Country diary: Down the road from the Edinburgh fringe … a true local tradition of costume and whisky | Doc Rowe — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Andrew Taylor, 43, completed his final Burryman procession after 15 years in the role, having announced that 30-year-old Cameron Forrester will take over in 2026.
- The Burryman walks a seven-mile route over roughly 10 hours, covered in thousands of hooked burdock seedheads, accompanied by two attendants and pausing at around 20 stops to collect charitable donations.
- Cameron Forrester, born in South Queensferry, has carried collecting tins in the procession since age nine and today served his final turn as bell-ringer, proclaiming "Hip, Hip, Hooray, it's the Burryman's Day!".
- Taylor publicly acknowledged that remaining in the role too long can discourage younger people from stepping up, framing his departure as a deliberate succession.
- The tradition, part of the Ferry Fair held 10 miles from the Edinburgh fringe every August, dates to the 17th century though its origins remain unknown; author Doc Rowe has attended for nearly 50 years and known six Burrymans.
- Householders receive a burr from the costume as a good-luck token — a ritual element the author notes only became essential in the last 30 years, underscoring that the custom is actively evolving rather than frozen in time.
Why it matters: The handover matters because Taylor's stated reason for stepping aside — that 15 years risked discouraging younger volunteers — turns the Burryman into a case study in how a centuries-old local tradition deliberately avoids calcifying around a single figure. With Forrester, 30, already a 21-year veteran of the procession, the role passes to someone embedded in the community rather than to a ceremonial placeholder.
Ask SkimNews
