Western Cape Scout Tattoos

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The idea of a Scout Tattoo was born during the Scout Band Tour of Natal in 1981. After a visit to the Durban Tattoo band leaders Alan Shinton and 'Atom' Airth discussed the possibility of having a Scout tattoo in Cape Town.

An outline of the show and budget was presented to the Area Commissioner and with his and the Executive Committee's approval, planning began in all earnest.

The 1983 Tattoo

Report by 'Kudu' Quinn - Good Hope Centre - Tuesday and Wednesday, 14 and 15 June 1983.

Tattoo Badge

The lights dimmed, the beams of the spots focussed on the trumpeters, the audience hushed in anticipation, the fanfare rang out - and the 1983 Scout Tattoo was under way. Months of toil and sweat, worry and nail-biting bore fruit at last, and very good fruit it was.

The show was slick and moved swiftly. The emphasis naturally was on music and movement, and here the Scout Bands - the Area Band and the 1st Lansdowne Group Band - were given ample opportunity to show what they could do - and did it very well. We were very much indebted to the two guest bands, namely, the South African Navy Band and the Caledonian Pipe Band.

There were two other guest items, both of which were extremely popular. The first was the display by the Western Cape Highland Dancers, who filled the huge arena with swirling kilts and flashing swords - a thrilling performance with professional polish. The other was the Maypole dancing by the Cape Western Girl Guides, a truly delightful item, expressing spontaneous joy in movement.

The Cub Marching was good to watch. Maybe they weren't all in step - but then neither were the members of the Jamboree Contingent! The Jampats, however, made a most favourable impression: if we can send a bunch like that to represent us overseas, we're all right.

The trek-cart race, which required dismantling it into its component parts, carrying them over various obstacles and then reassembling it, took old-timers like myself back to the far-off days when the Cape Western Division could put ten or twelve trek carts in action on the old Rosebank Show Ground.

The pioneering was slick, and the monkey bridge was a good one. I noticed that they allowed only small boys to test it, instead of a heavy­weight Commissioner, but why take a chance in public?

Nautical Days, by the Sea Scouts gave us plenty to watch and exploited the arena space to the best advantage. There was some good singing here. The first half ended with a reconstruction of the Brownsea Island camp and introduced the flags of the Scouting world. In addition we saw some high speed tent pitching - fortunately it wasn't raining so they didn't have to dig trenches!

There was more marching - this time from Drum Majorettes. The cycle ride was smooth and spectacular, the abseiling by the Scout Mountain Club was thrilling, the Gumboot Dance introduced more movement, Show Time and Emergency gave us a bit of "let's pretend", and the combined bands of the Finale brought the evening to a thrilling and fitting close.


The 1985 Tattoo
Report by 'Kudu' Quinn - Good Hope Centre - Friday and Saturday, 21 and 22 June 1985.

Tattoo Badge

Once again music, movement and spectacle formed the recipe for the Scout Tattoo at the Good Hope Centre. The appeal of smart uniforms, colourful flags and especially the mass effect of the finale all went to make up a popular show.

The Area Scout Band opened the programme with a fanfare, and then played the colours in - the action had started. Other bands taking part were those of the South African Cape Corps, the Western Province Command and the Cape Field Artillery. The pipes and drums of the Cape Town Highlanders were also much in evidence.

Perhaps the most spectacular item was that of the Settlers High School Drum Majorettes. Beautiful costumes and absolute precision of movement were featured here.

We saw Scouts in action in the combined Pioneering and Trek Cart demonstration. This was a slick and well-rehearsed item. So too was that of the Sea Scouts, who gave us a real thrill when they erected a mast and climbed all over it. The big moment came when they hoisted the upper section into place with a Scout at the very top.

Edgemead Cubs were part of the display
Cubs mass display of physical training exercises

The Girl Guides gave us a pageant of Guiding through the Ages, celebrating their 75th anniversary. Guides and Scouts from Langa sang traditional songs, with a bit of dancing thrown in. Later, Scouts from Langa performed "Swinging Logs", a novelty drill routine using spars. A precision item was the Cycling Display, during which I'm sure some members of the audience expected a "prang" - they didn't get it!

100 Cubs from the Tygerberg and Sea Point Districts, neatly dressed in red T-shirts with the Scout Tattoo logo on them, gave a mass display of physical training exercises.

These appear to be the only two tattoos staged by Cape Western. They were produced by Alan Shinton whose flair for organisation together with his large team of helpers, brought it all together.