More Information on the Wells of Angus

 There are some subjects which I keep coming back to repeatedly, albeit with large gaps in time between each article. Notable among these are the posts in which I have attempted to enumerate the wells which exist in the county of Angus. Instead of adding new information as it emerged to an initial piece, I did an updated list of wells in separate articles. My last attempt at counting up all the wells in the county - An Updated Hand-List of Angus Wells - was as long ago as 2017.

Some updates in the list now are because I have come across Colin Gibson's booklet Folklore of Tayside, published by Dundee Museums in 1959, and though most of the wells in his list in this publication were already known to me, some were not, so I have incorporated his information into my existing list, updated below. Wells from his list which were not previously in my list have been noted in red.

Some of these wells may be duplicates under different names. While there are almost certainly some wells still missing from this list , I am confident that what is presented here is the fullest list yet published of known wells from the county of Angus. 

I have also found the following interesting article which was published in the Montrose Review on Friday 11 May, 1928, which details some information about the use and name of the Coral Well of Forfar. Whether this information is in fact correct is a matter of conjecture:

The antiquarian mind of Forfar was some years ago interested in the discovery of the old stocks used for the punishment of offenders in past centuries. The offenders so detained and exposed to public obliquy were mostly of the male kind. Branks were applied to women who were quarrelsome, also to witches. Forfar has such a set of branks known as the 'Witches' Bridle.' In those early days witches were more often burned, and the place for this gruesome penalty of trafficking with the Evil One is known as the 'Witches' Howe'.

Yet there was another way of dealing with refractory women, and that was by ducking. It might seem that the Loch was a suitable place for such immersion, but it was usually found more convenient in various times to dig a water-hold beside which was erected a beam like a see-saw with a chair at one end over the hole, in which seat the virago was roped and soused into the water intil her temper was properly cooled, or, in the case of witches, until they were drowned. This hole in Forfar may have been what is called the 'Coral Well', situated in the Little Causeway, on the opposite side of the lane running past the Queen's Hotel.

The designation 'coral' appears to be a corruption of 'quarrel', from the fact of quarrelling women being dipped there. No doubt, in later times, after the ducking period and before the gravitation water supply, the old hole was found useful for providing the domestic water in the vicinity. Hence the name Coral Well, instead of Quarrel or Coral Hole. By Act of Parliament , 1567, incontinent as well as quarrelsone women were to be dipped but witches were to meet the more serious fate of ducking until they were drowned. The Coral Well of Forfar seems the place where the wicked women dreed their weird.

   But were such places, if they were used to punish witches, also used as wells? Did fresh water flow into them if they were artificial constructions?  This applies to a couple of supposed wells in the list. 

 

List of Angus Wells

Aberneathan Well, two miles NW of Kirriemuir, near  Castlehill Wood.  Possibly from the Pictish personal name Nechtan, either St Nechtan or King Nechtan?

Agricola Well.  At Castleton, Eassie, a reputed Roman site; supposed to have been named by locals after the Roman general, but more probably given the name by a local antiquary.

  [Auchterhouse], healing well near the Kirkton of Auchterhouse.

  [Balmossie Den], near Broughty Ferry.

  [Balnaboth, Cortachy], near chapel ruins.

 Barrel Well, Brechin.

 Batties Well, north of Haughead, Arbirlot.

 Battle Well, Battle Drum, Montreathmont Moor, Brechin. See blog post 15 April 2016 (‘Wells Once More’).

  Beardie’s Well, Brechin. A well which was on the north side of the Nether Wynd in Brechin, supposedly the property of the Earls of Crawford.  This well was therefore supposed to be linked with Alexander, the 4th Earl of Crawford, one of whose nicknames was Beardie.

Bell’s Witter, Clach of Glentaire, Clova.

[Benvie]  Well haunted by the White Lady since plague times. The well, at one time, was called 'The Medicine Well', though this may not have been its 'official' name. See blog post 29 December 2014.

 Blackshank Well, near Aucharroch, Kingoldrum.  Marked as ‘chalybeate’ on maps.

Blind Well, Kingoldrum.  One of the earliest attested wells in the county.  This name appears in a document of 1458 from Arbroath Abbey and has the equivalent Gaelic name Tybyrnoquhyg.  Adam Watson thinks this refers to water ‘out of sight due to vegetation’.  The later form of the name was Tipperwhig, though the English and Gaelic names may not in face be equivalents, in which case there is a chance that Tybyrnoquhyg/Tipperwhig comes from Tobar na Cubhaig, well of the cuckoo.

[Bowhale Well?], Hill of Fernyhurst, Glenisla.

Bradwell, Kettins.  Warden, Angus or Forfarshire, vol 4, points out that there is a charter dated 1292-3 in which a charter of about 1292-3, in which Hugh of Over, Lord of Ketenes, granted ‘his well in his lands and Abthenage of Ketenes, called Bradwell, with its aqueduct bounded, and servitude of watergage" to the Abbey of Cupar’. This was also called Bride’s Well, near the Stoneye Cottages to the east of the Dundee - Coupar Angus Road. The water travelled to the Abbey by an aqueduct and fed into ponds containing fish.

Bra Well, Stracathro.  According to Alexander Warden, Angus or Forfarshire, volume 5, this was also known as Braul’s Well and St Brude’s Well.  But it had been ‘drained long ago’.  It seems more likely the name is derived from St Bride or St Rule than Brude, though the latter presents more intriguing possibilities. Name mutated in later years to ‘braw’, as in ‘good’.

The Burnhead Well, Dundee.  (Corner of Calendar Close and Seagate, near present Commercial Street.)

Camperdown or Cammerdown Well, Dunnichen.  This was renamed after the late 18th century naval encounter won by Duncan of Lundie. It was originally St Causnan’s Well (there was a St Causnan’s Chapel nearby.)  Causnan again is a colloquial form of Constantine.  Local dignitary George Dempster took it upon himself to give the spring its new name following the battle.

Camp Well, near the site of supposed Roman site at Campmuir, Kettins.

Cardinal’s Well, Hillend, south of Lownie Hill, near Dunnichen.  Local tradition says it was named after Cardinal Beaton, who favoured this spot.  The cardinal is also associated with many castles in Angus. It was said that the water from the well was conveyed for some special use at Arbroath Abbey, which makes no sense as there was an abundant source of water closer to the abbey.  However, it may reflect a lingering, if muddled, tradition of the special powers inherent in the water here. 

Carlin Well, Craigton of Airlie.  Now vanished and named after the Cailleach, the Old Hag of Scottish Folklore. Adjacent is Carlinwell Farm.

Cartyheugh Well, Kelly Den, St Vigeans.

Cattle Well, Lochmill, near Kirriemuir.

[Caterthun Fort], Gallows Wood, Lethnot and Navar parish. 

Cauld Water Well (also called the Cat Craig Well and The WishingWell), Monifieth.  See blog post 15 April 2016 (‘Wells Once More’).

Chapel Well, north-east of Whitemire, Aberlemno.

College Well, St Michael’s Mount, Brechin.

Coral Well, Forfar.

Corryvannoch Well, on the slopes of Mount Blair.  The most famous healing well in Angus where pilgrimages would be made and sick children carried.

Cowgait Well, Dundee.  Situated at the corner of Murraygait and Cowgait.

Craig Well, Lundie.

Crew Well, near Auchtertyre, Newtyle. See blog post 15 April 2016 (‘Wells Once More’).

The Cross Well, Dundee.  See above.

Cuttle Well, the Den, Kirriemuir.  One of the more conspicuous and best loved wells in Angus, it has been damaged in recent times by land slips and is ripe for restoration.

Docken Well, Scad Cairns, Glen Quharity.  Also called Dockan Well, Docan Well, Docken Wall.  

There is a nearby East Docken Well (also on the slopes of Cat Law). Border of Lintrathen and Kingoldrum.

The Dog Well, Dundee.  (Murraygate, Dundee, but fed by the Lady Well to the north.)

Dripping Well, Arbroath. Adjacent to natural-arch called the Castle Gate, Arbroath cliffs.

Droustie’s Well, Lochlee, near the home of the Dark Age saint who lived in Glen Esk.  Also, more formally known as St Drostan’s Well.  It was located in a field named ‘Piper’s Shade’ and cured all sorts of diseases.  When some jealous healers poisoned the well some locals stones them to death and buried them in a circle around the spring.

Duckladge Well, Black Hill, Lintrathen.

Dundas Well, site of Boath Chapel, Pitlivie Moor, Arbirlot.

[Edzell Castle] Edzell. Near old baths. 

Falcon Well, Glen Quharity.

[Finavon Hill], site of fort, Oathlaw.

[Fish Street] Dundee.  Opposite Shore Terrace. 

God’s Well, south-west of Swirlburn, Arbirlot.

Golan Well, Auchenchapel, Glen Isla. 

Golly Well, Milton of Carmyllie.

[Hangie’s Well, Cargill.  This is a dubious example, cited by Andrew Jervise in Memorials of Angus and the Mearns, in that Cargill is in Perthshire and not Angus (so we won't count it), though Jervise states that it may have been in Angus once.  The well was on the property of a local hangman and, when it was excavated, a large number of human bones were found here.  So good a tale that we forgive the Perthshire-ness of the location.]

Groggy Well, Liff.  Place-name sometimes marked on older maps as Crookywell.  ‘The site of this old croft,’ says A. B. Dalgetty in The Church and Parish of Liff, ‘is still marked by two old ash trees about 400 yards of the Whitelawston cottages.  The fine well supplies water to these houses.’

Hassock Well, west of North Whitehills, Forfar.

Hays Well, Arbroath. 

Helly Well, east of  Shelterfield, Arbirlot.

Hen Well, east of Finavon Hill.  Note nearby place-name Henwellburn.

Hogg’s Well, west of Fairy Knowe, Dunnichen

Holy Well, Balnaboth, Cortachy.  Near ancient church ruins.

Holy Well, Broughty Ferry.

Hore Well, Lundie.

Horse Well, Smithton Hill, Lundie.

Iron Harrow Well, south of Hayston Hill, Tealing.

Jenkin’s Well, in Balrownie Wood, Menmuir.

Jenny’s Well, Arbroath.  Near the Montrose Road, at the north end of Fisher Acre.  Also a place-name.

King’s Well, east of Fallaws, Carmyllie.

King's Well, Dumbarrow Hill, Dunnichen.

King’s Well, Newtyle, north-west of Newbigging. No known legendary association with any kings, but there is a string of Macbeth associations through Strathmore. See blog post 15 April 2016 (‘Wells Once More’).

[Kirkden Well] renowned for reducing swelling in feet and legs. See blog post 15 April 2016 (‘Wells Once More’).

Knellock Well, Gallows Hill, Inverarity.

Lady Well, Auchterhouse.

Ladle Well, Arbroath.  Possibly once Lady Well?

Lady Well, near Rosehill, Lunan Den, Brechin.

Lady Well, Dundee.  See above.   

Lady Well, Farnell.

Lady Well, Glen Isla. Filled in during 19^th century.  See blog post 15 April 2016 (‘Wells Once More’).

Lady Well, Chapelton, Menmuir.[Note also the place-name Ladlewell, east of Forfar:  possibly another corruption of Lady Well?]

Lammer Well, south west of Newton Hill, St Vigeans.(Same as Lanuner Well?)

[Logie-Pert] well in kirk-yard, used to treat sores.

Lunan Well, Lunanhead Forfar.

McComie’s Well, south of Creagan Caise, Glen Isla.

Madie's Well, on the banks of the Lunan, Kinnell.  Nearby was Madie's Heugh.  Possibly a corruption of parish patron St Maelrubha (or otherwise Magdalen?).

Maid’s Well, Drumhead Plantation,  Rescobie.  Possibly connected with St Triduana who once reputedly lived here.

Martin’s Den, Logie-Pert.  Used to treat scurvy. See blog post 29 December 2014.

Marywell, Craig parish (anciently Inchbrayoch), close to the coastal village of Usan.

Mary Well, Kirriemuir.  Recalled in the local name Marywell  Brae.

Mary Well, Lintrathen, adjacent to The Mary Well Park, a field name.

Mary’s Well, near Meikle Tullc, Edzell.

Mary’s Well, Marywell village, St Vigeans.

Matty’s Well, Panbride.

May’s Well, south of Dunnichen Moss.

McComie's Well (and chair), south of Creagan Case, Glenisla.

Medicine Well, Idvies, also known as Medicie Well.

Medicine Well, Montrose. This was, for a short spell in the 18th century, a fashionable spa.

Meg Blair’s Well, Lochlee.

Minrie Well, Glen Clova.  In the Ordnance Survey name book of the mid-19^th century the Minrie Burn, north of Cairn of Bairns, is noted and a this well, ‘About mid-way and a little east of this Burn there is a very strong Chalybeate Well, celebrated in the locality...’

Monk Mudie’s Well, Carmyllie.  See blog post 15 April 2016 (‘Wells Once   More’).

Monk’s Pool, Kirkton, Lochlee.

Monk’s Well, Kelly Den, St Vigeans.

Monk’s Well, Glen Isla, Corryvannoch.

Mossy Well, Arbroath.

Murdiewell, Glamis, place-name.

Murleywell, Eassie, farm name.

Naughty Well, Kinnell.  Is this a delightful colloquial corruption of an older name (Nechtan)?   The well was close to the ancient chapel of Bolshan.

Neil's Well, near the kirk of Kingoldrum. Note nearby place-name Kennyneil.

The Nethergait Well, Dundee.

 Nettle Well (and Nettlewell Hillock), south of Cornescorn, near Edzell.

 Newton’s Well, Glen Isla.

 Nickie’s Well, Witchwood, St Vigeans.

 Nine Maidens’ Well, Bracken Bruach, Auchterhouse.

Ninewells, Dundee.  Close to the River Tay, on the west of the city.  Now commemorated as the name of the largest hospital in the region.

 Nine Wells, Finavon.  On the hill above the old kirk.  A burn trickles down from the spot.

 Nine Maiden’s Well, Forfar.  Located in the vicinity of Craig O’ Loch Road. The water source may have been a spring, which was in a bleaching field called Ninewells Green.

  Nine Maiden’s Well, Kirkton of Strathmartine.  Near the kirk, this is importantly in the vicinity of the folk-tale of Martin and the Nine Maidens.

  Nine Maiden's Well, Cortachy.  Near the church.

  Nine Wells, Glamis.  The supposed home of the Nine Maidens, in Glen Ogilvy, was located within Glamis parish but the well was near the doocot in the grounds of Glamis Castle.

Nine Wells, close to Peallock Quarry, Lunan.

   Nine Wells, Oathlaw (latterly Finavon parish).

   Nolt Loan Well, Arbroath.

  Our Lady’s Well, Edzell. 

  Our Lady’s Well, Glenisla. (The church was dedicated to St Mary.)

  Our Lady’s Well, Milton of Carmyllie.

 Our Lady’s Well, Oathlaw (Finavon).

The Overgate Well, Dundee.  East of the corner of Tally Street; relocated in 1828 to the south-east corner of Mid Street. 

Pater Well, near Deerpark Cottage, Kinnaird.

 Paterlochwell, near Cottarward, Dunnichen.

Peatmire Well, Black Wood, Arbirlot.

 Peter’s Cauldron, Guildy Den, Panbride.

[Priest’s Stone well], Newbigging, Lethnot and Navar.

 Purdie’s Well, near Ochterlony, Rescobie.

  Queen’s Well, Glenmark, Lochlee.  Re-named in honour of Queen Victoria, but originally named Tobar na clachan gualaich, the well of the white Stone.

Queen's Well

Raistane Well, Kingoldrum.  This well is also mentioned in a document of Arbroath Abbey, 1458.

Reiden's Well, Red Den, Farnell.  (Andrew Jervise, Memorials of Angus and the Mearns, i, 85 states that this was the scene of the ballad 'Young Reiden'.)

 Rosamond’s Pond, near Kinnaird Castle.

Rude Well (or the 'Red Wallie').  This was on the site of later Lady Balmain Street in Montrose. Connected with local sites relating to the Holy Rood, such as the Rood Mill. The burgh fair was also named after the Holy Rood.

 St Aidan’s Well, Fern.

 St  Aidan’s Well, Kirkton of Menmuir.

 St  Andrew’s Well, East Hillhead, Monikie.

 St Andrew’s Well, south of Londrum Earn Scar, Lintrathen.

 St Anthony’s Well, Auchterhouse.  On Henderson Hill, marked as ‘disused’ on modern maps. See blog post 29 December 2014.

  St Bride’s Well, Kettins. (Kettins church also dedicated to St Bride.

 St Bride’s Well, Templeton, Newtyle. See blog post 29 December 2014.

  St Clement’s Well (also called Bischop’s Well or Saint’s Well).  See above.

   St Columba’s Well, Shielhill, Kirriemuir. (In J. G. McPherson's book Strathmore Past and Present (1885), p. 226, this is mentioned as St Colm's Well.)

    St Fergus’ Well, Glamis.

  St Francis’ Well, Dundee. Also known as Gray Friar’s Well.   See above and blog post 15 April 2016 (‘Wells Once More’).

    St German’s Well, Kinblethmont. See blog post 15 April 2016 (‘Wells Once More’).

    St Innen’s Well, Fern. Located in a place named Wellford.

    St Iten’s Well, Menmuir. The name is probably a corruption of Aidan, the patron of Memuir parish.  

    St John’s Well, east of the Temple, Roman Camp, Guynd.

    St Kane’s Well, Ardestie, Monifieth.

    St Laurence, Edzell. (Edzell church dedicated to this saint.)

    St Madden’s Well, near Cleikhelm, Airlie. Also called St Medan’s Well.

  St Martin’s Well, Bridgend, Lethnot.

  St Martin’s Well, St Martin’s Den, Logie. Famous for curing scurvy.

  St Mary’s Well, Arbroath. 

  St Mary’s Well, Bridgend, Lethnot. Situated at the foot of the hill near the manse. Silver coins  and other unspecified 'votive offerings' were found in this well (in the 18^th or 19^th century?).

  St Mary’s Well, Oathlaw. Near the top of the Gallow Path, near Oathlaw.

  St. Mary’s Well, Gallow Path, near site of chapel, Rescobie.

  St. Martin’s Well, St. Martin’s Den, Logie.

  St Mary’s Well, Rescobie.

   St Medan’s Well, Kingoldrum. (The church was also dedicated to this saint.)

   St Medan’s Well, Glamis.

   St Medan’s Well, Oathlaw (latterly Finavon).

 St Murdoch’s Well, West Drum, Brechin.

 St Ninian’s Well, site of chapel, Whiting Ness, Arbroath.

  St Ninian’s, Mains (formerly Strathdichty).

 St Ouret’s Well, Brechin, on the North Esk near the Stannochy Bridge.  This is a name without parallel.  Paul T Hornby notes similarites to a similar Basque surname and the Gaelic word ùruisg (https://megalithix.wordpress.com/2016/03/20/st-ourets-well/), but its uniqueness and lack of documentary parallels means this is very much a mystery.

St Peter's Well, Tealing.

 St Ringan’s Well (or St Ninian's Well), Arbirlot, on the south bank of the Rottenraw burn about a third of a mile downstream from the farm of Kellyfield. Later covered by a derelict wind pump.

St Sinavy’s Well, or Sunny Vie, near Mains Castle, Dundee.  See blog post 29 December 2014.

St Trodlin’s Well, Rescobie.  Named after Triduana.

St Vivian’s Well, near Vane Castle, Fern.

[St Vigean's Chapel (ruin) well] Arbirlot.

Scots Well, near Stripe of Droustie, Lochee.

 Scotston Well, Little Scotston, Auchterhouse.

 Seggie Well, west of Guynd, Carmyllie.

 Silver Hill, St Vigeans. Note place-name Silverwells.

 Sinruie Well, Kirkden (formerly Idvies). Corrupted from St Maelrubha.  The well was also known as St Malrubh. 

 Smellie's Well, Dundee.  To the west of the burgh. (Smellie's Lane still exists.)

Sod’s Well, east of Grange of Conon, St Vigeans.

  Springwells, St Vigeans, place-name north of Silverwells.

 Starney Bucket Well, near Kinnaird.  Associated with the satantic earl of Southesk.

Tannie's Well, Kinnell.  Another well whose name may be a corruption of an older name.

 The Timber Clach, place-name in  Glen Isla.  May possibly derive from An Tiobair Chlaich, the well of stones, though there is not currently a well here. (Place-names in Much of North-east Scotland, Adam Watson, London, 2013.)

Tobar a Chinn, Glen Isla.  Well of the Head.

Todcairn Well, Glen Esk.

Tothel Well, West Mill, Dunnichen. (Or Lothel Well?)

The Tottler, Milton of Conon, Carmyllie.

Well of Bowhale, Glen Isla. From Gaelic buachaille, herdsman.

 Whey Wells, north of Leytack, east of Eastside wood, Pinderachy, Fern.

Whitewell, Arbroath. Name of a farmhouse in the north of the parish, a short distance south of Tarrybank.

Witch’s Pool, Meikle Mills, Kirriemuir.

 Wormiehills Well. Well and place-name near Arbroath.

Further Work Needed

 

As I have mentioned, there are doubtless further wells to be discovered by those who have the time and inclination to go looking for them. Unfortunately, as I am at the opposite end of the country, that would not be me! A further persual of manuscript sources and maps awaits the intrepid Angus well explorer, whoever she or he may be in the future! 

It would be useful in the future also if someone with the requisite expertise could disentangle the sometimes conflicting designations of some wells, which are confusing, to say the least. As an example, we could cite the Tothel Well. Was it really called the Lothel Well? If not, what did 'tothel' mean? Possibly from the Gaelic tuathal, 'counter-clockwise'?

Songs of Angus: Busk, Busk, Bonnie Lassie

 There's an understandable mystery concerning many traditional folk songs. Who wrote them and why? And what age are they? If they are relatively modern, can they still qualify as traditional? Musicologists and folkie gurus could possibly answer these questions, but not myself. Some songs too have a weird tendency to 'borrow' tunes from older songs, and the 'borrowing' does not even have to be from the same country. More than a few songs too have multiple names to throw enquirers off the scent and add to their inherent mystery.

The greatest mystery in this beautiful song is the identity of the male and female protagonists.

The subject of this piece is one such. It's primary (and best) name is 'Busk, Busk, Bonnie Lassie'. It is not an exhortation to send a poor girl onto the streets and play dodgy tunes for hard cash. The word busk, in this context, seems to signify 'prepare' or 'dress (yourself) up'. An alternative title for the song is 'Bonnie Glenshee,' which seems blatantly wrong (and not because I am an Angus bigot) since the song primarily focusses on the Angus glen of Isla and not the neighbouring Perthshire Glenshee, as can be seen from the lyrics below. 

   There seems little trace of the song, whatever we call it, until the 1950s, when it appeared on an album by the Aberdeen singer Jeannie Robertson. Hamish Henderson sagely pinpointed the song's appeal at the time: 'With the last song, the mood changes. Busk, Busk, Bonnie Lassie is a previously unrecorded love song from the Eastern Highlands; its strange nostalgic words and its superb melody combine to evoke most powerfully the atmosphere of the lonely Angus braes.' It is undoubtedly a haunting evocation of place that richly deserves a wider audience, and indeed it has been recorded quite a few times over the years. 

The Stewarts of Blaigrowrie new the tune and may have been instrumental in shaping and preserving it, and many in the 1960s heard their version of the song. The redoubtable Corries covered the song on their 'Live' A Live O set from 1968. It is slightly surprising that they do not seem to have included this lovely yearning tune very much in their later reportoire. 

   The late Dundonian musician Jim Reid also included a version of the song on his 1984 album I Saw the Wild Geese Fly. (The second set of lyrics below were favoured by him.) Another local singer who recorded it was Joe Aitken from Kirriemuir who recorded it on a 2007 live album. A wonderful, unaccompanied version sung by Iona Fyfe can be found on You Tube. A version collected by Hamish Henderson and performed by Charlotte Higgins can be found on the Tobar an Dualchais wesbite: here

Jim Reid

Some Versions of the Lyrics

There is no definitive version of the lyrics to the song, so several versions are given below.

1

Oh do you see yon high hills

All covered with snow

They hae parted many a true love

And they'll soon part us twa

Chorus ; Busk, busk, bonnie lassie

And come along wi' me

And I'll take ye tae Glen Isla

Near Bonnie Glen Shee

Oh, do you see yon shepherd,

As he walks along

With his plaidie pulled aroond him

As his sheep they graze on

Chorus

Oh do you see yon soldiers

As they all march along

Wi' their muskets on their shoulders

And their broadswords hanging down

Chorus

Oh do you see yon high hills

All covered with snow

They hae parted many a true love

And they'll soon part us twa

2

Dae ye see yon high hills,

Aa covered ower wi snaw?

They hae pairted mony the true love,

And they'll soon pairt us twa.

Busk, busk bonnie lassie and come awa wi me,

And I'll tak ye tae Glen Isla near bonnie Glen Shee.

Dae ye see yon shepherd,

As he gaes alang,

Wi his plaidie roun aboot him,

And his sheep they graze on?"

Busk, busk bonnie lassie and come awa wi me,

And I'll tak ye tae Glen Isla near bonnie Glen Shee.

Dae ye see yon soldiers,

As they march alang,

Wi their muskets on their shoulders,

And their broadswords hingin doun?"

Busk, busk bonnie lassie and come awa wi me,

And I'll tak ye tae Glen Isla near bonnie Glen Shee

Dae ye see yon high hills,

Aa covered ower wi snaw?

They hae pairted mony the true love,

And they'll soon pairt us twa.

Busk, busk bonnie lassie and come awa wi me,

And I'll tak ye tae Glen Isla near bonnie Glen Shee

3

Oh, do you see yon shepherds,
As they walk along
With their plaidies pulled aboot them
And their sheep they graze on

Busk, busk, bonnie lassie
And come along wi' me
And I'll take ye tae Glen Isla
Near Bonnie Glen Shee

Oh do you see yon soldiers
As they all march along
Wi' their guns on their shoulders
And their broadswords hanging down

Oh do you see yon high hills
All covered with snow
They hae parted many a true love
And they'll soon part us twa

Some Previous Posts About Ballads and Songs

Dundee Songs - Baffling Meanings

Is Angus Part of "Ballad Land"?

The Banks of Sweet Dundee

A Few More Songs About Dundee and District

The Fields Have Names

   This post, like many others, might be categorised as a provisional piece, based as it is on a limited amount of information in my possession. I have considered place-names before of course, in past articles such as The Musical Magic of Place-Names. I have also lamented (or moaned) about the dearth of academic studies of place-names in Angus compared with other areas better served in this way. I will doubtless moan about this again in the future, as the mood takes me.

I hope to enlarge this current article when evidence more on the subject eventually arrives. Many parts of Scotland have a substrata of place-names given over to fields, and it is possible that these are understudied. What definitely seems to be true is that there has been no systematic study of field names in Angus. Much of what follows (piecemeal as it is) has mostly been gleaned from Colin Gibson's long-running 'Nature Diary' in the Dundee Courier.

    Landscape Features, Monetary Value

 

   Many, perhaps most, field-names would have been named after prominent local landscape features, which could be as simple as haugh, ley, rig, park, flat, butt, rig. One of these is Whiteleys Park, Airlie. Otherwise, the names could reference other simple features. These names might easily identify specific fields for those called on to work there. Examples of this include Crippleshade (in Carmyllie area, referencing a cripple-gap placed in a wall to allow sheep to pass through), Paterscrede in Lunan (apparently signifying a low, turfy field). The Harey (Arbirlot or Carmyllie) took its designation from a boundary stone. Glutty signified a flood-prone field, as did another field called Fluthers. Merklands obviously relates to price, as does Twenty Pennies. Other fields may have been named after long-gone tenants or owners. A field humorously designated The Himalayas  in Balgavies was so-called from its up-and-down topography.

                                                       Animal and People Names

  A few of these can be noted straight off. Teuchat's Wood was another Angus field name, from the south of the county, named of course after the habitat of the lapwing. Fawn's Castle was a field at Drumbertnot, Lunan, and there may be many more field-names of this sort (as well as other topographical features) named after birds and beasts. There is Sheep's Haugh, near Kirriemuir, a name which is almost certainly not unique. Rarely, fields are named after individuals who may have owned or worked particular pieces of land. At Arbirlot, there were fields called Maggie Hanton, Wattie Binnie, Willie Craig. At Ascurry, Carmyllie, Gibson notes a field was once named Jenny Barrie, 'but her field is moorland now, and a windmill has assumed her name'.

                                                          Vanished Buildings

Judging from the field names which have survived, none of them qualify as being genuinely ancient. Some may represent original Gaelic names but none (that I know of) might be called Pictish. Despite that, they are valuable in some instances in showing where there was once a croft, a doocot, or some other ediface perhaps. The College at Kellyfield, Arbirlot, is sometimes cited as the site of an ecclesiastical building associated with Arbroath Abbey or its Celtic predecessor. Kirk Shade at The Gask, Letham, is also reckoned to recall a vanished ecclesiastic building. 

                                                            Stranger Names

   Many of the following names many be readily decipherable to some people (and I welcome suggestions), though other meanings may have been lost in the haar of time. There was a field in Arbirlot named The Zeppelin which remembered an incident when a German dirigible dropped bombs harmlessly on that plot of land during World War One. I do not know the details behind this incident unfortunately. At Invergowrie, on the Perthshire border, there was Hole Field on Home Farm, named after the alarming and sudden appearance of a great chasm in the ground there. Also in Arbirlot was The Knighters.

   A field named Blue Breeks was surmised by Colin Gibson to have originally been called Bare Breeks, a sly commentary on the infertility of that place. There is a field named Paradise in Arbirlot; why it was called this is a mystery. Other unexplained names include The Dourie, The Brogie, The Milner, Moor o' Scare (at Courthill), and the magnificent Gruggle o' the Wad at Carmyllie. The farm of Balcalk at Tealing had the following named fields: Paislins, Crapodale, Hatton Well, Twelvedale,  Blackly Fauld,  Girley Fauld, Knockmarumple, Tilliehaggleton, Scare Fauld, Crap Angry. Scroggie and Cannon Den were at Lunan. A field near Forfar was called The Gowpens, signifying two handfuls of corn. The Deil's Knap at Lunan possibly recalls the old Goodman's Crofts, a parcel of land set aside as an insurance policy to the Devil as an insurance for the fertility of the rest of the farm. At Tealing was a field called Thorters. 

   Carmyllie also had Lady Brae, Pisgah (a name from the bible), The Dourie, The Brogie, The Marnies, Shuilbreds, The Milner. Foreign looking names may be nothing of the sort. A place named Sandy Ireland, for instance, may simply mean 'lying to the west'.

Strathmartine, looking towards the Tay

This post has used (among other sources) material from Colin Gibson's articles in The Courier on Saturday 15 July 1989, Saturday 12 June 1993, Saturday 15 October 1994.

In a work from the 1950s, Gibson mentions that much work on field names was undertaken by Miss E. P. Goodfellow of Tayport. Any information on her work would be gratefully received.

The Ghost-Hunter in Angus - The Dangerous Dream of Elliott O'Donnell

I wrote not long ago about a ghost which haunted Newmanswalls House in Montrose. There was no solution to the rather short tradition of a ghost there. This piece also ends indecisively in the same town, but first looks at the experiences of Elliott O'Donnell (1872-1965) wrote many books about ghosts. His most substantial investigation into ghosts in our area was a study about Glamis Castle which is contained in his Scottish Ghost Stories (1912). I also wrote of his thoughts in a previous post called The Secret Tunnel of Lintrose. The following stories come from his book Confessions of A Ghost Hunter (London, 1928).

   Following schooling in Bristol, O'Donnell came to Angus around the year 1890, learning farming somewhere near Montrose. He resided with an unnamed 'gentleman farmer' and one day the farmer and family took a wagonette on a day out to visit a ruined castle, with O'Donnell following behind on a bicycle. On the way there, O'Donnell unluckily suffered a puncture, which he mended quickly and set off again, hoping to catch up with the farmer's family. Pedalling furiously, he came to a downhill stretch of road and was suddenly overwhelmed with the conviction that he recognised this place, which he had certainly never visited before. Then it came back to him - he had recurrently dreamed of this exact landscape for several years. The scene, as he describes it, was as follows: 'There, in front of me, was the white, dusty road, with a low stone wall on either side of it; here, on the offside of these walls, the bare undulating pasture land and beyond, away in the distance, the gloomy hills.'

   O'Donnell was considering this when his bike came to a turning and there, an open carriage drawn by two black horses careered across his path, forcing him either to crash into it or veer into the right into the stone wall. He chose the wall, smashed into it, and knocked himself unconscious. When he woke up he found that his bike had broken into two parts, which again he had seen in his dream. The carriage driver, who must have seen him, had driven on and left him for dead. When he was able to, O'Donnell picked himself up and continued shakily on his way. He wondered afterwards whether the precognitive dream actually saved his life and was a warning - from somewhere - that he should choice crashing into the wall, for if he chose colliding with the carriage, he would have died.

   The thing that strikes me when considering Elliott O' Donnell's dream is that it parallels, to some extent, another remarkable dream that changed the fate of someone in the exact same patch of countryside over a century previously. This was the case of William Imrie, an Aberdeenshire man who was travelling south when he spent the night in the ruins of Redcastle at Lunan Bay. Here he dreamt that he would go to London, marry a rich woman, and return here to buy an estate. His life afterwards was exactly in accord with this vision. He bought an estate at Lunan Bay and died here in 1798 (though some sources say 1790). The story is related in my previous blog post The Fortunate Dream of William Imrie of Lunan.

      In the same book, O'Donnell tells the story of a haunted house in the centre of Montrose which was occupied by a spinster who was giving him French lessons. On the first occassion he went there he heard someone with a racking, consumptive cough in a part of the room screened off from where he was. When he questioned the lady, she said she was alone in the house and hoped he had not been upset by the sound. The next day he heard the same again and ran out of the room, encountering a servant who burst into tears. She explained that the sound came from a ghost, but she daren't say anything in case she was dismissed. The story ends rather flatly. Nobody could tell him much about the haunting beyond the face that it was reputedly an old man who had died in suspicious circumstances in the house some years before.

Body Snatching in Montrose

 Most people have heard of Burke and Hare and their nefarious way of ensuring that the best corpses were provided for the keen medical anatomists of Edinburgh. But body snatching (which sounds marginally better than body stealing) was practised far and wide. 

From the Montrose Review on Friday 21 December, 1827, we have the following account of this dark activity:

The people in this neighbourhood have not, for a long time, had their peace of mind broken by the grieving thought, that sepulchres of their dead were violate by the profance hands of body-stealers. They heard only, certainly not without feelings of indignation and sorrow, of resurrectionists at a distance: they now find that there are such unfeeling wretches grown up among themselves; and the whole vicinity is struch with astonishment at the mortifying disclosure. On Monday morning, a box was brought, by the Fettercairn carrier, to the office of Cobourg, addressed "B. C. & Co., North Place, Edinburgh," with the instructions to be forwarded with haste. The proprietor of the coach, entertaining suspicion of its contents, examined the box more minutely and found it to emit a most disagreeable smell. Having ascertained from whence it came, he communicated his supicion to a Justice of the Peace, who granted warrant for the apprehension of the individual from whom, the carrier received the box. In the meantime, it was opened by the authority of a Justice and was found to contain the remains of an aged man of the name of Kinnear which were interred in the Old Churchyard of Logie on Friday week.

The individual suspected of disturbing his ashes - and who is also suspected of having carryied on the trade of a body-snatcher for some time - is a young fellow of the name of Burnett, who resides about the Brae of Rosemount, and who was brought here by the officers the same evening. After undergoing an examination he was committed to the Jail, for further precognition - for which purpose the Sheriff-Substitute arrive last night; but it was wit some difficuty that the fellow could be got conveyed thither from the Town House, as the populace would fain have taken summary justice upon the wretch, who, they believed, had committed the gross violation. The corpse was re-interred by the deceased's friends on Wednesday. The resurrectionists seem to have been extremely busy, or extremely unfortunate, last week as, besides the above instance, two bodies, also on their journey to the Scotch metropolis, have been detained - the one at Carlisle and the other in the north country.

    Another briefer report came from the Montrose Review, 9th April, 1830:

An attempt at body snatching (not by resurrectionsts, for the corpse had not been confined to its resting place) was made on Monday night in a room in Castle Street. The room, in a second storey, had been locked for the night; but while in the act of removing the body, the tenants of the lower flat, alarmed by the noise, scared the delinquents. 

The Press Gang

  This article details some information about the naval press gangs which were a real and feared feature of coastal communities for many generations in our part of the world and elsewhere.  I may well return to this subject in the future, subject of course to what I unearth. Previous blog posts on similar naval themes are listed at the bottom of the article.

The impress officers who roamed the coastal communities of Britain periodically in the 18th and early 19th centuries, better known as the Press Gang, spread panic and fear among young men and their relatives as they sought to bolster the depleted ranks of the Royal Navy. There are actually relatively few references to the Press Gang operating in Angus, at least in popular printed literature that I have come across, but they undoubtedly operated here. For some time, the navy force on the look out for men was based at Arbroath. A Captain James Greig of the 'Southesk' narrowly escaped capture by them. He was learning navigation in Christison's school in Crawford Close when he heard navy men nearby. He and another man removed the lower sash of the window and made their escape. They headed north and did not stop until they reached Laurencekirk in the Mearns. Even then, Greig lived rough in the woods at Kinnaird in case the Press Gang still pursued him. 


   Some young men employed in various trades were still targeted by the impress officers even though they had been equipped with certificates advising of their exemption from forced naval service.  Some of the local men employed in the construction of the Bell Rock lighthouse were affected. The Northern Lighthouse Board issued medals of exemption to the 35 seamen who were employed on its 5 vessels. But at least one employed man was caught out. Arbroath man George Dall was detained in 1810 during a visit to friends in Dundee. He had been employed in the construction of the lighthouse, but had been laid off in the winter months of 1810 and was apprehended in Dundee in February. The Magistrates of Dundee declared that the regulating officer had no right to take him, but the latter insisted that he had, declaring that seamen only stood protected when they were onboard their own ships. The case went to the Court of Session and Dall was eventually released after languishing in prison for a period. Although the Press Gangs were less active after the second decade of the 19th century, there were sporadic instances of them operating later. There is a tradition of the Arbroath shipbuilder Alexander Stephen allowing his employees to hide in his yard's steam box while the impress men were out looking for prey, perhaps around the year 1830.

   During the wars against the French in the early 19th century the Press Gang seem to have been based mainly at Arbroath, though another favourite hunting ground for them was Montrose. On occasions a tender would sit off Montrose at the water mouth or in the actual harbour.  Even officers were in danger of impressment. There is a tale of Captain James Greig of the 'Southesk' who was notified of the presence of the Press Gang when he was studying navigation at Christison's school in Crawford's Close, Montrose. In order to escape he and another man had to remove the sash window and abscond. They fled north into the Mearns and did not stop until they reached Laurencekirk. Greig was forced to spend three weeks hiding in the woods of Kinnaird until the danger was passed.

  A happy ending of sorts was not guaranteed for all of those unhappy men who were forced into naval service. But one such was John Crawford, a native of Broughty Ferry, who was impressed into the Royal Navy early in the nineteenth century. Six months later he lost an arm and was dismissed with a small pension. Local sympathy ensured he entered gainful employment as stationmaster at Easthaven. It seemed that he thrived in his role and lived so long that the suspicious Admiralty sent an inspector to Angus years later to check that he was still alive. Ten years later, a further two inspectors came to check on him, then - years later again - three more inspectors came to Easthaven to check that John Crawford was still alive enough to claim his (well deserved pension)!

Some Sources

J. M. Mc Bain, Arbroath Past and Present (Arbroath, 1887).

Robert Chambers, The Domestic Annals of Scotland (Edinburgh & London, 1858).

David Mitchell, The History of Montrose (Montrose, 1866).

The Montrose Review, Friday 5th August 1927.

Some Previous Maritime Posts

Fisher Folk(lore)

Perils of The Sea

Angria The Pirate

Tales of The Whales, Part One

Tales of The Whales, Part Two

Tales of The Whales, Part Three

The Newmanswalls House Ghost, Montrose

 There is a forlorness to lost places which lingers long after they have vanished, though traditions can be left behind. Newmans Walls House, on the north side of Montrose, was near the grounds of the ancient hospitaal. The ancient owners of the estate were named Paniter or Panter, and they held the crown charter of Newmans Walls from 1410 until 1610, when it was sold to the Scotts. The house was rebuilt in 1790 and, in 1809, it became the property of a family named Tailyour.

   Several of the Paniter family were notable ecclesiastics. Patrick Panter was born at Newmans walls, near Montrose, in 1470, and became abbot of Cambuskenneth in 1510. In 1516 he created the hospital at Montrose. Carved wooden panels which come from the long-vanished hospital are now in the National Museum of Scotland. (They are the subject of a previous post: Lost Treasures of Angus - Patrick Paniter's Panels from Montrose)

The Paniter Panels from Montrose Hospital

   Despite the occasional prominent cleric, there was little of any consequence recorded in the old house of Newmanswells, and there are few records of what it actually looked like, which makes the following story all the more intriguing.

The Montrose Standard reported on Friday 30 September 1938 that the house had almost completely been destroyed by fire on the previous weekend. There had never been a tradition of the mansion being haunted in former times, but three weeks before the blaze a blind man and his wife had come to stay in one of the upper bedrooms where there was a four-poster bed. In the middle of the night he woke his wife to say that he heard someone moving about by the dressing table. The lady jumped out of bed but discovered nobody there. Worse was to come. Three days before the fire the same unfortunate gentleman was shaving himself when he was grabbed by two spectral hands which turned him completely around. He groped around to find who had laid hands on him, but nobody at all was there. He and his wife left the property shortly thereafter. And the house then mysteriously went up in flames. It was completely demolished in the 1960s and modern housing now stands on the site. 

   No-one has, to my knowledge, identified the very transitory ghost that occupied Newmanswalls in its dying days.

For an interesting article (sadly, ghost-less) about the house see Montrose Basin Heritage Society