The Burry-Men

On the second Friday in August the annual fair is held at South Queensferry, a small burgh of great antiquity, just below the Forth Bridge. The fair takes place in a field within a convenient distance (the burgh has now no common land of its own) and consists of the usual shows and merry-go-rounds with the recent addition of pipe- playing and reel-dancing. On the day before the fair, a house-to-house visitation is made by the Burry-man, a character who has existed from time immemorial. The ceremony is now left to the boys of the place, who make their rounds to collect money to be spent at the fair next day.

The quote and the image are from an article by Isabel Dickson about a Scottish tradition.  The Burry-man is usually a young lad covered in burs.  

Burry could also mean "Borough", "hairy" or "fuzzy."   Of course, it could also mean "covered in burs."  It is unclear as to which came first: the name or the burs.   

Dickson seems to think that the ritual arose from some agragrian ritual, and is a most likely reason:

I would therefore suggest that the ceremony of the Burryman is a relic of an early propitiatory harvest rite. The Burryman himself represents an indeterminate being, possibly the wild man of the woods, possibly the angry spirit in the form of wolf, bear or boar, whose original hairy shaggy covering has, by corruption or misunderstanding of the word burrie, degenerated into a covering of burrs. His procession and collection of money from door to door are the modern form of the sacrifice required to ensure a fruitful season.