Nine Maidens Well: Difference between revisions

''On the south bank of the Dighty, opposite the churchyard, is the Nine Maidens' Well, a name of which tradition has handed down an explanation too interesting to be passed over. A farmer in Pitumpton, blessed with nine lovely daughters, one day sent one of them to the well to fetch him a draught of water; she not returning, another was sent to learn the cause of delay, and to hasten the gratification of the farmer with the coveted draught. Neither of them returning, daughter after daughter was sent, till the whole nine had been despatched on the same errand. The astounded father at length followed them, and was horrified with the spectacle which met his eyes: his nine daughters lay dead at the well, and two large snakes were throwing their slimy folds around them. The reptiles, on seeing him, hissed loudly, and would have made him their prey also if he had not saved himself by flight. The whole neighbourhood assembled in a state of the utmost excitement, and a young man, the suitor of one of the sisters, boldly attacked the snakes, and wounded both. They left their victims, and, wriggling their way towards the hills, hotly pursued by the youth and his companions, were destroyed near the base of the Sidlaws.''

The above account has the nine maidens being killed by two snakes, where as other and more popular versions have the well being guarded by a dragon. The young snake/dragon slayer is usually referred to as being called Martin and according to legend Strathmartin (or perhaps Strike Martin, as the crowd is thought to have cheered during the battle) is named for him. However, the name associated with the hero may have its origins with Bishop David de Bernham who dedicated the church at Strathmartin to St Martin on 18th May 1249. The church referred to as being close to the Nine Maidens is no longer there, but this chapel was supposed to have been in Strathdichty at Pitempan [Pitempton] according to J M Mackinlay in 'Traces of the Cultus of the Nine Maidens in Scotland' (1906).