Burry Man

About 20 years ago, whilst I was studying theatre and ancient performance traditions, I found a postcard that really caught my eye and imagination. It shows a rather odd trio: two men in formal dress at a bar, holding up a third man between them, dressed head-to-foot in a green costume, made of some kind of organic matter.
The title on the back of the card said "Burry Man, South Queensferry".

I have carried this card with me as a treasured possession since.

I happened to mention this to my brother-in-law, Steven, a while ago, and he said "Yeah. The Burry Man. He's my mate".
My jaw must have hit the floor.
Turns out, Steven had been one of the Burry Man's two official helpers for the last few years.
Could he arrange for me to meet this Burry Man?
"Aye."

So this August, thanks to Steven and John Nicol (the Burrry Man himself), I traveled up to South Queensferry to witness the procession and take a few photos.
For John, the Burry Man is clearly a great responsibility, but also a burden. 11,000 burrs make the costume into which John would be sewn for over 10 hours, as he walked (unable to lower his arms) miles around the town. After 13 years of taking the role, this would be John's final year.

In the end I took several hundred shots, which I have finally edited down to 35 which I think give a flavor of the day.

Let me know what you think.

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