folk rituals
& confinement
Before 1750, attitudes to the mentally ill were simplistic. People with mental health problems were seen as 'idiots', 'mad', even 'possessed by devils'. Folklore offered a cure for madness - ritual bathing in healing waters - which some tried.
St Fillan's Bell
Bronze 'Bell of St Fillan' believed to have been rung during the healing ritual at St Fillan's Pool on the River Earn.
© The Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland
In an elaborate twice-yearly ritual at the pool the afflicted person had to retrieve nine stones from the shallow stream-bed, and was then tied up overnight in St Fillan's Chapel. If they freed themselves from their bonds they were thought to be heading for a recovery. This ritual lasted until the late 18th century and attracted hundreds who tried the 'cure'.
..
Portrait of Robert Fergusson (1750-1774)
By Alexander Runciman
© The Trustees of the National Galleries of ScotlandThe mentally ill were often treated badly - either left to their own devices or 'confined' at home or in an institution. In neither case did they receive medical treatment.
The Scottish poet Robert Fergusson suffered from 'the horrors' - depression and delirious episodes, which may have been due to syphilis. When only in his early twenties, he collapsed in the summer of 1774 and was confined in Edinburgh's 'Bedlam' or public asylum, where conditions were basic.
He died in October of the same year.
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