Crazy British Traditions (tar barrels, gurning, cheese rolling, and more!) 🇬🇧

[@WanderingRavens]

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[@thedisabledwelshman9266]

guns are allowed in the states but kids slides are banned?.. sounds reasonable. not.

[@DPYROAXIS]

Holy Grail is in Scotland

[@TwisterMw]

Guy fawkes the only man to walk into parliament with honest intentions

[@WanderingRavens]

😂😂

[@tsrgoinc]

How can you say honest, he was doing it for Spain! Do it for yourself or for your mates but not for Spain, they’re up to something!

[@terrytibs1977]

Don’t talk shite

[@TwisterMw]

Ross Smith it’s a very well known saying is all

[@alanlee1355]

It never gets old. 😂

[@JRCSalter]

Tar Barrels is a weird, yet awesome tradition. I live mere miles from Ottery, and have been there many times. I don't know many people who haven't. If you live in the West country, it's almost required that you see it at least once. It's more entertaining when you realise there are ZERO barriers between the spectators and the people carrying the barrels (and not just the men, but the women, and the children too. Yes, even kids get in on the flaming action). This lack of separation ensures you soon realise that no matter how tightly packed a crowd is, there is ALWAYS a way to cram more people into a smaller space as long as an insane person is running at you carrying a massive flaming barrel on their back! It's entertaining, but it does require active participation from the audience to ensure you don't get hurt. Which always amazes me how some people see fit to bring their very young kids along. I have no idea what's going to happen this year though as there is no way to ensure social distancing at that event.

[@carlahlayton]

Somebody got a barrel dropped on his leg tonight and went to hospital and someone fell over a wall and smacked her head but I still love it

[@Westcountrynordic]

I nearly tried the cheese rolling event but once I got to the top of the hill I said sod it and went for a pint instead

[@WanderingRavens]

Good call!! 😂😂 You lived to write about it at least haha

[@steveknight878]

The Tar Barrels at Ottery St Mary is wonderful. Great fun. It isn't just the men that do it, though. There are events for women and for children (somewhat smaller barrels, particularly for the children, but just as fiery). It get a little crowded, but it is quite a spectacle. Hardly anyone gets killed.

[@enbenby]

'To those who didn't understand the jokes' was actually the best joke of all lol. Great video, love this channel :)

[@WanderingRavens]

Glad you enjoyed it! 😂😂

[@jillhobson6128]

@@WanderingRavens Another great video. You just keep getting better and better. You've certainly got an understanding of the British sense of humour.

[@WanderingRavens]

@@jillhobson6128 Thank you!! We're learning ;)

[@Si_Vert]

You could have included "Up Helly Aa" from Shetland, Scotland. 50 Squads of 50 people plus thousands of spectators with flaming torches burning Viking Boats. It's pretty spectacular.

[@WanderingRavens]

That sounds amazing! We hadn't heard of it before, thank you for sharing that with us!

[@charlestaylor3027]

Or the Beltane Fire festival in Edinburgh

[@SavageIntent]

Yeah I was fully expecting Up Helly Aa. I went last year, and it was spectacular. After the whole ship burning parade, all 50 teams tour a number of townhalls or gyms or big school halls and have to do a silly dance or performance that they practice before. Some of the performances are pretty silly, but seeing a 70 year old rugged Shetlander doing the "baby shark do do do do" dance is hilarious. Other teams try to go big, such as hiring Wagner (a C list celebrity of a long past season of the X Factor) to dress as a viking and sing for them. All the teams will be getting steadily more drunk from the end of the ship burning parade until they perform at the last hall. Only once they finish at the last hall (at about 8 in the morning) will the teams be considered done for the night. Truly a sight to behold, although to get to Shetland, it's a 15 hour journey on the ferry across the North Sea, and I personally vomited all over my self within the first half hour of the journey.

[@frankbrodie5168]

I visited a penpal in the Shetlands in '95 (back when such quaint things as penpals still existed) And she recommended I plan my stay to coincide with Up Helly Aa. Totally mental tradtion, and in fact people for that matter.

[@stevetaylor8698]

I am not sure blowing up Parliament is such a villainous thing to do. There is so much hot air in the place I am surprised it doesn't go up by itself anyway.

[@emmamaclean737]

Lmao

[@WanderingRavens]

😂😂

[@Graham196]

The plot was an assassination attempt on King James 1st, with the intention of placing the Kings daughter Elizabeth Stuart on the throne as a Catholic monarch when she was 9.

[@stevetaylor8698]

@@Graham196 Yes, we recusant Catholics are still here in Yorkshire plotting away, our time will come.

[@craigmccullough7333]

Guy Fawkes - the last person to enter Parliament with honest intent. Guy Fawkes - where are you when we need you.

[@grizzlygamer8891]

Bonfire night is in fact a celebration of Guy Fawkes plot being foiled. That's why we burn his effigy.

[@madeinsane]

I was going to write this but I think they were being sarcastic (getting too good at British humour)

[@chaoticgoddess8259]

But if you're from Scotland we celebrate the fact that he almost succeeded in blowing up the UK Government haha

[@alex-E7WHU]

But if you are from England you celebrate the lack of bollocks shown by the sweaties during the indyref. Absolutely gutless. 😂🤣

[@tomlynch8114]

There’s the Shrovetide Football games too. Several towns around England (most notably Alnwick in Northumberland and Ashbourne in Derbyshire) carry on the traditions of the medieval ‘Folk Football’ games every Shrove Tuesday. Teams numbering hundreds of people on each side are generally divided into two parishes and it’s basically a huge free for all, which can get very rough, as the teams battle through the streets of the town, across fields, rivers and streams, attempting to win the game by kicking the ball in the opponent’s goal. I like the ritual that takes place in Alnwick, where there’s a procession led by Northumbrian pipers dressed in Black and White checked Northumbrian tartan (older than the Scottish tartan just over the border) alongside Flag carriers bearing the Union Jack and the Northumbrian Flag of Bernicia, and the Ball carrier all march down to Alnwick castle. The ball is then handed over to the Duke of Northumberland, who throws the ball from the ramparts of the castle, starting the game. Folk Football gradually became more formalised, leading to rules and the establishment of modern Football (Soccer) and Rugby.

[@karlharrison6544]

Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football is played on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. The goals are mill stones accessed in the river, you have to get wet to goal the ball by tapping it on the stone three times. Each days play begins at 2.00pm and end of play is at 10.00pm, so only short matches 😀

[@WanderingRavens]

The comments seem to be glitchy today! Sorry! There must be a KZbin bug going around.

[@MatthewEJames]

you forgot Shrovetide football

[@lazyoldmanathome7699]

At first your video wouldn't play as it said it was for RESTRICTED viewing. I had to change my settings.

[@loismiller9123]

For a second I forgot Americans didn’t celebrate bonfire night 😂🤦🏼‍♀️

[@WanderingRavens]

We'd never heard of it before last year!

[@vaudevillian7]

They used to!

[@chickennugget3362]

We never used to have halloween here, it's something that's come across the pond in the last 20 years.

[@skiveman]

@@chickennugget3362 If you're in the UK, then you're probably not from Scotland. Halloween has been a thing for many years. If you didn't do Halloween in England and got it from the Americans, then you just got it 3rd hand as it was a Scottish thing first.

[@ftumschk]

@@skiveman I'm a child of the 60s and we certainly celebrated Hallowe'en, but the tradition goes back centuries. We had apple-bobbing, Jack-o-lanterns (made of carved turnips/swedes, not pumpkins), we visited our neighbours dressed as witches/ghosts/etc to wish them "Happy Hallowe'en", in hopes they'd give us money or sweets in return... but it wasn't obligatory, and we wouldn't "trick" those who didn't. "Trick or Treat" didn't arrive in my part of the UK until long after I grew up.

[@simonbutterfield4860]

I love your sense of humour guys, I for one got the giggles with this vid.

[@WanderingRavens]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it! We loved learning about all these British traditions :D

[@isiteckaslike]

Two more you might want to check out (both from Cornwall): 1. The Floral Dance (Helston on 8th May) kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5nNi6NmntZon8U 2. The Padstow Obby Osses (Padstow on Mayday) kzbin.info/www/bejne/ioLJfqJ3rcaBobc

[@steveorland]

I l really like you guys but, sorry to be specific, Guy Fawkes is said "Guy Forks" not "Guy Fox"

[@WanderingRavens]

Oh my! Our American accent is coming through strong there 😂

[@JohannaInTheCorner]

Wandering Ravens , I am going to agree with absolutely everything @Steve Orland says here... the 1) really like you guys 💋 and 2) forks/fox comment. I get saying it’s a strong accent, but I suggest in conversation with brits, you ‘put the effort in’ as Fox is not an uncommon surname in the country, and people can be a little funny about names. You do a really really good job in getting place names sorted! Let’s face it, 416 years after the event and Guy Fawkes is still a biggie for us...an act of terrorism - celebrated... it’s clearly something that got under our collective skins... and you guys deserve to be on ‘team uk’ and hearing ‘Fox’ just wouldn’t cut it. 🥰

[@melanoire]

Don't sweat it, whether you say 'forks' (the correct way) or 'fox', Brits will know who you mean!

[@SJ-GodofGnomes21]

He was also known as Guido Fawkes in Spain. He was a mercenary, with a specific set of skills

[@neuralwarp]

The English AW sound is guttural, like WW, distinct from O or OR.

[@welshdragon99]

You need to check out the Mari Llwyd if you ever do another traditions video, it's a horse's skull on a stick which is carried from house to house demanding beer in song and must be refused in song

[@WanderingRavens]

Wow! Thank you for introducing us to that! 😂

[@ftumschk]

Beat me to it :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5TZp4qZebGUnbs

[@RainbowSauceGames]

Yes! I just commented about this too!! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari_Lwyd

[@paulhill1665]

Wassailing? The blessing of cider trees by a young lady, in the west country, normally in January, and very Pagan.

[@WanderingRavens]

Haven't heard of this one!!

[@ianpark1805]

@@WanderingRavens Often accompanied by unrestrained gunfire, unusual in Britain!

[@ronrichardson3103]

Yes it's true I've heard of it . Not sure what it is tho.

[@simonmorris4226]

@@ronrichardson3103 think carol singing with drink. In certain parts of the country in May!

[@markprior2278]

Ive not heard of most of these, but when you put these traditions all together it makes us sound insane.

[@ianpark1805]

There’s a tar barrel ceremony on New Years Eve in Allendale, Northumbria which we went to several years ago. I thought it would be a quiet local ceremony but we had to park well over a mile outside the village and walk through snow to get to the village, which was packed (getting to the pub, never mind getting in, was a non starter). A quieter tradition we attended nearer home was the Burning Bartle ceremony at West Witton, held on the Saturday following St Bartholomew’s Day in August. All the pubs are packed but we got in for a pint before the ceremony started. This involves an effigy being paraded through the village, stopping at various points, with the crowd pouring into the street following the effigy chanting a doggerel rhyme until at the end of the village the effigy was set alight. Fun to start with, this became increasingly disconcerting. Still, nice to think we keep folk memories of lynch mobs alive! More hilarity and conspicuous consumption of alcohol takes place at the Pace Egging Play in Heptonstall on Good Friday. The late afternoon performance is best and most alcohol infused! Audience AND performers!

[@GenialHarryGrout]

A couple of other British traditions. 1) The Atherstone Ball Game and 2) Swimming in the sea on New Year's Day which happens around the country no matter how cold it is

[@lolagraham8013]

Where I live (north Norfolk) we do the second one but we do it on Boxing Day and call it the Boxing Day dip

[@errorcode503]

I live 5 miles from Ottery St Mary and my family grew up there, the tar barrels a carried by people as young 6 years old, a few years ago someone dropped one and it rolled through the crowd and smashed a shop window! it is very exciting but you can't be browsing on your phone unless you want to be hit bc you need to pay attention to your surroundings (not the rules but it is general common sense)

[@rachelpenny5165]

I grew up near Winkleigh and we visited this before it got so busy. It was fun, but you had to keep an eye on what's going on. There also used to be a similar thing at Hatherleigh as well. Don't know if it is still held.

[@stevedrake1965]

@@rachelpenny5165 Yes it is still held the only difference is that the barrel is held on a sledge and pulled through the town and not carried

[@lb0825]

My parents lived in Ottery St Mary, and it is an amazing, if slightly dangerous thing to watch. The population of the town is about 4 500, on the day of the race (procession and fire) the number of visitors means it is closer to 20 000 all walking in the narrow streets (you can see this in the clip).

[@virthanki902]

Love the fact you upload three times a week! And your sense of humour which makes these topics interesting. I would personally like to see more controversial and stronger topics back in the videos as well.

[@jaygundry2406]

Half of these I find myself (as a Brit) thinking "That's riduclous to do, why would anyone do that" haha! Loved the "To those who didn't understand the jokes" part :D

[@YourBeingParanoid]

The classic British film Trainspotting contains some great Scottish bog snorkeling - watch it!

[@SusanPDavis]

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[@YourBeingParanoid]

@@SusanPDavis for real?

[@Posie-hg1ze]

Best bog in Scotland 🤣🤣

[@tonycasey3183]

My local tradition is a coal carrying race at Gawthorpe near Wakefield. The men's race involves carrying a 50kg bag of coal over a distance of 1012 metres between two pubs. The women's race involves carrying a 20kg bag of coal over the same distance. There's also a veterans race for the old folks and children's races. The men's record is four minutes and six seconds! How long do you think it would take you to carry a 50kg sack of coal for over a kilometre, Eric? Grace, you only have to carry 20kg and the time to beat is four minutes and twenty five seconds!

[@davidbutler7602]

I hope you were joking, we definitely don’t hold hands and sing at bonfire night. It’s all about the food and fireworks!! 💥

[@RainbowSauceGames]

Yeah, toffee apples and hot dogs or burgers! Yum yum! 😋

[@devilspawn4206]

I never realised we British we're that crazy🤣

[@WanderingRavens]

You guys have some awesome traditions 🤣

[@adamwest8711]

Who’s wife doesn’t yearn for her annual ‘upside down nose in her fella’s bum hole’ race? It’s normal not crazy at all...

[@stephenbarnard8672]

Hi Grace & Eric, I didn't realise just how many crazy and dangerous traditions we have in the UK, I love cheese but I wouldn't chase one down a hill..lol. that looked scary. Another one you might not have heard of is a pram race, many villages have these to raise money for charity where dressed up in fancy dress one pushing the pram and the other as a baby following a set course stopping at various pubs on the way for a pint. Love your channel content.

[@WanderingRavens]

Hi Stephen! Thank you for introducing us to the pram race tradition! :D

[@chelsal]

Brill video guys. A tradition sadly stopped because of Health & Safety fears in my village was the yearly Pram Race. It was an all adults race , one being the 'baby' in the pram , run through the High Street , with each 'crew' stopping at each pub on route for a pint , and the winner being the 1st pram to reach the river. Sounds stupid but was great fun , brought the whole community together & raised a lot of money for charity.

[@chrislyne377]

Really enjoyed this one! You could definitely do a part two on this. Royal Shrovetide Football, the Eton Wall Game and the Ceremony of the Keys are a few quirky traditions I can think off of the top of my head.

[@livstar93]

You’re humour is so British and deadpan that I think you are secretly British in real life 😹

[@jamesc4999]

I did not expect that first one to be so dramatic, the clip would look BRILLIANT in slow motion

[@lizzief4461]

In Troon in Scotland there is the grease pole contest when people climb a pole covered in animal grease and the first person gets the ham of the top of the pole, the pole is never cleaned it just gets re-greased

[@chriscarlton4863]

The tar barrels town in Devon is actually Ottery St Mary. You should also check out the Wanborough beer race near me - a 1.5 mile run where you have to drink half a pint of ale at each of the village pubs. I believe there are currently 5 pubs but there used to be more...

[@PeteWylieRC]

Very entertaining guys. I loved Eric's suggestive eyebrows when talking about Grace being bounced around. Also your ineffective use of a sound to mask your swearing. I could still hear the naughty word! Down our way we have the Dorset Knob throwing festival. It sounds a bit rude but the Dorset Knob is a biscuit!

[@WanderingRavens]

Glad you enjoyed this one 😂😂

[@davidholgate123]

You missed the best and most dangerous one, which is the Shrovetide football match, where a whole village fights a bloody battle over a football and the only rule is 'No Killing'!

[@holsfisher]

These mad events happen at a local level too! Every year in my Scottish home town, there is a festival to celebrate the time Mary Queen of Scots passed through (Marymass) and one of the big events is The Greasy Pole, where teams of half naked men compete to climb a literal greased pole and win a large ham that is tied to the top. People regularly sustain serious leg injuries (broken bones etc, I knew someone with a lifelong limp). Many other small towns have equally odd yearly events.

[@geoffh2560]

Saddleworth Whit Band Contest is quite a spectacle - over 100 brass bands racing around different villages over a single evening to play in a competition in each village.

[@SMlFFY85]

I was going to mention this.

[@variousliz1476]

Love the video. Another great one. Really enjoying them.

[@cropstar]

I quite often carry the Mrs back from the pub on a Saturday night. A tribute to my strenght and her ability to drink gin.

[@coxy5850]

You guys nail it every as time, us Brits welcome you any time you get a chance to come visit. ❤️

[@WanderingRavens]

Aww! Thank you so much!! x

[@neuralwarp]

OK, let's add: the Dunmow Flitch, Morris Dancing, Maypole Dancing, Beating the Bounds, the Obby Oss Festival, Black Pudding Throwing, the Eisteddfod, and Dwyle Flunking.

[@errorcode503]

fun cheese rolling facts: if you reach the bottom (which some people don't) you get tackled by a world-class rugby team, no one actually makes it down with no injury and the cheese rolls down the hill in excess of 75mph!

[@thisisstuart7951]

tell you something November 5 we had a choice of Bonfire night and Thanksgiving. I think we made the right choice

[@WanderingRavens]

Indeed 😂😂

[@ftumschk]

The term "bog" for "toilet/privy" goes back to the 16th Century, when toilets were sometimes called "boggards". This became "bog-house" in the 17th Century and the more familiar "bog" by the 18th - although I've still heard people refer to "the bog-house" in my lifetime. The Oxford English Dictionary, where I found this info, sadly doesn't know where the term originated.

[@murano185]

If you haven't looked it up you should look at cornish Hurling which is still practiced in my home town. Imagine a game of rugby played with a ball coated in metal, played on the streets with teams of up to hundreds per side. Its insane.

[@honismart]

A guy I worked with did the cheese rolling one year. He prepared by drinking five pints of cider. He didn’t win a cheese, but on the up side only managed to crack one rib, and made it into work the following day.

[@grlaycock67]

You missed the black pudding throwing championships held in my home town of Ramsbottom, always a big crowd pleaser.

[@wychbitten]

Also the 'Obby Oss' in Padstow, Knob throwing in Cattistock and the Orange race in Totnes

[@daveturner6006]

Stinging Nettles used to be a countryside staple...after they were boiled. Stinging Nettles also make a good green dye, once again boiled and having salt added to it!

[@Bob_just_Bob]

And here I thought those bonfires were a preemptive celebration of my birthday which would start at midnight the night of 5th November when it becomes the 6th of November!

[@steevenfrost]

Oh yes ,we even named a few of our villages after that practice of using bogs,such as " Piddletown, which is actually a genuine town!

[@stanleyknife1967]

You should have added welly wanging and dwile flonking.....

[@victoriabody6146]

I'm so glad you mentioned Lewes bonfire because they, like the rest of the south East celebrate bonfire night in this way, which is very different to the rest of the country. Most towns in the SE have their own society and procession beginning on 5th September all the way through to December. They're held almost every Saturday apart from Lewes which is always the 5th. Surrounding towns are also invited to participate in each others events. If you wanted to visit the south I suggest coming during this time as it give a great opportunity to visit almost all of the towns in the area :)

[@Matthew-Wood85]

I'm sorry but when Eric wiggled his eyebrows at Grace when they were talking about the wife carrying contest and Grace being jiggled and bounced about made me chuckle. Right there was Very British innuendo 🤣🤣

[@kendee4421]

Bogs for toilets began in old schools where the toilets would become extremely messy, especially the floors, with nasty stuff, paper and wee all over, so kids began to call them bogs because it was like walking on one when you went to the loo. Aim wasnt good, blockages occurred and if the bowl had filled up with poo and overflowed, you had no choice but to use the floor.

[@proffzzix9139]

You could have mentioned the Annual World Worm Charming championships that take place at a primary school in Cheshire. Another tradition that you did not mention is pancake racing, this happens in many parts of UK on Shrove Tuesday and involves contestants running a course and tossing a pancake in a frying pan as they run

[@debbiepoole2247]

My uncle who was a very famous Fell Runner, fell into a bog and died. A Walker found him 3 weeks later. It took mountain rescue, and helicopters to get him out.

[@edgar6532]

Another epic vid. The old Briit traditions are pretty mental. We need more new ones.

[@wencireone]

We just love fire🔥

[@WanderingRavens]

That became very evident from the list 😂

[@jenniedarling3710]

It's because it's so cold and we need to keep warm.

[@andysutcliffe3915]

Bonfire night used to be so much better before health and safety got involved. When I grew up, there weren’t fences around the fire, you got as close as you could stand before your face felt like it was melting. If you waited long enough, for it to burn right down, you could get right up to it. Also you got right up to the fireworks, now only professional displays are allowed at organised events.

[@felicitydavies3227]

Amazing video again to you both, forgot have of these traditions existed until you mentioned it and some I didn't even know. One tradition I would have liked to see on this list is the Eisteddfod. But anyway great video again, can't wait for the next one 😁

[@WanderingRavens]

So glad you enjoyed it! What is Eisteddfod? Maybe we'll include it in our next video :D

[@felicitydavies3227]

@@WanderingRavens Eistedfood is a Welsh tradition that usually happens around the Welsh saints day St David's in Welsh schools which is on 1st March, the main festival that the country partakes in happens in the 1st week of August. Its an eight days of competitions and performances which is considered to be the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competitors typically number 6,000 or more, and overall attendance generally exceeds 150,000 visitors. The first one recorded happened around 1160's. But the first nationational one for Wales happened in the late 1800's. We tend to dress up in that periodic clothing, sing Welsh hymns and songs, as well as writing poetry and other creative things for competition. Competitions in the late 1800's and early 1900's would win specially carved chairs which would typically have Welsh/celtic symbols carved into them usually along with Welsh words or phrases.

[@WanderingRavens]

Love this! Thank you! We were trying to find more welsh traditions for this video but were having trouble.

[@felicitydavies3227]

@@WanderingRavens No problem, eisteddfod is probably the biggest on going tradition still in Wales as it is in a different city or town every year, although probably won't happen this year.

[@felicitydavies3227]

@@WanderingRavens this is a good video to watch that may help with cultureof Wales or the history of Wales that may help you in future videos about Wales 😊 kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZXSc3mlpa1shLs

[@sirporkibrough]

My favourite thing about these videos is trying to guess how many seconds it takes Grace to randomly nod after the words 'Wandering Ravens' are said in the intro. Just on the off chance that Eric wasn't sure you are actually the Wandering Ravens, don't worry, Grace has confirmed it.

[@WanderingRavens]

Oh dear. Now I'll never be able to unsee that 😂😂

[@sirporkibrough]

@@WanderingRavens ...or be conscious of it whilst recording

[@applejuice5272]

1:26 | "We're all winners here! Except for Johnny. Johnny broke his leg."

[@1984isHereNow]

Dont diss the cheese. Cool vid folks, nice to see some of our traditional national and regional traditions being checked over the pond, we have thousands in our little islands. For a glimpse of more check out the book A Brit Different by Emma woods. As for burning the Donald, we generally make guys of most politicians whether it be Trump, Obama, Clinton , Johnson, Blair, Thatcher etc its not a political gesture at least not at the UKs biggest two in the towns of Battle and Lewes. The bonfire at Battle after the parade through the streets takes place on the battlefield where the Battle of Hastings took place. Yes folks, the Battle of Hastings did not occur in Hastings, it was fought at Battle, 6 miles away. RE bog snorkelling, we also have mountain bike bog snorkelling.

[@philtonge7522]

I'm actually from Gloucestershire (Forest of Dean actually but that's another bunfight) and the cheese rolling at Cooper's Hill has always been part of my...culture. The local TV news always broadcast it. I remember in the 1970s when people got concerned about injuries. Cue shot of enormous tree stump that leaned into the hill having a matress bunjee roped to it. I've only been to it once. Trust me, the TV footage doesn't do it justice. That hill is Kamikaze vertical...

[@RainbowSauceGames]

If you want another funny tradition, look up The Mari Lwyd. It’s a Welsh Christmas/New Year time tradition (although most people haven’t heard of it and it only happens in a very few places now) It involves a horse’s skull (yes, a real one!) on a pole being carried around to peoples house and singing in the hope you get invited in for food! For more info: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari_Lwyd

[@laurenblachford1501]

most of the weird traditions are from West Country 😐 (sorry we’re just weird in the south-west...)

[@simonmorris4226]

And Wales. And parts of the West Midlands. It’s our Celtic heritage!

[@PedroConejo1939]

Dorset knob throwing - usually happens just along the road here. Ashbourne Shrove Tuesday football. Xmas/Boxing day sea swims. Molly dancing. Punch & Judy. Yard of ale. Rag week. There's loads more but these are the ones I've had direct connection to. Hail ye mightie Haggis O

[@mks3033]

I actually live in Cumbria where the gurning competition it is held in the small town of Egremont at the end of the towns annual festival 'crab fair'

[@wencireone]

I think Monty Python has the 'Holy Grail'

[@WanderingRavens]

So we know where to find it then...

[@KarlaMB]

My best friend can see coopers hill from her home. It’s always fun in May to watch people run after cheese, weird but fun. There’s a strawberry picking farm close by so we usually end up there after.

[@larryfroot]

Ah, tar barrelling. In the afternoon they have the junior events. Small burning barrels for small people.

[@veritasvincit2745]

When my mom and uncle were children in the 1950s they dressed my uncle up as Guy Fawkes and went around with him on a cart knocking on doors and asking for "A penny for the Guy". Obviously the neighbours expected Guy to be a dummy and laughed when he jumped up out of the cart! One woman decided to put the joke on the kids and when they knocked on the door she came running out waving an axe at Guy. My mom and uncle ran off screaming.

[@WanderingRavens]

That's a great story 😂😂

[@jillhobson6128]

@@WanderingRavens Penny for the guy doesn't seem to exist anymore. Children would make a guy out old clothes, stick a head on it and put it in a barrow or cart. They 'd then put it outside a supermarket or somewhere else and ask for money. I think it died out because it was begging and young children were at risk from paedophiles.

[@cleoldbagtraallsorts3380]

@@jillhobson6128 it was largely discontinued because children began trick-or-treating, and many older people began complaining both customs were begging. But people were less likely to mind handing out sweets as opposed to cash. By the 90s kids were asking for pounds rather than pennies for the Guy and that pretty much sealed it's fate.

[@canihavesome2591]

You missed the delightful Easter tradition of Bottle Kicking at Hallaton in Leicestershire -plenty of youtube 'samples' available....great fun back in the day!!

[@jasonharris1434]

Love it, guys. Great stuff.

[@WanderingRavens]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@BenColeman]

Lewes Bonfire Night is the culmination of a nearly a month's worth of processions across the whole of Sussex. Hastings has the first Bonfire Night on 16th October, the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. Lewes' Bonfire Society take part and Hastings' Society join there's. There are a ton of other parades and societies and my favourite takes place in Battle, just a few days before the Lewes one. However in Hastings we have our bonfire on the beach and that's pretty spectacular.

[@gmf121266]

Bonfire night and other festivals around this time of year are basically remembrances of earlier Celtic fire festivals like Beltane.

[@phillipsindel2291]

From Australia: We had bonfire night or "cracker night" until the mid-1980s when most states banned the sale of fireworks . While injuries were cited as the reason, I think the deeper reason is that November is coming into summer and summer bush fires are a terrible problem in Australia; it is a custom which does not fit the local geography and seasons.

[@garywood1317]

You should look into the Hallaton bottle kicking. It's a competition between two neibouring villages. A keg of beer is fought over to get to a point in either village. It's like rugby with no rules.

[@rochellelevy2678]

Every year in early December they have a Dickins festival in Rochester in Kent people from the town dress up in Dickensian costumes. It's a great atmosphere a bit crowded but I am sure you would enjoy it.

[@Totemking]

We also do something called the hen racing championships, which you can probably guess what that would be about lol

[@WanderingRavens]

Oh my! We hadn't heard of that one 😂 Sounds entertaining!

[@pjmoseley243]

Its interesting, seeing and hearing what people think of things that that when we were kids we didnt think about. We just enjoyed the occasion. Its because we had nothing else to do.

[@ianmelonie6440]

As Guy Fawkes came from Bridgwater here in Somerset we have the biggest parade of floats illuminated by light bulbs look up Bridgwater carnival

[@theflathat3648]

I think you'll find he came from York

[@ianmelonie6440]

The Flat Hat yes you are right Bridgwater has a statue as it was a Protestant county sorry as I was miss informed

[@gaary1969]

Love you both, great videos, glad you like my country

[@rachelshearer2242]

In Oxenhope West Yorkshire they have a straw race which involves 2 people or a team carrying a bale of straw 2.5 miles and having a pint of beer at each of the 5 pubs on route. Its usually done in fancy dress and raises money for charity. It's in a really hilly village near Haworth the start is at 1171ft elevation the lowest 783ft then back up to the finish line at 1014ft 🤣

[@benkernow280]

Very good. I think some great ones you missed where Panto, Kayber tossing(I know the spelling is wrong) and last night at the proms.

[@thewomble1509]

Caber.

[@fabshop6359]

It’s because of Guy Fawkes that we call people “guy”, as in “you guys”. When he was executed he was so hated that his name was used as an insult. To call someone a guy, was to insult them. Today the meaning is totally different. Hope you “guys” like this info. Great channel, guys!

[@graemehossack7401]

Hi, you missed all the crazy Hogmanay / New Year traditions in Scotland. There is the Stonehaven fire balls, stonehavenfireballs.co.uk/, and then sticking to the old calendar there is the "Burning of the Clavie" in Burghead, and at the end of the month the is "Up Helly Aa" in Shetland, www.uphellyaa.org/ where they dress up as Vikings and burn a Viking longboat. All these occasions do present opportunity to indulge in a small alcoholic beverage, or two, if so desired.

[@stayforthepeelpronpls4774]

Fun fact: Simon Pegg grew up in the cheese rolling town.

[@lloroshastar6347]

I checked out the wife carrying thing, turns out it's a thing in North America as well (not sure if Canada or US), and Finland for some reason.

[@WanderingRavens]

Wow! We didn't know! Thank you!

[@jukopliut]

Annual Wife Carrying World Championships in Sonkajärvi, Finland. Since 1992. First price your wife weight of beer. So heavier load the better price. However if you can't handle the weight and lose -> sleeping on the couch.

[@ShahOfBlahII]

A few more for you. Up Helly Aa. The fire festival in Shetland. Never actually been, but seems to have a strong Viking element. Well more of a comic book Vikkng element, horned helmets burning ships. At the other end of the country Wassailing. On 12 th night, now something of a forgotten date in the calendar,carols, or wassails are sung and plenty of noise made as evil spirits are chased away from apple trees to guarantee a good harvest for making cider, scrumpy in Somerset. Sorry to pull you up on the pronunciation but Guy Fawkes is pronounced to rhyme with forks.

[@gmf121266]

Some guy wrote a book about searching for the holy grail in the 90's. He reckoned he'd found it in a attic room in Coventry! Basically it looked like an old eggcup and it probably was. LOL

[@julianb1474]

Fun as always. One teeny tiny correction is needed to the way Eric says "Surrey". His sounds like sirrey. The U is said like the U in hurry. So, hurry to Surrey.

[@WanderingRavens]

Ah, good to know! Thank you for the correction :D

[@julianb1474]

@@WanderingRavens Congratulations on not making fun of the town's name - Dorking.

[@slightlyconfused876]

Bonfire Night is a celebration of the fact that Guy Fawkes failed to blow up the Houses Of Parliament and kill King James I, not a celebration of Fawkes, but honestly Guy, please come back and finish what you started we need you so badly these days.

[@monkeymox2544]

I think they were being sarcastic, pretty sure they're fully aware its not a cerebration of him

[@frankbrodie5168]

The Pub Landlord (Al Murray) basically summed up Bonfire Night best when he said "This country is a proud country, with a proud tradition of tolerance and democracy.. A tradition we celebrate every Guy Fawkes night, by setting fire to effigies of Roman Catholics.."

[@unknownregions5014]

I loved this, and i forgot how many weird traditions we have 😂😂

[@chrisinnes2128]

The Scottish town of stonehaven celebrates new years day by lighting large balls of paper and walking around the town swinging them around their heads

[@nathanpym6287]

It's not just men who carry the barrels at the Tar Barrels - there are male, female, and child runners, who run with the barrels a different times throughout the night!

[@bobbell4461]

Love you two. Try Langholm common Riding last Friday of July. A giant Thistle is paraded around the town a Barley Bannock with a salted herring is also there and the Fair Crier stands on the back of a horse to explain what is happening and what dreadful fate awaits those who try to interfere with it. Also 150 horses and riders gallop through a town street and a fair amount of whisky is consumed. Look it up it is great.

[@WanderingRavens]

Thank you for the recommendation!!

[@WanderingRavens]

Just looked it up! We'll have to attend! This looks like so much fun :D