Fillan of Pittenweem

Fillan of Pittenweem (or Saint Fillan of Pittenweem; c.695–c.770), not to be confused with the later Fillan of Munster who settled at Strath Fillan, was an early medieval Irish missionary, monk, and hermit associated with spreading Christianity in Scotland, particularly in Fife and the surrounding regions. He is traditionally believed to have been born in Ireland, the son of Feriach and Saint Kentigerna, and to have travelled to Scotland where he evangelized and later lived as a hermit in a cave at Pittenweem. According to legend, he wrote his sermons in the darkness of his cave with the aid of a luminous left arm given by divine grace, a tale that endures in local folklore.

Fillan of Pittenweem worked in Aberdour (where the parish church bears his name) and in Forgan. On the top of Dunfillan, near Comrie, was a rocky seat where, according to tradition, Fillan sat and gave his blessing to the surrounding country. Up until the eighteenth century, there was a belief that sitting there could be beneficial for rheumatism of the back. A stone basin at the bottom of the hill was known as "Fillan's Spring", whose water was said to cure sore eyes.

According to historian and antiquary William Forbes Skene, the village of St Fillans, on the eastern end of Loch Earn, takes its name from him. Stories of his relics being carried before the Scottish army at the Battle of Bannockburn are part of later medieval tradition, and his feast day is observed on 20 June.

Fillan of Pittenweem died at the disert of Tyrie near Kinghorn