Tattoo and Castle

The Edinburgh Festivals

Course 5 · Chapter 4 · The Tattoo and the Castle

While the International Festival and the Fringe argue about art, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo offers something quite different: bands, pipes, drums, dancers and fireworks on the Castle Esplanade, watched each night by thousands in a grandstand. It is one of the most recognisable images of Scotland abroad, and also one of the most debated. This chapter looks at where it came from, how it is put together, what it says about Scotland and who criticises it. Names, dates and figures are from general knowledge and flagged "check".

What a Tattoo Is

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 (check the derivation). It came to mean an evening military ceremony with music, and then a public show.

Military music

Massed bands of pipes, brass and drums, marching displays and ceremonial, performed by serving units and invited groups from other countries (check the make-up of a typical show).

An older tradition

Military tattoos were held in Britain long before Edinburgh's, as displays for the public and for charity (check the earlier examples).

The Edinburgh Tattoo

Item (check each)Detail
BeginningsAn early show, "Something About a Soldier", was held at the Ross Bandstand in 1949, and the first Tattoo on the Castle Esplanade took place in 1950.
Connection to the festivalIt began a few years after the International Festival and in the same weeks; the two are organised separately (Chapter 2).
SettingThe Castle Esplanade, a sloping parade ground in front of the gatehouse, with a temporary grandstand built each summer.
FormatMassed pipes and drums, military bands, visiting international performers and a closing sequence that ends with a lone piper on the Castle ramparts and fireworks.
AudienceHundreds of thousands in a season, with a large share from outside the UK, and a television audience in many countries (check the figures).
CharityThe Tattoo is run by a charity that donates money to service and other causes (check the status and the amounts).

What It Presents

  • The piper. The lone piper at the close is perhaps the most photographed image of the show, and stands for a particular idea of Scotland (check).
  • Tartan and pageantry. The uniform, kilt and bagpipe are central. Many historians point out that much of the modern image of "tartan Scotland" was shaped in the nineteenth century, partly by the army and by royal tastes (check, and see the point on invented tradition below).
  • The military. The Highland regiments' role in the British army gives the show a link to Scotland's military history, including the history of the British Empire (check).
  • International guests. Bands from many countries take part, so the show presents itself as a gathering of nations as well as a Scottish event.
Tradition and invention Historians such as Hugh Trevor-Roper and others in the "invention of tradition" debate argued that parts of Highland dress and clan identity were shaped or created in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (check the authors and the argument). That does not make the Tattoo fake, but it does mean that "ancient" is a claim to test. The show combines real military music, long-standing pipe traditions and a modern, designed spectacle.

Critics and Defenders

View (check each)Argument
CriticsSome say it glorifies the military and an imperial past, offers a narrow tartan picture of Scotland, and sits oddly in a city of arts festivals.
DefendersOthers say it is a skilled and popular piece of entertainment, supports charities, brings visitors and honours service people.
Middle groundSome argue that it is both: a showpiece of musicianship and a version of national history, and that each deserves examination.
A British comparison Compare Trooping the Colour in London, or the military tattoos at Aldershot and elsewhere (check the examples). Each is a public display that links the armed forces to national identity, and each has admirers and critics, but the Edinburgh show is unusual in its international tourism audience.
Check the details Dates of the first shows, audience numbers, charity figures and the history of tartan and Highland dress are all from general knowledge and often repeated with errors. Verify against the Tattoo's own records and independent histories, and treat strongly worded claims on both sides with care.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Describe in a short paragraph what a tattoo is and how the Edinburgh Tattoo is organised, from the word's origin to the closing sequence.

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Exercise 2

Explain the idea that parts of "tartan Scotland" were shaped in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and say what this does and does not show about the Tattoo.

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Exercise 3

Write a fair two-sided assessment of the claim that the Tattoo "glorifies the military".

→ Solution

Quick Reference

  • The word: from a Dutch phrase meaning to turn off the taps (check)
  • Edinburgh: first on the Esplanade in 1950; an earlier show in 1949 (check)
  • Format: massed bands, international guests, lone piper, fireworks
  • The debate: pageantry and charity against militarism and a narrow tartan image
  • The caution: "ancient" is a claim to test