Tearful farewell

The ship was open to the public on Saturday and I had gone on board, hoping to visit its office to remind me of my own youth in the Royal Navy.

One of the ship’s writers showed me her desk. What a cramped little cubbyhole it was.

As HMS Edinburgh drew away from the quay, it was pulled by three tugs and the crew lined the side – sailors along every deck and the prettiest one waved to me, I think.

Then, setting a course for the harbour entrance to pass the royal yacht, Britannia, three rousing cheers rang out and the marine band on the yacht struck up Rule Britannia, Hearts of Oak and A Life on the Ocean Wave.

A lone piper piped farewell and a little tear trickled down my cheek.

Not so much from the sentiment that HMS Edinburgh was leaving, you understand, but the feeling that in a year or so from now the Scotland that I grew up in, Scotland the Brave indeed, might be leaving too.

Robert Veitch

Paisley Drive

Edinburgh