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A burning torch, or flambeaux as burned at New Year in Comrie
The Perthshire village of Comrie lights up for New Year. Hundreds of locals gather in the village square for a ceremony of eight flambeaux (fired torches), which process around the village before being ceremonially thrown into the River Earn.
The torches are pretty impressive - some ten feet long, usually made from small birch trees felled in October. They are then soaked in a barrel of paraffin for several weeks. On New Year's Eve the strongest men hoist them aloft and parade them through the streets, behind the Comrie Pipe Band.
After a brief interlude, during which the adult fancy dress competition is judged in the square, the torches are carried to Dalginross Bridge, where they are then thrown into the river and extinguished.
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