Scotland had
at least two men called St. Fillan. One is famous for a healing well
located between Comrie and Loch Earn. This is the one for whom the village
of St. Fillans is name. Another was St. Fillan of Glen Dochart, who left
behind 5 relics and 8 healing stones. This is the one whose story follows:
The name St. Fillan means wolf cub or little wolf. His
mother was St. Kentigerna (a princess of Ulster,) and his father was
Prince Federach. One lrish legend claims that St. Fillan was born with a
stone in his mouth. His father saw the stone and threw the newborn baby
into a lake where angels watched over him until Bishop Ibar rescued him.
Bishop Ibar then raised him in the Christian faith. His mother, Kentigerna
kept an eye on him as he was growing up. And out of gratitude to Bishop
Ibar, she became a Christian.
When Fillan was studying to become a monk, he went to a
monastery that forbade the use of candles in the sleeping quarters. Fillan
did not want to stop reading at night, and as the story goes, his left arm
and hand lit up, providing him light to read by. He retained this talent
throughout his life and at his death, he requested that his left arm be
kept as a relic in a silver case. This arm bone and hand is credited with
Robert the Bruce’s victory at Bannockburn which Freed Scotland from
British rule.
Later Fillan and his mother both became missionaries and
traveled to Scotland. Kentigerna went to Inch Cailleach (The Nun’s Isle)
on Loch Lomond where she died in 734 A.D. Fillan went to Glen Dochart.
He built a priory at what is now Kirkton’s Farm in
Auchtertyre near Tyndrum. According to one story, while St. Fillan was
ploughing and building the priory, a wolf attacked and killed one of his
oxen. Then, seeing that St. Fillan was doing holy work, the wolf
volunteered to do the oxen’s job and allowed himself to be harnessed to
the plow. The priory fell into disuse after St. Fillan’s death and the
stones were taken to build farm buildings and walks. Flagstones from the
chapel floor now cover graves. The well that St. Fillan blessed is said to
still be active. To request a healing, petitioners are instructed to walk
around the well three times and then throw in a pebble. St. Fillan’s
Holy Pool is also on this farm. A treatment for the insane used to require
the person to be dunked in the River Fillan at the Holy Pool and then
strapped to a bench inside the priory over night.
At his death, Fillan gave five symbols of his mission to
lay brothers, who were required to act as custodians of the relics and to
use them in appropriate circumstances, such as curing the sick or in the
taking of oaths. The care of these relics was to be hereditary in the
families of these custodians, called in Gaelic deoradh. At some point the
name deoradh became anglicised as the surname Dewar. These custodians were
given grants of land and special privileges which made them important
dynasties in Glen Dochart and Strath Fillan. In addition to these five
symbols, St. Fillan also left eight healing stones which are now kept at
Tweed Mill in Killin. The big round stone which appears to have eyes and a
smiling mouth is to treat head problems -- everything from eyesight and
hearing loss to headaches from any cause. The stone with one indentation
like a belly button is to treat the front of the body. The stone of
similar shape, but without the belly button is to treat the back of the
body. The five additional stones are to treat the arms and legs. People
can come to the mill and hold the stones and rub them on afflicted parts
of the body. The bed of leaves, twigs, and river wrack on which the stones rest is replaced
every Christmas eve.
The five relics are The Quigrich, The
Bernane, the Mayne, the Fergy and the Messer.
The Quigrich was his pastoral
staff or crozier. Only the head now remains, and is on display in Scottish
National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh. Many generations of artists
have added decorations to the silver work in acts of devotion.
The Bernane is St. Fillan's
bell. The handle of this bell has a rough representation of a
double-headed sea monster, from the centre of each head of which springs a
single horn. According to tradition, this bell would come to St. Fillan
whenever he called it. But one day a visitor who wasn't used to seeing
bells flying through the air was startled and shot it with an arrow,
cracking it. Another story about this bell occurred only about 200 years
ago. An English tourist stole it. The bell was recovered by Bishop Forbes
of Brechin 70 years later, in 1869, and moved to the Scottish National
Museum in Edinburgh for safe keeping. The Bernane was used in the
coronation of James IV.
The Mayne is
St. Fillan's left arm bone and hand. Robert the Bruce credited the
intercession of St. Fillan with his victory against Alasdair McDougal at
Dalrigh in 1306, where he won the battle, but lost his jeweled brooch,
which McDougal showed to Queen Victoria as a trophy. Eight years later, he
requested the custodian of the Mayne to bring it to him at the Battle of
Bannockburn. The custodian however brought only the empty case, for fear
that it might be stolen in battle, like the brooch. But the night before
the battle, while Robert the Bruce was praying, he heard a loud crack come
from the case. He called the custodian. Together, they opened the case and
saw that the armbone and hand were inside. The custodian told his story
and the divine intercession inspired the Scots to victory.
The Fergy and the Messer
have been lost, and nobody is sure what they were. One is presumed to have
been Fillan's Psalter (book of psalms) and the other a manuscript he
wrote, or possibly a portable altar.
St. Fillan’s death is recorded as 9th
January 777 (Julian Calendar); which is the 20th Januarv (Gregorian
Calendar). This date each year, is observed as the Saint’s day and no
work is carried out in the Breadlabane Folklore Centre. building on that
day.
References:
Flyer from the Folklore Center in Breadabane (the Tweed
Mill)
In Famed Breadalbane. William
A. Gillies, Clunie Press., 1938
Strange Tales of Perthshire.
Margaret Campbell, Lang Syne 1900
http://www.sac.ac.uk/foodsys/external/Hill&Mountain/walks/priory.htm
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/west_highland.htm
http://www.gwp.enta.net/scothist.htm
http://www.scottish-towns.co.uk/perthshire/killin/macnab.html
http://killin.future.easyspace.com/fillan.htm
http://www.portnellan.demon.co.uk/History.html
http://members.tripod.co.uk/GlasgowZoopark/d3982454.htm
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintf49.htm
