The traditional annual 'Burning of the Clavie' at Burghead Moray on January 11th the Pagan New Year. SCO 7102
On January 11th each year, which is the Pagan New Year, the ancient ceremony of Burning The Clavie takes place in Burghead. The Clavie is a tar barrel which is filled with wood and tar then set alight. This burning mass is carried around the streets of Burghead by The Clavie King and his crew, followed by cheering crowds as periodically the Clavie King stops outside a designated cottage, and a piece of burning wood is handed to the resident. (In former times the burning wood was thrown into the cottage). The burning barrel is then taken to The Doorie Hill where it is placed on the Clavie Chimney. Here, as the crowd cheer wildly, more fuel is thrown on the fire setting the whole of the hill alight. The crowd stay until the Clavie falls down, before returning to open houses which offer hospitality and friendship, plus free entertainment and food which is provided in the local hotels and inns in order to celebrate the successful welcoming of the traditional Burghead New Year. (The Clavie tradition never takes place on a Sunday. When 11th January is a Sunday this traditional event will be on Saturday 10th January.)
Size: 5620px × 3733px
Location: Burghead Moray, Grampian Region, Scotland. UK.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -, ..., abominable, activity, age, barrel, burghead, burning, bustling, capital, carrying, celtic, century, ceremony, chambered, clavie, condemned, crowd, custom, drama, east, eighteenth, ensure, festival, fire, firth, fisher, fishermen, fishing, flames, folk, fort, fuelled, heat, heathenish, high, hoisted, iron, local, lot, millennium, moray, nail, nailed, north, origin, pictish, port, post, practice., region, ritual, ritually, roman, scotland, scottish, shoulders, spectacle, successful, superstitions., superstitious, superstiton, tar, tradition, viking, villager., visual, wooden, year, year.
