Every New Year’s Eve, thousands gather in Stonehaven to witness one of Scotland’s most iconic spectacles as blazing fireballs are swung through the streets as the bells ring in the new year. A tradition admired worldwide. Beautiful. Mesmerising. Deeply Scottish. But how it actually began… is rarely spoken about.
According to long ignored accounts from the early 1900s, the first “fireball” was not intentional, ceremonial, or particularly dignified.
On Hogmanay, circa 1905, one unfortunate reveller reportedly spilled a generous amount of whisky down the front of his kilt while celebrating in the lead up to the bells. Moments later, another attendee mid conversation, mid cigarette, flicked his tab end without looking.
The result was immediate. The kilt ignited. Then the heat travelled. Then the baws caught fire. What followed was absolute chaos.
Believing it to be some sort of bold New Year performance, onlookers began clapping and cheering as the man ran screaming through the streets, his glowing baws lighting the night like twin distress flares. In his panic, he brushed past other whisky soaked kilts, setting them ablaze too.
Within seconds, five men were running the streets fully aflame, swinging their burning baws in frantic circles in a desperate attempt to put them out, mistaken by the crowd as a coordinated spectacle. The applause was thunderous. The confusion was total.
Eventually, someone realised this was not part of the plan, and the fires were extinguished. Miraculously, no major injuries were reported, just a collection of scorched bollocks, singed hair, and wounded pride.
In the years that followed, the legend grew. Men attempted to recreate the moment, briefly dousing their turnips in whisky, lighting up, and sprinting the street for ten seconds before being tackled and extinguished. Crowds grew. The spectacle expanded. So did the injuries.
By 1908, common sense finally prevailed and the tradition was modified. Fire was moved away from the groin and onto chains. Fireballs were swung safely above the head, and history was rewritten.
The legend doesn’t stop there. According to widely disputed but confidently told local accounts, the spectacle even crossed the Atlantic. While visiting Scotland for Hogmanay in 1956, American rock ’n’ roll singer Jerry Lee Lewis is said to have witnessed the Stonehaven celebrations and heard whispered tales of the original baw based infernos. Allegedly inspired by the sight, the shouting, and several poorly explained retellings involving whisky, panic, and applauding crowds, he returned home and the following year released a little known song titled “Great Balls of Fire.” To this day, Stonehaven locals insist the title was meant quite literally, though official music history stubbornly refuses to confirm it.
That said… Every single year, without fail, one daft fucker still manages to suffer a baw related burn injury. So let this be a reminder to all, Don't let that be you. Do not set fire to your own baws. Fireballs only. Learn from history. Keep the flames above the waist.
Below is a colourised photo of the 1905 incident that started it all
