Saints in Scottish Place-Names
Funded by a Leverhulme Trust Project Grant
St Fillan's Well, Struan, Blair Atholl
Grid reference
NN 807 652 (assumed location)
Six-figure easting & northing
280700 765200
Latitude
56.76324128845394
Longitude
-3.9518188646332466
County
Perthshire
Nearby places
St Fillan's Church, Struan, Blair Atholl (0.09 miles)
Struan, former parish, Blair Atholl (0.09 miles)
Aldcharmaig, setttlement, Dunkeld (3.53 miles)
Allt Charmaig, burn, DKD/Blair Atholl (3.58 miles)
Blair Atholl, parish (3.79 miles)
Object Classification
Water
Is linear feature?
No
Notes
Mackinlay reports: 'The ancient parish of Struan ... had its church under the invocation of St Fillan. His wooden image was kept in the building, and was used as a rain charm. In times of drought it was carried in procession from the church to the adjoining well, known as Tobar Faolen, where its feet were dipped in the water in the hope that rain would follow. Reverence for the image continued into post-Reformation times .... in the latter half of the seventeenth century the minister of the parish broke it up and threw the fragments into the Garry' (1914, 169)
Relationships with other parishes
Within Blair Atholl, parish
Within Struan, former parish, Blair Atholl (formerly)
Names
1 head-name linked to this place ?Tobar Fhaolain
Head name
Tobar Fhaolain
Place
St Fillan's Well, Struan, Blair Atholl
Certainty that this name applies to this place
Certain
The status of this name is
Hypothetical
Is this a current OS form? ?
No
Is this the original referent of the place?
Yes
Is the association of this name to this object hypothetical?
No
Tobar Faolen 1914, MacKinlay 1914
Historic formTobar Faolen Head nameTobar Fhaolain PlaceSt Fillan's Well, Struan, Blair Atholl Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceMacKinlay 1914, 169 Date of citation1914 x 1914 Notes on the context of this place-nameSometimes abbreviated ACDS:NS |
Source code
MacKinlay 1914
Author
J. M. MacKinlay
Source title
Ancient Church Dedications in Scotland: Non-scriptural
Year
1914
Notes
Sometimes abbreviated ACDS:NS
Saints in this place-name
Fáelán, Fillan (ns) (certain)
Fillan of Strathfillan (probable)