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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BURRY MAN, n. comb. Also bury man (w.Lth. 1861 C. Rogers Sc. Character 142). In ne.Sc. = a public scapegoat on whom was symbolically laid all the bad luck of the fishing, and who was chased out of the village. In later times the ceremony consisted simply in the dressing up of someone in woollen clothing covered with burrs, and parading him through the town. This was done before the herring season began, to ensure a successful season. He was sometimes decorated with red herrings or flowers in addition to the burrs and collected money from the people. “In Queensferry the man is covered with burrs from head to foot” (Lnl.¹ 1938). (See also Lnl. quot.)Sc. 1934 Edinburgh Evening News (9 Aug) in 1999 Edinburgh Evening News (26 Oct) 19:
The historic Ferry Fair at South Queensferry takes place tomorrow and, in accordance with ancient custom, the town was paraded today by the Burry Man. For a day or two the surrounding district has been scoured for the prickly heads of the burdock plant which are furnished with minute hooks, which enable the burrs to adhere readily and persistently to each other and any other material of a woolly nature.Sc. 1996 Scotland on Sunday (1 Dec) 25:
Many of the reports came from Scotland and there is a long account of the annual Burry Man parade in Queensferry, for example, ... Sc. 2001 Daily Mail (2 Apr) 24:
The village of South Queensferry on the Firth of Forth has an annual festival which has, as the centre of attraction, an entity known as the Burry Man, covered with a coat of cloth to which are attached thousands of burr pods.
His head and face are protected within a helmet also covered with burrs, except for small openings for his eyes and mouth.
Some cite this as evidence that the original Burry Man, like Bep Kororoti, was an astronaut from another world. Sc. 2003 Daily Record (9 Aug) 25:
A man covered himself from head to toe in sticky burrs yesterday as part of an ancient good luck ceremony.
John Nicol, 29, became the Burry Man to take part in the pagan ritual that is believed to date back 900 years. Sc. 2004 Linlithgow Today (http://www.linlithgowtoday.co.uk) (13 Aug):
Today (Friday), the Burry Man goes walkabout and tonight the fancy dress, boundary race, pram race and Bellstane walk are on.ne.Sc. 1929 J. M. McPherson Prim. Beliefs N.E. Scot. 34:
Down to the middle of the nineteenth century, when the herring fishing had proved a failure, and dire want faced the sea-faring community, resort was had to the burry man.Bnff.² 1930:
That's a fine shot 'at ye hae the day; ye've surely met the burry man.Abd. 1914 J. Cranna Fraserburgh Past and Present vi.:
The favourite method which the fishermen adopted in appealing to “the gods” to “raise” the herrings, was the bringing forward of the “Burry Man.” . . . [He] was carried all over the town . . . followed by an excited crowd. . . . Great hopes were entertained that the fishing would improve. . . . If a big catch did follow, the “Burry Man” got all the credit for it. The last time the “Burry Man” was appealed to in Fraserburgh was in 1864.w.Lth. 1990 Sunday Times (24 Jun):
The Burry Man is a sight not to be missed. Covered from head to toe in burrs collected from disused local quarries and wearing a bowler bedecked with roses and one red dahlia, he saunters around South Queensferry, East [sic] Lothian, near Edinburgh on the second Friday in August.Lnl. 1852 (2nd ed.) W. W. Fyfe Summer Life on Land and Water 48:
A strange custom, perpetuated to the present day amongst the youth of Queensferry, has been supposed to commemorate . . . the passage of the king [Malcolm Canmore] and queen [Margaret] to and from Edinburgh and Dunfermline. . . . We refer to the annual procession of the Burryman, got up on the day preceding the annual fair.