Bagpipe player Mark Burden standing outside Edinburgh Castle in August.--Submitted Photo

asmith@medicinehatnews.com

Medicine Hat’s own Mark Burden represented all of Alberta this summer as he took part in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

The tattoo, explains Burden, is akin to a large-scale concert consisting of 26 performances over several weeks. It is based in a longstanding tradition that has evolved over several centuries.

“It’s based on the Dutch phrase, doe den tap toe, and essentially it comes from when they used to go around playing instruments, telling the hill houses and the bars and stuff to stop serving the soldiers alcohol,” said Burden. “It means ‘turn off the taps.'”

Burden spent the entirety of August in Edinburgh to play the bagpipe in the tattoo, which featured 9

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