Ex-soldier to take on father's lone piper role

THE son of the first "lone piper" to play a haunting lament at the close of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo will this week follow in his father's footsteps after becoming the first former soldier to be invited back from retirement to take on the same prestigious piping role.

Retired Major Gavin Stoddart will assume the role that was once filled by his late father George to mark the 60th anniversary of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

Major Stoddart, 62, who will feature in a BBC documentary about the Tattoo on Sunday, said: "When you retire from the army, that's usually it - you are gone for good. So to be asked back from retirement to do this is a huge honour.

"I do feel really proud, and if my father was still alive I am sure he would be proud that his role is being honoured in this way too."

Major Stoddart, who joined the Scots Guards as a teenager, was five years old when he first saw his father perform at the Tattoo. "When the show was coming to a close and he appeared as the 'lone piper' with this big bright light shining on him, it was amazing. I remember I was desperate to shout 'That's my father up there!'"