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INDICA

INDICA
A DEEP NATURAL
HISTORY OF
THE INDIAN
SUBCONTINENT
PRANAY LAL
ALLEN LANE
an imprint of
PENGUIN BOOKS

For Aria and Avie
Who complete my Circle of Life.

CONTENTS

5
WHY ON
EARTH
30
BREATH
OF LIFE
78
FINS, FLIPPERS
AND FEET
104
REVIVAL
128
THE
MAKING
OF A
DYNASTY
150
BEASTS AND
BEHEMOTHS
180
ISOLATION
204
DECCAN’S
INFERNO
234
HUMBLE
BEGINNINGS
252
MOVING
HEAVEN
AND EARTH
284
THE
CARNIVAL
OF
MAMMALS
316
BIRTH OF
THE WHALES
334
HOW TO
MAKE A MAN
356
CITIUS,
ALTIUS,
FORTIUS
372
THE PROMISED
LAND

397
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
399
NOTES
455
LIST OF
ILLUSTRATIONS
461
INDEX

A PERSONAL NOTE
TO THE READER
I love nature. I spent my childhood in different parts of Africa and in small
towns of Uttar Pradesh, where my days were spent flipping stones and logs,
climbing trees, swimming in ponds, and following bird catchers and snake
charmers, and my nights lying on my back, watching the stars and hearing
stories from grandparents, uncles and watchmen about their experiences in
jungles and with animals. I love the beauty of spectacular mountains just as
much as the intricate patterns on the back of a tiny unnamed beetle. But
what mesmerizes me, now and as a child, is how nature is constantly at
work and how everything is related to each other. This book is a
culmination of over twenty years of research, travel, conversations,
interviews, and a lifetime awe of nature.
During my journeys criss-crossing India, I have met fascinating people
who love nature passionately—qualified scientists, but also ordinary people
who take time out of their busy lives to observe nature and record its
intricacies and inter-linkages. True scientists are like explorers—they have
a fascination for the unknown and an indefatigable quest for answers. They
work tirelessly, excavating through layers of rocks and sediment, climbing
canopies and descending into caves, or working in laboratories. Every
discipline of natural science has its own Marco Polos, Magellans, Drakes,
Amundsens, Hillarys and Tenzings who have set off in search for answers
in the terra incognita of science. Their works help us understand how our
planet and our life came to be and what forces have shaped them. Each
piece of rock, every pinch of soil and every little fossil tells a story, and
because of the persistence and dedication of the scientists, who decipher
these stories and make them available to us, we understand our supremely
complex and supremely exciting world better. It is the work of these
discoverers that I celebrate in this book.
I have included all that I believe is crucial to understanding the grand
story of the formation of India from the time Earth was formed to the
arrival of humans; how the position, the contours and the composition of
land and oceans changed, how thousands of types of plants and animals
evolved and thrived and became extinct and why different places in India
look the way they do today. The plan of the book is chronological and there

is some overlap in the fifteen chapters to maintain continuity. I have
combined scientific depth and historical insights that would interest
anybody who has looked out of their window and wondered why there is a
river in one place and not another, why rocks in one place look different
from those elsewhere or why there is a hill or a forest or a mine in front of
them. It should appeal to a wide range of readers, even if they do not have
any particular scientific or geographic inclinations. Those not wanting to
spend time on details can skip some of the more technical passages and can
look at the maps and illustrations through which I have tried to convey the
essence of the chapter. For those who would like to dive deeper into their
areas of interest, I hope the detailed notes will help in their further
exploration.
This story of 4 billion years is one without an end, and the journey to
discover our world, our country and us is a work in progress. I welcome
you, and thank you for being part of my beautiful voyage.

INDICA

A LONG,
LONG TIME
AGO, BUT
IN A PLACE

NOT TOO
FAR AWAY…

Older rocks, like those in the Nandi Hills near Bengaluru and like this one in Lalbagh Gardens in the
heart of the city, became the bedrock around which newer rocks aggregated and peninsular India
was assembled, piece by piece.

1
WHY ON
EARTH
Drive out of Bengaluru along National Highway 7 for about 70 kilometres
and you will arrive at the 1479-metre-high Nandi Hills. The cooler climate
of these lush hills makes them a perfect getaway from the grind of the large,
bustling city. From the top of the hills, almost as far as the eye can see, the
landscape is dotted with smaller dome-shaped knolls that are mostly bare,
with only a few patches of grass and stunted trees growing on them. People
who reach the top of the Nandi Hills pay little attention to the ground on
which they tread. But do take a moment and look at this grey rock that
glistens darkly in the rain because this is no ordinary rock. Belonging to a
family of rocks called the Dharwar Craton that was formed about 3.5 billion
years ago, it is among the oldest rocks in India and it is literally a part of the
very bedrock on which the country stands!
Technically speaking, a ‘craton’ (Greek for strength) or a ‘shield’ is an
old and stable part of Earth’s outer layer (the crust) that has survived the
cycles of the merging and rifting of continents. Simply put, a craton is that
part of Earth’s crust that has remained largely unchanged for billions of
years. Most cratons are composed of ancient crystalline rocks
(appropriately called ‘basement rocks’) which can extend several hundred
kilometres below the surface and are often covered by younger sedimentary
rocks. The age of the Dharwar Craton makes India one of the oldest land
masses in the world. Only Australia, Greenland and South Africa have
rocks that are older than those found here. By comparison, the oldest rocks

that lie exposed in Indonesia are no more than 300 million years old. In
fact, if we board a train from Bengaluru and travel north to Jammu, we will
cover just 2700 kilometres in terms of distance, but will traverse more than
3 billion years of Earth’s history, simply by looking out of our window! So
how does it come about that some parts of Earth are much older than
others? To answer this and other questions about the age of the planet, the
shape of continents and the composition of life, let’s begin at the very
beginning. Or before the beginning, when our Earth had not even been
formed, which was around 5 billion (5,000,000,000 or 5 × 10
9
) years ago—
a number so enormous that it is almost incomprehensible to most of us.
Scientists and thinkers have tried to find ways to make sense of geological
time because, once understood, it opens up the mind to the awe-inspiring
immensity and magnificence of our world. But we will come to that in a bit.
The Moyar Gorge, near Masinagudy in the Mudumalai National Park, about 40 kilometres north of
Ooty in Tamil Nadu, is the deepest (260 metres deep), longest (nearly 22 kilometres long) and oldest
(about 2.5 billion years old) gorge in peninsular India. South of Karnataka, peninsular India is made
of three such rock assemblages or shields which extend from east to west, each of which is separated
by a deep ancient gorge. The Moyar-Bhavani shield is 120 kilometres long and extends from Salem to
Coimbatore. Its bedrock on the northern margin is charnockite and its south face is made up of
peninsular gneiss. The other two shields are the Palghat-Cauvery and Achankovil.
About 5 billion years ago there was no Earth and no Sun either. For
billions of years before our solar system came into existence, generations of

stars had lived and died. The birth and death of stars are unimaginably
violent events involving the vaporization and subsequent solidification of
trillions of tonnes of heavy elements. Stars live, die and explode as a
celestial body called a ‘supernova’. A supernova is a state of a cosmic body
that exists just before an unimaginably massive explosion occurs. Such
mammoth fireworks take place because reactions within these bodies go out
of control and create so much energy that it cannot be contained inside it
and therefore the body, usually a star, bursts. One particular supernova,
called the primal supernova, possibly triggered the formation of our solar
system. Astrophysicists call it the ‘Big Bang nucleosynthesis’.
An artist’s representation of the Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the formation of the Sun and the
planets. On 11 February 2016, an international team of physicists and astronomers announced that
they had heard and recorded, for the first time ever, a faint murmur or chirp which they believe was
the sound of two black holes colliding a billion light years away!
Our Sun was surrounded by dust and rocks when it was born. Gradually
—and I mean very gradually—over the next half a billion years or so, the
larger rocks began to attract the smaller rocks and cosmic dust, and these
began to clump together under the force of gravity to form early templates
of the planets surrounding the Sun, including our very own little Earth.
Within the belly of each one of these planets lay a molten core and their

semi-solid but very hot exteriors were constantly growing. Our Earth was
born around 4.567 billion years ago. At first Earth, like all other newly
formed planets, was just a hot ball of iron that spun around the Sun. In the
early phase, there were twenty infant planets moving randomly around the
Sun. The Sun itself was recently formed, therefore, unstable, and its
gravitational pull (the force that helps keep all the planets in their orbits)
varied, making the movements of these young planets also very erratic.
To begin to make sense of geological time, I am going to borrow an
elegant analogy from astrophysicist Nigel Calder. He asked his readers to
imagine the 4600-million-year-old Earth to be a 46-year-old woman. Each
‘year’ of her life is actually a megacentury (100 million years). ‘The first
seven of those years are wholly lost to the biographer,’ Calder says, ‘but the
deeds of her later childhood are to be seen in old rocks in Greenland and
South Africa. Like human memory, the surface of our planet distorts the
record, emphasizing more recent events and letting the rest pass into
vagueness—or at least into unimpressive joints in worn-down mountain
chains. Most of what we recognize on Earth, including all substantial
animal life, is the product of the past six years of the lady’s life. She
flowered, literally in her middle age. Her continents were quite bare of life
until she was getting on for 42, and flowering did not appear until she was
45—just one year ago. In the middle of last week, in Africa, some manlike
apes turned into ape-like men and, at the weekend, Mother Earth began
shivering with the latest series of ice ages. Just over four hours have elapsed
since a new species calling itself Homo sapiens started chasing the other
animals and in the last four hours it has invented agriculture and settled
down. A quarter of an hour ago, Moses led his people to safety across a
crack in Earth’s shell, and about five minutes later Jesus was preaching on a
hill farther along the fault line. Just one minute has passed, out of Mother
Earth’s 46 “years”, since man began his industrial revolution, three human
lifetimes ago.’
The more mathematically inclined can imagine geological time to be a
long piece of string with one inch representing one year. About 6 feet would
then represent the average lifespan of a healthy adult in India (about 72
years). The whole of recorded human history would add up to no more than
1 kilometre; the birth of life around 3.8 billion years ago would make the
string about 96,520 kilometres long; and the birth of our blue planet 4.5

billion years ago would make the string 1,14,280 kilometres long, capable
of going around Earth three times!
Very few rocks from the early years of Earth’s life are found now because
our newborn Earth was made up mostly of molten iron and other heavy
elements. Earth was more like a red hell than a home. However, one crystal
which remains unchanged and provides us with a reliable record of the time
of the birth of Earth is zircon. Although zircon is only perceived as a cheap
substitute for diamonds, scientifically, it is perhaps much more valuable
than diamonds because it is the oldest known mineral on Earth, and helps
determine the age of rocks and that of Earth itself. The name ‘zircon’ comes
from zarquan (Persian zar: gold; qaun: colour. Traces of iron in its crystals
impart its characteristic light golden hue). If a zircon crystal is overexposed
to intense UV rays from sunlight, it turns reddish brown, and if the crystal
is heated, it turns blue, but zircon’s most important property is that it is
resistant to weathering. In terms of hardness (on the Mohs scale, where
diamonds are hardest at 10 and talc is softest at 1), zircon comes in at about
7.5. This makes zircon harder than glass (5.5) and even steel (6.5). Zircon
(or zirconium silicate in its natural form) provides scientists with a reliable
way of dating zircon-bearing rocks. A zircon crystal that may only be a
hundredth of a millimetre in size gets embedded in granite and when the
deep-seated granite is pushed up to the surface and is exposed to the
elements, it begins to erode and accumulate in the sands and sediments of
riverbeds. Zircon, however, is very durable chemically and not easily
altered by physical assault or by the constant flux of rocks forming and
deforming around it and, therefore, despite coming up after millions of
years, remains virtually unaltered. One particular zircon crystal—a tiny gem
just 0.0157 inches long—was discovered in 2001 in the Jack Hills, an
inland range north of Perth in Western Australia. This tiny crystal withstood
the violent times after it was created and survived to tell the secret of the
age of our planet.

This zircon crystal, about 400 micrometres long is only four times as thick as a human hair.
Discovered in a sheep ranch in the Jack Hills in Western Australia, it is believed to be the oldest
piece of Earth’s crust (about 4.374 billion years old) to have been found and dated yet.
The estimated surface temperature of Earth when it was formed would
have been about 1100°C, with waves of liquid metal and molten rock
slinking in an endless ocean of lava, and the air would have been made up
of a noxious mix of carbon monoxide, nitrogen, methane and hydrogen. A
young, errant planet that astronomers call ‘Theia’ (or Thaea), about the size
of Mars, entered Earth’s orbit on a collision course. Moving nearly twenty
times faster than a bullet, Theia smashed into Earth, causing the largest
pyrotechnic event ever to have occurred in our solar system since the
creation of the Sun. The tremendous heat generated from the collision
melted Earth; only a dense viscous core remained to hold the liquid Earth
together. Trillions of tonnes of gases and fluid rock debris blasted into space
and Earth was enveloped by siliceous vapour (imagine glass existing as
gas!). The collision displaced Earth from its axis of rotation, causing it to
tilt at a sharp angle along its equator. This increased the size of the core of
Earth and amplified the speed of its spin manifold. A mass of dust and rock
circled Earth, looking a little bit like Saturn’s red ring. Gradually, over the
next 100,000 years, Earth’s gravity began to exert itself and attract the
rubble of dust and rock back into its orbit. These large rocks eventually
coalesced and grew 3200 kilometres wide, about one-fiftieth the size of
Earth—this became our Moon. The Moon at this time was the closest it has

ever been to Earth: about 64,000 kilometres away as opposed to 350,600
kilometres from Earth’s equator as it is at present. The Moon had a gravity
of its own and the counteracting effect of the two celestial bodies (Moon
and Earth) began to push them apart. Although Earth with its more
powerful gravity remained in its place, the Moon began to move slowly
away. Like other cosmic events in the life of our planet, the formation of the
Moon too was a finely calibrated occurrence. Had it come any closer than
64,000 kilometres when it was newly formed, the Moon would have come
crashing back to Earth. At this time, the Moon appeared on Earth’s horizon
every six hours. An Earth day was only six hours long.
After the molten mayhem, Earth began to segregate into different layers.
The innermost shell or the ‘core’ was composed of iron and nickel and was
surrounded by a larger but less dense mass of molten iron called the
‘mantle’. Covering the mantle was a thin layer of slightly cooler (but still
over a 1000°C) crust. Most of Earth’s volume is made up of the mantle, the
hot filling of rock between the crust and the molten core. In terms of
thickness, the core and mantle are roughly equal, but in terms of Earth’s
volume the core forms only 15 per cent, while the mantle accounts for 84
per cent. The remaining 1 per cent is made up by the crust. While Earth was
segregating into layers, the heavy bombardment of meteors continued
unabated and the heat from these collisions kept puncturing the thin crust,
releasing copious quantities of molten metals. Surrounding the crust was
‘air’ made up of a viscous amalgam of gaseous iron, silica and manganese
mixed with carbon dioxide, hydrogen and helium.

An artist’s impression of the collision of Theia with Earth.
Around 4 billion years ago, Earth’s spin slowed and the Moon pulled
further away. This increased the duration of day and night on Earth but only
by a few hours. The rotation of the Moon too began to slow down as it
counteracted Earth’s spin. There is little physical evidence from this period
which proves that the duration of Earth’s day and night have grown longer
over time, but there is an elegant example from much later that allows us to
deduce what might have happened. About 450 to 400 million years ago—a
mere four years ago in the life of our Earth Woman—shallow seas
abounded with sponges and corals. Coral colonies, like tree rings, are
efficient timekeepers of nature. Each growing coral adds one delicate layer
of calcium carbonate every day. If you pick up a coral that has recently been
swept off the reefs which dot Pirotan Island in Gujarat, a cross section will
reveal clear bands with thin rings inside them. To mark the end of its yearly

growth, a coral develops a thick band that separates it from the daily rings
of the previous year. When you count the rings within a band under a
simple microscope or a powerful hand lens, they add up to exactly 365
days, no less and no more. Travel some 150 kilometres northeast to Kutch
or search the sand dunes around Jaisalmer in Rajasthan (which was a
shallow sea millions of years ago) and with a little luck you will be able to
find, among many different kinds of coral, a tubular coral that looks like a
long, dull rod, about a foot or two long. This coral colonized the shallow
seas about 380 million years ago. If you make a clean cut across its thickest
part (you will need an electrical saw to do this, or a fine sharp-head saw and
really strong hands) you will find that the rings add up to 410! No matter
how you measure it, whether in hours or days, the actual length of a solar
year (the time spent in revolving around the Sun) has remained constant.
This is because the orbit or the revolution of Earth around the Sun has
remained the same since the solar system stabilized. The 410 rings in the
380-million-year-old coral is eloquent testimony to the fact that Earth was
spinning faster on its axis, making the days shorter. When you divide the
number of hours in a solar year by 410 days, you will find that each day
was 21 hours long, not 24 hours like it is today. It is these kinds of clues
that have enabled astrophysicists to calculate how Earth gradually slowed
down and pulled further away from the Moon over time. Their studies also
confirm that 3.5 billion years ago the length of a day was just 6 hours long
compared to 21 hours 380 million years ago and 24 hours today.

In the first 2 billion years of their existence, the surface of Earth and the Moon was constantly
bombarded by meteors. Between 4.1 and 3.9 billion years ago meteor bombardments intensified and
gave Earth its water, and many minerals like diamonds and gold.
Since the time Earth was formed to about 2.5 billion years ago, frequent
collisions with large celestial bodies continued to reset the basic chemistry
of our planet. Some of these collisions were so massive that they punctured
Earth’s crust, releasing huge quantities of metal, especially iron, which
spilled out from the core on to the surface. Iron is an extremely versatile
element. It reacts easily and combines readily with liquids and gases to
create new entities. The furnace-like heat generated by the collisions also
separated out other metals which reacted with each other to form new ores.
Molecules and atoms that were of similar density or had similar
characteristics (such as having the same melting point) bound together to
form layers or lumps of ore while some of them became arranged
symmetrically to form crystals.

The assault of meteors and asteroids on Earth and the Moon had another
very important effect. Inside some of these meteors were tiny crystals of ice
and as they entered Earth’s atmosphere and hit the ground, the heat from the
collision liberated this ice, converting it into water vapour. Another theory
suggests that when meteorites succeeded in penetrating the crust and
released molten iron on to the surface, it caused carbon monoxide to
combine with hydrogen to create water in its vapour form. The surface of
the planet was pockmarked with volcanoes that spewed out lava, thus
releasing more iron and gases which helped to form more water. In either
case, as Earth cooled, its surface began to harden and water vapour began to
condense to form pools of water. The hardening crust formed basins of
continuous rock and over the next few million years or so, enough water
had formed to create the first oceans. Incredible as it may seem, every drop
of water in every puddle, sea and ocean that we see today is billions of
years old and was either created by the action of magma on gases, or was
carried inside meteors which had travelled millions, perhaps even billions
of kilometres to reach Earth. Some scientists contend that the water on
Earth could be even older than the Sun since some meteors may have been
older than our solar system! The air on Earth however was still noxious and
inhospitable at this time, and its temperature was very high—about 75°C.

This is a cross section of a 44-year-old deep-sea coral collected off the coast of Newfoundland, seen
under ultraviolet light, which illuminates its growth rings. Each day a coral adds a thin layer of
calcium carbonate over a previous layer, which is linked to the lunar cycle. Apart from information
about the number of days in a year, scientists are able to use coral rings to deduce the temperature,
the amount of sunlight and nutrients available in the region, as well as the seasons in which the coral
grew.
About 3.2 billion years ago, rocks like the granite which makes up the
Nandi Hills and the Dharwar Craton were beginning to form. Granite is
formed when molten magma reaches close to the surface of Earth and
begins to cool very slowly. The slow cooling hardens the rock and gives it
its distinctive large crystals. If you were to take a flight from Bengaluru to
Hyderabad (or vice versa), look out for interesting rounded and grey-
coloured rocks as you take off and land. Within the city of Hyderabad too
you will notice that some rocks seem to have popped up from the ground
and some appear to hang precariously, one over the other. When the magma
rose to the crust, it formed large domes of granite and as these cooled
unevenly and were exposed to varying temperatures, the domes started to
develop horizontal and vertical fissures, causing the rocks to erode
gradually in concentric layers, quite like an onion peel. Geologists call these
domes ‘inselbergs’ (German for ‘island mountain’).
East from Bengaluru, the constant melting and re-melting of rocks
formed a variety of granite with an exciting twist: here you find veins of
gold embedded in dull grey granite that makes the Kolar Gold Fields. All
the gold that exists on our planet today was made in the interiors of massive
stars that were billions of kilometres away from Earth. When the lives of
these stars ended, they blew up in gigantic explosions. The clouds of gas
(chiefly helium) and dust condensed and tiny amounts of gold and other
metals from recently extinct and collapsed stars aggregated to form an
asteroid. Earth was frequently bombarded by massive asteroids and
meteorites (the differences between an asteroid and a meteorite are very
subtle, and therefore the two are often used interchangeably). Some of these
asteroids were ones that had gold in their bellies, and when they collided
with Earth, they spiked the crust and mantle with gold and other metals.
Some scientists believe that around 2.5 billion years ago a large asteroid
collision took place close to Kolar, 100 kilometres east of Bengaluru. The
energy from the collision congealed gold particles which flowed within the

granite as veins (geologists call them ‘lodes’) and streaks. Over millions of
years, the action of groundwater passing over these veins concentrated these
gold particles which eventually settled in streams and riverbeds or glistened
in the sand. Unlike most other metals which are found as ores, gold is found
in nature in its shiny, glittery and purest form. Some archæologists believe
that the Kolar Gold Fields have been mined since ancient times, perhaps
even from the time of the Indus Valley civilization.
Another rock that, like granite, has its origins in the bowels of Earth is
basalt. However, unlike granite that simmers and cools slowly within the
folds of the crust, basalt comes to the surface and cools rapidly. The quicker
a rock cools, the smaller its crystals are. The crystals and minerals in basalt
are so fine that they are not visible to the naked eye. Basalt is mostly found
on ocean floors, while granite forms the crust of every continent. Basalt is
darker and is composed of magnesium and iron, whereas granite is lighter
and is made up of silica crystals like feldspar and quartz. When basalt
breaks due to normal weathering, it forms vertical columns, while granite
splits horizontally.
Another very old rock (although slightly younger than the granite in
Dharwar) is gneiss (pronounced ‘nice’). Gneiss is formed when older rocks
re-melt and then re-form under high pressure which separates the minerals
into layers or bands. The rocks that occur between cratons are usually
gneiss. This kind of rock lies embedded within the Dharwar Craton,
forming distinctive rock formations within it called Closepet granite.
Closepet granite (which is actually gneiss) was formed between 3 and 2.5
billion years ago and can be found in the district town of Ramanagaram (as
the station is called, or ‘Ramanagara’ as the locals called it) close to
Bengaluru. If the granite rocks of Ramanagara, some of which seem
perched precariously one on top of the other, look familiar, it is because
they provided the hideout of the archetypal villain Gabbar Singh in the film
Sholay!
With some of these basic (and humdrum) facts about the oldest rocks in
mind, let us go back to Nandi Hills to continue our story of Earth. Nandi
Hills are part of the Dharwar Craton, which is the earliest building block of
the Indian land mass. The Dharwar rocks lie exposed in a discontinuous arc
that begins in northern Karnataka and, after passing through central and
eastern Karnataka, ends close to Bellary. They are called the ‘Dharwar
rocks’ after the town of the same name and on a map appear as a V-shape in

western Karnataka. Another interesting example of this kind of rock can be
seen in Bengaluru as a large grey outcrop of peninsular gneiss that sits in
the middle of the famous Lalbagh Botanical Gardens. This rock formation
is protected by the Geological Survey of India as one of the oldest rocks in
the world. Geologists believe that the Dharwar rocks underlie much of
peninsular India, especially Karnataka, northern Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra,
Andhra Pradesh, eastern Gujarat, western and central Madhya Pradesh,
while younger rocks were added over the next billion years in Odisha and
Bengal, thus forming the pedestal upon which India sits. The other parts of
India are much younger and we will come to their story a billion years from
now (or in about fifty pages!). While the cratons and rocks were forming
and creating the first land masses, the Moon was proving to be Earth’s
powerful and compassionate neighbour. About 3 billion years ago, when the
Moon was closer to Earth, its gravity exerted a strong pull on the planet. As
Earth cooled and the first oceans formed, its rapid rotation and its proximity
to the Moon began to whip up mega hurricanes and storms, some with wind
speeds exceeding 500 kilometres per hour. Every night, a tidal wall would
march in, overrunning several hundred kilometres of land. The incoming
tides would clash with outgoing tides, creating a force that had the power to
obliterate any rocks and hills that came in their path. The first rains began at
this time and it poured heavily around dawn. These drops of rain contained
gases that had been absorbed from the air and were therefore so acidic that
when they fell on Earth, they dissolved and softened hard lava rocks. As
soon as the rain hit the hot ground, it vaporized and formed clouds only to
fall back again as rain. This cycle was repeated over and over again, and the
turbid ebb and flow of tides, acid rain and powerful hurricanes continued
unabated for the next 100 million years. On the surface of the ocean, tides
act like brakes, creating friction between Earth’s surface and the space it
rotates in. Picture Earth’s oceans as a furry tennis ball; the tides then are
like the fuzz on the ball that cause friction and act like brakes. Compare this
with a smooth dimpled golf ball which offers little friction as it passes
through the air and as a result spins and revolves faster and travels much
further.

Ramanagara rocks, which were formed around 2.5 billion years ago, lent an eerie atmosphere to the
Bollywood blockbuster, Sholay. For aficionados of the film, this was the perch of Samba, the
henchman of the arch villain, Gabbar Singh!
The Sun’s constant gravitational pull moved the Moon further away from
Earth. As the Moon moved away, Earth’s tides began to calm down; their
power diminished and the rotation of Earth slowed down. The tides too
exerted a gravitational pull of their own, which contributed to pushing the
Moon further away because its gravity began to be repelled by the oceans.
Even today, our Moon continues to move away from Earth at a speed of
about 3.6 centimetres a year, but this: distancing is too infinitesimal to have
any perceived effect on Earth for a long, long time.
The Moon has also been Earth’s shield and has protected it from massive
collisions from outer space. The characteristic depressions that you can see
on the surface of the Moon even through a pair of simple binoculars are
actually craters that range from about 10 to nearly 800 kilometres in width
and were formed by the impact of meteors and asteroids. The Moon
deflected a large number of asteroids that would otherwise have headed
straight towards Earth with possibly cataclysmic effect. But, all said and
done, the Moon is just one small body and some meteors did fall on Earth.
The impact of many of these collisions can be seen in India as well. The
evidence of the earliest meteorite impact in Asia—and the third oldest in
the world—was discovered in a small village called Dhala (Lat: 25°3'N,
Long: 78°14'E) in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh, about 50 kilometres

southwest of Jhansi. This crater is 11 kilometres wide and spreads over 64
square kilometres, making it the largest meteorite crater in South East Asia.
What is unique about the Dhala crater (it was named after the place where it
was discovered, as is standard practice) is that calling it a ‘crater’ is a bit of
a misnomer. There is no large depression here as one might expect in a
crater; instead, a plateau-like structure rises from the otherwise flat terrain
that surrounds it. It is, in fact, one of the few complex impact structures in
the world and one of the best preserved. An impact structure is created
when the heat from the meteorite impact causes the molten rock surface to
rebound instead of becoming depressed.
Open Google Earth and type the following latitude and longitude:
25°17'59” and 78°8'3”. From your bird’s-eye view, you should be able to
see the Dhala crater shaped like the smudged pugmark of a tiger, standing
out because its colour differs from the surrounding terrain. You can reach
Dhala by road from Shivpuri district or from Jhansi. Travel south from both
these places and find your way to State Highway 19 until you reach a small
settlement called Dhala that lies at the base of a flat-topped mountain. If
you alight at Dhala and walk towards the hill, you will come to a mound
made up of maroon rock, interspersed with smaller orange-brown rocks.
This is ‘impact breccia’ or fragments of angular rocks embedded inside
more rock. As you climb upwards you begin treading on smooth and
slippery rock at first and then come to loose brown rocks that are relatively
easier to climb. Further up, the slope gradually becomes steeper and you
will be forced to follow the narrow footpaths used by goatherds that will
take you to the top of the nearly 400-metre-high flat-topped hill. The climb
should take you about 15 minutes. Once there, you will notice that the top
of the hill is made of a single flat rock. The Dhala impact created a complex
structure that has the characteristic central uplift of melted rock which
popped out when a massive meteor crashed into it. The rebound of the
molten rock was so massive and exaggerated that it resulted in the
formation of a plateau, 11 kilometres in diameter, which rises out of
nowhere in an otherwise flat terrain. The meteor that actually transformed
the land in Dhala has long since vanished but it has left telltale signs of
existence in the form of glass fragments (formed by the shock melting of
the silica and quartz or ‘breccia’) which are embedded in rocks, and these
provide clues to the cataclysmic impact of the meteorite.

Researchers have estimated that the Dhala crater was created between 2.5
and 1.6 billion years ago and that when the collision occurred, life had only
just begun on Earth. This event could have had some impact on the
direction and tempo with which life set forth. But to the 2867 residents of
the village of Dhala (and about 5000 cattle and goats), the flat top of the
mountain is just a place that provides meagre fodder for their goats and a
little fuel wood. They are not aware of the astronomic and geologic
significance of this structure because Dhala was first reported in a
conference only as recently as 2005 and detailed research to understand
what actually occurred here nearly 2 billion years ago, was published only
in late 2007.
A better-known meteorite structure—this time an actual crater— lies in
Lonar in Buldhana district of central Maharashtra. Unlike Dhala, Lonar is a
popular destination, overflowing with tourist traffic and in dire need of
protection. You need to travel some 700 kilometres east of Mumbai in order
to see this, India’s most famous, crater. The Lonar crater is 2 kilometres
wide and 170 metres deep. At its centre lies a placid blue lake, dotted with
temples on the periphery. A plaque at the rim of the crater states that it is
‘the only natural hypervelocity impact crater in the basaltic rock in the
world’. Some scientists believe that part of the meteor still lies embedded
some 600 metres below the south-eastern rim of the crater. If you travel
down the depression, closer to the bottom of the solid rock and soil
horizons, there is a layer of soil that is richly embedded with tiny glass
fragments. The Lonar meteorite fell nearly 50,000 years ago and it is
possible that early human settlers in the Indian subcontinent actually saw
the falling of the meteorite.

The tiger-paw-shaped Dhala crater in Shivpuri is an extremely rare meteorite impact structure.
Instead of a crater, the meteor penetrated the crust and magma oozed out to form a plateau. The
maroon-brown plateau stands out dramatically on the otherwise flat terrain. (courtesy Google Earth)
Another more recent crater lies in Luna (Lat: 23°58'N, Long: 69°32'E) in
the banni plains near Bhuj, Gujarat. The impact occurred on the soft
mudflats of Kutch; some earth scientists estimate that the meteorite crashed
on Earth around the time when the settlements of the Indus Valley
civilization were growing into cities. Archæologists have even found
human remains around the crater’s lake.

The Lonar crater is a deep depression in the ground made by a meteor collision 50,000 years or so
ago. A circular lake lies at the centre of the crater, which is saline and is fed by small seasonal

streams. Notice another small green lake to the right, close to the town, which was formed from a
small portion of the meteorite, which disintegrated and fell here.
There are three other craters in India that were probably created by
meteors but we do not know this with absolute certainty. About 120
kilometres south-west of Delhi is the Ramgarh crater (Lat: 25°32'N, Long:
76°62'E) in Baran district of Rajasthan with the town of Ramgarh situated
at its centre. Although it is still being debated whether this is a crater or
merely a large, exposed volcanic vent, minute glass shards embedded
within its layers suggest that it is more likely to be an impact crater.
Another candidate crater in the Arabian Sea lies offshore between Mumbai
and the Gulf of Cambay and can be seen from space. Called the Shiva
crater, its discoverers claim to have found a circular and unusually deep
depression on an otherwise flat seabed and believe that the massive meteor
responsible for it fell around 65 million years ago, creating enough
destruction to end the reign of the dinosaurs. However, whether or not it is
indeed a meteor impact site continues to be debated. In 2009, some
geologists suggested that Srinagar’s famous Dal Lake was actually a
depression created by a meteor. There are a few other craters that have been
reported in India but these remain controversial because their age, origin
and impact are yet to be confirmed.
Coming back to the story of the Moon: As it moved away from Earth, it
rapidly began to cool. Because the Moon is smaller in size and weight, it
lost its internal heat relatively quickly and developed a solid core. The
larger Earth, on the other hand, developed a thin, shell-like crust with a
massive, hot molten core which helped it retain its energy. The Moon’s
gravity too waned and soon it could no longer hold on to its hydrogen-rich
atmosphere which simply dissipated into space. Some of it, perhaps, was
absorbed by Earth. It took 1.2 billion years for the Moon to change from
being a fiery red-hot ball to a cold, lifeless sphere. But the bombardment of
meteors on the Moon has continued unabated, the craters giving it its
characteristic pockmarks.
Apart from protecting our planet from meteors, the Moon also ensured
that Earth was stable on its axis and did not wobble (the way a slowing top
does). Had there been no Moon, Earth would have wobbled wildly, creating
chaos in our atmosphere, climate, oceans and, therefore, life. The Moon’s
constant gravitational pull ensures that Earth revolves at a steady speed and

maintains its inclination at the axis. But this will not last forever because,
remember, the Moon is distancing itself from Earth at the rate of 3.6
centimetres per year. Expect chaos to set in when it moves far away enough,
several million or perhaps even a billion years from now!
Human societies instinctively value the celestial silver presence of our
Moon. The idea that the Moon is important for us is age-old. Nearly 3500
years ago, people in Brahmagiri (Lat: 14°48'N, Long: 76°49'E), a village in
Chitradurga district in Karnataka, shaped rocks into tall rock columns called
‘megaliths’ and arranged them in a large circle. Over 250 such
arrangements have been found in the area around Brahmagiri. Such
megaliths have been found in other parts of India as well, for instance in
Chaibasa (Lat: 22°57' N, Long: 85°82' E) in Jharkhand, and slightly more
recent ones in Arossim in Goa and in parts of Manipur. Historians suggest
that the collection of rock columns arranged in a semi-circle in Brahmagiri
was an observatory that recorded the movement of the Moon and the Sun.
Considering that there were no machines at that time to lift or move these
massive boulders—some of which weigh more than 2 tonnes—this was
truly an extraordinary achievement. What is even more amazing is the
scientific accuracy with which these arrangements of rocks are able to
predict the lunar cycle. Every eighteen and a half years, the Moon dips
down on the horizon and stays there for a couple of weeks, a phenomenon
known as the ‘lunar standstill’. Some smaller rocks in the circle point
towards a hill on the east and measure the exact height of the Moon on each
night. Large rocks placed to mark the rise and fall of the Moon and a circle
of stones indicates the point from where important lunar events can be
witnessed when they occur. The builders of these monoliths would have
been able to use their observatory to accurately predict lunar events every
year.
Despite the Moon’s protection, some extra-terrestrial material continues
to reach Earth even today. Every year 300,000 tonnes of cosmic debris and
dust finds its way to the surface of Earth. This spreads all over the land,
oceans and seas. If this fine debris were to fall all at once at a single place,
it would have the potential to cause immense devastation. Astrophysicists
watch out for meteors and also use radio frequencies to record interferences
caused by waves to determine how much cosmic dust is reaching the
surface of Earth. So the next time you hear a whooping sound on your

radio, it could well be because of cosmic interference in the radio signal and
not a glitch in your radio or the relaying station.
Rocks have been erected on flattened ground in India for more than 3000 years. They have been used
as sight-lines to mark the rise and set of the Moon and the Sun on the horizon. Some columns or
menhirs (French, maen: stone and –hir: long, or standing stone), have been used as sepulchres and
commemorate important events. These menhirs from Pokaria near Chaibasa in Jharkhand were
drawn by the British explorer Valentine Ball in 1868.
While meteors and cosmic dust pose great dangers, they did provide
much of the constituent elements that made our Earth, and, crucially, they
also brought water. The Moon too, for its part, not only protected Earth
from cataclysmic collisions, but also had a stabilizing effect that helped
jump-start life. Its presence has continued to help protect life on Earth from
decimation. But how did life begin in the first place? It wasn’t until 3.8
billion years ago—38 years ago in the life of our Earth Woman, when she
was barely 8 years old—that Earth cooled down enough and water began to

form pools; when the first infinitesimal forms of life appeared. We must
now revisit the rocks near Bengaluru— and then venture further along the
ancient cratons—in our search for the earliest signs of life in India.

Most hills in the Dharwar Craton that are in excess of 4000 feet around Bengaluru and Mysuru are
made up of Closepet granite. Savanadurga (4024 feet, left) though not as high as the Nandi Hills
(4851 feet) is the single largest block of rock in Asia. Closepet granite hills like Savanadurga have a
characteristically rounded shape with very smooth and steep sides. Again for movie buffs this was the
location of the elephant procession going up the hill in David Lean’s A Passage to India.

2
BREATH
OF LIFE
The first billion years of the period I am going to talk about now (from 1.8
billion years ago to about 800 million years ago) have been termed the
Boring Billion (or The Barren Billion, The Dullest Time on Earth,
Dullsville, and even Earth’s Middle Ages) by scientists. True, some parts of
this story are not particularly scintillating. However, this period is critical to
our understanding of how life evolved on Earth, particularly to the story of
India and therefore I will dive into it, head first—the ‘head’ in this case
being life itself.
That life exists on Earth is a spectacular coincidence. None of the 250 or
so other planets that are known to science appear to support life. Of course,
this does not preclude the possibility that there may be planets, unknown to
us, where life exists. For the present, however, no other planet seems to
have the right ingredients to sustain life as we understand it. Some planets
are too close to their sun and therefore too hot. Others are so light that they
would float on water, and some others are full of poisonous gases or
composed of elements that are incapable of supporting life. Earth, though,
is at the perfect distance from the Sun to avoid getting incinerated. Its
gravity is just enough to keep its atmosphere from dissipating into outer
space, and its favourable atmospheric pressure just right to prevent life
forms from being crushed. And all these processes needed to occur in the
right order for life to become possible.

The surface of Earth was hot and inhospitable 3.8 billion years ago. Water vapour condensed under
a thick toxic layer of gases to create massive clouds which fell as acidic rain, etching the cratons to
create the first seas.
Life arrived on Earth at Hell’s gate, about 3.8 to 3.5 billion years ago.
The planet was so hot at the time that it is difficult to imagine this rather
inhospitable environment facilitating the appearance of life. In fact, the
process of the first emergence of life is so complicated that scientists have
struggled long and hard to decipher this enigma.
Some scientists believe that the first simplest replicable proteins, which
are the basis of life, may have been formed in the depths of oceans. Deep
sea volcanic vents called ‘black smokers’ (so called because they are black
and emit hot carbon dioxide and methane) released ionically charged
bubbles into the mildly acidic (due to a high concentration of carbon
dioxide) water of the ocean. Compared to the alkaline bubbles that were
emerging from the vents, this acidic water was richer in the subatomic
particle called ‘proton’. Protons carry an electric charge which enables
chemical reactions. Deep in the ancient sea, these alkaline vents surrounded
by acidic water were forming a proton gradient (protons flowing from areas
of high to low concentration) thereby creating an electrically-charged
environment. Here, in the presence of catalysts like iron, trace metals and
elements like copper, molybdenum, strontium and selenium, gases from
these vents produced nitrogenous compounds called ‘amino acids’ which

are the building blocks of simple proteins. These ingredients and the
exchange of miniscule amounts of energy may have worked in tandem to
jump-start life. Even today, all living creatures have a similar electrically
charged proton gradient within their cells that produces the energy required
to undertake even the simplest activities. Deep sea vents still exist within
the deepest trenches of oceans and we know very little about the organisms
that live there. If all life on Earth were to end one day, it is possible that
these deep-sea vents will give rise to new life, starting from scratch,
perhaps taking a different course and creating life forms that are entirely
different from those we have seen or which exist today.
Life has never been created in a laboratory, so our understanding of the
processes that created the first life is, at best, mostly speculative. There are
other theories proposed by scientists on how life might have emerged. A
second popular theory suggests that the first life perhaps originated on
beaches where water met land. The ebb and flow of the sea created shallow
pools where chemicals from land and sea could mix and match. These
shallow pools were rich in minerals and free elements, especially carbon,
phosphorous, nitrogen and sulphur, which, in the presence of the Sun’s
ultraviolet (UV) rays, synthesized organic molecules like sugars and
proteins that are the building blocks of life. But the trials for life must have
had several failed attempts to make organic molecules that could self-
assemble and sustain life as a cell.
Scientific experiments have shown that a thin layer of a simple fat known
as a ‘lipid bilayer’ would probably have been formed first, which folded
into a sac containing water and minerals. Although flimsy and delicate, the
lipid bilayer would have provided an envelope for nutrients to be held
within. The minerals in the sac had the ability to bind with simple sugars
(nucleosides) and amino acids (the building blocks of proteins and
enzymes). The key to the successful creation of life lay in the assembly of
three parts—an outer layer or membrane, simple sugars and genetic
material that could replicate on its own. This genetic material was perhaps a
protein itself or the building block of proteins: ribonucleic acid (RNA). The
outer membrane and RNA needed to be compatible with each other and
coordinate their replication. To become functional, these parts also needed a
proton gradient to jump-start the cell to life. It was only the successful
reproduction of these cells for generation after generation that made the life
of the earliest cells possible on Earth.

This hot spring near Leh, Ladakh, is home to both the earliest sulphur anaerobes and the oxygen-
producing blue-green bacteria, which grow along the margins of the pool where it is cooler. These
tough life forms have survived every extinction event since they evolved nearly 3 billion years ago.
Should all life on Earth be wiped out, chances are that organisms quite like these will resume the
process of evolution, forming, in all probability, entirely different types of creatures than those we
know!
To see under what conditions early life could have come into being, we
need to visit a mineral spring in Ladakh or in northern Himachal Pradesh or
eastern Arunachal Pradesh. These springs emerge from heated rocks that lie
below young mountain folds, and trickle out from the foot of a mountain.
As they bubble out from cracks and fissures of granite, they form small
shallow sulphurous pools of effervescent water. Looming over these pools

is a plume of vapour and gases, almost like their own personal low clouds.
Inside the water is a spectacular mosaic of algal and bacterial mats of
different hues of green, yellow and orange. This velvety, slightly slimy
layer is probably what the ancestors of all of us would have looked like! In
the past, there were many hot springs in India but most have disappeared
due to overexploitation. The famous Sahastradhara spring near Dehradun,
which was once a popular picnic spot, is now reduced to a mere trickle,
with very little life to show. But these blue-green mats of bacteria and algae
are probably more complex than what first emerged in such pools 3.8
billion years ago.
Even after the first life forms had emerged, the development of life on
Earth in all probability went through a number of fits and starts. The first
breath of life was, in all probability, a mixture of methane and hydrogen
sulphide. The earliest cells inhaled these noxious gases to create sugars and
amino acids and exhaled sulphur dioxide or carbon dioxide along with
water. These life forms are called ‘anaerobes’. Mark Roth of the Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle conducted a very interesting
experiment with hydrogen sulphide (H
2
S) to show how life may have
emerged and survived in cycles. In high doses, hydrogen sulphide is lethal
to organisms but, in 2010, Roth showed that when organisms are exposed to
a sub-lethal dose of the gas, their bodies go into a coma-like condition. The
movement of muscles ceases, the sensation in the nerves diminishes and
vital functions like the beating of the heart and breathing are greatly
reduced. Such effects are seen in virtually every organism, ranging from
microbes to worms and mice. A higher dose of H
2
S would kill the animal,
and a slightly-lower-than-lethal dose would only make it lethargic. As soon
as the dose of H
2
S is reduced considerably, even after the animal has gone
into coma, the effect of the gas wears off and the animal wakes up from its
slumber. This experiment proves that it is possible to exist in a state
between death and life, and the state in which the organism remains can be
manipulated by the level of H
2
S (and perhaps others gases too). When
conditions were adverse, some life forms probably remained at rest, only to
wake up when conditions were favourable once again. Roth’s experiment
has proven to be critical to our understanding of how life may have
emerged and how life forms may have survived changing conditions.

But what is life? Scientists have long struggled to define it but most agree
that life has three essential properties. First, living systems have the ability
to self-assemble, which is against nature’s tendency towards chaos, disorder
and destruction. Second, life is a self-sustaining chemical system possessing
the ability to evolve with and adapt to changing environments. Third, life is
an interlinked chemical process designed to transfer energy from one
organism to another. This means that life does not exist in isolation but
depends on some source of energy. Virtually all life depends on other life
forms to survive, multiply and evolve. Different life forms come together
and shape their environment and that of others, making survival—the game
of life and death—possible.
When the first life forms came into being, our Earth Woman was 11 years
old. And, as you have seen, these first forms of life were neither complex
nor elaborate. But it was these organic bubbles of jelly that gave rise to the
earliest living functional cells, the Last Universal Common Ancestor,
LUCA, of everything alive today. Every cell of every living thing today
works on the same simple operating system as LUCA, only the degree of
sophistication has changed. The maestro of the orchestra of life is the
genetic material which directs the proteins, sugars and minerals. It receives
signals about the external environment, decides the speed and timing of the
reactions and communicates this information to all cells. It breaks down
sugars, clears waste, repairs the membrane and reproduces. The first genetic
material that powered life and was used by the simplest cells was RNA.
About 200 million years later, more sophisticated genetic material called
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) evolved and in turn gave rise to more
complex microbes. DNA is the record keeper of all protein design
(including RNA, which in some ways is a simpler form of DNA), and is the
genetic (or the hereditary) material of all cellular organisms.
All cells of all organisms contain some RNA but only a few, very simple
viruses (like HIV that causes AIDS, Ebola, SARS, influenza, polio and
measles, to name a few) are completely RNA-driven and do not possess any
DNA. These RNA-driven viruses infect a host cell, disassemble its DNA
and produce mini-me viruses, causing disease and, in some instances, even
the death of the host. Unlike RNA, DNA has the capacity to store more
genetic information, is a more stable molecule and can reproduce with
fewer mistakes. However, the relative instability of RNA means that RNA-
based organisms mutate quickly (in order to evade the immune response of

more complex organisms with advanced immune systems) while DNA-
based organisms like us cannot keep pace. This explains why certain viruses
(like HIV), although simple in structure, are most difficult to beat!
The evolution of DNA allowed more complex organisms to come into
existence. The RNA within a cell of a DNA-based organism was demoted
to its current role as a messenger and transcriber of DNA codes. In all
higher organisms, DNA is located in the cell nucleus as a double-stranded
helix, a tightly coiled, staircase-shaped molecule, which, thanks to crime
shows and paternity tests, everyone is familiar with. Nevertheless, allow me
to pause the story of life for a moment and tell you about the discovery of
this genetic material. In 1869, Swiss physiological chemist Friedrich
Miescher set out to isolate and characterize the protein components of
leukocytes (white blood cells). For this, Miescher washed pus-soaked
bandages of patients and filtered the leukocytes to extract proteins from
them. During this process of separation, Miescher discovered one particular
kind of sticky protein, high in phosphorous content, that did not break down
easily under the action of alcohol and the weak reagents he had used to
separate the other proteins. This key protein that he called ‘nuclein’ is what
we now know as DNA. More than 50 years passed before the significance
of Miescher’s discovery was appreciated by the scientific community.
Several scientists in the early twentieth century were able to isolate the
components that made up this resistant gooey protein but no one knew what
it looked like or how it worked. In 1952, the double helix structure of DNA
was first discovered by James Watson and Francis Crick, using a single X-
ray diffraction image (labelled ‘Photo 51’) taken by Rosalind Franklin
(who, according to some, was the rightful discoverer of the structure of
DNA) and Raymond Gosling. In 1962, after Franklin’s death, Watson,
Crick and Maurice Wilkins jointly received the Nobel Prize in Physiology
or Medicine. In subsequent decades, scientists like Har Gobind Khorana
and his collaborators deciphered the genetic code, a feat for which they
were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1968, and their discovery led to the birth
of the discipline of molecular biology.
DNA is found in every living cell of the human body except in the red
blood cells and it is possible for us to extract DNA at home. For this we will
use Miescher’s technique without using pus-soaked bandages! And you
don’t need a sophisticated lab to do this. All you need to see your own DNA
is three cups, some water, rubbing alcohol, a washing detergent and a little

bit of patience. In the first cup, mix half a glass of water with one
tablespoon of table salt. Label this ‘cup 1’. In the second cup, mix three
tablespoons of water and one tablespoon of liquid dish-washing soap, and
label this ‘cup 2’. Take one teaspoon of the salt-water solution from the first
cup and swirl it in your mouth for 30 seconds. Spit the salt-water from your
mouth into the third cup and label this ‘cup 3’. Add one teaspoon of the
soap solution from cup 2 into the contents of cup 3, and gently swirl the
mix for about a minute. Next, take three tablespoons of rubbing alcohol (the
kind that doctors use before giving you an injection) and gently pour it,
drop by drop, down the side of cup 3 so that it floats on the surface of the
contents without mixing. Wait for about a minute, and you will see a cloud
of bubbles forming below the layer of alcohol. This is your DNA. If you
can collect a lot of saliva, cup 3 will have lots of DNA to show. You can use
a plastic straw or stirrer to make a small blob of your DNA. It looks a bit
like candyfloss!
Genetic material like DNA, RNA and specialized proteins are unique to
individuals. Scientists have studied the genetic differences between today’s
living things as ‘molecular clocks’ to estimate that LUCA emerged about
3.8 billion years ago. When the first life form emerged in or around water,
Earth was still very hot and being on it would have felt a bit like being
inside a hot chemistry lab with the air smelling of rotten eggs and sewer
gas. The first cells were simpler than the simplest organisms alive today, but
they were little superheroes. They tolerated the heat being produced by
Earth, survived the harsh UV rays of the Sun, used oxides of carbon or
sulphur or methane as a source of energy and produced oxygen as a by-
product. Interestingly, in doing so, these first cells sacrificed their own well-
being like true superheroes to help life develop on Earth because oxygen
was toxic to most of these early organisms as it disrupted their vital
chemical pathways.
There was one more abundant available source of energy—sunlight, but
it took another 400 million years (3.4 billion years ago) before life
discovered the means of harnessing the power of the Sun’s rays through a
process called ‘photosynthesis’. For a long time, scientists could find no
physical evidence of the first appearance of oxygen in the atmosphere, but
in the summer of 2014 among the earliest soils to be discovered on Earth
was in the village of Madrangijori (Lat: 21°69'N, Long: 85°53'E), 6
kilometres north of Keonjhar in central Odisha. The study of the Keonjhar

paleosols (ancient soil horizons formed during the earliest geological
periods) by Indian and Irish scientists reveals that this quartzy soil layer
was formed more than 3 billion years ago and provides important chemical
evidence of the processes that took place on Earth as oxygen was making its
first appearance.
Around this time a new type of organism called ‘aerobes’ emerged, and
began to exploit oxygen as a source of energy. The most important among
the aerobes was cyanobacteria. At one time, cyanobacteria used to be called
‘blue-green algae’ but they are, in fact, bacteria, not algae—the difference
being that algae have a nucleus that contains the information carrying
genetic material, while the genetic material of cyanobacteria is distributed
all over the protoplasmic jelly inside their cell, rather than in specialized
compartments like the nucleus. Cyanobacteria breathed in oxygen, used the
Sun’s energy to incorporate carbon dioxide to make sugar through
photosynthesis that, in turn, released small amounts of oxygen in the air.
And it was these humble aerobes—millions and millions of them—which,
over the next billion years, orchestrated the appearance of free oxygen (O
2
)
in the planet’s atmosphere. By the time the first oxygen-breathing life forms
came into existence, a full 1.4 billion years had elapsed, and our Earth
Woman was 14 years old. One of the earliest adaptations of single-celled
microbes was to form colonies at places where water met land. Most
successful among these were the stromatolites (from Greek, stroma:
stratum; and -lithos: rock). Stromatolites are colonies of billions and
billions of cyanobacteria that grow over or around calcium carbonate (like
limestone), containing traces of phosphates that are present in shallow
water. A variety of single-celled cyanobacteria become arranged in layers
and grow one over the other to form a colony. Most stromatolites are
layered, although column-like or cabbageshaped structures are also
common. The oldest stromatolite fossils were found in Australia and South
Africa and are dated between 3.5 and 3.2 billion years old. Along with free-
living aerobes, they too began adding oxygen to the atmosphere and started
to become agents of change.
The fossils of these pioneering terrestrial life forms can be seen in several
places in the iron-rich rocks of the Chitradurga region of Karnataka. The
beautiful red, orange and black striated rocks that you see here are actually
layers of stromatolites that are 2.8 to 2.6 billion years old. If you go north of
the town of Shimoga in Karnataka, you can see thin layers of stromatolite

embedded within yellow limestone. Similar stromatolites that are arranged
layer upon layer in soft limestone can be found around Chakrata near
Dehradun, although these are much younger. In Sonbhadra, near Benaras,
stromatolites found embedded within rocks appear like clumps of
cauliflower. In the Pin Valley of Himachal Pradesh, Saraikela in Jharkhand
and the area around Jodhpur, Rajasthan, stromatolites are set deep within
hard rock that is chiefly composed of iron. If you travel about 25 kilometres
south-east of Udaipur, Rajasthan, you will come to the village of
Jhamarkotra. The rocks here are rich in phosphate and if you look at these
large flat rocks, you will notice a mottled grey layer above them. The
villagers call these rocks magar-machh bhata or crocodile rocks. Geologists
have dated these to be between 1.6 billion to 700 million years old. So if
you were to draw a line along the stromatolite fossil trail you would be able
to roughly mark out the margins of the Indian land mass at this time.
Stromatolites have been long dead in India and most of the world, except in
two places: a lagoon in the Bahamas and Hamelin Pool in Western Australia
where they are still growing very slowly, adding about five centimetres
every hundred years. Scientists have few answers about why and how these
stromatolite colonies have survived. Could these relict colonies play a role
in the future if our climate were to change?

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worship. Near the Butt of Lewis are the ruins of a chapel anciently
dedicated to St. Mulvay, and known in the district as Teampull-mòr. The
spot was till quite lately the scene of rites connected with the cure of
insanity. The patient was made to walk seven times round the ruins, and
was then sprinkled with water from St. Ronan’s Well hard by. In Orkney it
was believed that invalids would recover health by walking round the
Cross-kirk of Wasbister and the adjoining loch in silence before sunrise. In
some instances sacred sites were walked round without reference to wells,
and, in others, wells without reference to sacred sites. But when the two
were neighbours they were often included in the same ceremony. In the
early days when Christianity was preached, the structures of the new faith
were occasionally planted close to groups of standing stones, and it may be
assumed that in some instances, at least, the latter served to supply
materials for building the former. Even in our own day it is not uncommon
for Highlanders to speak of going to the clachan, i.e., the stones, to indicate
that they are going to church. The reverence paid to the pagan sites was thus
transferred to the Christian, and any fountain in the vicinity received a large
share of such reverence.
In former times, both south and north of the Tweed, churches and
churchyards were regarded with special veneration as affording an asylum
to offenders against the law. In England the Right of Sanctuary was held in
great respect during Anglo-Saxon times, and after the Norman Conquest
laws were passed regulating the privileges of such shelters. When a robber
or murderer was pursued, he was free from capture if he could reach the
sacred precincts. But he had to enter unarmed. His stay there was only
temporary. After going through certain formalities he was allowed to travel,
cross in hand, to some neighbouring seaport to quit his country for ever. In
the reign of Henry VIII., however, a statute was passed forbidding criminals
thus to leave their native land on the ground that they would disclose state
secrets, and teach archery to the enemies of the realm. In the north of
England, Durham and Beverley contained noted sanctuaries. In various
churches there was a stone seat called the Freedstoll or Stool of Peace, on
which the criminal, when seated, was absolutely safe. Such a seat, dating
from the Norman period, is still to be seen in the Priory Church at Hexham,
where the sanctuary was in great request by fugitives from the debatable

land between England and Scotland. The only other Freedstoll still to be
found in England is in Beverley Minster. The Right of Sanctuary was
formally abolished in England in the reign of James I., but did not cease to
be respected till much later. Such being the regard in the middle ages for
churches and their burying-grounds, it is easy to understand why fountains
in their immediate neighbourhood were also reverenced. Several sanctuaries
north of the Tweed were specially famous. In his “Scotland in the Middle
Ages,” Professor Cosmo Innes remarks, “Though all were equally sacred by
the canon, it would seem that the superior sanctity of some churches, from
the relics presented there, or the reverence of their patron saints, afforded a
surer asylum, and thus attracted fugitives to their shrines rather than to the
altars of common parish churches.” The churches of Stow, Innerleithen, and
Tyningham were asylums at one time specially favoured. The church on St.
Charmaig’s Island, in the Sound of Jura—styled also Eilean Mòr or the
Great Island—was formerly a noted place of refuge among the Inner
Hebrides. So much sanctity attached to the church of Applecross that the
privileged ground around it extended six miles in every direction. In
connection with his visit to Arran, Martin thus describes what had once
been a sanctuary in that island: “There is an eminence of about a thousand
paces in compass on the sea-coast in Druim-cruey village, and it is fenced
about with a stone wall; of old it was a sanctuary, and whatever number of
men or cattle could get within it were secured from the assaults of their
enemies, the place being privileged by universal consent.” The enclosure
was probably an ancient burying-ground.
The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, otherwise known as the Knights of
Rhodes, and also as the Hospitallers, received recognition in Scotland as an
Order about the middle of the twelfth century. They had possessions in
almost every county, but their chief seat was at Torphichen, in
Linlithgowshire, where the ruins of their preceptory can still be seen. This
preceptory formed the heart of the famous sanctuary of Torphichen. In the
graveyard stands a stone, resembling an ordinary milestone with a Maltese
cross carved on its top. All the ground enclosed in a circle, having a radius
of one mile from this stone, formed a sanctuary for criminals and debtors.
Other four stones placed at the cardinal points showed the limits of the
sanctuary on their respective sides. At some distance to the east of the

preceptory is St. John’s Well, “to which,” the writer of the article in the
“New Statistical Account of Scotland” says, “the Knights of St. John used to
go in days of yore for a morning draught;” and he adds, “whether its virtues
were medicinal or of a more hallowed character tradition can not exactly
inform us, but still its waters are thought to possess peculiar healing
powers, if not still rarer qualities which operate in various cases as a
charm.” Perhaps no Scottish sanctuary has been more talked about than the
one at Holyrood Abbey, intended originally for law-breakers in general, but
latterly for debtors only. De Quincey found a temporary home within its
precincts. Through recent legislation, chiefly through the Debtors
(Scotland) Act of 1880, the sanctuary has been rendered unnecessary, and
its privileges, though never formally abolished, have accordingly passed
away.
In a pass of the Ochils, near Newburgh, overlooking Strathearn, is a block
of freestone three and a half feet high, four and a half feet long, and nearly
four feet broad at the base. This formed the pedestal of the celebrated cross
of Macduff, and is all that remains of that ancient monument. The shaft of
the cross was destroyed at the time of the Reformation, in the sixteenth
century. In former days the spot was held to be a privilege and liberty of
girth. When anyone claiming kinship to Macduff, Earl of Fife, within the
ninth degree committed slaughter in hot blood and took refuge at the cross,
he could atone for his crime by the payment of nine cows and a colpindach
or year-old cow. Those who could not make good their kinship were slain
on the spot. Certain ancient burial mounds, at one time to be seen in the
immediate neighbourhood, were popularly believed to be the graves of
those who thus met their death, and a local superstition asserted that their
shrieks could be heard by night. A fountain, known as the Nine Wells,
gushes out not far from the site of the cross, and in it tradition says that the
manslayer who was entitled to claim the privilege of sanctuary washed his
hands, thereby freeing himself from the stain of blood.

CHAPTER III.

Saints and Springs.
Columba’s Miracle—His Wells—Deer—Drostan’s Springs—His Relics—His
Fairs—His Connection with Caithness—Urquhart—Adamnan—His Wells—Tom
Eunan—Feil Columcille—Adamnan’s Visit to Northumbria—His Church
Dedications—Kieran—His Cave—Campbeltown—Book of the Gospels—
Kieran’s Church at Errigall-keroge—His Wells—Bridget—Her Legend—
Bridewell—Bridget’s Wells—Abernethy—Torranain—Ninian—His Influence—
His Cave—Candida Casa—Ninian and Martin—Ninian’s Springs—St. Martin’s
Well—Martinmas—Martin of Bullion’s Day—Bullion Well—Kentigern—Fergus
—Arbores Sancti Kentigerni—His Wells—Thanet Well—St. Enoch’s Well—
Cuthbert—His Wells and Bath—His Career—Palladius—His Miracle—Paldy’s
Well and Paldy’s Fair—His Chapel—Ternan—His Wells—Church of Arbuthnot
—Brendan—Bute—Kilbrandon Sound—Well at Barra—Boyndie and Cullen—
Machar—His Cathedral and Well—Tobar-Mhachar—Constantine—Govan—
Kilchouslan Church—St. Cowstan’s Well—Serf—Area of his Influence.
The annals of hagiology are full of the connection between saints and
springs. On one occasion a child was brought to Columba for baptism, but
there was no water at hand for the performance of the rite. The saint knelt in
prayer opposite a neighbouring rock, and rising, blessed the face of the
rock. Water immediately gushed forth, and with it the child was baptised.
Adamnan, who tells the story, says that the child was Lugucencalad, whose
parents were from Artdaib-muirchol (Ardnamurchan), where there is seen
even to this day a well called by the name of St. Columba. There are many
wells in Scotland named after him. As might be expected, one of these is in
Iona. Almost all are along the west coast and in the Hebrides. The name of
Kirkcolm, in Wigtownshire, signifies the Church of Columba. The parish
contains a fountain dedicated to him, known as Corswell or Crosswell, from
which the castle headland and lighthouse of Corsewall have derived their
name. A certain amount of sanctity still clings to the fountain. Macaulay, in
his “History of St. Kilda” published in 1764, describes a spring there called
by the inhabitants Toberi-Clerich, the cleric in question being, according to
him, Columba. “This well,” he says, “is below the village, … and gushes
out like a torrent from the face of a rock. At every full tide the sea

overflows it, but how soon that ebbs away, nothing can be fresher or
sweeter than the water. It was natural enough for the St. Kildians to imagine
that so extraordinary a phenomenon must have been the effect of some
supernatural cause, and one of their teachers would have probably assured
them that Columba, the great saint of their island and a mighty worker of
miracles, had destroyed the influence which, according to the established
laws of nature, the sea should have had on that water.” This spring
resembles one in the parish of Tain, in Ross-shire, known as St. Mary’s
Well. The latter is covered several hours each day by the sea, but when the
tide retires its fresh, sweet water gushes forth again.
According to an old tradition, Drostan, a nephew of Columba, accompanied
the latter when on a journey from Iona to Deer in Buchan, about the year
580, and was the first abbot of the monastery established there. The name of
the place, according to the “Book of Deer,” was derived from the tears (in
Gaelic, der or deur, a tear), shed by Drostan on the departure of his uncle. In
reality, the name comes from the Gaelic dair, signifying an oak. There are
five springs dedicated to Drostan. They are all in the east country, between
Edzell and New Aberdour. At the latter place his relics were preserved, and
miracles of healing were wrought at his tomb. The spring near Invermark
Castle is popularly known as Droustie’s Well. A market, called St. Drostan’s
Fair, is still held annually at Old Deer in December. Insch, in
Aberdeenshire, has also a St. Drostan’s Fair. Drostan was reverenced in
Caithness, where he was tutelar saint of the parishes of Halkirk and
Canisbay. In “The Early Scottish Church” the Rev. Dr. M’Lauchlan
mentions that Urquhart in Inverness-shire, was called Urchudain, Maith
Dhrostan, i.e., St. Drostan’s Urquhart.
Adamnan, Columba’s biographer, became abbot of Iona in 679, and died
there in 704. There are wells to him at Dull, in Perthshire, and at Forglen in
Banffshire. His name occurs in Scottish topography, but shortened, and
under various disguises. In the form of St. Oyne he has a well in Rathen
parish, Aberdeenshire, where there is a mound—probably an ancient
fortified site—also called St. Oyne’s. About six miles north-east of
Kingussie, in Inverness-shire, is the church of the quoad sacra parish of
Inch, on a knoll projecting into the loch of the same name. The knoll is

called Tom Eunan, i.e., the hill of Adamnan, to whom the church was
dedicated. Within the building is still to be seen a fine specimen of the four-
cornered bronze bell used in the early Celtic church. According to a local
tradition it was once carried off, but kept calling out, “Tom Eunan! Tom
Eunan!” till brought back to its home. We find that Adamnan and Columba
were associated together in the district. An annual gathering, at one time
held there in honour of the latter, was named Feil Columcille, i.e.,
Columba’s Fair, and was much resorted to. Women usually appeared on the
occasion in white dresses in token of baptism. An old woman, who died in
1882, at the age of ninety, was in the habit of showing the white dress worn
by her in her young days at the fair. It finally served her as a shroud.
Adamnan visited the Northumbrian court when Egfrid was king. His errand
was one of peace-making; for he went to procure the release of certain Irish
captives who had been made prisoners by Egfrid, During his stay in
Northumbria he became a convert to the Roman view as against the Celtic
in the two burning questions of that age, viz., the time for holding Easter,
and the nature of the tonsure. Though he did not get his friends in Scotland
to see eye to eye with him on these points, he seems to have been generally
popular north of the Tweed. Eight churches at least were dedicated to him,
mainly in the east country between Forvie, in Aberdeenshire, and Dalmeny,
in West Lothian. One of these dedications was at Aboyne. Skeulan Well
there contains Adamnan’s name in a corrupted form.
Kieran, belonging like Columba to the sixth century, was also like him from
Ireland. He selected a cave some four miles from Campbeltown as his
dwelling-place, and there led the life of an ascetic. He died in 543 in his
thirty-fourth year. Pennant thus describes the cave:—“It is in the form of a
cross, with three fine Gothic porticoes for entrances, … had formerly a wall
at the entrance, a second about the middle, and a third far up, forming
different apartments. On the floor is the capital of a cross and a round basin
cut out of the rock, full of fine water, the beverage of the saint in old times,
and of sailors in the present, who often land to dress their victuals beneath
this shelter.” This basin is more minutely described by Captain T. P. White
in his “Archæological Sketches in Scotland.” He says, “There is a small
basin, nearly oval in shape, neatly scooped out of a block, two feet long by
one and a half wide, which exactly underlies a drip of water from the roof

of the cave. The water supply is said never to have failed and always to
keep the little basin full. Tradition calls it the saint’s font or holy well.”
Kieran is commemorated in Kinloch-Kilkerran, the ancient name of the
parish of Campbeltown. The word means literally the head of the loch of
Kieran’s cell. On one occasion Kieran dropped his book of the Gospels into
a lake. Sometime after it was recovered in an uninjured state through the
instrumentality of a cow. The cow went into the water to cool itself, and
brought out the volume attached to its hoof. Another bovine association is
connected with the building of St. Kieran’s Church on a hill at Errigall-
keroge, in County Tyrone, Ireland. The saint had an ox which, during the
day, drew the materials for the building, and in the evening was slaughtered
to feed the workmen. The bones were thrown each evening into a well at
the foot of the hill, and, morning by morning, the accommodating animal
appeared ready for the day’s work. The well is still held to be miraculous.
There is a spring dedicated to Kieran at Drumlithie, in Glenbervie parish,
Kincardineshire, and another at Stonehaven, in the same county. There is
one in Troqueer parish, Kirkcudbrightshire, locally known as St. Jergon’s or
St. Querdon’s Well, these names being simply an altered form of Kieran.
Bridget or Bride, an Irish saint, was popular in Scotland. She received
baptism from Patrick, and died in 525 after a life of great sanctity. She was
celebrated as a worker of miracles. She made a cow supply an enormous
quantity of milk to satisfy the wants of three thirsty bishops who came to
visit her. She also cured diseases. On one occasion two men suffering from
leprosy came to her to be healed. She made the sign of the cross over water,
and told them to wash in it. One of the two did so and was instantly restored
to health; but, refusing to help the other, he at once became leprous again,
while his companion was as suddenly made whole. On another occasion she
used the sign of the cross to stay a company bent on the capture of a maiden
who had sought refuge in the saint’s nunnery. Perhaps her most wonderful
miracle was the hanging of her gown on a sunbeam, a somewhat unusual
cloak-peg, and one that, from the nature of the case, had not to be sought in
a dark press. Her principal monastery was at Kildare, so named after the
oak (dair) under whose shade her cell was built. Adjoining St. Bride’s
Churchyard in London is a spring dedicated to the saint, and popularly
styled Bride’s Well. The palace built in the immediate neighbourhood went

by the name of Bridewell. It was handed over by Edward VI. to the city of
London as a workhouse and place of correction. At a later date the name
became associated with other houses used for a similar purpose. “Hence it
has arisen,” remarks Chambers in his “Book of Days,” “that the pure and
innocent Bridget, the first of Irish nuns, is now inextricably connected in
our ordinary national parlance with a class of beings of the most opposite
description.” There are fully a dozen wells in Scotland bearing her name.
These are chiefly to be found in the counties of Wigtown, Dumfries,
Peebles, Lanark, Renfrew, Dumbarton, Perth, Fife, and Aberdeen. A
monastery was founded in Bridget’s honour at Abernethy, in Perthshire,
probably in the eighth century, and she had churches on the mainland and
among the Western Islands. A curious superstition connected with Bridget
has survived to the present time, at least in one of these islands. It has to do
with a certain magical flower styled torranain, that must be plucked during
the influx of the tide, and is of virtue to protect cows from the evil eye, and
to make them give a plentiful supply of milk. The Rev. Dr. Stewart, in his
“’Twixt Ben Nevis and Glencoe,” quotes the incantation associated with it
forwarded to him by a correspondent in Uist. The following is one of the
stanzas:—
“Let me pluck thee, Torranain!
With all thy blessedness and all thy virtue.
The nine blessings came with the nine parts.
By the virtue of the Torranain.
The hand of St. Bride with me
I am now to pluck thee.”
A saint who could give efficacy to a spell was quite the sort of person to be
entrusted with the custody of springs.
Ninian, popularly called Ringan, devoted his life mainly to missionary work
among the Picts of Galloway, although he extended his influence as far
north as the Tay. He seems to have been honoured in Aberdeenshire, if we
may judge by a fresco, representing him, discovered about thirty years ago
in the pre-Reformation Church of Turriff, and regard was had for him as far
north as the Shetland Isles. Even the Scot abroad did not forget him.

Chalmers, in his “Caledonia,” says that, “in the church of the Carmelite
Friars of Bruges in Flanders, the Scottish nation founded an altar to St.
Ninian, and endowed a chaplain who officiated at it.” A cave by the sea in
the parish of Glasserton, in Wigtownshire, was his favourite retreat. This
cave was explored about ten years ago, and several stones, marked with
incised crosses, were discovered. Ninian brought masons from France, and
at Whithorn built Candida Casa—the first stone church in Scotland. It was
in course of construction in the year 397. Ninian then heard of the death of
Martin of Tours, and to the latter the new church was dedicated. These two
saints are found side by side in the matter of church dedications. Thus,
Martin was patron of Ulbster, in Caithness: not far off was a church to
Ninian. Strathmartin, in Forfarshire, was united in 1799 to the parish of
Mains, the latter claiming Ninian as its tutelar saint. Sinavey Spring, in
Mains parish, near the site of the ancient Castle of Fintry, is believed to
represent St. Ninian’s name in a corrupted form. His springs are numerous,
and have a wide range from the counties of Wigtown and Kirkcudbright to
those of Forfar and Kincardine. There is a well to him near Dunnottar
Castle, in the last-mentioned county. In the island of Sanda, off the Kintyre
coast, is a spring named after him. It had a considerable local celebrity in
former times. St. Ninian’s Well in Stirling is a familiar spot in the district.
There is a well sacred to Martin in the Aberdeenshire parish of Cairnie.
Martinmas (November 11th) came long ago into our land as a church
festival. It still remains with us as a familiar term-day.
An incident in Martin’s biography has a bearing on our subject, through the
connection between the name of the festival commemorating it and certain
of our place-names. In Scotland, the fourth of July used to be known as
Martin of Bullion’s Day, in honour of the translation of the saint’s body to a
shrine in the cathedral of Tours. There is some uncertainty about the origin
of the term Bullion, though, according to the likeliest etymology, it is
derived from the French bouiller, to boil, in allusion to the heat of the
weather at that time of the year. There is an old proverb that if the deer rise
up dry and lie down dry on Martin of Bullion’s Day, there will be a good
gose-harvest, i.e., an early and plentiful one. An annual fair was appointed
to be held at Selkirk and in Dyce parish, Aberdeenshire, in connection with
the festival. There are traces of both Martin and Bullion in Scottish

topography. In Perthshire there is the parish of St. Martin’s, containing the
estate of St. Martin’s Abbey. Some miles to the east is Strathmartin in
Forfarshire, already alluded to, and not far from it in the same county we
find Bullionfield in the parish of Liff and Benvie. It is probable that these
names are in some way connected together. In Ecclesmachan parish in
Linlithgowshire, there is, as far as we know, no trace of Martin in any
dedication of chapel or spring; but Bullion is represented. There is a spring
of this name issuing from the trap rocks of the Tor Hill. It is a mineral well.
The water is slightly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen. In former
times it was much resorted to by health-seekers, but it is now neglected.
Ninian consecrated a graveyard beside the Molendinar at Cathures, now
Glasgow. About a hundred years later Kentigern, otherwise Mungo, bishop
of the Strathclyde kingdom, brought to this cemetery from Carnock the
body of Fergus, an anchorite, on a cart drawn by two wild bulls. Over the
spot where Fergus was buried was built, at a later date, the crypt of what
was to have been the south transept of the cathedral, had that portion of the
structure ever been reared. The crypt is now popularly called Blackadder’s
Aisle, though, as Dr. Andrew MacGeorge points out in his “Old Glasgow,”
it ought to be called Fergus’ Isle. It was so named in a minute of the kirk-
session in 1648, and an inscription in long Gothic letters on a stone in the
roof of the aisle tells the same tale. Kentigern took up his abode on the
banks of the Molendinar, and gathered round him a company of monks,
each dwelling in a separate hut. In the twelfth century the spot was
surrounded by a dense forest, and in 1500 the “Arbores sancti Kentigerni”
were landmarks in the district. Kentigern’s Well, now in the lower church of
the cathedral, must, from the very fact of its inclusion within the building,
have been deemed sacred before the cathedral was reared. Other examples
of wells within churches are on record, though not in Scotland. There is a
spring in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. The cathedrals of Carlisle,
Winchester, and Canterbury, and the minsters of York and Beverley, as well
as one of two English parish churches, either now have or once had wells
within their walls. The Rev. T. F. Thiselton Dyer gives several examples in
his “Church Lore Gleanings,” and remarks, “Such wells may have been of
special service in Border churches, which, like the cathedral of Carlisle,

served as places of refuge for the inhabitants in case of sudden alarm or
foray.”
Besides his well in the cathedral, Kentigern had another dedicated to him at
Glasgow, close to Little St. Mungo’s Church, in the immediate
neighbourhood of the trees already mentioned. There are fully a dozen wells
sacred to him north of the Tweed. As might be expected, these are almost all
to be found in the counties south of the Forth and Clyde, and particularly in
those to the west of that district. There is one in Kincardineshire, at Kinneff,
locally known as Kenty’s Well. Under the name of St. Mongah’s Well there
is a spring dedicated to him in Yorkshire at Copgrove Park four miles from
Boroughbridge. A bath close by, supplied with water from this spring, was
formerly much frequented by invalids of all ages, who remained immersed
for a longer or shorter time in its intensely cold water. Other wells to
Kentigern are to be met with in the north of England. The parish of
Crossthwaite in Cumberland has its church dedicated to him. The spot was
the thwaite or clearing in the wood where he set up his cross. Thanet Well,
in Greystoke parish in the same county, is believed to have derived its name
from Tanew or Thenew, Kentigern’s mother, familiar to the citizens of
Glasgow as St. Enoch. St. Enoch’s Well, close to St. Enoch’s Square in that
burgh, used to be a favourite resort of health-seekers. It has now no
existence.
Cuthbert, besides a well at St. Boswell’s, in Roxburghshire, had a bath in
Strath Tay, a rock-hewn hollow full of water where he periodically passed
several hours in devotion. This famous Northumbrian missionary was born
about 635, and spent his early boyhood as a shepherd on the southern slopes
of the Lammermoors. He lived for thirteen years as a monk in the
monastery of Old Melrose, situated two miles east from the present Melrose
on a piece of land almost surrounded by the Tweed. On the death of Boisil,
Cuthbert was appointed prior. He afterwards became bishop of Lindisfarne.
During his stay at Melrose he visited the land of the Niduarian Picts, in
other words the Picts of Galloway, and left a record of his journey in the
name of Kirkcudbright, i.e., the Church of Cuthbert. Various other churches
were dedicated to him in the south of Scotland and in the north of England.
A well-known Edinburgh parish bears his name. He was honoured as far

south as Cornwall. St. Cuby’s Well, locally called St. Kilby’s, between
Duloe and Sandplace in that county is believed to have been dedicated to
him.
There is a good deal of uncertainty about the history of Palladius. He is
believed to have been a missionary from Rome to the Irish in the fifth
century, and to have suffered martyrdom for the faith. It is recorded of him
that on one occasion, by removing some turf in the name of the Holy Spirit,
he caused a spring to gush forth to supply water for baptism. He is
popularly associated with Kincardineshire, though there is reason to believe
that he had no personal connection with the district. A spring in Fordoun
parish is locally known as Paldy’s Well, and an annual market goes by the
name of Paldy’s or Paddy’s Fair. A chapel was dedicated to him there, and
received his relics, brought thither by his disciple Terrananus, whose name
is still preserved in Banchory-Ternan, and who seems to have belonged to
the district. Ternan has a well at Banchory-Devenick, and another at
Kirkton-of-Slains, in Buchan. The old church of Arbuthnot was dedicated to
him. It was for this church that the Missal, Psalter, and Office of the Virgin,
now in the possession of Viscount Arbuthnot, were written and illuminated
towards the end of the fifteenth century, these being the only complete set
of Service-Books of a Scottish Church that have come down to us from pre-
Reformation times.
Brendan of Clonfert in Ireland, visited several of the Western Isles during
the first half of the sixth century, and various churches were afterwards
dedicated to him there. He is connected also with Bute. The name
Brandanes, applied to its inhabitants, came from him, and he bids fair to be
remembered in the name of Kilbrandon Sound, between Arran and Kintyre.
He was patron of a well in the island of Barra and was tutelar saint of
Boyndie and Cullen in Banffshire; but we are not aware that any well at
either of these places was called after him.
A curious legend is related to account for the origin of the See of Aberdeen.
According to it Machar or Macarius, along with twelve companions,
received instructions from Columba to wander over Pictland, and to build
his cathedral-church where he found a river making a bend like a bishop’s

staff. Such a bend was found in the Don at Old Aberdeen. St. Machar’s
Cathedral, built beside it, keeps alive the saint’s memory. In the
neighbouring grounds of Seton is St. Machar’s Well. Though now
neglected, it was honoured in former times, and its water was used at
baptisms in the cathedral. Under the name of Mocumma or Mochonna,
Macarius appears as one of the followers of Columba on his memorable
voyage from Ireland to Iona. He is said to have visited Pope Gregory the
Great at Rome, and to have been for a time bishop of Tours. In Strathdon,
Aberdeenshire, is a well sacred to him called Tobar-Mhachar, pronounced
in the district Tobar-Vacher.
Constantine, known also by his other names of Cowstan, Chouslan, and
Cutchou, was a prince of Cornwall in the sixth century, and was acquainted
with Columba and Kentigern. He relinquished his throne and crossed over
to Ireland, where he turned monk. At a later date he came to the west of
Scotland, and founded a monastery at Golvedir, believed to be Govan, near
Glasgow, and, according to Fordun, became its abbot. Kilchouslan Church,
on the north side of Campbeltown Bay, Kintyre, was built in his honour. In
its graveyard there is, or was till quite lately, a round stone about the size of
a grinding stone. In the centre is a hole large enough to let the hand pass
through. There is a tradition that if a man and woman eloped, and were able
to join hands through this hole before being overtaken by their kinsfolk they
were free from further pursuit. In the spring of 1892 an interesting find of
old coins was made in the same graveyard. These consisted of groats and
half-groats, some of English and some of Scottish coinage, the earliest
belonging to the reign of Edward II. of England. According to Martin, the
well of St. Cowstan at Garrabost, in Lewis, was believed never to boil any
kind of meat, though its water was kept over the fire for a whole day. This
well is on a steep slope at the shore. Not far off once stood St. Cowstan’s
Chapel, but its site is now under tillage.
Serf or Servanus, who flourished during the latter half of the seventh
century, was connected with the district north of the Firth of Forth,
particularly with Culross, and the island named after him in Loch Leven,
where he founded a monastery. At Dysart, Serf had a cave, and in it
tradition says that he held a discussion with the devil. The name of Dysart

indeed, comes from this desertum or retreat. Serf had a cell at Dunning, in
Strathearn, where he died in the odour of sanctity. He had also some link
with the parish of Monzievaird, where the church was dedicated to him, and
where a small loch still goes by the name of St. Serf’s Water. There is a well
sacred to him at Alva. St. Shear’s Well, at Dumbarton, retains his name in
an altered form. Early last century this spring was put to a practical purpose,
as arrangements were then made to lead its water across the Leven by pipes
to supply the burgh.

CHAPTER IV.

More Saints and Springs.
Ronan—Dow Well—Influence on Topography—Ronan’s Springs—Pol Ronan
and Feill Ronan—Fergus—His Well in Banffshire—Glamis—His Relics—His
Wells at Montrose and Wick—Helen—St. Helen’s Kirk—Her Springs—Her
connection with Britain—Her Wells and Churches in England—Welsh Traditions
—St. Abb’s Well—Ebba—Aidan—His Wells—Boisil—His Springs—St.
Boswell’s Fair—Bathan—Abbey St. Bathan’s—His Well there—Boniface—His
Well and Fair at Rosemarkie—Catherine of Alexandria—Her Legend—Her Wells
—Various other Dedications—Lawrence—His Wells—St. Lawrence’s Fair—His
Church Dedications—Laurencekirk—Margaret—Her connection with
Queensferry and Forfar—Her Wells at Edinburgh—Her Cave and Spring at
Dunfermline—Wells dedicated to various Characters in Sacred Story.
In any notice of early saints Ronan must not be forgotten, especially when
we remember that perhaps no spring, thanks to Sir Walter Scott, is so
familiar to the general reader as St. Ronan’s Well. It has been commonly
identified with the mineral well at Innerleithen, in Peeblesshire for long
held in much favour in cases of eye and skin complaints, and also for the
cure of dyspepsia. The spring is situated a short distance above the town on
the skirt of Lee Pen. The writer of the article on Innerleithen parish in the
“New Statistical Account of Scotland” says that this spring “was formerly
called the ‘Dow-well’ from the circumstance that, long before the healing
virtues of the water were discovered, pigeons from the neighbouring
country resorted to it.” The name, however, is more probably derived from
the Gaelic dhu or dubh, signifying black. This is all the more likely when
we remember that the ground around was wet and miry before the spring
was put into order, and the present pump-room built, in 1826. We find
marks of Ronan in Scottish topography. In Dumbartonshire is Kilmaronock,
meaning, literally, the Church of my little Ronan; Kilmaronog near Loch
Etive has the same signification. Dr. Skene refers to these two dedications,
and adds, “Ronan appears to have carried his mission to the Isles. He has
left his trace in Iona, where one of the harbours is Port Ronan. The church,
afterwards the parish church, was dedicated to him, and is called Teampull
Ronaig, and its burying-ground, Cladh Ronan. Then we find him at Rona, in

the Sound of Skye, and another Rona, off the coast of Lewis; and, finally,
his death is recorded in 737 as Ronan, abbot of Cinngaradh or Kingarth, in
Bute.” Ronan is patron of various springs. There is one sacred to him near
Kilmaronock, another in the Aberdeenshire parish of Strathdon, and
another, already referred to, beside Teampull Mòr, in the Butt of Lewis. The
parish of Strowan, now joined to that of Monzievaird, has a well to the
saint. This was to be expected, since the name of the parish is merely an
altered form of St. Rowan or Ronan. About a hundred yards above the
bridge of Strowan, there is a deep pool in the river Earn, called Pol-Ronan,
and a piece of ground hard by was formerly the site of the yearly gathering
known as Feill-Ronan or St. Ronan’s Fair.
The parish of St. Fergus, in Buchan, known till the year 1616 as Langley,
commemorates an Irish missionary of the eighth century, who led a roving
life, if we can believe the tradition, that he evangelised Caithness, Buchan,
Strathearn, and Forfarshire, as well as attended an Ecclesiastical Council at
Rome. The legend that his well in Kirkmichael parish, Banffshire, was at
one time in Italy may be connected with his visit to Rome. Concerning this
spring, the Rev. Dr. Gregor gives the following particulars:—“Fergan Well
is situated on the south-east side of Knock-Fergan, a hill of considerable
height on the west side of the river Avon, opposite the manse of
Kirkmichael. The first Sunday of May and Easter Sunday were the principal
Sundays for visiting it, and many from the surrounding parishes, who were
affected with skin diseases or running sores, came to drink of its water, and
to wash in it. The hour of arrival was twelve o’clock at night, and the
drinking of the water and the washing of the diseased part took place before
or at sunrise. A quantity of the water was carried home for future use.
Pilgrimages were made up to the end of September, by which time the
healing virtues of the water had become less. Such after-visits seem to have
begun in later times.” Fergus died at Glamis, and his relics soon began to
work cures. His head was carried off to the monastery of Scone, and was so
much esteemed in later times that, by order of James IV., a silver case was
made for it. His cave and well are to be seen at Glamis. There is a spring
dedicated to him near Montrose, and there is another at Wick.

Various other saintly personages have left traces of their names in holy
wells. Chalmers, in his “Caledonia,” mentions that the ancient church of
Aldcamus, in Cockburnspath parish, Berwickshire, was dedicated to Helen,
mother of Constantine, and that its ruins were known as St. Helen’s Kirk. A
portion of the building still stands. To the north of it is a burying-ground;
but, curiously enough, as Mr. Muir points out in his “Ancient Churches of
Scotland,” the spot does not appear ever to have been used for purposes of
sepulture. We do not know surely of any spring to Helen in the immediate
neighbourhood, but there is one at Darnick, near Melrose. Another is in
Kirkpatrick-Fleming parish, Dumfriesshire. Perhaps the best known is St.
Helen’s Well, beside the highway from Maybole to Ayr, about two-and-a-
half miles from the former town. It was much resorted to on May Day for
the cure of sickly children. On Timothy Pont’s map, of date 1654, there is a
“Helen’s Loch” marked a little to the south-west of Camelon, in
Stirlingshire. Some writers have attempted to claim Helen as a native of
Britain, and Colchester and York have, for different reasons, been fixed on
as her birth-place. The circumstance that Constantine was proclaimed
Emperor at the latter town, on the death there of his father, Constantius
Chlorus, probably gave rise to the tradition. Anyhow, Helen seems to have
been held in high honour in England. In an article in the “Archæological
Journal” for December, 1891, Mr. Edward Peacock mentions that there are
at least fifteen wells named after her south of the Tweed. He adds, “there
are many churches dedicated to the honour of St. Helen in England, but
they are very irregularly distributed. None seems to occur in Cumberland,
Westmoreland, or Essex. The rest of the English shires, for which we have
authentic information, give the following results:—Devonshire, three;
Durham, two; Kent, one; Lincolnshire, twenty-eight; Northumberland,
three; Nottinghamshire, fifteen; Yorkshire, thirty-two.” Helen’s name occurs
in Welsh legends; but, as Mr. Peacock observes, “early history is so much
distorted in them, that, if we did not know of her from more authentic
sources, we might well believe Helen to have been a mere creation of the
fervid Keltic imagination.” As far as is known there are neither wells nor
church dedications to her in the Principality.
At Ayton, in Berwickshire, we find St. Abb’s Well, recalling Abb or Æbba,
who, in the seventh century, presided over a monastery on the headland still

bearing her name, and in whose honour the priory at Coldingham was
founded by Edgar, son of Malcolm Canmore, some four centuries and a half
later. Her monastery on the headland was founded by Aidan, who was sent
from Iona to the North of England in response to a request from King
Oswald, of Bernicia, for a missionary to preach Christianity to his pagan
subjects. This was about the year 635. Aidan made the island of
Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, his head-quarters. It is still
known as Holy Island. Aidan has not been forgotten in the matter of wells.
There are four to him, viz., at Menmuir and at Fearn, in Forfarshire; at
Balmerino, in Fife; and at Cambusnethan, in Lanarkshire. This last, called
St. Iten’s Well, was noted for the cure of asthma and skin-disease.
Boisil, abbot of the monastery of Old Melrose, about the middle of the
seventh century, still lives in the name of the Roxburghshire village and
parish of St. Boswell’s. There is a spring in the parish bearing the name of
The Well-brae Wall. Boswell’s own spring is popularly styled the Hare-
well. Not far from both is St. Boswell’s Burn, a tributary of the Tweed. The
local fair held on July 18th, in honour of the saint, used to be a notable one
in the border counties, and was frequented by large numbers of gipsies who
set up booths for the sale of their wares.
Bathan, who flourished in the early seventh century, had to do with
Shetland, and with the region about the Whittadder, in Berwickshire. Abbey
St. Bathans, in the latter county, is named after him. His well is on one of
the haughs beside the river, not far from the ruined nunnery. Its water is
believed never to freeze.
Boniface belonged to the same century. He is said to have preached
Christianity at Gowrie, in Pictavia, and afterwards at Rosemarkie, in the
Black Isle, where he died at the age of eighty, and was buried in the church
of St. Peter. A well and a fair at Rosemarkie still keep alive his memory.
The fame of Catherine of Alexandria travelled to Scotland at a
comparatively early period. This holy maiden was noted for her learning.
Indeed she was so wise that Maxentius the Emperor called her a “second
Plato.” The Emperor’s compliments, however, stopped there, for he ordered

her to be executed on account of her contempt for paganism. The wheel, her
usual attribute in art, was not the instrument of her martyrdom, as it was
miraculously destroyed. She met her death by being beheaded, and,
immediately thereafter, her body was carried by angels to Mount Sinai.
These and other legendary incidents must have conduced to make the saint
popular. St. Catherine’s Balm-well, at Liberton, Mid-Lothian, had a high
reputation for curing skin-disease. Martin speaks of a well to St. Catherine
on the south coast of Eigg, reckoned by the islanders a specific in all kinds
of disease. He gives the following account of its dedication by Father Hugh,
a priest, and of the respect paid to the spring in consequence:—“He (the
priest) obliged all the inhabitants to come to this well, and then employed
them to bring together a great heap of stones at the head of the spring by
way of penance. This being done, he said Mass at the well, and then
consecrated it; he gave each of the inhabitants a piece of wax candle, which
they lighted, and all of them made the Dessil,—of going round the well sun-
ways, the priest leading them; and from that time it was accounted unlawful
to boil any meat with the water of this well.” In the south-west of Scotland,
Catherine has, or had, three wells, viz., at Stoneykirk, at Low Drumore, and
at Old Luce, opposite the Abbey. In the north-east there are three, viz., at
Fyvie, Aberdeenshire; and in Alvah parish, Banffshire; and at Banff itself.
At Shotts, in Lanarkshire, the fountain by the roadside immediately below
the parish church is, or at least was, locally known as Cat’s or Kate’s Well
—a contraction of the Saint’s name—reminding one of the Kate Kennedy
celebration at St. Andrews University, which originated in connection with
the gift of a bell by Bishop Kennedy in honour of the saint. The ruins of
Caibeal Cairine, i.e., Catherine’s Chapel, are in Southend parish, Kintyre,
and two farms called North and South Carine are in the immediate
neighbourhood. Captain White, when exploring the district, sought for St.
Catherine’s Well in the adjoining glen, but failed to find it. A chapel to the
saint once stood in the quondam town of Kincardine in the Mearns. Its
graveyard alone remains. St. Catherine’s Fair, held at Kincardine till the
year 1612, was then transferred to the neighbouring Fettercairn. There is
perhaps no place-name more familiar to visitors to Inveraray than St.
Catherine’s, on the opposite shore of Loch Fyne. It was in St. Catherine’s
Aisle, within the parish church of Linlithgow, that James IV. saw the
mysterious apparition that warned him to beware of Flodden. At Port-Erin,

in the Isle of Man, is a spring close to the beach, and on a stone beside it in
old lettering, can be read the piece of advice:—
“St. Catherine’s Well,
Keep me clean.”
Lawrence is represented by various springs, viz., by one in
Kirkcudbrightshire, at Fairgirth; by one in Elginshire, at New Duffus; and
by two in Aberdeenshire, at Kinnord; and at Rayne, where a horse market,
called Lawrence Fair, is still held annually in August. Near the Fairgirth
spring stand the ivy-clad ruins of St. Lawrence’s Chapel, at one time
surrounded by a graveyard. The parish of Slamannan, in Stirlingshire, was
anciently called St. Lawrence, its pre-Reformation church having been
dedicated to him. An excellent spring, not far from the parish church, is
known as St. Lawrence’s Well. There is reason to believe that all these
dedications relate to Lawrence, who, about the middle of the third century,
suffered at Rome, by being broiled over a slow fire, and in whose honour
the Escurial in Spain was built in the form of a gridiron—the supposed
instrument of his martyrdom. Laurencekirk, in Kincardineshire, anciently
called Conveth, received its name, not from the martyr, but from Lawrence,
archbishop of Canterbury, successor of Augustine, early in the seventh
century. He is said to have visited the Mearns. The church of Conveth was
named in his honour Laurencekirk. As far as we know, however, there is no
spring to him in the district.
Margaret, queen and saint, wife of Malcolm Canmore, was a light amid the
darkness of the eleventh century. Indeed she was a light to many later
centuries. The secret of her beneficial influence lay in her personal
character, and she undoubtedly did much to recommend civilisation to a
barbarous age. At the same time it must not be forgotten that through her
English training she was unable to appreciate either the speech or the
special religious institutions of her Scottish subjects, and that, accordingly,
the changes introduced by her were not all reforms. When sketching her
influence on the history of her time, the Rev. Dr. M’Lauchlan, in his “Early
Scottish Church,” observes, “She was somewhat unwillingly hindered from
entering a monastery by her marriage with Malcolm, and the latter repaid

the obligation by unbounded devotion to her and readiness to fall in with all
her schemes. She was brought up in the Anglo-Saxon Church, as that
Church was moulded by Augustine and other emissaries of Rome, and was
in consequence naturally opposed to many of the peculiarities of the
Scottish Church, which was still without diocesan bishops, and had many
things in its forms of worship peculiar to itself.” Dunfermline was
Malcolm’s favourite place of residence, and many were the journeys made
by his wife between it and Edinburgh. The names of North and South
Queensferry, where she crossed the Forth, tell of these royal expeditions.
Malcolm and Margaret were associated with the town of Forfar. Local
topography has still its King’s Muir, and its Queen’s Well to testify to the
fact; and on the Inch of Forfar Loch, where Margaret had a residence, an
annual celebration was long held in her honour. She had a spring at
Edinburgh Castle, described as “the fountain which rises near the corner of
the King’s Garden, on the road leading to St. Cuthbert’s Church.” St.
Margaret’s Well—once at Restalrig, now in the Queen’s Park—has already
been referred to. At Dunfermline there is a spring in a cave where,
according to tradition, she spent many an hour in pious meditation. The
cave is about seven feet in height, fully eight in breadth, and varies in depth
from eight to eleven. “This cave,” remarks the Rev. Peter Chalmers in his
“History of Dunfermline,” “is situated at a short distance north from the
Tower Hill, and from the mound crossing the ravine on which part of the
town stands. There is at present a small spring well at the bottom, the water
of which rises at times and covers the whole lower space; but anciently, it is
to be presumed, there was none, or at least it must have been covered, and
prevented from overflowing the floor, which would either have been formed
of the rock or have been paved.” A considerable amount of rubbish
accumulated in the cave, but this was removed in 1877. “During the process
of clearing out the cave,” remarks Dr. Henderson in his “Annals of
Dunfermline,” “two stone seats or benches were discovered along the base
of the north and south sides, but there were no carvings or devices seen on
them. Near the back of the cave a small sunk well was found, but it is now
covered over with a stone flag.”
Several Scripture characters have wells named after them. St. Matthew has
springs at Kirkton, Dumfriesshire, and at Roslin, Midlothian. St. Andrew’s

name is attached to wells at Sandal, in Kintyre; at North Berwick, in East
Lothian; at Shadar, in Lewis; and at Selkirk—this last having been
uncovered in 1892, after remaining closed, it is believed, for fully three
hundred years. A spring at St. Andrews, called Holy Well, is understood to
have been dedicated either to Andrew or to Regulus. St. Paul has springs at
Fyvie and at Linlithgow; St. Philip is patron of one in Yarrow parish,
Selkirkshire; St. James has one at Garvock, in Aberdeenshire; St. Thomas
has three—at Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire; at Crieff, in Perthshire; and near
Stirling; and St. John has a considerable number of springs. Some of these
are to the Evangelist, and some to the Baptist. It is often difficult to know to
which of the two the patronage of a given well should be ascribed. Of the
four chapels along the east wall of the lower church of Glasgow Cathedral,
the one next to St. Mungo’s Well was dedicated in pre-Reformation times to
St. John the Evangelist. It would have been more appropriately dedicated to
the Baptist. St. John’s Wells are to be found at Moffat, in Dumfriesshire; at
Logie Coldstone, in Aberdeenshire; near Fochabers, in Elginshire; at
Inverkeithing, Balmerino; and Falkland, in Fife; at Kinnethmont, and in
New Aberdour, in Aberdeenshire; at Marykirk, in Kincardineshire; at
Kirkton of Deskford, at Ordiquhill, and also near the old church of Gamrie,
in Banffshire; at Stranraer, in Wigtownshire; at Dunrobin, in Sutherland;
and elsewhere. There are more than a dozen wells to St. Peter. These are to
be found mainly in counties in the south-west, and in the north-east. In the
latter district there is a well at Marnoch, in Banffshire, called Petrie’s Well.
St. Anne, the reputed mother of the Virgin, presided over wells at Ladykirk,
in Berwickshire; near the old church of St. Anne, in Dowally parish,
Perthshire; and at Glass, on the Deveron. The Virgin herself was specially
popular as the patroness of fountains. There are over seventy dedicated to
her under a variety of names, such as, St. Mary’s Well, Maria Well, &c. The
town of Motherwell, in Lanarkshire, was so called after a famous well to
the Virgin. Tobermory, in Mull—literally, Well of Mary—was originally a
fountain. A village was built beside it, in 1788, as a fishing centre for the
British Fisheries’ Company. A curious legend about the now ivy-clad ruins
of the church of St. Mary in Auchindoir parish, Aberdeenshire, is thus
referred to by Mr. A. Jervise in the “Proceedings of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland,” vol. viii. (old series):—“According to tradition, it

was originally proposed to rebuild the church at a place called Kirkcairns
(now Glencairns) to the south of Lumsden village, and but for the warning
voice of the Virgin, who appears to have been a good judge both of locality
and soil, the kirk would have been placed in an obscure sterile district.
Besides being in the neighbourhood of good land, fine views of the upper
part of Strathbogie and of the surrounding hills are obtained from the
present site …. St. Mary’s Well is about a hundred yards to the west.”
If Michael the Archangel did not fold his wings over any Scottish wells, he
at least gave name to several. There is a St. Michael’s Spring in
Kirkmichael parish, Banffshire, and another at Dallas in Elginshire. In both
cases, the ancient church was dedicated to him. Culsalmond, in
Aberdeenshire, and Applegarth, in Dumfriesshire, have, and Edinburgh
once had, a St. Michael’s Well. The best known is probably the one at
Linlithgow, with its quaint inscription—“Saint Michael is kinde to
straingers.” Mr. J. R. Walker—to whose list of Holy Wells in the
“Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland,” vol. v. (new series),
we have been indebted for various useful hints—remarks, “The building
covering this well dates only from 1720 …. It is conjectured that the statue
was taken from the Cross-well when restored about that date and placed
here to represent St. Michael, who is the patron saint of Linlithgow
Church …. With the exception of the statue, which is undoubtedly of much
earlier date than 1720, the structure shows the utter absence of architectural
knowledge—especially Gothic—characteristic of the last century in
Scotland. Michael was tutelar saint, not only of the church, but also of the
burgh of Linlithgow. In the town Arms he is represented with outspread
wings, standing on a serpent whose head he is piercing with a spear. He was
also the guardian of the burgh of Dumfries. At Inverlussa, in North
Knapdale parish, Argyllshire, may be seen the ancient chapel and burying-
ground of Kilmichael. A well in the immediate neighbourhood is dedicated,
not to the archangel, but to some local ecclesiastic, whose name is now
forgotten. In reference to this spring, Captain White says, “Trickling out
from under a rock, is the Priest’s Well (Tobar-ant-Sagairt), famous, like
many another spring of so-called holy water, for its miraculous healing
virtues. I believe the country people have by no means lost their faith in its
powers.” The extent of the archangel’s popularity in Scotland is shown by

his impress on topography. Among place-names we find at least three
Kilmichaels, and there are five parishes called Kirkmichael, respectively in
the counties of Dumfries, Ayr, Perth, Ross and Cromarty, and Banff. A
chapel is said to have been dedicated to him at a very early date on the top
of the Castle Rock at Edinburgh. Another once stood in the demesne of
Lovat, where was founded, about 1232, a Priory for French monks, who
were so struck with the beauty of the spot that they called it Beau-lieu, now
Beauly. Far west, in the outer Hebrides, he had faithful votaries. On the
island of Grimisay, close to North Uist, a chapel styled Teampull Mhicheil
was built in his honour towards the close of the fourteenth century. It was
the work of Amie, otherwise Annie, wife of John of Isla, first Lord of the
Isles, and was used by her as an oratory when prevented by rough weather
from crossing the Minch to visit her friends in Lorne. That the archangel
should have had wells named after him is therefore not surprising.

CHAPTER V.

Stone Blocks and Saints’ Springs.
Stone Beds and Chairs—Cave Life—Dwarfie Stone—Stone Boats—Balthere—
His Corpse—His Well and Cradle—Marnan—His Influence on Topography—His
Head—St. Marnan’s Chair and Well—Muchricha—Cathair Donan—St. Donan’s
Well—Patrick—His Wells—St. Patrick’s Vat—Quarry at Portpatrick—
Columbanus—Mark of his Hand—Kentigern’s Chair and Bed—His connection
with Aberdeenshire—The Lady’s Bed—Thenew—Columba’s Bed and Pillow—
Holy Island—Traces of Molio—St. Blane’s Chapel—Kilmun—Inan—St. Innian’s
Well—Tenant’s Day—St. Inan’s Chair and Springs—Kevin—Print of Virgin’s
Knee—Traces of Columba at Keil—St. Cuthbert’s Stane—St. Madron’s Bed—
Mean-an-Tol—Morwenna—St. Fillan’s Chair—St. Fillan’s Spring—Water for
Sore Eyes—The Two Fillans—Their Dedications—Queen Margaret’s Seat—St.
Bonnet’s Spring—The Fairies’ Cradle—The Pot o’ Pittenyoul—Church of
Invergowrie—Greystane—Cadger’s Bridge—Wallace’s Seat and Well.
Beds and Chairs of stone are connected with various early saints, and as
such relics are often associated with holy wells, some notice of these may
not be without interest. We have already seen that cave life was rather
popular among these early missionaries. Anything of a rocky nature was
therefore quite in line with their ascetic ways. Hoy, one of the Orkney
Islands, famous for its wild scenery, and specially for the pillar of rock
popularly styled The Old Man, contains a curious monument of antiquity in
the shape of a large block of sandstone called The Dwarfie Stone, hollowed
out long ago by some unknown hand. The chamber, thus excavated,
contains two beds hewn out of the stone, one of them having a pillow of the
same hard material. On the floor of the chamber is a hearth where a fire had
evidently burned, and in the roof is a hole for the escape of the smoke.
Legend reports that a giant and his wife abode within; but the hollow space
was more probably the retreat of some hermit—perhaps, of more than one,
seeing there are two couches; though, possibly, one of the supposed couches
may have been a table and the other a bed. Perhaps the anchorite had his
spring whither he wandered daily to slake his thirst; but, as far as we know,
there is no tradition regarding any holy well in the neighbourhood.

Martin, in connection with his visit to Orkney, refers to a stone in the chapel
of Ladykirk, in South Ronaldshay, called St. Magnus’s Boat. The stone was
four feet in length, and tapered away at both ends; but its special feature
was the print of two human feet on the upper surface. A local tradition
affirmed that when St. Magnus wanted on one occasion to cross the
Pentland Firth to Caithness he used this stone as his boat, and that he
afterwards carried it to Ladykirk. According to another tradition, the stone
served in pre-Reformation times for the punishment of delinquents, who
were obliged to stand barefooted upon it by way of penance. There is a St.
Magnus’s Well, not in South Ronaldshay, however, but at Birsay, in the
mainland of Orkney. When Conval crossed from Ireland to Scotland, in the
seventh century, he, too, made a block of stone do duty as a boat. It found a
resting-place beside the river Cart, near Renfrew, and was known as Currus
Sancti Convalli. By its means miraculous cures were wrought on man and
beast. A rock at the mouth of Aldham Bay, in Haddingtonshire, is known as
St. Baudron’s Boat, and tradition says that he crossed on it from the Bass,
where he had a cell. This saint—called also Balthere and Baldred—founded
the monastery of Tyningham, and died early in the seventh century. He must
have been popular in the district, for, if we can believe an old legend, the
parishioners of the churches of Aldham, Tyningham, and Prestonkirk tried
to get possession of his relics. To satisfy their demands his body was
miraculously multiplied by three, and each church was thus provided with
one. Near Tantallon Castle is St. Baldred’s Well, and a fissure in the cliff at
Whitberry, not far from the mouth of the Tyne, is known as St. Baldred’s
Bed or Cradle.
Marnan or Marnoch, besides giving name to the town of Kilmarnock, in
Ayrshire, and to the Island of Inchmarnoch, off Bute, is remembered in the
name of the Banffshire parish of Marnoch, where he laboured as a
missionary in the seventh century. His head was kept as a revered relic in
the church of Aberchirder, and solemn oaths were sworn by it. Use was also
made of it for therapeutic purposes. It was periodically washed, and the
water was given to the sick for the restoration of their health. This was not
an isolated case. Bede tells us, that after Cuthbert’s death, some of the water
in which his body was washed, was given to an epileptic boy along with
some consecrated earth, and brought about a cure. A stone, called St.

Marnan’s Chair, is, or was till lately, to be seen at Aberchirder; and a spring,
near the parish manse, bears the saint’s name. About a mile and a half from
the church of Aboyne, in Aberdeenshire, is St. Muchricha’s Well, and beside
it is a stone marked with a cross. At one time, this stone was removed.
According to a local tradition, it was brought back by Muchricha, the
guardian of the well, who seemed unwilling to lose sight of the lost
property. In the parish of Kildonan, Sutherland, two or three blocks of
stone, placed in the form of a seat, went by the name of Cathair Donan, i.e.,
Donan’s Chair. In his cille or church, Donan taught the truths of
Christianity; and, seated in his cathair, he administered justice to the people
of the district. There is a St. Donan’s Well in Eigg, the island where the
saint and his companion clerics were murdered by the natives early in the
seventh century.
Patrick, the well-known missionary of Ireland, was reverenced also in
Scotland. There is a well dedicated to him in the parish of Muthill,
Perthshire, and close to it once stood a chapel, believed to have borne his
name. From the article on Muthill parish, in the “New Statistical Account of
Scotland,” we learn that in former times the inhabitants of the district held
the saint’s memory “in such veneration that, on his day, neither the clap of
the mill was heard nor the plough seen to move in the furrow.” There is a
well dedicated to him in Dalziel parish, Lanarkshire. About sixty yards from
St. Patrick’s temple, in the island of Tyree, is a rock, with a hollow on the
top, two feet across and four feet deep, known to the islanders as St.
Patrick’s Vat. At any rate it was so named at the end of last century. In a
quarry at Portpatrick, Wigtownshire, used in connection with the harbour
works, once flowed a spring dedicated to the saint. On the rock below were
formerly to be seen certain marks, said, by tradition, to be the impression
made by his knees and left hand.
Columban or Columbanus, belonged, like Columba, to the sixth century.
Ireland was also his native land. When he left it he travelled, not north like
Columba, but south, and sought the sunny lands of France and Italy. In the
latter country he founded the monastery of Bobbio among the Apennines. A
writer in the “Antiquary” for 1891 remarks, in connection with a recent visit
to this monastery, “I was taken to see a rock on the summit of a mountain

called La Spanna, near the cave to which the saint is said to have retired for
prayer and meditation. The impression of the saint’s left hand is still shown
upon the face of this rock. The healing power of the patron’s hand is
believed by the peasantry of the surrounding country to linger still in the
hollow marking, and many sufferers, climbing to this spot, have found relief
from laying their hand within its palm.”
In addition to his well beside the Molendinar, at Glasgow, Kentigern had a
chair and bed, both of stone. Concerning the latter, Bishop Forbes, in his
“Kalendars of Scottish Saints,” says, “Kentigern’s couch was rather a
sepulchre than a bed, and was of rock, with a stone for a pillow, like Jacob.
He rose in the night and sang psalms and hymns till the second cock-
crowing. Then he rushed into the cold stream, and with eyes fixed on
heaven he recited the whole psalter. Then, coming out of the water he dried
his limbs on a stone on the mountain called Galath, and went forth for his
day’s work.” Kentigern’s work took him beyond the limits of Strathclyde.
He seems to have visited the uplands of Aberdeenshire. The church of
Glengairn, a parish now incorporated with Tullich and Glenmuick, was
probably founded by him. At any rate, it was dedicated to him. A tradition
of his untiring zeal survived in Aberdeenshire down to the beginning of last
century. According to a proverb then current, systematic beneficence was
said to be “like St. Mungo’s work, which was never done.” The Isle of May,
in the Firth of Forth, has, on one of its rocky sides, a small cave called The
Lady’s Bed, containing a pool in its floor. As Mr. Muir points out in his
“Ecclesiological Notes,” it is traditionally associated with Thenew,
Kentigern’s mother, “who,” according to the legend, “after being cast into
the sea at Aberlady, was miraculously floated to the May, and thence, in the
same manner, to Culross, where she was stranded and gave birth to the
saint.” Columba, when in Iona, had a stone slab as a bed, and a block of
stone as a pillow. Adamnan mentions that, after the saint’s death, this pillow
stone was placed as a monument over his grave.
Guarding Lamlash Bay, where Haco gathered his shattered fleet after the
battle of Largs, in 1263, is Holy Island, known to the Norsemen as
Melansay. In this island is a cave, at one time inhabited by the hermit
Molio, and below it, near the beach, is his Holy Well, for centuries reckoned

efficacious in the cure of disease. A large block of sandstone, flat on the top,
with a series of recesses like seats cut round its margin, constitutes the
saint’s chair and table combined. Molio was educated in Bute by his uncle
Blane, to whom the now ruined St. Blane’s Chapel was dedicated. He
afterwards went to Ireland, and was placed under Munna, who is still
remembered in the name of Kilmun, on Holy Loch, in the Firth of Clyde.
Inan, probably the same as Finan, gave name to Inchinnan, in Renfrewshire,
though the ancient church of the parish was dedicated, not to him, but to
Conval. The church at Lamington, in Lanarkshire, was dedicated to Inan.
St. Innian’s Well is in the parish. He is the patron saint of Beith, in Ayrshire.
The annual fair held there in August is popularly called Tenant’s Day—
Tenant being a corruption of St. Inan. St. Inan’s Well and St. Inan’s Chair
keep his memory fresh in the district. Some particulars about them are
given by Mr. Robert Love in the “Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries
of Scotland”, vol. xi.:—“This chair is in the rocky hill-face at the west end
of the Cuff hills, and from its elevated position a wide tract of country from
south to north is overlooked. At the base of the hill, and distant from the
chair some hundred yards, is a well called St. Inan’s Well, a double spring,
which issues from the rock at two points close by each other, and which is
almost unapproachable in respect of its abundance and purity. This chair is
formed in part, possibly by nature, out of the rock of the hill. Its back and
two sides are closed in, while, in front, to the west, it is open. The seat
proper is above the ground in front about two feet two inches, is two feet
four inches in breadth, and one foot four inches in depth backwards.”
Visitors to the seven churches at Glendalough, in county Wicklow, Ireland,
are usually shown St. Kevin’s Seat on a block of rock. As a proof of its
genuineness the mark made by the saint’s leg and the impression of his
fingers are duly pointed out by the local guide.
In Kirkmaiden parish, Wigtownshire, the print of the Virgin’s knee was at
one time shown on a stone where she knelt in prayer. There was a chapel
dedicated to her in the neighbourhood. In Southend parish, Kintyre, are the
remains of St. Columba’s Chapel, standing in the ancient burying-ground of
Keil. In his “Ecclesiological Notes” Mr. Muir observes, “Under an
overhanging rock, close by on the roadside, is St. Columba’s Well, and on

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Indica A Deep Natural History Of The Indian Subcontinent Pranay Lal

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