This is what I was referring to, Mary Anne Pennington Foreman and Helen Thompson Fox, about strange and comical traditions from Scotland. The people of Burghead, Moray, enjoy another unique ancient fire ritual known as the Burning of the Clavie. The clavie is a half barrel filled with wood shavings and tar nailed onto a carrying post which is hoisted onto the shoulders of a local villager. The clavie is then lit by a peat from the hearth of the home of an old Burghead Provost, and ten men (traditionally fishermen) take turns carrying it around the village streets, eventually coming to the stone altar of the old fort on Doorie Hill. The men set the clavier down on the altar and add more fuel until the entire hillside is ablaze with a beacon of fire. Onlookers snatch up the dying embers to kindle their own fireplaces at home, to keep them as lucky talismans, or to send to loved ones who have moved out of Burghead. Burning of the Clavie Burning of the Clavie Other ancient Hogmanay customs included running around the village dressed up in the hides of cattle, lighting bonfires, rolling blazing tar barrels down the hill, and tossing torches. Animal hide was also wrapped around sticks and set ablaze, producing a smoke that was believed to be very effective in warding off evil spirits. (This smoking stick was also known as a Hogmanay.) Some of these customs have continued into the present day, especially in the small, older communities of the Highlands and Isles, where old traditions remain vibrant. On the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, for example, young boys don sheep skins and go from house to house for treats of black buns and shortbread. Rise up, guid wife, an shake your feathers, they say at the door, dinna think that we are beggars! We are bairns come out to play, get up and gies our Hogmanay!
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 12:02:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015