Folk healing methods were the most popular forms of healing in Scotland amongst the common people. Physicians and surgeons were practicing in Scotland during this time but their services were expensive and they tended to practice in the cities which made it difficult for people in more remote areas to get to them. Often, even when the services of a physician were available and affordable, people would still choose to use folk healers because they trusted them more. Some aspects of folk medicine were performed by specific people known for their healing powers. Some examples of these include: the clergy, the seventh son of the seventh son, persons born breech, etc. Folk healing was an area in which women were dominant. Mothers and grandmothers would provide the health care for their families. In addition, a folk medicine specialist evolved among the Highland women--the 'cailleach chearc' or henwife. She was sought out for midwifery, charms against toothache, and other incantations against many ailments. The healing techniques used included a variety of objects as well as spoken incantations. Because of the difficulties surrounding traveling and the expense of importing items, the materials used for healing were those readily accessible. Some of the items used included, among other things,herbs, water and stone. Water was used in many ways and from different sources. For example,healing wells were quite prolific. Many of these had a specific ailment they're said to cure. Often, there was a ritual as well as an incantation that went along with the drawing of the water. Other examples of sources of water said to have healing powers included: water from a hollowed stone and water which passed under a bridge over which the dead crossed (to a graveyard). Many herbs were also used, usually those native to the area. They could be used in the form of teas or poultices to the affected body part. Different herbs might be used for the same illness but in different regions based on availability. Healing stones were also well known to the Scots. Some of these were large standing stones that people would go to for specific cures. Some were smaller stones, often rose or white quartz, that belonged to a family and were passed down from generation to generation with a verbal legend explaining where it got its powers. Sometimes they would use a stone that resembled a body part as a curative for that body part, Folk healing probably always existed to some extent in Scotland but it is difficult to track due to a lack of written records among the people who practiced and used it. It hit its peak in the late 17th through 18th centuries. Even though it started to fade in its use after the 18th century, there are still today folk healing methods used in the more remote areas of Scotland.
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1998 Historic Highlanders