Never heard of it, and to be honest the way it's described here sounds really off-putting.
Unsuspecting bride and groom-to-be suddenly grabbed and cable-tied while people throw food, manure and blood all over them? And then some people are leaving public facilities in a mess because of it?
I hope it's not as bad as it's described here. Presumably anyone who gets involved with this is at least giving their consent beforehand. Doesn't excuse the lack of cleaning up though.
I'm Scottish and I guarantee you most scottish people have never heard of it. Even the people i know further north have never mentioned it. Very odd report.
johndane said: I'm Scottish and I guarantee you most scottish people have never heard of it. Even the people i know further north have never mentioned it. Very odd report.
I'm from the northeast (Aberdeenshire) with a farming background and have seen quite a few over the years. Usually it is only the groom who is blackened - I think doing it to the bride as well must be an Orcadian peculiarity because I've certainly never come across that before. Years ago they used to use old engine oil and other really nasty substances but these days it mostly seems to be treacle and feathers.
A few years ago I actually declined to take part a blackening for one of my friends when he got married because I didn't fancy the idea of blurring the lines with my WAM fetish. It just felt a but inappropriate to me.
It is a tradition that seems restricted to the rural areas of North East of Scotland and some parts of Northern Ireland. Solely the Bride is blackened in Aberdeenshire, but further north in Scotland both the Bride and groom are Blackened. It started about 200 years ago has been going on for several generations, but getting more messy.
It is quite extreme but the people in these areas seen keen to continue this tradition. The people in these areas understand that it will happen to them shortly before the wedding.
People in other parts of Scotland have often never heard of this.
A professor from Aberdeen University even did a report on this. https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~culturalanalysis/volume15_2/pdf/Young.pdf
It's an old tradition in the North East of Scotland that's been going on for years. Blackening the bride as well as the groom is basically updating it for the modern era of equality. I wouldn't read too much into the "grabbed without warning" bit, given actually doing that would be assault and illegal, in general the couple know it's going to happen, nd roughly when, with consent in advance.
It happens in the western isles of Scotland too. It's tradition for the groom and many times the bride to be subject to this about a fortnight out from the wedding. It's not entirely unexpected although usual is sprung when least expected. After being thoroughly covered in old eggs, buckets of treacle and other slop the couple are tied to the back of a pick up and driven round town and villages in a procession with horns blaring.
I've heard of it in certain places in the central belt of Scotland too, but specifically in farming communities there. Seems to be as much a farmer thing as a regional thing.
This seems very similar to Recibida or Huevada in South America. A lot of cultures actually have "baptism"-type rituals when someone goes through a major life milestone like graduation, marriage, significant birthdays, etc.
MuddyOtter said: I've heard of it in certain places in the central belt of Scotland too, but specifically in farming communities there. Seems to be as much a farmer thing as a regional thing.
It certainly seems to be restricted mainly to RURAL areas and small towns. The largest town that i have seen where it is practiced is Fraserburgh with a population of 13,000.
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