The Burry Man Writers Center
resources for a worldwide community of writers
freelance job links, resources for playwrights, screenwriters, fiction and nonfiction writers working professionals and dedicated beginners with particular support for writing about Scotland
Welcome to The Burry Man
In the artistic world, the most solitary of disciplines may be
that of the writer. There are few premieres or opening nights,
gallery exhibits or unveilings. There is just the work, and the
elusive promise of success. And occasionally there is community.
Since 1997, the community of writers known as The Burry Man
Writers Center
has been a primary source of research information and freelance
job leads for working professional and talented beginning writers.The Burry Man is what might be called "intellectual property" — a space on the Internet where writers from all over the world can come for encouragement, advice and information, without charge. Writers visit from 158 countries and every state in the U.S. The Resource Pages are a guide to more than 4,000 first generation Internet sites from the US, Scotland, England, Ireland, Australia and Canada, as well as Asia, Europe, Africa and around the world.
The Burry Man
The Burry Man has a special place in Scottish tradition and folklore.
Every August, for centuries, the Burry Man has walked the streets of
South Queensferry, Scotland, a village near Edinburgh. The residents
believe he will bring luck to the town if they give him whisky and
money.
The Burry Man walks, 1937
"On the day preceding the Queensferry Fair, the Burry Man who requires
to be either a stout man or robust lad, as weakly persons, like the man in
complete steel who annually sacrifices his life to the Lord Mayors Show in
London, have been known to faint under the heat and fatigue of the dressing, is
indued in his flannels; face, arms, and legs, body all being covered, so as
nearly to resemble a man in chain amour, from the adhesion of the burrs; and the
head, as well as the tops of the staves grasped with extended arms, being
beautifully dressed with flowers; whilst the victim, thus accoutered, is led
from door to door by two attendants who likewise assist in holding up his arms
by grasping the staves. At every door in succession, a shout is raised, and the
inhabitants, severally come forth, bestow there kindly greetings and donatives
of money on the Burry Man who in this way collects, we believe, considerable
sums of money to be eventually divided and spent at the Fair by the youth
associated in this exploit." -- W. W. Fyffe, 1865, from
The Ferry Fair
There are many theories about how he got started, what the ceremony
means, why it continues. Basically, though, he walks, collecting whisky and
money... because he's collecting whisky and money. The fact that he carries on a
tradition thousands of years old (which he does); that he is a symbol of
rebirth, regeneration and fertility that predates just about all contemporary
religions (which it is); that he is covered in burrs from head to foot — ankle,
actually — for long cold and sometimes wet hours perhaps to epitomize a
"scapegoat" or "resurrection" mythology, and is uncomfortable at best and in
great pain at worst (which he most definitely is); is secondary to the fact that
he simply is.
We chose to name our center after him to honor this ancient tradition,
and the generations of townsfolk who have kept it alive. Burry Man Day is the
second Friday in August. Our thanks to Andrew Taylor, John Nicol, Alan
Reid, James "Kitter" Magan, John "Jacko" Hart, Sam Corson, Arne Fredricksen,
Judith McPhillips (the Wee Burry Man, 1948) and all the other stout men, robust
lads and charming lassies who have taken on the mantle of the Burry Man.