rock, under a projection, there is a small circular-shaped hollow which always contains water. Everyone that goes to the top of the hill must put some small object into it, and then take a draught of water off it. Unless this is done the traveller will not reach in life the foot of the hill. I climbed the hill in June of 1890, and saw in the well several pins, a small bone, a pill-box, a piece of a flower, and a few other objects.
​In Roumania each spring is supposed to be presided over by a Spirit called Wodna zena or zona. When a Roumanian woman draws water she spills a few drops to do homage to this Spirit.—The Land beyond the Forest, vol. ii, p. 8, by E. Gerard (1888, Edinburgh).
Lochan-nan-deaan.
This is a small loch on the side of the old military road between Gorgarff and Tomintoul. The road passes close by its brink on the west side. On the other side of the road is an almost perpendicular rock, between 400 and 500 feet high. On the opposite side of the loch rises a very steep hill to the height of about 1,000 feet. The road in a snow-storm and after nightfall is very dangerous, and tradition has it that many travellers have lost their lives in the loch, and that their bodies were never recovered. It was believed to be bottomless, and to be the abode of a Water-Spirit that delighted in human sacrifice.
Notwithstanding this bloodthirsty Spirit, the men of Strathdon and Gorgarff resolved to try to draw the water from the loch in hope of finding the remains of those that had perished in it. On a fixed day a number of them met, with spades and picks to cut a way for the outflow of the water through the road. When all were ready to begin work, a terrific yell came from the loch, and there arose from its waters a diminutive creature in shape of a man with a red cap on his head. The men fled in terror, leaving their picks and spades behind them. The Spirit seized them and threw them into the loch. Then, with a gesture of defiance at the fleeing men, and a roar that shook the hills, he plunged into the loch and disappeared amidst the water that boiled and heaved as red as blood.
Lochan-wan, i.e., Lambs' Loch.
Lochan-wan is a small loch, in a fine grazing district, lying on the upper confines of Aberdeen and Banffshire. ​When the following took place the grazing ground was common, and the tenants that lived adjoining it had each the privilege of pasturing a certain number of sheep on it. Each one that sent sheep to this common had to offer in sacrifice to the Spirit of the loch the first lamb of his flock dropped on the common. The omission of this sacrifice brought disaster, for, unless the sacrifice was made, half of his flock would be drowned before the end of the grazing season.
An attempt was at one time made to draw the water from the loch, and so dry it, that the burden of the yearly-sacrifice might be got quit of. A number of men met and began to cut an outlet for the water. They wrought all day without hindrance, and, when night came, they retired. On returning next morning they found that their work of the day before had been all undone during night. Again they busily applied their tools, and did a good day's work. This day's work was again undone during night. The third day was again spent in hard toil, but it was resolved to watch during the night how it was that the work carried out during each day was undone at night. A watch was accordingly set. At the hour of midnight there rose from the loch hundreds of small black creatures, each carrying a spade. They immediately fell to work on what the men had done during the day, and, in the course of a few minutes, filled up the trench that they had dug three times before. The grazing common is now a deer-forest, and so the Lambs' Loch no longer needs the sacrifice of lambs.
Loch Leetie.
This is a loch in Nairnshire. It was the common belief that a bull lived in it. He was often heard roaring very loudly, particulariy during frost. (Told by Mrs. Miller.)
At one time there lived near the Linn of Dee, in Mar Forest, a man named Farquharson-na-cat, i.e., Farquharson of the wand. He got this name from the fact that his ​trade was that of making baskets, sculls, etc. One night he had to cross the river just a little above the linn. In doing so he lost his footing, was carried into the gorge of the linn, and drowned in sight of his wife. Search was made at once for the body, but in vain. Next day the pool below the linn, as well as the river further down, was searched, but the body was not found. That evening the widow took her late husband's plaid and went to the pool below the linn, "atween the sun and the sky". She folded the plaid in a particular way, knelt down on the bank of the pool, and prayed to the Spirit of the pool to give up the body of her drowned husband. She then threw the plaid into the pool, uttering the words, "Take that and give me back my dead." Next morning the dead body, wrapped in the plaid, was found lying on the bank of the pool. Tradition has it that the widow soon afterwards bore a son, and that that son was the progenitor of the Farquharson Clan.
The river Spey is spoken of as "she", and bears the character of being "bloodthirsty". The common belief is that "she" must have at least one victim yearly.
The rhyme about the rivers Dee and Don and their victims is:
"Bloodthirsty Dee, Each year needs three; But bonny Don, She needs none."
The Roumanians believe that in the vicinity of deep pools of water, more especially whirlpools, there resides the baleur or wodna muz—the cruel waterman who lies in wait for human victims. (The Land beyond the Forest, by E. Gerard, vol. ii, p. 9.)
Mr. A. Oldfield, in his account of The Aborigines of Australia, says that the natives believe that every deep muddy pool is inhabited by a Spirit called In-gnas, whose ​powers for mischief seem particularly active during night. Some such pools they will not enter for any consideration, even in broad daylight. (Transactions of the Ethnological Society, vol. iii, pp. 238, 239. New Series.) See Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie (3rd edition), vol. i, pp. 549-567.
W. Gregor.