St Mary's Well

A lovely crispy clear day so went for a walk through Culloden Wood. This is St Mary's Well. The spring itself is in the walled enclosure - just a trickle today. It's an example of a "clootie" well the idea being that if you hang up an item of clothing you will be cured of any ailments. Or some people think of it as a wishing well. I was a little surprised to see all these votive offerings as it's way off the coach party route and a walk from the car park. There is a similar well near Munlochy but that is close to a main road. The cold weather probably meant the ground was harder than at other times - very few marshy places. Further on along then same well-signed forestry track is the "Prisoners' Stone". Apparently where Jacobite prisoners were executed in the aftermath of the 1745 battle, the battlefield being only a short distance to the south.
Now the bad news: In visiting the well and the sacred grove I must have upset the Spirits of the Place as on my return I found myself unable to connect to the internet. Hence I'm back-blipping this on Friday after setting up a temporary wifi connection which is very slow. One of my neighbours must be hosting one of those BT 'FON' sites whereby you get a cheap router which is open to other FONers. So my apologies if I'm not commenting as fully as I should. Perhaps I should go back to the well with a suitable offering to placate the spirits.