From the archives: Scottish Lourdes, 16 August, 1926

THE Roman Catholic community of Scotland held a demonstration at Carfin Grotto, Lanarkshire, yesterday, when about 30,000 people visited the shrine and took part in a fully ritualistic procession in the grotto grounds.

The scene at the Grotto yesterday was remarkable, hundreds of 
people crushing and jostling one another to drink of the water at the “Scottish Lourdes”. An accident occurred when the great crowd was repeating 
“Ave Maria”. About twenty women and children were watching the spectacle from the top of a washhouse near-by, when the roof crashed in. The crowd in the vicinity stampeded. So great was the rush that parts of the walls of the structure were broken down. When the debris was cleared away, twelve persons pinned underneath were found to be suffering from bruisings and shock, but fortunately no serious injury was sustained.

• archive.scotsman.com