Maiden’s Well and Maiden’s Castle

1866 Map

Maiden’s Well

The Victorian Celtic scholar John Rhys in 1901 wrote of it as being ‘a fine spring bordered with flat stones, in the middle of a neat, turfy spot’, close to the legendary faerie hall of Maiden Castle. The well itself is now a pool, according to folklore, always providing good clear water even in the height of summer.

A local historian in 1905 told that the well obtained its name from a princess who was held captive in Castle Campbell, and that she was sometimes allowed out of prison by her captors, to walk to the well and drink its waters.

A story associated with it states that it is haunted by the spirit of a beautiful maiden which only appears at night and, should any male attempt to kiss her, he has a heart attack! Earlier accounts tell of magical rites that could be used to invoke the beautiful maiden, but once again dire consequences would occur.

1866 Map

Maiden’s Castle

Near the top of Glen Quey is the low rounded hill known as Maiden Castle, and traditionally it is believed to be a fairy hill. Sir John Rhys, in his Celtic Folklore of 1901, tells the story of ‘The Piper of Glendevon’.

 A piper, carrying his pipes, was coming from Glendevon to Dollar on a grey evening. He crossed a little stream and saw only the hillside of Maiden Castle. He went beyond it then heard a burst of lively music. He turned around, and instead of the dark knoll saw a great castle, with lights blazing from windows, and heard the noise of dancing from the open door.

The piper went back to the hill, just as a procession of fairies came from the mound. He was caught and taken into a great hall ablaze with lights and full of people dancing. He had to pipe for them for a day or two, but became anxious because he knew his family would be wondering what had happened to him. On his release he found himself alone, in the grey of the evening, and no sound was heard save the burn and wind. Instead of completing his journey to Dollar, he walked hastily back to Glendevon to see his folk.

Entering his father’s house, he found not a single face he knew. When he protested that he had been gone only a day or two, a grey old man told how when he was only a boy he had heard from his father that a piper had gone away to Dollar on a quiet evening, and had never been seen nor heard of since, nor any trace of him found. The piper had been in the ‘castle’ for a hundred years.