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November 3, 2011

Thursday’s Child: The Edinburgh Royal Military Tattoo

When we travel, we come home with a camera (and eventually an album) full of gorgeous photos that remind us of what we’ve seen.  But sometimes our most vivid memories are those that we don’t see, but that we hear.  This month I’ll be sharing some of our musical memories from our trips.
One of the first overseas trips we took with the girls was to Scotland.  They were ten and seven at the time, and we liked the idea of visiting an English-speaking country.  With activities that ranged from seal-watching to visiting a scotch distillery, there really was something for everyone.
But we’d all agree that one of the highlights of the trip was our last night in Scotland, when we were fortunate to hold tickets to the Edinburgh Royal Military Tattoo.  The Tattoo is a musical celebration held in the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle for three weeks every summer. 
According to the Tattoo website, the word “tattoo” comes from the Dutch phrase “Doe den tap doe”, or “turn off the taps”.  When the British army was fighting in the Netherlands in the 17th century, drummers would signal that it was closing time for the pubs by marching through town drumming. This developed into a skill display, which then turned into a mass event featuring performers of all kinds, for entertainment purposes.
We joined other festival-goers in the late afternoon in a huge crowd outside the castle, waiting to get in.  We took our seats with great anticipation and, when the show began, we were treated to a wonderful display.  Military regiments from around the world and, of course, bagpipers filled the stadium with gorgeous music.  As the evening went on and the sky darkened, the sturdy castle in the back was illuminated by floodlights.
Toward the end of the show, all of the performers (numbering about a thousand) returned to the esplanade for a massed performance.  Then the crowd hushed, and everyone’s eyes were drawn to the Lone Piper, spotlighted atop the castle, playing a haunting number.
And just when we thought the evening couldn’t be topped, it concluded with a group singing of Auld Lang Syne.  Not from the performers on the field, but from the nearly 8000 attendees in the stadium.  We all held hands with our neighbours as we sang in unison.
And as we marched out of the stadium to the strains of Scotland the Brave, we knew we’d been part of a very special evening.

Photo used courtesy of Best of Edinburgh

Filed Under: Scotland

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kayte says

    November 3, 2011 at 12:54 pm

    Not only sound, but looks…this all looks wonderfully exciting to me!

    Reply
  2. Belinda says

    November 3, 2011 at 1:44 pm

    Had no idea that was the origin of the word! What fun!

    Reply
  3. Valerie says

    November 3, 2011 at 2:06 pm

    What a lovely moment…Auld Lang Syne is such a beautifully sad song. And who knew the real meaning of the word "Tattoo"? (I like this meaning much better than the modern version.) 😀

    Reply
  4. Marina says

    November 3, 2011 at 2:17 pm

    I was in Edinburgh two years ago.. I looove it.. I would love to see something like this. Well, I guess I have to go again!

    Reply
  5. Claudia says

    November 3, 2011 at 2:25 pm

    This makes me want to reserve tickets and go! How magnificent! I got a kick out of the meaning of "tatoo" and it's early meanings.

    Reply
  6. yummychunklet says

    November 3, 2011 at 2:56 pm

    Sounds wonderful!

    Reply
  7. LDH says

    November 3, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    Oh, so moving! What an experience!

    Reply
  8. Mary says

    November 3, 2011 at 5:22 pm

    What an awesome experience, Beth. I love that you have been able to travel so much with your family. I enjoy hearing about it.

    Reply
  9. allieksmith says

    November 3, 2011 at 6:07 pm

    Wow! That sounds like a really exciting experience! It must be so much fun to travel and see the world-you take such lovely photos and always have unique stories that make me smile!

    Reply
  10. Barbara says

    November 3, 2011 at 6:32 pm

    I didn't know anything about that, Beth. How exciting to be a part of that! I would have loved to see it.

    Reply
  11. lapetitepancake says

    November 3, 2011 at 6:56 pm

    I would probably shed a tear or two with the Auld Lang Syne hand-holding business. What an experience!

    Reply
  12. Emily Malloy says

    November 3, 2011 at 7:32 pm

    Sigh. There is nothing like Edinburgh. Your beautiful photos have taken me back! Thank you 🙂

    Reply
  13. Bonnie says

    November 3, 2011 at 9:04 pm

    Beth, I had cold chills reading about the lone piper atop the castle. I can only imagine the beauty. Bonnie

    Reply
  14. laurie says

    November 3, 2011 at 11:29 pm

    What a wonderful time you had!

    Reply
  15. Julie says

    November 4, 2011 at 12:30 am

    Another beautiful journey! Thanks for sharing with us.

    Reply
  16. Gloria says

    November 4, 2011 at 3:05 am

    Sounds wonderful Beth!! gloria

    Reply
  17. Miriam says

    November 4, 2011 at 4:28 am

    I love that story, such a great memory!!

    Reply
  18. Lizzy says

    November 4, 2011 at 11:08 am

    What a great experience, Beth! My parents lived in Scotland for a year, and I have fond memories of visiting them 🙂

    PS…I added the chocolate chips to the caramel streusel bars (for the chocoholic family members), but I think I might have liked them even better without!

    Reply
  19. Christina Lee says

    November 4, 2011 at 1:27 pm

    Wow–I bet it was "haunting"!!!

    Reply
  20. Raina says

    November 4, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    Wow! That sounds like it must have been so wonderful to see and hear. It must have been very moving. Amazing experiences you have given your girls:)

    Reply
  21. Stina Lindenblatt says

    November 4, 2011 at 10:12 pm

    Oh, I thought it meant you got to watch the military get tattoos. The real version sounds so much better. 😀

    Reply
  22. Jess says

    November 4, 2011 at 11:02 pm

    Wow, Beth. I could feel the energy of the moment in this post. Wish I could have been there 🙂

    Reply
  23. Elaine says

    November 5, 2011 at 2:50 am

    It sounds like a truly special, wonderful evening. Thank you for sharing it with us.

    Reply
  24. grace says

    November 5, 2011 at 6:50 am

    what an impressive and majestic sight to behold! some things just stick with you. 🙂

    Reply
  25. julie says

    November 5, 2011 at 11:27 am

    What an amazing experience you had there. You have given your children such a gift with all this overseas travel. I hope that when my kids are a bit older, we can share that same gift with them.

    Reply
  26. tenaciouslyyours.com says

    November 5, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    I'm pretty sure that music is one of the ways I communicate, so I'm very excited for this series! I can only imagine what it was like to hear and experience such a showing. And I'm sure there was a lot of pride happening there as well – what a fun annual tradition for those people!

    p.s. I think the idea of choosing an all-English speaking country with younger kids sounds like an extremely manageable idea if you're trying to maximize the experience that every family member gets to have.

    Reply
  27. Angie's Recipes says

    November 5, 2011 at 5:27 pm

    A really special evening…I wish I were there too.

    Reply
  28. Medeia Sharif says

    November 6, 2011 at 2:44 am

    Special evening, indeed. Thanks for sharing it. 🙂

    Reply
  29. shaz says

    November 6, 2011 at 4:07 am

    Wow! How fantastic. My dad is a big fan of this Tatoo, though we've never seen it "live". For some reason, they'd televise it around Christmas in Malaysia, and he'd make us all sit through it 🙂

    Reply
  30. sally says

    November 6, 2011 at 5:53 pm

    I missed the Tatoo when I was in Edinburgh. It looks like a great event though!

    Reply
  31. comfortablydomestic.com says

    November 7, 2011 at 8:03 pm

    How cool is it that you were part of such a moving event? Very cool. I would most definitely been tearing up at the emotion of the experience of Tatoo. Edinburgh is definitely on our list of places to visit.

    Reply

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