A natural deepening of the River Fillan, located on a bend 1½ miles (2.5 km) southeast of Tyndrum, St. Fillan's Holy Pool was said to have been blessed by the saint and developed curative properties for those suffering from mental illness. A ritual had to be undertaken by the afflicted, involving recovering stones from the river bed, placing these stones around a stone circle, then taken naked to the ruined St. Fillan's Priory and tied hand-and-foot to the altar overnight, beneath St. Fillan's Bell. If next morning they were found to have escaped their bonds, then they were deemed to have been cured. Whether the cure actually worked is not recorded, but it would certainly be enough to unbalance a sane person. Probably dating from Mediaeval times, this ritual continued into the 19th century.
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