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A failed bull fight, staged by a horse and cattle auctioneer in the agricultural hall at Islington in London, was the forerunner to the modern military tattoo.
The bull fight so enraged the British audience that they invaded the arena to protect the bull.
So John Raffety, a British entrepreneur, born in 1842, who until then had worked as a horse and cattle auctioneer from the yard of the Swan Inn in Wycombe; established himself as the general manager of the agricultural hall in Islington. He organised dairy shows, dog shows, trade exhibitions and circuses – even the bull fight.
Then he proposed to the British Army that if they provided the manpower to stage an annual military tournament, he would give half the profit to army widows. The Army agreed, but stipulated that the annual donation had to be a minimum of £500, and on the 21st June 1880 the tradition of the military tattoo was born.
The Royal Tournament continued to run for 119 years and was billed as “the first, oldest and biggest military tattoo in the world”.
Another version of the early history, dates ancient tattoos to the bitter 80-year war that liberated the Netherlands from its Spanish occupiers in the 16th and 17th Centuries. In towns where Dutch troops were garrisoned, drum-led patrols would be sent out in the early evening to get the soldiers out of the taverns and back to their barracks.
At each tavern the patrol commander would tell the inn-keeper: “Doe den tap toe!” (Close the tap on the beer-barrel). Reputedly this is why 6 p.m. is still known as “Retreat” in army parlance. The nightly “taptoe” was adopted by other armies. The Germans call it the “zapfenstreich”, and Commonwealth Nations know it as the “tattoo”.
The tradition has swept the world. The most-famous of all is the Edinburgh Tattoo. First performed in 1950, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo draws an international audience of over 200 000 people and reaches a television audience of another 100 million.
Moscow has recently re-introduced its military tattoo, the Kremlin Zoria, and, exactly a year ago – on the 13th September – the massed Pipes and Drums of the Transvaal Scottish, led by Drum Major Anthony Evans, became the only South African military band ever to march onto Moscow's famous Red Square. South African bands and highland dancers have preformed at tattoos in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Toronto in Canada, and Basel in Switzerland, amongst many others.
The tradition of “taptoe” in South Africa dates back to the 17th Century and Dutch rule in the Cape. A drummer mounted the Leerdam Bastion of the Castle of Good Hope every evening and beat out the summons to return to barracks. The corporal of the guard was reputed to station himself at the Lion Gate with a cane to mete out encouragement to latecomers.
The South African Tattoo aims to be a proud part of South Africa, showcasing our traditions and cultures.
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