prize5-4, Exercise 1: What a tattoo is

Model answer (check the details):

The word "tattoo" is usually traced to a Dutch phrase meaning to turn off the taps, a signal to soldiers to return to quarters at night. It came to mean an evening military ceremony with music, and later a public show of bands and displays.

The Edinburgh Tattoo grew from an early show in 1949 and the first Esplanade show in 1950. It takes place on the sloping Castle Esplanade, with a grandstand put up each summer. A typical programme has massed pipes and drums, military bands, visiting groups from other countries and a closing sequence with a lone piper on the Castle ramparts, followed by fireworks. It is run by a charity and watched by a large international audience, in person and on television.