The Burryman

Every year on the second Friday of August, during the Ferry Fair, a strange spectacle can be seen walking round the town of South Queensferry, West Lothian. What appears to be an accident between a man, a big jar of honey and a gorse bush wanders round and round collecting money and getting drunk. It could only happen in Scotland.

The Burryman is an ancient tradition, dating back at least 900 years, and is said to bring luck to the yearly fair. During the day, a local man is dressed in a full body costume made of flannel, before completely covering himself in burrs – (the hooked fruits of Arctium Lappa and Arctium Minus, to be precise). The Burryman must collect all these burrs himself, as well as flowers and ferns to decorate his costume. Once covered in his Arctium suit, the Burryman finishes off the ensemble with a flower-covered bowler hat, a flag cummerbund and two staves of flowers. It is a sight to be seen.

This will be John Nicol, a 32-year-old graphic designer's eighth year as the Burryman, a job he concedes few people would want to do, but which he considers an honour.

"It's an ancient tradition and I get satisfaction from having done it," he says. "It is so much an icon of Queensferry and I am only looking after the tradition for a couple of years."

Where this outlandish ceremony came from is a bit of a mystery. Some people associate it with a fishing ritual, to celebrate the fruits of the sea and propitiate the gods for further bounty. There has been a suggestion that the Burryman is a representative of the Green Man who pops up in many folklore traditions and represents vegetation and fertility. Yet others maintain that it commemorates the landing of Queen Margaret, from whom the town took its name, and whose husband hid from the English in a gorse bush.

Whatever the origins, his function is clear. The Burryman is there to vacuum up evil and spread good fortune for the coming year. It is an onerous undertaking.

"I take a week off work to prepare for it", says Nicol. "Me and my girlfriend and dad need to collect the burrs – over 11,000 of them. It can be a problem because the plants only produce seeds every two years and possibly due to the hot spell there are not that many around this year."

Once the burrs are collected Nicol is helped into his outfit by his dad and uncle, who will remain with him throughout the day. He puts on cords, T-shirt, long johns, long-sleeved thermal vest and balaclava onto which the burrs are stitched. It's unfortunate that Nicol is claustrophobic.