Goodness gracious, it’s that time again.
Time to keep alive a 115 year old tradition in the Mearns and see in the New Year in with great, flaming balls of fire.
Stonehaven surely hosts the most dramatic of Scottish Hogmanay rituals.
Bill Emslie with his daughter Lynn Callaghan are seen here in 1996 preparing their fire balls.
A properly prepared fireball is a thing of great secrecy.
Fireball swingers make their own fireballs by filling wire baskets with a mixture of flammable materials.
Participants keep their recipes secret, but the object is to create a fireball that will stay lit and burn brightly for a long time— and that’s not easy.
The swingers light their fireballs just before midnight in preparation for the great festive hoolie.
To crowds of 12,000 or more, a wildly drumming pipe band heralds the start of the evening at around 11pm.
At last, a lone piper leads the fireball swingers into the town centre as the crowd counts down the last few seconds before the New Year.
They head down from the Market Cross to the harbour swinging their fireballs all the while, showering sparks into the crowd.
Once they reach the shore, they hurl them into the sea. The evening then explodes into a huge fireworks display.
It’s thought the tradition arose from an ancient local ritual practiced by Old Stonehaven fishermen.
This probably arose in turn from pre-Christian beliefs that flame purifies and wards off evil spirits.
For the notoriously superstitious fishermen, this would bring the fleet good luck.
With most of the male fireball swingers clad in kilts, usually it’s the women who wear trousers.
At one time, only those born in the burgh of Stonehaven were worthy of the honour of swinging a fireball.
In the 1960s when the festival began to decline, the rules changed, and today, anyone who has lived in Stonehaven for a period of time and who has served as a fireball marshal for at least one festival can apply to take part.
Covid put paid to Hogmanay celebrations for two years, but in Stonehaven, the ancient tradition was kept alive.
Three balls were swung in the garden of a house on the Old Pier and others were thrown into the harbour to ward off evil and bring luck to the fishermen.
This year’s event is sure to be another memorable occasion!
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