2018 has been a special year for ESMS taking part in the Tattoo. In addition to a choir of 40 children from both SMC and MES, 20 girls from our partner school in Malawi, the Edinburgh Girls High School, flew over to perform with a group of 20 MES senior girls. Our schools were instrumental in providing significant levels of support during the construction and development of the school which shares our Mary Erskine motto, 'mitis et fortis', and whose girls wear the Mary Erskine tartan. This was a very special occasion for both schools. The girls of Mary Erskine continue to raise significant funds for the school and a group of senior girls are privileged every second year to spend time at the EGHS, building up friendships and sharing in the ongoing development of 'our' girls' school in Malawi.
Whilst taking part in the Tattoo, the girls from MES and the Edinburgh Girls High School were very proud to be invited to form the Guard of Honour for the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, when she visited the Tattoo. After the performance, three of the Malawian girls chatted with the First Minister before singing Flower of Scotland together quite spontaneously!
1992 MES alumna Christine Jensen, owner of the famous Peboryon Cakes, brought a cake all the way from the south coast of England to celebrate the Malawi/MES connction in confection with a stunning cake capturing the schools' shared motto, coat of arms and clan tartan. The girls very much enjoyed their special cake.
Another MES alumna was also taking part in the Tattoo was Yoshimi Barker (nee Kuroda), class of 2000, who was playing with the RAF Pipes and Drums for the fourth time since 2007. Yoshimi had a busy summer celebrating the RAF 100 including a parade down The Mall in London and beating the retreat at Balmoral Castle. Yoshimi was very proud of her ESMS connections as she watched the children marching past her group every evening during the finale.
There are always lots of other ESMS connections with the Tattoo, for example one of our pupils Amy was following in the footsteps of her grandfather and great-grandfather who also both performed at the Tattoo in their day. Amy's grandfather, Jack Johnstone took part as with the RAF dog demonstration team as the Sargent and Team Leader. Amy's great-grandfather, John Johnstone took part with his horse and carriage a generation prior.
Further information and photos of the events at and surrounding the Tattoo are available at www.facebook.com/esmsconnect.
