The Edinburgh Military Tattoo

My wife and I visited Edinburgh, Scotland, in early September 1982. Touring the remarkable Edinburgh Castle, we discovered workmen's dismantling bleachers overlooking the castle's Esplanade and learned we had just missed the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. I recall asking my wife, '˜What's the Military Tattoo?' and she quickly and forcefully informed me about its music and pageantry, how unfortunate we were to have missed it, and how it was from henceforth firmly on the top of our 'to do list'.

What did I learn in that initial lecture and in subsequent research? The Edinburgh Military Tattoo is the precision performance of several international military bands, focusing on Scotland's bagpipe and drum units. It was first held officially in 1950, hosting a total of 6,000 spectators. It is conducted annually in the Castle for most of the month of August, with single night time performances from Monday through Friday and two performances on Saturdays. Attendance over the course of August today is about 217,000 of whom about one third are Scottish, one third are from the remainder of the United Kingdom, and the final third are from across the globe.

It took almost three decades but in August 2010 we were able to mark the Tattoo from our list. First, the '˜logistics' of how we were able to attend the Tattoo. Performances are sold out well in advance each year but we were part of a week long Globus travel company tour of Scotland arranged through the University of Arizona Alumni Association travel office. We wisely chose to travel in August when tickets to the Tattoo were fortuitously included in our tour package at no extra cost. Our hotel was on George Street, in the middle of the busy city and only 20 minutes by foot up a not too difficult incline to the Castle.

Edinburgh is one of the world's great cities at any time, the capital of Scotland and a bustling business and university town. It is especially active in August, though, during the Edinburgh Festival, a month long collection of traditional and advant garde theater presentations, street performers, book shows, arts and crafts shows, new museum and art gallery exhibits, and the Military Tattoo. We enjoyed a guided bus and photo tour of the city with a full '˜walk around' of the Castle on the morning before we were to attend the Tattoo that night. The Castle's history is a long and turbulent one. The craggy ridge upon which it sits was probably occupied in prehistoric times and, thereafter, it was often the center of the conflict between Scots and English. The son of Mary Queen of Scots, later to be King James VII who unified the Scottish and English thrones, was born within its walls. The Castle was only taken by assault twice, ironically the Scots' taking it back from the English. Even though the British 52d Infantry Brigade is today headquartered in the Castle, it is the second most popular tourist attraction in the UK.

Many of the Edinburgh Festival's events are centered on the '˜Royal Mile', the street which connects Edinburgh Castle downhill to the Queen's classic Holyrood Palace and, in vivid contrast, the futuristic architecture of the nearby new Scottish Parliament. Individuals and small groups move slowly along the street, stopping to watch street performances or to shop for souvenirs, enjoy food and drink, or consider the various event flyers being passed out by young people. We also peeked into the Elephant House coffeehouse just off the Royal Mile where J.K. Rowling penned her first Harry Potter novel.

When the hustle and bustle was too much, we found St. Giles Cathedral, the Mother Church of Presbyterianism, as a place to find solitude, even in the Edinburgh Festival. People first prayed on the spot in the 1120s and the Cathedral was formally dedicated in 1243. It survived the Reformation when many churches were destroyed but it was subdivided and used for many purposes over decades, even as a police station and home for 'harlots and whores'. I was intrigued by St. Giles' centrally positioned altar and pulpit with pews aligned completely around them. Receiving the sermon from a minister's back. Hmm.

After enjoying the performers, St. Giles, and shopping on the Royal Mile we returned to our room for a short rest and to prepare for a potentially cool and wet night. After an early dinner in a pub on Rose St., its four blocks filled with restaurants, we enjoyed the sights, sounds, and smells of a stroll through West Princes St. Gardens before the short, gradual climb to the Castle entrance. Arriving there about one and a half hours before the Tattoo's start and a half hour before the gate was scheduled to open, we found a large but orderly crowd already positioned along the street. A large number of event staff were scattered about, though, to keep order and it seemed only a short time until the crowd began to move slowly toward the gate and a security search of bags. We were in our reserved seat within just a few minutes and encountered the only complaint I have about the entire evening -- .. the seats were extremely narrow with very little leg room.

The performances made the seating problem seem trivial, though! Before they began, the Master of Ceremonies kept the wait time very light, introducing VIPs, including a Royal Navy Vice Admiral who was the evening's '˜Reviewing Officer' and who would receive the '˜military honors' from each military unit. We learned King Abdullah of Jordan was scheduled to be the Reviewing Officer one night in our week. The MC also kept the crowed involved by asking for people to applaud or cheer when their nations were called. The crowd would react with applause when a distant section of the bleachers cheered when a small country's name was called. The announcement of Scotland, England, and the U.S. received the largest cheers, of course, and the crowd responded very favorably when the U.S. was called, something I always watch and, in this case, pleasing me.

Finally, it was 9:00pm and the Esplanade's lights were extinguished. Our first sights of what was to come were the dark shapes of the combined bands marching onto the field and, as the lights were turned on, about 100 military musicians in a very colorful variety of dress uniforms burst into a set of military marches, with the bagpipes ever in prominence.

The entire performance lasted about one and a half hours, a constant flow of military bands performing well known and obscure music, martial and pop. All the while marching with remarkable precision -- . unless they chose some sort of crowd pleasing 'boogie' during a pop song. Military bands from Scotland, England, U.S., Poland, New Zealand, and Jordan performed. The U.S. representative did very well, the '˜Pipes and Drums' from the Citadel in Charleston, SC. Interspersed were an exciting team of boys between the ages of 5 to 15 performing risky routines on scooters and motorcycles and a team of British Army physical fitness trainers exhibiting highly choreographed gymnastics. Soldiers in desert camouflage uniforms used in Iraq and Afghanistan recently back from deployments participated and received a very respectful response from the full crowd. The Esplanade's lights were also used to great effect, highlighting specific performances or the Vice Admiral's rendering return military honors as band leaders -- . or a little five year old boy from the motorcycle team -- .. saluted him and in lighting the Castle'˜s walls with colors and images of British servicemen and their families.

The closing parts of the performance were even more poignant as the British national anthem was played and the crowd rose to its feet and as a lone trumpeter and piper were spotlighted on the Castle's rampart as they played a Scottish lament and Auld Lang Syne. There were some wet eyes in the crowd, you bet!

My wife declared the Military Tattoo the highlight of our two weeks in Scotland and I have to agree. In any case, when she's happy, I'm happy! Now, back to that 'to do' list!