Campbeltown piper’s Edinburgh tattoo toast
A CAMPBELTOWN piper achieved one of military piping’s highest honours as the Lone Piper at Edinburgh’s Military Tattoo.
Corporal Charles MacLean, 32, from Ralston Road, a piper in the Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, greeted the Duke of Rothesay, Prince Charles, the Tattoo’s salute taker, with a Gaelic toast.
For his part, His Royal Highness, in the uniform of a naval admiral, handed a quaich of East Lothian, Glenkinichie whisky to the chief of the clans, his son Earl of Strathern, Prince William, Cpl MacLean and the Duke of Argyll.
Cpl MacLean gave the Lone Piper’s 2017 toast, in well rehearsed Gaelic as follows: ‘Ceud mìle fàilte dhuibh uile gu baile Dhùn Èideann agus chun a’ Chaisteil. Mòran làithean sona dhuibh is sìth. Slàinte do’n Bhànrigh. Ard-cheannard ar Ceann-feadhna. Slàinte dhuibh uile!’
This salutation, from the 16th century, translates as: ‘One hundred thousand welcomes to you all to the City of Edinburgh and to the Castle. A long happy life and peace to you all. Health to the Queen, our chief of chiefs. Health to you all.’
The salute taker replied: ‘Slàinte.’
It was not all ceremonial duty for Cpl MacLean during the 100-minute show, run with military precision, he was strapped into a safety harness and played from Edinburgh’s castle ramparts, for the six nights that he appeared.
Cpl MacLean said: ‘I was one of the Lone Pipers, performing at the tattoo between August 3 and 28.
‘I played and took the toast for the evening when BBC One recorded its programme, which was shown on Monday evening.
‘I first played aged 12, with Craig Campbell, at Lochgilphead high school and later was taken under the wing of gold medal piper Arthur Gillies, till I joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders aged 16.’
His wife Morven said: ‘I am exceptionally proud but Charles has had great piping ability from long before he joined the army.’
Cpl MacLean’s army career is not all about ceremonial occasions and as well as performing in Switzerland, Israel and New Zealand, he has served in Bosnia and two tours of Afghanistan.
One of the MacLeans’ friends, from Clachan, Lesley Kean said: ‘What an honour for the prince to meet our Charles.’