Location
Sited off the A96 near Cairnie, north of Huntly. It is a bit off the main road now on the loop of old military road to Mill of Botary - changes in the road layout have resulted in it being further back from the road, when erected it would have been at the edge of the road a place to stop for a drink for the men and the horses.
Cairnie, Huntly
OS Map Reference
NJ 463 451
Date
1897
Description
Gothic style fountain with lion mask spout over a stone trough. It is inscribed centre front - 'Victoria diamond jubilee fountain 1897'. Nearby to the same loop of old military road are two old healing wells HACKLEBURNIE WELL at NJ 472 448 (The spring still flows from a pipe into the garden of a modern bungalow, though its water is also used by a hotel on the hillock above.) and BOGFORGUE WELL at NJ 467 449 (a healing well; on the bank of the Burn of Cairnie, beneath an electricity power line; not easy to get at.)
Related Information
The Cairnie area once had many than one holy wells, it is a sign of the importance of water to man and beast that in pre-Christian times it was dedicated to the gods, pre-reformation to the saints, in the Imperial period to Monarchs and important individuals. Only in the recent past do we seem to have forgotten what we really need to live or take it for granted that the authorities will provide.
Era
1800s
Categories
Iconography
- lion
Photographer
- Stanley Bruce
Unavailable Data
- Information Source
- Related Artefacts
- Creator
- External Links
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