The memories linger on

A housing project in St. Fillans, Perthshire, UK had to be redesigned when the locals pointed out the large rock they wanted to move had fairies living under it.

He said: “A neighbour came over shouting, ‘Don’t move that rock. You’ll kill the fairies’.” The rock protruded from the centre of a gently shelving field, edged by the steep slopes of Dundurn mountain, where in the sixth century the Celtic missionary St Fillan set up camp and attempted to convert the Picts from the pagan darkness of superstition.

In a fit of wisdom not always seen, the laws in the UK dictate that local customs need to be honored in such matters, so they have to redesign the project to go around the rock. I find myself hoping the owners remember to set out some cream at least once in a while.

It also seems to me that the aforementioned saint didn't completely succeed in his quest. But most of the Celtic saints were just about that effective, no matter what they tell you about St. Patrick. Elsewise, the Rev. Robert Kirk and W. Y. Evans-Wentz would have had nothing to write about.