Simon Taylor of the Aberdour Cultural Association went into the Primary School to tell stories of old Aberdour. The children made tapestry panels that will be displayed as part of a new Aberdour banner. The second is St Fillan’s Well.
Do you know what a saint is? A saint is a man or woman who is very good and holy and who can perform miracles, both while alive and also after they have died.
Do you know what a miracle is? A miracle is something good that happens which has no explanation – many people believe that saints can perform miracles. For example, if you had broken your arm and you prayed to a particular saint, your arm would suddenly mend – that would be a miracle.
There was a well near St Fillan’s Church here in Aberdour. It was thought to have miraculous powers because it was dedicated to a saint called St Fillan. People believed that one of its miraculous powers was to be able to cure eye troubles and eye diseases. This meant that hundreds of people came to visit the well to make their eyes better. Today people come to Aberdour for the beaches and coastal walks. Long ago they came to Aberdour in the hope that their eyes would get better. There was even a place in Aberdour which was run by nuns who looked after some of the poorer people who came to visit St Fillan’s Well.
I’ll now tell you the story of why people believed that St Fillan was very good at healing eyes.
Fillan lived in a monastery and had a little cell or hut built for himself nearby where he could go to be alone. There he would pray and also write – mainly copying from books. Now Fillan had something very special – he had a luminous arm – that’s an arm that lit up like a torch. And by the light of this arm he was able to write. This was very useful – imagine how many candles he saved! But he did not want anyone to know about this wonderful arm.
One day the monks sent a servant boy to St Fillan’s little hut to tell him his dinner was ready. Now this young servant was very nosey. He should have just knocked on the door but instead he wanted to spy on the saint so he crept up and looked through a crack in the door. And what did he see? He saw the saint writing by the light of his luminous arm. He was so surprised he ran back to tell the monks Fillan’s secret.
Now Fillan had a pet crane – that’s a big bird a bit like a heron, but even bigger. Fillan was so angry with the servant boy – even saints get angry – that he told his pet crane to peck out the boy’s eye, the eye he’d used to spy on the saint. Everyone was horrified and begged Fillan to heal him. Fillan then took pity on the boy, laid his hand over the boy’s face, and restored his eye. This was why people came to believe that Fillan was very good at healing eyes – even curing blindness. But you have to careful not to annoy him!
None of us are perfect – even saints get angry. (Ed)