Remains of the Money Tree sacred oak beside the dried up hollow of the former holy healing well of St Maelrubha on Isle Maree, Wester Ross.
Remains of the Money Tree sacred oak beside the dried up hollow of the former holy well on Isle Maree. Pennant described the well as a spring 'of power unspeakable' in cases of insanity. Sacred isle of St Maelrubha (Maree) who may have supplanted the pagan Celtic deity Lugos. Monks & hermits lived on the isle. It became a burial ground & a mixture of Christian & pagan beliefs & practices, including bull sacrifice, Lughnasa celebrations, divination & lunacy cures, persisted openly into the C18th using the ruined chapel & altar, holy well & sacred oak. Queen Victoria popularized the practice of hammering coins into the Money Tree (killed by copper poisoning & ring-barking) beside the well which dried up after a shepherd attempted to cure his mad dog there. The island is part of a National Nature Reserve.
Size: 3712px × 4961px
Location: Money Tree, Isle Maree, Loch Maree, Gairloch, Wester Ross, Highland, Scotland, UK
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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