Well, into the night
Written by John MacphersonI have a few ‘clootie’ (cloth) wells near me. These are ‘healing wells’ and the tradition is to dip a piece of rag in the water and wipe the afflicted part of your body with it, then hang it in a tree beside the well. As the rag rots the illness subsides. I made a short video about one such well which is across the Firth from my house, which you can view here.
Earlier this evening I took my son and his pal for a cycle through the woods behind our house to see another, much less visited well concealed in the forest. It was growing dark with the shorter days, so I thought I’d try some flash, with my compact camera. It was ‘atmospheric’.
The children (7 year olds with heads full of Halloween) were suitably ‘spooked’ but quickly got distracted by a small stream and a bunch of tossing sticks and then playing ‘searchlights’ with their bike lights.
Whatever you think of it, it’s a remarkable display of faith and trust in the power of nature to heal.
(Click images to view larger)
Author — John Macpherson
John MacPherson was born and lives in the Scottish Highlands. He trained as a welder in the Glasgow shipyards, before completing an apprenticeship as a carpenter, and then qualified as a Social Worker in Disability Services. Along the way he has cooked on canal barges, trained as an Alpine Ski Leader & worked as an Instructor for Skiers with disabilities, been a canoe instructor, and tutor of night classes in carpentry, stained glass design and manufacture, and archery. He has travelled extensively on various continents, undertaking solo trips by bicycle, or motorcycle. He has had narrow escapes from an ambush by terrorists, been hit by lightning, caught in an erupting volcano, trapped in a mobile home by a tornado, kidnapped by a dog's hairdresser, rammed by a basking shark and was once bitten by a wild otter. He has combined all this with professional photography, which he has practised for over 35 years. He teaches photography and acts as a photography guide & tutor in the UK and abroad. His biggest challenge is keeping his 30 year old Land Rover 110 on the road. He loves telling and hearing stories.