The Burryman

Last updated
The Burry Man and his attendants pause for a photo close to the Forth Bridge. August 2013, South Queensferry. Burry Man South Queensferry 2013.jpg
The Burry Man and his attendants pause for a photo close to the Forth Bridge. August 2013, South Queensferry.

The Burryman or Burry Man is the central figure in an annual ceremony or ritual, the Burryman's Parade, that takes place in the town of South Queensferry, near Edinburgh on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in Scotland, on the second Friday of August.

Contents

The custom is associated with, but separate from, the town's Ferry Fair. [1] On the Friday morning of the fair, a local man is covered from head to ankles in burrs (the sticky flowerheads or seedheads of two species of burdock, Arctium lappa and A. minus ) [2] that grow locally, and walked through the town for over nine hours. [3] The meaning of this ceremony has long been forgotten, but it has been the cause of much speculation. [4]

Origins and history

The right to hold the Ferry Fair was first granted in 1687, [5] but the Burryman custom is widely believed to be much older. [1] [2] Similar ceremonies used to be held in other Scottish fishing communities, notably Buckie on the Moray Firth and Fraserburgh, to 'raise the herring' when there had been a poor fishing season. [1] [2] Now, only the South Queensferry ceremony remains in Scotland, though there are possible parallels with the Whittlesea Straw Bear, [1] Irish Wren Day costumes and the Castleton Garland King (and perhaps even the Jack in the green) in England, as well as other customs elsewhere in Europe.

There are many theories about the origin of the custom, what the ceremony means, and why it continues. One idea is that the parade was intended to ward off evil spirits - it can certainly ward off children, some of whom are terrified at the very sight of the Burryman, and avoid looking him in the eye. [2] It has been suggested that he carries on a pagan tradition thousands of years old; that he is a symbol of rebirth, regeneration and fertility (similar to the Green Man) that pre-dates almost all contemporary religions; that he is a "scapegoat" [1] and may even originally have been a sacrificial victim. [2]

The ceremony

According to folklorist Christina Hole, writing in 1976, the day of the Burryman ceremony (the second Friday of August) is the day before the town's Ferry Fair. [1] but the present Ferry Fair website [6] suggests that it comes at the end of a week-long fair.

Costume

Burrs are the hooked, sticky flowerheads of various species of burdock. Arctium minus corimbo.jpg
Burrs are the hooked, sticky flowerheads of various species of burdock.

The Burryman is meant to collect his covering of burrs for himself, as well as any ferns and flowers used to decorate his costume and the two flower-covered staves (poles) that he rests his hands on. [2] John Nichol admits to recruiting his family to help gather the large number of burrs (approximately 11,000), which are meshed together into about 25 flat panels (A3 in size), like natural Velcro, which can be wrapped around his body on the morning of the ceremony. The process takes about half an hour. [7] He dresses in several layers of clothing to protect himself from their hooks. A balaclava covers his head and face; it too is covered with burrs, leaving only small eye and mouth holes; [7] a flower-covered bowler hat tops off the outfit. [4] [8]

He wears boots (his feet are the only parts of his body to remain uncovered by burrs) and has a broad sash around his waist, currently made from a folded Royal Standard of Scotland, [4] displaying the top half of a red lion rampant on a bright yellow background. [8] The choice of flag used in the outfit has varied, as a photograph from the 1970s shows the sash around the waist made from a folded Union Flag. [9] However, more recently no flag has been worn as the Burryman himself wanted a more traditional look as flags round the waist was a fairly new idea [10]

The stickiness of his burry covering means that he has to walk awkwardly, with legs apart and arms held out sideways. [3] He supports his aching arms on waist-high poles decorated with flowers. Two attendants (dressed in normal clothing [1] ) guide him through the town and help him through his ordeal.

Procession

The Burryman walks a seven-mile route through South Queensferry for nine hours or more, [3] starting at the Staghead Hotel where he is dressed in the burrs. [11] The first stop is the former Provost's house at Villa Road then he parades round the town including visits to every public house, at each of which the Burryman is given a free drink of whisky through a straw. Local residents also give the Burryman whisky so by the end of the day he is exhausted. [2] Tradition holds that he will bring good luck to the town if they give him whisky and money, and that bad luck will result if the custom is discontinued. [1]

Choice of Burryman

Only men born in the village can take on the role of the Burryman. The office is commonly held by the same person for a number of years. Alan Reid was the Burryman for 25 years (until 1999); his successor, John Nicol, took over until 2011. [2] Other past holders of the position have included John "Jacko" Hart, Sam Corson, Arne Fredricksen and Judith McPhillips (the Wee Burry Man, 1948).[ citation needed ] Since 2012, the position has been held by Andrew Taylor.

In literature and music

In 2005, the Burry Man inspired an avant-garde folk song by Daniel Patrick Quinn, narrated by local man Duncan Grahl. [12]

The Burry Man is also featured in the 2007 period crime novel The Burry Man's Day by Catriona McPherson.

The Burry Man is a central element of the 2022 Doctor Who audio dramas Way of the Burryman and The Forth Generation from Big Finish Productions. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballycastle, County Antrim</span> Seaside town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland

Ballycastle is a small seaside town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is on the northeasternmost coastal tip of Ireland, in the Antrim Coast and Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The harbour hosts the ferry to Rathlin Island, which can be seen from the coast. The Ould Lammas Fair is held each year in Ballycastle on the last Monday and Tuesday of August. Ballycastle is the home of the Corrymeela Community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Queensferry</span> Human settlement in Scotland

North Queensferry is a village in Fife, Scotland, situated on the Firth of Forth where the Forth Bridge, the Forth Road Bridge, and the Queensferry Crossing all meet the Fife coast, some 10 miles from the centre of Edinburgh. It is the southernmost settlement in Fife. The prefix North serves to distinguish it from South Queensferry, on the opposite shore of the Forth. Both towns derive their name from the ferry service established by Queen Margaret in the 11th century, which continued to operate at the town until 1964, when the Road Bridge was opened.

<i>Ironside</i> (1967 TV series) Television series beginning in 1967

Ironside is an American television crime drama that aired on NBC over eight seasons from 1967 to 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as Robert T. Ironside, a consultant for the San Francisco police department, who was paralyzed from the waist down after being shot while on vacation. The character debuted on March 28, 1967, in a TV movie entitled Ironside. When the series was broadcast in the United Kingdom, from late 1967 onward, it was broadcast as A Man Called Ironside. The show earned Burr six Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Queensferry</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Queensferry, also called South Queensferry or simply "The Ferry", is a town to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Traditionally a royal burgh of West Lothian, it is administered by the City of Edinburgh council area. It lies ten miles to the north-west of Edinburgh city centre, on the shore of the Firth of Forth between the Forth Bridge, Forth Road Bridge and the Queensferry Crossing. The prefix South serves to distinguish it from North Queensferry, on the opposite shore of the Forth. Both towns derive their name from the ferry service established by Queen Margaret in the 11th century, which continued to operate at the town until 1964, when the Road Bridge was opened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campbeltown</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Campbeltown is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre peninsula. Campbeltown became an important centre for Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing port.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inverkeithing</span> Town in Scotland

Inverkeithing is a port town and parish, in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth. A town of ancient origin, Inverkeithing was given royal burgh status during the reign of Malcolm IV in the 12th century. It was an important center of trade during the Middle Ages, and its industrial heritage built on quarrying and ship breaking goes back to the 19th century. In 2016, the town had an estimated population of 4,890, while the civil parish was reported to have a population of 8,090 in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plough Monday</span>

Plough Monday is the traditional start of the English agricultural year. While local practices may vary, Plough Monday is generally the first Monday after Epiphany, 6 January. References to Plough Monday date back to the late 15th century. The day before Plough Monday is sometimes referred to as Plough Sunday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack in the Green</span> Folk custom in England

Jack in the Green, also known as Jack o' the Green, is an English folk custom associated with the celebration of May Day. It involves a pyramidal or conical wicker or wooden framework that is decorated with foliage being worn by a person as part of a procession, often accompanied by musicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invergordon</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Invergordon is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. It lies in the parish of Rosskeen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirkliston</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Kirkliston is a small town and parish to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland, historically within the county of West Lothian but now within the City of Edinburgh council limits. It lies on high ground immediately north of a northward loop of the Almond, on the old road between Edinburgh and Linlithgow, having a crossroads with the road from Newbridge to Queensferry and beyond to Fife. The B800 is variously named Path Brae, High Street, Station Road, and Queensferry Road as it passes through the town. The B9080 is named Main Street and Stirling Road as it passes through.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alness</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Alness is a town and civil parish in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland. It lies near the mouth of the River Averon, near the Cromarty Firth, with the town of Invergordon 3 miles (5 km) to the east, and the village of Evanton 4 miles (6 km) to the south-west. The parish has a population of 5,310, although the census locality, which includes part of the parish of Rosskeen, has a population of 5,186.

A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775) is a travel narrative by Samuel Johnson about an eighty-three-day journey through Scotland, in particular the islands of the Hebrides, in the late summer and autumn of 1773. The sixty-three-year-old Johnson was accompanied by his thirty-two-year-old friend of many years James Boswell, who was also keeping a record of the trip, published in 1785 as A Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. The two narratives are often published as a single volume, which is beneficial for comparing two perspectives of the same events, although they are very different in approach---Johnson focused on Scotland, and Boswell focused on Johnson. In that biography, Boswell gave the itinerary of the trip as beginning at Edinburgh after landing at Berwick upon Tweed, then to St Andrews, Aberdeen, Inverness, and Fort Augustus. From there they went on to the islands of the Hebrides: Skye, Raasay, Coll, Mull, Inch Kenneth, and Iona. Returning to the mainland in Argyll they visited Inverary, Loch Lomond, Dumbarton, Glasgow, Loudoun, Auchinleck in Ayrshire, and Hamilton, and then finished the journey by returning to Edinburgh. Boswell summarised the trip as, "[Johnson] thus saw the four Universities of Scotland, its three principal cities, and as much of the Highland and insular life as was sufficient for his philosophical contemplation."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minehead Hobby Horse</span> Folk custom in Somerset, England

In the coastal town of Minehead, located in the southwest English county of Somerset, there is a folk custom on May Day entailing the parading of a brightly decorated hobby horse around the locality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Straw bear</span>

A straw bear is a traditional character that appears in carnival processions or as a separate seasonal custom in parts of Germany, mainly at Shrovetide but sometimes at Candlemas or Christmas Eve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hobby horse</span> Costumed character

The term "hobby horse" is used, principally by folklorists, to refer to the costumed characters that feature in some traditional seasonal customs, processions and similar observances around the world. They are particularly associated with May Day celebrations, mummers' plays and the Morris dance in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castleton Garland Day</span>

Castleton Garland Day or Garland King Day is held annually on 29 May in the town of Castleton in the Derbyshire Peak District. The Garland King, on horseback, and covered to the waist in a heavy, bell-shaped floral garland, leads a procession through the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siwki (Easter tradition)</span> Tradition

Siwki or Siwek is a regional tradition rooted in Polish folklore, in which a procession of dressed up individuals stops passers-by and performs tricks on them. The event usually takes place on Easter Sunday or Easter Monday.

The Dunfermline and Queensferry Railway was a railway company founded to form part of a rail and ferry route between Dunfermline and Edinburgh, in Scotland. It was authorised in 1873 and its promoters had obtained informal promises from the larger North British Railway that the NBR would provide financial help, and also operate the ferry and the necessary railway on the southern side of the Firth of Forth.

The phrase English festivals cover a number of festivals which are Christian and secular that are traditionally celebrated in England. Most festivals are observed throughout England but some, such as Oak Apple Day, Souling, Rushbearing, Bawming the Thorn, and Hocktide are local to certain regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mummers' play</span> Type of folk play

Mummers' plays are folk plays performed by troupes of amateur actors, traditionally all male, known as mummers or guisers. Historically, mummers' plays consisted of informal groups of costumed community members that visited from house to house on various holidays. Today the term refers especially to a play in which a number of characters are called on stage, two of whom engage in a combat, the loser being revived by a doctor character. This play is sometimes found associated with a sword dance though both also exist in Britain independently.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hole, Christina (1978). A Dictionary of British Folk Customs, pp53–54, Paladin Granada, ISBN   0-586-08293-X
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Flora Celtica
  3. 1 2 3 2007 Burryman route Archived 4 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 3 The Burryman: article at Scotsman.com (accessed 21 September 2009)
  5. The 1687 Proclamation of the Ferry Fair Archived 20 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Ferry Fair website
  7. 1 2 Queensferry's Burryman Archived 2 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine John Nicol's online article
  8. 1 2 Gallery of Burryman 2009 photos (accessed 21 September 2009) Archived 20 April 2013 at archive.today
  9. Extract from book by WW Fyfe Archived 28 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  10. local knowledge from a resident and follower
  11. Local knowledge
  12. "The Burryman featuring Duncan Grahl": (accessed 25 July 2014)
  13. "1.4. Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Old Friends - Doctor Who - the Ninth Doctor Adventures - Big Finish".