AND now some verse: “For all our science and technical skill/We watch with hearts that hungry still/Leap with a wild primeval thrill/At the leaping flames on the Doorie Hill.”
Yes indeed, if you’ve a clavie about your person, you might want to think about burning it this week. Or, better still, head to Doorie Hill, if you will, and aren’t, like, ill, to see it done properly.
The Doorie Hill houses the remains of an ancient fort at Burghead, in Moray, and every year on January 11, the clavie – a half-barrel filled with tar and wood-shavings – is ritually burned there.
Why January 11? Well, therein lies a tale and, if you’ll gather round your coal-effect fire, I’ll tell you it.
In 1599, the old Scottish Parliament back in the normal days passed a law decreeing that, from 1600, the first day of the year would be January 1. That might sound reasonable on the face of it. But this was based on the old Julian calendar, invented by Julius Caesar, the Roman geezer, and was superseded in 1752 by the Gregorian calendar, named after Pope Gregory X3 (or XIII in old money).
This removed 11 days from the calendar, which led to rioting in several rural areas. However, Burghead decided to have the best of both worlds, celebrating two New Year’s Eves, one on December 31 and another on January 11.
Brochers celebrate the latter with a group of men taking turns to carry the burning clavie round the streets then up the hill to a stone altar, where more fuel is added and the sky lights up.
The reasons for doing this are lost in the mists of time, though the ritual is variously attributed to the Picts, Romans, Vikings and 18th century drunks. Indeed, there are so many fire festivals of one sort and another now that Scotland could get a reputation as the fire-raising capital of Europe.
But that’s enough aboot arson. These festivals are all good, ritualistic fun, throwing heat and light at the cold, dark skies and providing onlookers with the “wild primeval thrill” of Mary Harding’s verse.
The Burning of the Clavie starts at 6pm in Burghead on Thursday.
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