#eigg

Katie-Anne MacKay and Joanne MacLellan collect water at St Columba's Well, Isle of Eigg c1910. The photograph was taken by Mary Ethel Muir Donaldson, who travelled extensively in northern and western Scotland.

The Holy Well at Eigg

Source: Wikipedia

On the island of Eigg, off the west coast of Scotland, is a holy well dedicated to St Catherine. On this day islanders would gather to drink the water before marching sunwise around the well three times. This clearly pagan survival was challenged in the seventeenth century by the local Catholic priest, Father Hugh who dedicated the well to St Catherine. However, in an echo of his missionary predecessors a thousand years before, he allowed the islanders to continue their ancient practices that had their origins in older religions. The villagers would pile stones at the head of the spring as a communal penance before the priest held Mass. Father Hugh would hand out candles and his flock would then perambulate around the well, east to west, as they had in the days of pagan belief. This anti clockwise walk is believed to be a druidical charm to ward off evil spirits, and once performed, the neo-pagan Father Hugh declared the water sufficiently holy to be drunk.

We spent a week on Eigg as a whole family holiday and I tried to justify having bought myself a draw-onnable tablet by doing at least one quick painting every day. My goal was to experiment with the tools and develop my understanding of colour and light without spending too much time on any of the images (based on photo references on my phone) and although the results are a bit mixed I definitely learnt from the process.