Locals turn out to celebrate annual tradition of the Burryman parade

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

An age-old ritual has taken place in a Scottish town with the “Burryman” parading through South Queensferry in a tradition believed to bring good luck.

The festivities are thought to date back about 400 years and are believed to have originally celebrated the harvest or the changing of the seasons.

Every year on the second Friday of August, the Burryman parade – described by historians as “one of Scotland’s most intriguing folk traditions still celebrated” – takes place in the town near Edinburgh.

The Burrymann – a role undertaken for the last 10 years by Andrew Taylor – wears a homemade outfit decorated with tens of thousands of burdock burrs.

The ritual is believed to bring good luck to people if they give the Burryman a dram of whisky – which he has to drink through a straw due to the balaclava which is part of his costume – or a cash donation.

The Burryman’s journey began at 9am when he emerged from the Stag Head Hotel on the High Street, and covers about nine miles, with 20 stops.

The day ends at the waterfront at 6pm, near the Forth Bridge.

Traditionally, the Burryman and his family had collect all the burrs used – although in recent years, neighbours have helped.

The burrs, which have a natural Velcro-like quality, are attached to large sections of material, which are fixed onto a bodysuit and balaclava.

Mr Taylor wore a garland of flowers on his head, which will be given to someone in the town.

Flowers and Lion Rampant flags were also used to decorate staffs to help him walk, and Mr Taylor was accompanied by two minders and a third person ringing a bell, shouting, “Hip hip hooray, it’s the Burryman’s Day”.

The Edinburgh Museum website says: “It’s a privilege for any person to hold the role of the Burryman, as it is being part of the team dressing him each year.”