March seems to have snuck past us with stealth.
The days have stretched out, the sun — surprisingly — has stayed, and though there’s still a faint nip in the air, it feels more like a memory than something real. Everywhere is bright with daffodils, their yellow catching the light and lifting the whole neighbourhood with them.
And yet, somehow, the moments that mark the month have already passed. International Women’s Day, Mother’s Day, St Patrick’s Day — all of them drifting by in a blur of sunshine and the occasional burst of stormy weather.
But perhaps that’s the nature of this time of year. Things arrive quietly, are felt deeply, and then move on before we’ve quite had time to hold onto them.
And so, having spent part of the month celebrating the women in our own lives, it feels fitting to turn to one who has stood quietly in Stockbridge for centuries.
A Woman Above the Water
Walk along the Water of Leith, between Dean Village and Stockbridge, and you might come across something unexpected.
Set slightly back from the path, framed by eight tall pillars, stands a figure both elegant and still — Hygieia, the Greek goddess of health.
She watches over St Bernard’s Well, one of Edinburgh’s quieter curiosities.
The well itself was built in the late 18th century, after a natural spring was discovered nearby by three schoolboys fishing along the river. Despite the water’s famously unpleasant taste — descriptions range from ‘the odious twang of hydrogen gas’ to something closer to ‘the washings from a foul gun barrel’ — it quickly gained a reputation for its healing properties.
At the time, ‘taking the waters’ was a popular remedy, believed to cure everything from physical ailments to low spirits. Visitors would come to drink, to pause, and perhaps to feel, if only briefly, restored.
The structure above it, designed by the artist Alexander Nasmyth, remains one of the most quietly striking spots along the river. Beneath Hygieia, the ornate pump room — painted in blues, whites and golds — still holds the spring, though it has been closed to the public for many years.
A Different Kind of Remedy
There’s something comforting in the idea that, for centuries, people have come to this same stretch of water looking for a small kind of cure.
Though these days, the ritual might look a little different. Perhaps it’s less about drinking mineral water — and more about coffee.
One writer once suggested that the well’s water, when taken with coffee, could lift the spirits entirely. And while few would be tempted to test that theory now, it does make you wonder whether something of that restorative energy has lingered in the area.
After all, it might explain why the many (and there are MANY) cafés along Raeburn Place — from early morning onwards — are always so full.
Stockbridge seems to have found its own way of restoring people.
A walk along the river. A moment in the sun. A coffee in hand.
And perhaps that’s enough.
The well remains, the water still running somewhere beneath it — though these days, most people opt for coffee instead. Cups in hand they pass by, stopping briefly, then carrying on along the path.
The habits have changed, but the pull of the place hasn’t.
By Cameryn Aubin