ST RORY'S WELL

The water from St Rory's Well may still be seen across the street from the Gas Brae end of Reform Street which was known as Rory Street but renamed after the Reform Act of 1830.

Look over the wall and a trickle of water may be seen flowing down the banking.

Like St Ninian, St Rory was a Christian missionary.

St Rory's well would have been one of the main sources of water for people in the area.

PRINCE CHARLIE'S WELL

According to John A.R. Macdonald in 'The History of Blairgowrie' Prince Charlie's Well is near Lornty Cottage.  It is where Prince Charlie and his men refreshed themselves after having eaten the Curlers' Dinner at Eppie Clarke's Inn at the Hill o' Blair in 1746.

To find out about the Curlers' Dinner read 'The Ghost o' Mause and Other Tales and Traditions of East Perthshire' by Maurice Fleming.

HEUGH WELL

This is a Chalybeate mineral spring (pronounced Ka-lee-bee-uht) located at the Heughs of Mause and described in Scotlands Places: "On the south end of it (the Heughs of Mause) is a chalybeate spring much resorted to by the people of the locality.  There are one or two chalybeate springs in the parish, but they have never been chemically analyzed.  There is one very fine spring called the Heugh Well.  It springs from the face of the Heughs of Mause (a mortar cliff of singular appearance, which descends abruptly into the bed of the river with an almost perpendicular declivity of about 200 feet) and judging from its colour, contains a considerable quantity of ferruginous matter.  The use of its water has been found to be very beneficial in cutaneous eruptions and affections of the stomach".

This Chalybeate well is marked on O/S Explorer Map 381 - Blairgowrie, Kirriemuir and Glamis.

PHOTO NEEDED OF SIGN TO MINERAL SPRING ON SCOTBET BUILDING

SANCTA CRUX WELL

The Well of the Holy Cross, known locally as Grews Well is around four miles from Butterstone near Grewshill.  This spring was considered to be a sacred site and hundreds of people would make their way there, believing it to have healing powers.  Some people would travel long distances to visit it to seek a cure, just as people visit Lourdes today.  The healing powers of this spring were said to be particularly powerful on the first Sunday in May.

Visiting Sancta Crux Well on the first Sunday in May 1657 landed Christiane Reat in trouble with the Rattray Kirk Session.

Following the Reformation in 1560, the congregation of each Church of Scotland had a Kirk Session, a Church Court system whereby the Minister and elders of the Parish Church were given the power to deal with the moral behaviour of parishioners.  Non-attendance at Church was regarded as a serious misdemeanour and the Kirk Session would mete out punishment for this crime.

Christiane Reat was ordered to make public repentance before the congregation the following Sunday and never to visit Sancta Crux Well again.

For more about Sancta Crux Well and Christiane Reat read 'Grews Well' in 'The Ghost o' Mause and Other Tales and Traditions of East Perthshire' by Maurice Fleming.