The Clootie Well

In my stories, I mix the real Fairy Glen with a Clootie Well. And, yes, there is a real Clootie Well, with strips of cloth – in fact whole pieces of clothing! – hanging from the trees where people have placed them as they made their wishes. It’s a strange place with a beauty of its own, right off the side of the road! The photo below hardly does it justice, because it’s so much larger than my photograph makes it look. [There’s a reason I’m a writer, not a photographer!]

It’s just one mile west of Munlochy, Scotland on the A832. From what I’ve read, the site dates to pre-Christian times. There’s a little spring coming out of the side of the hill where you dip your cloth before making your wish and hanging it on the trees. At this particular site it is said if you [or someone you’re wishing for] suffers an illness, you dip your cloth, hang it in the trees, and as it rots away, so will the illness. Be careful not to remove anyone else’s cloth, because you’ll be taking their wished-away illness on yourself!

Clootie Well
North of Munlochy, Scotland