The Cult of the Magdalene in medieval Scotland (Mary Magdalene, Pittenweem and St Fillan’s Cave)

The fishing town of Pittenweem (Fife) got its name (Gaelic Pett na h-Uaimhe, ‘estate of the cave’) from an impressive geological feature close to the East Shore known as St Fillan’s Cave. Although the existence of a historical Fillan has been carefully examined, no firm evidence has been found to link him to the famous Cave. In fact, the earliest recorded references to the Cave call it fons Sancte Marie Magdalene (‘spring of St Mary Magdalene’), leaving us with a new question related to Pittenweem’s pre-Reformation association with the Magdalene. This article attempts to understand when and how this came about. It begins by casting the net wide, setting the cult of Mary Magdalene within the broader context of the western Church, before offering a gazetteer of Magdalene sites in medieval Scotland and an exploration of when and how her cult came to Pittenweem. It concludes with brief remarks about the Cave’s later association with St Fillan.