History
The word Tattoo is derived from Dutch doe den tap toe (translated to turn off the taps). In 17th century Dutch villages when British soldiers were required back at their barracks, a drummer would march through the streets playing the drumbeat doe den tap toe.
While the first Nova Scotia Tattoo actually took place in 1979, the event that had the greatest impact on the Nova Scotia Tattoo was the Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo. As part of the Centennial Celebrations, the 1967 Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo was the largest touring show ever presented in the world. During the summer of 1967, the Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo made stops in Victoria, Vancouver, Hamilton, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal – it toured for a total of eight months.
An officer with the Black Watch, Ian Fraser, had experience working on Tattoos because of the Soldiers of the Queen production that was put together in Gagetown, NB, in 1959. Fraser was called from the Staff College in India to Ottawa to produce the Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo.
From that highly successful show, Fraser was once again called upon in 1979 to organize a Tattoo to mark the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother to Nova Scotia for the International Gathering of the Clans. This was the first time the International Gathering of the Clans had taken place outside of Scotland. Fraser was commanded to organize the show in six months.
After the 1979 debut, the provincial government established the Nova Scotia Tattoo as a permanent tourist attraction. This show evolved into a cultural fixture and economically important nine-day production; a mainstay in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
In recognition of how much the show had evolved since 1979 on an international level, the name formally changed to The Nova Scotia International Tattoo in 1988.
On May 4, 2006, it was announced that the Tattoo had received the designation "Royal" from Queen Elizabeth II. The announcement was made at Government House in Nova Scotia by Lieutenant-Governor Myra Freeman.
Read more about this topic: Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo
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