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A clootie well is a holy well (or sacred spring), almost always with a tree growing beside it, where small strips of cloth or ribbons are left as part of a healing ritual, usually by tying them to branches of the tree (called a clootie tree or rag tree). Clootie wells are places of pilgrimage usually found in Celtic areas. It is believed that the tradition comes from the ancient custom of leaving in water. In Scots language, a clootie or cloot is a strip of cloth or rag.
There are local variations to the practice. At some wells the tradition is to wash the affected part of the body with the wet rag and then tie the washing-rag on the branch; as the rag disintegrates over time, the ailment is supposed to fade away as well. At some wells the clooties are definitely "rags" and discards, at others, brightly coloured strips of fine cloth. In some locations the ceremony may also include circumambulation (or circling) of the well a set number of times and making an offering of a coin, pin or stone. Additional votive offerings hung on the branches or deposited in the wells may include rosary, religious medals, , and other symbols of faith.
At clootie wells where the operative principle is to shed the ailment, and the clootie is thought to represent the ailment, the "offerings" may be grotesque castoffs. Those that instead view the clootie as an offering to the spirit, saint or deity are more likely to tie an attractive, clean piece of cloth or ribbon.
The sacred trees at clootie wells are usually Common hawthorn trees, though are also common.
The most popular times for pilgrimages to clootie wells, like other holy wells, are on the feast days of Saints, the Pattern or Patron day, or on the old Gaels festival days of Imbolc (1 February), Beltane (1 May), Lughnasadh (1 August), or Samhain (1 November).Healy (2002) p. 19.
In the heart of Culloden woods near the battlefield is a walled clootie well also known as St Mary's well. This well was traditionally visited on the first Sunday in May. Until recently, it was a popular holiday, with an ice-cream van situated in the car park. However, this tradition is now in decline although still marked. Craigie Well at Avoch on the Black Isle has both offerings of coins and clooties. Rags, wool and human hair were also used as charms against sorcery, and as tokens of penance or fulfilment of a vow.Sharp, Mick (1997) Holy Places of Celtic Britain. London, Blandford. . p. 172. A clootie well once existed at Kilallan near Kilmacolm in Renfrewshire. This holy well was dedicated to St Fillan and cloth was tied to overhanging shrub branches.
In Cornwall, at Madron Well () the practice is to tie the cloth and as it rots the ailment is believed to disappear.Straffon, Cheryl (1998) Fentynyow Kernow – In Search of Cornwall's Holy Wells Penzance, Meyn Mamvro. pp. 40–42.Rundall, Charlotte (Ed.) (1998) "The Magic of Cornwall" in Reader's Digest pp. 51–52. In 1894 Madron Well was said to be the only Cornish well where rags were traditionally tied.Quiller-Couch, M & L, "Ancient and Holy Wells of Cornwall, 1894, p. xxvii Rags have only appeared at other Cornish wells such as Alsia Well () and Sancreed Well () in about the last 30 years. Christ's Well at Mentieth was described in 1618 "as all tapestried about with old rags".
In Ireland at Loughcrew, Oldcastle, County Meath () there is a wishing tree, where visitors to the passage tombs tie ribbons to the branch of a hawthorn tree. Loughcrew is a site of considerable historical importance in Ireland. It is the site of megalithic burial grounds dating back to approximately 3500 and 3300 BC, situated near the summit of Sliabh na Caillí and on surrounding hills and valleys.
A fictional clootie well at Auchterarder features in the 2006 novel The Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin, who visited the clootie well at Munlochy on Black Isle before writing the book.
The 2018 film The Party's Just Beginning, written and directed by Inverness-born filmmaker Karen Gillan, features the Munlochy clootie well.
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