Περὶ τοῦ Ἐθνικοῦ Ἔπους τῶν νεωτέρων Ἑλλήνων. ὑπὸ Ν. Γ. Πολίτου.
Athens: Sakellarios, 1906.

THIS speech, delivered in the National University on 14 Jan.,
1907, has by some miracle not explained been published in
1906. The learned author sketches the impulse towards epic
poetry in Europe in the 12th century, with special reference to
the Greek epic of Digenis Akritas. After some critical remarks
on the various known recensions, he discusses the date, apparently
that of the first struggles with Islam. Large numbers of episodes
from this epic are still recited, and only a part have been
recorded in writing or in print. It may be worth while adding
that Mr. Dawkins, Director of the British School at Athens, is
engaged in collecting the disiecta membra.

W. H. D. R.

Books for Review should be addressed to
THE EDITOR OF Folk-Lore,

c/o DAVID NUTT,

57-59 LONG ACRE, LONDON, W.C.

Folk-Lore.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

(Read at Meeting, 15th April, 1908.)

ON the second Friday in August the annual fair is held at South Queensferry, a small burgh of great antiquity, just below the Forth Bridge. The fair takes place in a field within a convenient distance (the burgh has now no common land of its own) and consists of the usual shows and merry-go-rounds with the recent addition of pipeplaying and reel-dancing. On the day before the fair, a house-to-house visitation is made by the Burry-man, a character who has existed from time immemorial. The ceremony is now left to the boys of the place, who make their rounds to collect money to be spent at the fair next day.

The Burry-man is a boy dressed in a tight-fitting suit of white flannel covered entirely with burrs stuck on. The covering goes over his whole body and partly over his face, so as to form a more or less efficient

disguise. He is also adorned with flowers and ribbons, wears a head-dress of flowers, and carries in each hand a staff decorated with flowers and leaves. He is accompanied by two other boys in ordinary dress, who stand one on each side of him, supporting his outstretched arms and apparently guiding his movements. An interested group of children follow at a respectful distance, but only the Burry-man and his attendants come to the house. The asking is done by the attendants, the Burry-man maintaining a dignified silence. None of the attendants are decorated. I was informed that sometimes two Burry-men were led about and called the King and Queen, but this seems to be regarded as an unimportant variation.

In the photographs (1908) (Plates VIII. and IX.), the head-dress is a good deal larger and heavier than my recollection of it two years before, so that it covers more of the face.

As I learn by the courtesy of the Town-Clerk of South Queensferry, there are no documents or records bearing on the subject, but a description of the custom is given in the following quotations:

Fyfe, Summer Life on Land and Water, p. 48,
published 1851.

"A strange custom perpetuated to the present day among the youth of Queensferry, has been supposed to commemorate at once the passage of the King and Queen to and from Edinburgh and Dunfermline, and to indicate the civic origin of the place. We refer to the annual procession of the Burry-man, got up on the day preceding the Annual Fair amongst the boys of Queensferry, and traced back for time immemorial to the

1 Mention is also made of the custom in Sinclair's Statistical Account (Linlithgow), 1845, and in Porteous' Town Council Seals of Scotland.