A burning torch, or "flambeaux" as burned at New Year in Comrie
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Flambeaux Procession
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When:
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31 Dec 2007 (annual)
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Where:
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Comrie
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| Opening Hours: |
6.30pm
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The beautiful Perthshire village of Comrie is ablaze at New Year for the annual Flambeaux Procession, when hundreds of locals gather in the village square for a ceremony of eight flambeaux (fired torches) which process around the village before being ceremonially thrown and extinguished in the River Earn.
The torches are pretty impressive - some ten feet long, usually made from small birch trees felled in October. On the first Sunday after Armistice Day (mid-November) the tops are swathed in Hessian bags (usually "tattie" or potato bags) and soaked in a barrel of paraffin for several weeks.
On New Year's Eve they are lined up along the dyke at the north-east corner of Comrie's Auld Kirkyaird (Old Churchyard) before being lit at midnight. The strongest young men then hoist them aloft and parade them through the streets, behind Comrie Pipe Band, stopping in the Square for the judging of the adult fancy dress competition in front of a massive bonfire. The torches are then carried to Dalginross Bridge, where they are thrown into the river and extinguished.
The origins of the flambeaux (from "beautiful flames") tradition are lost in the mists of time, but they are most commonly thought to have derived from pagan times, with the flames flushing out evil spirits from the village so the New Year can be greeted clear of bad influence.
On a clear, crisp New Year's Eve this extraordinary tradition can attract some 2000 people.
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