A Tradition That May Make Couples Think Twice About Getting Married In Skye
Happy Valentine’s Day! When are we covering you and your partner in gunge?
The Scottish ritual of ‘blackening’ will be the maddest and muckiest romantic tradition you’ll come across this Valentine’s.
A pre-wedding ritual done here in the Highlands, Islands and rural bits of Scotland, the blackening is where a groom and/or bride are taken out in public (often in the back of a truck) and doused in a range of unmentionables: treacle, flour, feathers, custard, fish guts, cow dung – anything goes. Ideally a mix of as many as possible, the more disgusting the better.
This is a real recent Blackening, right here in Portree on the Isle of Skye. Perfect for Valentine’s Day.
Ah, the romance.
No-one really knows where this bizarre tradition of blackening comes from, but there are theories. It might come from an old pre-wedding cleansing ritual, where soot was used to dirty the feet of the bride and groom before being ceremonially washed away - a symbol of readiness for marriage.
Or it could be for luck: a married woman drops her ring in the mixture that’s poured over the couple, a pretty extreme way to wish someone a long and happy marriage.
Another theory is it that it’s supposed to ward off any local fairies eyeing up the groom for abduction – the ritual of the blackening itself acting out a type of kidnap instead.
After it’s over past brides and grooms have been tied to lampposts and left for their partner to find; or alternatively thrown into the sea together which sounds, let’s be honest, like it would be a relief.
So on this Valentine’s Day, remember the path of true love never did run smooth. It’s actually a kind of stinky, gloopy affair.
ÒR x
