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Ottery St Mary.......#1: Burning Tradition Every year British festivals are being lost due to health and safety issues and the ever encroaching tide of the nanny state. Which is why I was pleasantly shocked to hear of the Ottery St Mary Carnival and the flaming tar barrels. But even this great tradition has been under threat recently by the ever increasing cost of liability insurance. In fact were it not for the support of an Insurance company proud of backing traditional events, the Ottery St Mary Barrel Run would now be confined to our history books. The Tar Barrel tradition is hundreds of years old. The exact origins are unknown but probably started after the gunpowder plot of 1605. Various alternative reasons suggested for burning barrels have included fumigation of cottages and as a warning of the approach of the Spanish armada, but ask a person from Ottery and they will tell you that the tradition is linked to pagean fire rituals intended on warding off evil spirits. The Carnival is held on the 5th November each year, and the barrels being prepared and supplied by each of the 17 public houses situated in Ottery St Mary. The barrel run begins in the late afternoon, the are the first to take on the challenge, then the women and finally culminating in the climax of the festivities with the mens Midnight Barrel Run.........     minnie |
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"the children are the first to take the challenge"??? Okay for the adults, but um, should wee beasties be doing this? What exactly are they doing? lol
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