By Neil MacLure
When I play the pipes on the street in Edinburgh, I meet interesting people. Some years ago, a gentleman named Dr Lester Borley CBE surprised me when he said he felt responsible for the beginning of piping on Princes Street.
In 1956 he worked for the British Tourist Authority, and Lester needed an image to promote tourism. In those days large colourful posters were a major part of attracting foreign visitors. He eventually found a handsome Scots Guards pipe major performing at the Tattoo and took him off for a photo by the loch at the back of Arthurs Seat. The photo was put on 10,000 posters distributed round the world – notice it is promoting Britain!
By 1970 Lester had become head of tourism for Scotland, based in Edinburgh, and one of his regular activities was to visit the major hotels for feedback. The head porters were a valuable source of information and a Mr. Petrie, head porter at the North British on Princes Street, now the Balmoral Hotel, told him a regular gripe was that tourists had seen a wonderful poster of a piper but now that they were in Scotland there were no pipers and no kilts to be seen.
So Lester decided it was time to deliver what he had promised. With the agreement of the council, who at that time didn’t allow such joyful music on the streets, he paid a piper a retainer to play for 20 minutes each day at 11am by the Scott Monument where pipers, me included, can still be found playing 55 years later.
Sadly, Lester has since passed and I’m grateful for permission from his family to publish this.
