St Ignatius Well

The well was built on the site of an old spring in 1880 by Captain Archibald Chisholm, an admirer of the Jesuits, who with his wife was residing at Glassburn House as tenants of Lord Lovat.  The key features of the original cairn included a stone cross from the old Catholic Chapel at Fasnakyle and an upside-down shield shaped stone at the front through which the water passed via a spout. A drinking cup on a chain was added later.

A cistern fed by the spring was situated just behind the cairn with another tank that could supply water to the cistern, from a nearby stream, in dry weather.  The well was blessed on completion by Fr. Francis Bacon S.J. who was a guest at Glassburn.

Numerous inscriptions, decorate the cross and the front stone.  Besides “Fasnakyle Chapel 1780” the cross bears the initials of Captain and Mrs. Chisholm and the date 1869; the year they began renting Glassburn House.

After the Chisholms’ passing, the area around the welll became overgrown and the structure partially collapsed. In 1947 Glassburn House was purchased by Major-General Angus Collier. In 1955 Collier had the well rebuilt to commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II with her name inscribed on a grindstone which is now the base for the stone cross.  The names of the monarchs following Queen Victoria and that of Winston Churchill were also added.

Not surprisingly many of the inscriptions, mainly dating from the original construction, have a religious connotation.  “S. Columba, A.D. 563” refers to the date that St. Columba and his followers established themselves on Iona from where they began work to convert the Picts.  The clergy are well represented with references to Popes Leo XIII and Pius IX.  The consecration of John Macdonald as Bishop in “A.D. 1869” is commemorated.  A native of Strathglass, he became the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Aberdeen when the Catholic hierarchy was re-established in 1878.

There are several inscriptions on the cross.  Linked to a St. Andrew’s Cross are the letters “IHS” – a monogram symbolizing Jesus Christ.  From Greek it is an abbreviation of the name ΙΗΣΟΥΣ (Jesus).  Dating back to the third century, Christians shortened the name of Jesus by only writing the first three letters of his name in Greek, ΙΗΣ. The Greek letter Σ (sigma), is written in the Latin alphabet as an S resulting in the monogram being represented as ΙΗS.

In addition to St. Columba’s inscription we find “St. Margaret, A.D. 1070” referring to the year she married Malcolm Canmore and became Queen Consort.  An inscription to “St. Bean, A.D. 1015” appears to be an error in that it refers to an Irish saint being confused with the St. Bean, cousin of St. Columba, after whom the Church of Our Lady and Saint Bean at Marydale is named after.

Dated references are made to the crucifictions of St. Peter (cross inverted) and St. Andrew (saltire) though the dates might be challenged.