‘Fairy Well’ and and the Captured Scottish Piper

In local folklore throughout the Celtic lands there are many stories of the little people, wee folk or fairies. They are often associated with particular locations and there are many 'fairy hills', 'fairy mounds', 'fairy glens', 'fairy wells' and 'fairy bridges'. One such place is the Fairy Well in the Parish of Logie. It is sometimes known as the Highlander’s Well and located not far from the base of Dumyat (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Mhèad) which is a hill at the western end of the Ochil Hills (Scottish Gaelic: Monadh Ochail) in central Scotland.

Highland drovers would sometimes stop here to allow their cattle to drink on the way to market. Local folklore has it that one of the wee folk (fairy) called Blue Jacket used to guard the well. One summer's day a Highland drover and piper from the Braes of Rannoch came to the Fairy Well with his Highland cattle. He fell asleep beside the Well only to be awoken shortly after by Blue Jacket. The fairy asked where he had come from and the drover told him Rannoch Moor. Blue Jacket then informed him that he was the guardian of the spring he had drunk from.

The fairy asked the man his name to which he replied that he was Sandy Sinclair and a talented piper. Blue Jacket asked him to play and Sandy played a cheerful Highland reel. When he finished, he was surprised to see above the well a crowd of other little folk had joined Blue Jacket and were dancing to the music. As he stopped, they applauded enthusiastically. At that point Blue Jacket blew a silver whistle and all the fairy folk arranged themselves into a double row. He then took the Highland piper by the hand, led him to the front of the procession, and told him to play a march.

Sandy was not able to resist the command of the fairy. He played his bagpipes at the head of the marching group of little people. Blue Jacket walked in front of the piper, leading all of them as they made their way to an ancient mound known as the Fairy Knowe.  When they reached the Fairy Knowe, the wee folk formed a circle round the little hill, and sang a song. Blue Jacket once more took his whistle and blew three times, then held up his hand, at which point the side of the mound opened. Bidding the piper to play on, Blue Jacket led the procession inside the mound where the fairies formed themselves into sets.

The piper continued to play, choosing a type of a Scottish tune known as a strathspey, and the little folk began dancing. They danced and danced to one tune after another. Impressed by these skilful dancers, Sandy played on and on with all thought of his cattle forgotten. He was under the spell of the fairy folk and for Sandy there was no escape. There  is nothing the little people like to do more than sing and dance and they had decided that Sandy was the piper they needed. Meanwhile, Sandy’s livestock was in the care of his faithful, but increasingly anxious collie dog.

As the day drew on, another drover came along to the Well with his cattle. He recognised the dog and being concerned at the absence of Sandy, spent the night at the Fairy Well waiting for his return. The next morning he still had not come back. So the drover took Sandy's dog and searched for him. The dog led him to the Fairy Knowe and began sniffing around the mound and indicating that this was the location of Sandy. As the drover sat on the top of the Knowe, wondering what he should do next, he began to hear the sound of distant music. The drover put his ear to the ground and recogised that the music was coming from the centre of the Fairy Knowe.

It was then that the drover understood that Sandy had been taken by the wee folk. He knew that the fairies had taken Sandy to be their own piper and would never be seen again. Many years afterwards, passers-by would often hear the sound of distant music coming from the centre of Fairy Knowe. There are some who pass the mound even now and say they catch the muffled sound of the pipes.