The Burry Man

"During the Ferry Fair, on the first Friday in August, the ancient Queensferry tradition of the Burry Man is performed. Each year a resident of the town is chosen to be the Burry Man. He is dressed from head to ankle in burrs, the spikey seed cases of the burdock plant, and paraded through the streets for nine hours.

The purpose of the Burry Man is unclear. It would seem to relate to a ritual invoking good fortune. Similar figures once existed in the north-eastern ports of Freserburgh and Buckie where they were thought to bring good luck to the herring fishing... The Burry Man's costume is destroyed to release the man inside and is therefore renewed each year."
- From the museum in South Queensferry

I went on a bit of a photography expedition with a friend who also got a shiny new camera for Christmas. I got lots of great shots of The Forth Rail Bridge but Burry Man is the blip for today. I've never heard of this tradition but it's so gloriously Wicker Man-esque I couldn't resist.