The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Dundee piper’s call brings sound of Scotland to Croatia
The skirl of the pipes drifts through the Croatian highlands as a piper and drummer from 7 Scots put on a moving performance.
Private Keith Christie, 24, from Dundee and Lance Corporal David Hay, 34, from Livingston play a number of traditional pipes and drums tunes, including Bonnie Dundee and Scotland the Brave, as dusk falls across the Red Earth camp, near Split.
The performance also captures the imagination of Croatian Army soldiers as the pair climb on top of a redundant T72 battle tank and play tunes silhouetted against the sunset.
One Croatian even jumps up to be photographed with the Scots pair while hoisting his Hadjuk Split football scarf.
Private Christie, a former pupil of Forthill Primary and Grove Academy, has been with the Army Reserve for more than five years.
He has been giving the Scots soldiers a taste of his tunes with a 5.45am wake-up call each morning during our stay at the camp, close to the Bosnian border.
Going into his second year as an architectural technology student at Dundee and Angus College, he has played the pipes since he was taught as a nine-year-old by renowned Pipe Major Ian Duncan and loves combining soldiering with music.
The former National Youth Band of Scotland pipe major says: “The reserves is very much a case of what you put into it you’ll get back.
“I really enjoy it. I wouldn’t be standing in Croatia if I didn’t. I’ve been all over the world with Army Reserve, from America and Cyprus to Denmark and Fuerteventura in the Canaries.
“It’s really interesting working with the Croatians. We like to have international relations and see how they do things.”
Lance Corporal Hay learned to play the drums when he joined the regular army Royal Scots aged 18. He has been with the Reserves three years and now works for 7 Scots full-time.
“Pipes and drums certainly take you to a lot more places than you’d imagine,” says the veteran of 10 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoos.
“I’ve probably got more out of the reserves than I got out of the regulars.”