Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2014

[Sinned]

Just been watching the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2014 on BBC1 and was struck by two things. Firstly, how many of the Commonwealth nations represented were in some sort of skirted garment - the vast majority. Throughout my life I had a rather divided attitude to the Tattoos - I would groan inwardly about watching them but if I did watch them I would invariably enjoy them! Now as I have got older they have fitted more admirably within my scheme of things. Somehow, ( and irrespective of the politics ) if these Tattoos suffer for the withdrawal of Scotland from the Union then I think that we would be that much worse off and the world would be a less entertaining place. The second was how much the kilts lifted up when the Scottish dancers got going! It has a paralysing and mesmerising effect, lol!

[wsherman]

I avidly look forward to the Tatoo each year! There is something that stirs the blood when the massed pipes and drums come marching out with the skirl of the pipes and the beat of the drum each regiment clad in the color of its kilt. Yes I to have been impressed by the many forms of skirted garments worn by the many nations represented.

I have not had the chance to enjoy the 2014 Tatoo but the dvd is on order and hopefully iTunes will have the album available for download as it did with the 2013 edition. It has become a tradition for me to purchase the Tatoo for my Sister and myself each year and I relish the time I kick back with a wee dram and hear the asortment of performances that make up the Tatoo.

I do hope this years presentation is a good one!

Thanks for the pleasent reminder!


Slainte'
Bill & Sir Brinkley the Exubrant who came into this world on St. Andrew's Day and who unfortunately likes

Scotch too! I have to be mindful of that! LOL!

[skirtingtoday]

Just been watching the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2014 on BBC1 and was struck by two things. Firstly, how many of the Commonwealth nations represented were in some sort of skirted garment - the vast majority. Throughout my life I had a rather divided attitude to the Tattoos - I would groan inwardly about watching them but if I did watch them I would invariably enjoy them! Now as I have got older they have fitted more admirably within my scheme of things. Somehow, ( and irrespective of the politics ) if these Tattoos suffer for the withdrawal of Scotland from the Union then I think that we would be that much worse off and the world would be a less entertaining place. The second was how much the kilts lifted up when the Scottish dancers got going! It has a paralysing and mesmerising effect, lol!

I don't see how the withdrawal from the Union will affect the Tattoo. They will still be performed, it will still be alarge crowd-puller, they will still be as entertaining and I am sure will be still as diverse in the people participating in it. One question may arise is it BBC in Scotland will still exist or if it will be transferred to a new SBS (Scottish Broadcasting Service) and how many countries will continue to show it on their stations. In the White Paper, there will be a new SBS and that with the existing BBC, would form a joint relationship and the SBS would continue to give the same level of programming to the BBC. The SBS would also be funded by a licence fee - the same as the current BBC.

By this joint agreement, the SBS would therefore continue to show programmes such as Dr Who, Eastenders, Strictly Come Dancing and CBeebies.

[Kirbstone]

SkT,
Your first sentence uses the word 'will', foretelling an actual forthcoming severance. Just a small point.

Re: Broadcasting: It's not just a public service, it's must-have entertainment, too. On this Island we have BBC N.Ireland and RTE in the South, both of which organisations combine their forces and talents at all levels to keep the masses under control here.....(wide flatscreens in all rooms keeping 24/7 surveillance on everyone's activities. Next thing will be the Thought Police!)

A lot of our homespun programmes here are the direct result of such co-operation and we're all the richer for it.

Tom

[Sinned]

One question that hasn't been asked and hence not answered is that IF Scotland do withdraw will they remain in the Commonwealth and keep the Queen as the Head of State? If they do then there probably won't ne much change. If they withdraw then it won't be a Royal event anymore and the effect upon the Scottish armed forces and their relationship to the forces of the remainder of the forces will have to change and that will effect the Tattoo irrespective of who broadcasts it. Of course it's all conjecture at the moment because I don't think that anyone has thought about all the ramifications and side effects. Oh well, soon be over.

[skirtingtoday]

To answer sinned's question on the Monarchy and the Queen, I quote from the White Paper:-

The Monarchy and the Crown
On independence Scotland will be a constitutional monarchy, continuing the Union of the Crowns that dates back to 1603,
pre-dating the Union of the Parliaments by over one hundred years. On independence in 2016, Her Majesty The Queen will
be head of state.
Earlier in 2013, the rules on succession to the Crown (as they affect Scotland and elsewhere) were amended to remove outdated gender discrimination. This Government intends to support, and promote amongst the other Commonwealth States
with the Queen as head of state, a similar measure to remove religious discrimination from the succession rules.

And to Tom, The Tattoo started in 1950 so agreed there is no guarantee it "will" still be there in 50 years time so "will" is possibly rather a strong word to use! However with annual attendances of 217,000 and a viewing audience of "around 100million", it is a positive money-earner to the economy and therefore isn't going to disappear IF independence is voted for. (In 2013, it earned £8.7million in box-office receipts) Nor conversely, will it disappear if independence is NOT voted for.

And in case you think I have no figures to back this up here is the link I used:- http://www.edintattoo.co.uk/beyond-the- ... he-tattoo/

Perhaps if one is really "picky" about the language used, the word "would" could be a more appropriate word? I was more looking at the question raised by sinned, "Will the Tattoo suffer?" within an independent Scotland.

[Sinned]

skrtngtdy, That's good to know anyway. When I was younger I wouldn't have really cared about the Tattoo but as I have got older I have grown to enjoy it and am glad that it is unlikely to disappear as some of our other traditional items have done. Yes, words do mean what they mean and have different strengths of emphasis so could, should and would all have different strengths. I do try and choose my words carefully so that there aren't any really emotive meanings. Any decent orator or public speaker is really conscious of this.