Now, nearly 40 years on from the start of the Loony Dook, the occasion nonetheless attracts tons of ready to courageous the icy waters in opposition to the enduring backdrop of the Forth Rail Bridge, typically in fancy costume, and is understood all over the world.
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However like many home-grown traditions, it risked turning into a sufferer of its personal success. Its incorporation into Edinburgh’s official Hogmanay programme – and the commercialisation that adopted – prompted a few of its founders current within the Moorings Lounge on that fateful day to mourn what they noticed because the lack of the occasion’s unique spirit.
It was the late Jim Kilcullen who instructed they bounce within the Forth as a hangover remedy on January 1, 1987. The concept was backed by buddy Andy Kerr, who coined the time period “Loony Dook” from the Scots phrase dook, that means to dip or plunge.
And so, the Loony Dook was born.
null (Picture: David Wardle)
The ritual has endured for almost 4 a long time, gaining recognition after the BBC filmed the Loony Dook for its millennium Hogmanay protection in 2000 – a second that sparked rising curiosity in taking the plunge. Not confined to South Queensferry, New Yr’s Day dips now occur on seashores alongside the Firth of Forth, throughout Scotland, and even all over the world.
Nonetheless, when former Edinburgh’s Hogmanay organisers Underbelly added the South Queensferry Loony Dook to their official Hogmanay programme in 2010 and launched ticket costs, it sparked anger – particularly amongst a number of the unique dookers.
Pete Jackson, one in every of 12 individuals who took half within the first ever plunge alongside Kilcullen and Kerr, informed the Day by day File in 2020 he appreciated there have been “prices concerned” however added: “It’s nonetheless mistaken.”
“It was a easy factor,” the then 71-year-old mentioned, “but it surely’s all modified now.
null (Picture: RNLI Helensburgh)
“It wasn’t the identical spirit – they began charging and doing this and that and I mentioned, ‘No extra’.
David Garthley, who was within the Moorings Lounge when the thought was born however didn’t take part, informed the newspaper: “It began off as a joke between a bunch of 40 to 50-year-olds carrying on like wee boys but it surely grew and ultimately the council mentioned, ‘We wish a little bit of this’.
“Because it grew, a number of the unique guys mentioned, ‘Stuff this’. At one time there was no cost however by the point it bought to 30-odd individuals the police and the press had been there, and alongside got here the spectators.
“The council marketed Loony Dook as a part of the Christmas and New Yr celebrations, after which they began charging to enter.
“I feel it’s a damned shame. It began off as a giggle, and now it’s getting used as a business enterprise.
“They’ll say they should pay for policing and ambulance crews however what I’d prefer to see is a number of the younger boys that drink in one of many pubs within the village begin one other one for locals.”
However in 2022, the Loony Dook was dropped from the Hogmanay programme and has since been organised and managed by members of the area people in South Queensferry.
This yr’s dooks embody the unique plunge at South Queensferry’s Boathouse Steps, in addition to dips from North Berwick to Hawick and Portpatrick to Millport. Edinburgh’s new Misplaced Shore Surf Resort in Newbridge may even host a cold-water dip on New Yr’s Day 2026.
A transparent signal of how deeply the custom is now embedded in Scotland’s tradition and Hogmanay celebrations got here earlier this yr when the Loony Dook was listed amongst candidates for an official UNESCO Stock Of Dwelling Heritage for Scotland.
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