Edinburgh Military Tattoo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Edinburgh Military Tattoo is a show given by military bands and display teams in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. The event takes place annually, as part of the Edinburgh Festival (a collective name for many independent festivals and events in Edinburgh in August).
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[edit] History
The word "tattoo" originally dates from the seventeenth century when British Army units were stationed in the Low Countries. Drummers from the garrison were sent out into the towns each evening to summon the soldiers to return to barracks. The process was known as Doe den tap toe or just tap toe and encouraged the inn keepers to "turn off the taps", stop serving beer and send the soldiers back for the night.
The first official Tattoo began in 1950 with just 8 items in the programme.
[edit] Today
Now, on average, just over 217,000 people see the Tattoo live on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle each year, and it always sells out in advance. 30% of the audience are from Scotland and 35% from the rest of the United Kingdom. The event is so well known in Britain, that to many people (especially older people) "The Edinburgh Tattoo" is a synonym for "The Edinburgh Festival". The remaining 35% of the audience consists of 70,000 visitors from overseas. Worldwide, a further 100 million people see the event on television. (In Australia the Tattoo is traditionally telecasted by ABC on the evening of New Year's Day, although in a break with tradition, the 2006 Tattoo was broadcast two days earlier on December 30.)
The Tattoo is run for charitable causes and over the years has gifted over UK£5 million to military and civilian charities and organisations. However, the greater benefit has been that it, by independent count, generates an additional £82 million for Edinburgh's economy annually.
The official magazine of the Edinburgh Military tattoo is called Salute and distributed free to sponsors, Friends of the Tattoo and visiting performers.
Princess Anne, the Princess Royal is the current Patron of the event
[edit] Performers
International military regiments and even African tribes have performed at the Tattoo over the years. The first regiment from outside the UK to take part was the Band of the Royal Netherlands Grenadiers in 1952. So far, over 30 countries have been represented at the Tattoo.
The highlight is the massed pipes and drums, provided by regiments of the British Army and regiments from around the world with Scottish connections. Each evening traditionally concludes with a flag-lowering ceremony (see Beating Retreat), with the bugles either sounding the Last Post, or the "Sunset" bugle call of the Royal Marines, and ends with a floodlit lone piper playing from the Castle walls.
The 2005 Tattoo saw the largest gathering of pipes and drums in the event's history, including the pipes and drums of all six regular infantry regiments of the Scottish Division. This was the last time all six appeared at the Tattoo prior to their amalgamation as the single Royal Regiment of Scotland:
- Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment)
- Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment)
- King's Own Scottish Borderers
- Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment)
- The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons)
- Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's)
In addition, there were also the pipes and drums of the Scots Guards, Irish Guards, Royal Gurkha Rifles, South African Irish Regiment, Scottish Officers Training Corps, the Rats of Tobruk and the City of Wellington pipe band.
[edit] Producers
Producers of the Edinburgh Tattoo have included:
- Lt Col George Malcolm of Poltalloch – Produced a pageant on the Castle Esplanade in 1947 entitled “The King’s Men” and produced the first Edinburgh Tattoo in 1950.
- Brigadier Alistair MacLean of Pennycross – Director of the Tattoo from 1950, he took over as the Producer in 1953.
- Brigadier Jack Sanderson – Former Scots Guards officer, he took over in 1968.
- Lt Col Lesley Dow – Served with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and became producer in 1976.
- Major Michael Parker – Producer of the Royal Tournament (1974-99), the Berlin Tattoo as well as the VE & VJ Day commemorations in 1995. Producer of the Tattoo from 1992-4
- Brigadier Melville Jameson – Served with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and former commander of the Highland Brigade. Producer of the Tattoo from 1994-2006.
- Major-General Euan Loudon - GOC 2nd Division and Governor of Edinburgh Castle. Takes over the producer's post in 2007.
Source: Roddy Martine – Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2001
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Edinburgh Military Tattoo website
- ThreeWeeks the complete guide to the Edinburgh Festival
