Mirror of The Nation

Mirror of the nation?
The Edinburgh Festivals and Scottish national

identity
David Jarman
MA (Hon.) University of Edinburgh
1997 – 2001
dsrjarman@hotmail.com
Acknowledgements
It is always easier to write about subjects you like and have some experience
of, such is the case with this dissertation as I have played Paris in Romeo and
Juliet on the Fringe, House Manager at the Bedlam Theatre, Steward at the
Festival Centre and Box Office Supervisor for the Fringe Society, all
demanding roles. Help with the research has come from many sources, with
special thanks reserved for Paul Gudgin, Fringe Society Administrator, and
Judith Doherty at Grid Iron. Staff at both International and Fringe Festivals
have supplied information and ideas, and are largely responsible for my
continuing interest in the Festival. Owen Dudley Edwards, of Edinburgh
University and numerous Festival publications, and Douglas Brown at the
Scottish Centre for Cultural Management and Policy, Queen Margaret
University College, have been invaluable in suggesting lines of inquiry, source
material and their own memories and experiences of the Festival. Staff in the
Manuscripts Department of the National Library of Scotland sorted through
the numerous boxes, files and scrapbooks which make up the Edinburgh
Festival Society archives, and now a large proportion of the material used in
this study. Thanks also to my flatmate, family and friends for feeding and
encouraging me. Finally, thank you to my supervisor Trevor Griffiths whose
patience and guidance turned an interest into an enjoyable and rewarding
piece of work.
Edinburgh, April 2001
Page iii
Contents
Acknowledgements iii
Introduction 1
Section i 9
Founding a festival
Section ii 21
Electing an identity
Section iii 34
Political and cultural devolution?
Conclusion 40
Bibliography 43
Page iv
Introduction
Lourd on my hert as winter lies

The state that Scotland’s in the day
Spring to the North has aye come slow
But noo dour winter’s like to stay
For guid
And no’ for guid!
- Hugh MacDiarmid, To Circumjack Cencrastus (1930)1
‘We wish to provide the world with a centre where, year after year, all
that is best in music and drama and the visual arts can be seen and
heard in ideal surroundings’
- Lord Provost and Chairman of the Edinburgh Festival
Council, Sir John Falconer (1947)2
The Edinburgh Festival, as the focus of the city’s cultural calendar, has been
a unique annual celebration since the inaugural event in 1947.3 The
International Festival’s founders shared a desire to enhance and actively
promote European peacetime co-operation, their method was an ambitious
programme of the highest quality performances in a broad range of art forms.
Many motives and countless methods have led others to participate in what is
now an eight festival event. Despite initial uncertainty from some sources, the
city of Edinburgh and tens of thousands of its citizens proved welcoming
hosts, and continue to do so. The focus of this study however lies between
these international and civic identities; what has been the relationship
between the Festivals and a Scottish, national, identity? How have such
interactions manifested themselves, and who has contributed to and been
affected by them? Do, or should, the Festivals have a Scottish identity?
Many have commented on, and surely many more have been aware of such
questions, suggesting research in this area is valuable – and timely, in view of
recent developments in Scotland’s political constitution.
It is important to set out some of the contexts in which the Festivals have
developed. The following two paragraphs do this with regard to questions of
1
This extract from To Circumjack Cencrastus formed part of Owen Dudley Edwards’s
MacDiarmid – A Celebration at the 1979 Edinburgh International Festival. National Library of
Scotland (NLS), Manuscripts Department (MSS), Edinburgh Festival Society ACC 10572:59
2
Wishart 1996, p1
3
The term ‘Festival’ is used in this study to cover all the activities linked to the separate
Festivals held in Edinburgh during the summer since 1947. Although the divisions between
each are often blurred, the ‘official’ festival is often interpreted to be the Edinburgh
International Festival, around which has grown the Edinburgh International Film Festival and
the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo from 1950, and more recently the
Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, the Edinburgh Book Festival, the Edinburgh Television
Festival, and the Edinburgh Mela. Where distinction between events is necessary, specific
titles will be used. Through the course of the dissertation the focus will be primarily on the
International and Fringe Festivals, it is hoped however, that such analysis as follows will not
lose sight of the enjoyment shared by many at festival time. Any such history that fails to
capture some of the atmosphere of the event, the diversity, colour and energy of the
experience, denies the Festivals their central purpose, and thus the value in studying and
seeking to account for their development.
Page 1
Mirror of the Nation?
political and national identity. The development of a politicised Scottish

identity has been a complex, and often highly visible feature of the post-war
years.4 Scotland’s unique position in the British state and economy has
brought mixed fortunes for the supporters of Unionism, Nationalism and
devolution. Constitutional issues have thus set the political agenda with an
importance second only to Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. Of
vital importance to the form such an agenda is given, and the way the debate
plays itself out, has been relations north and south of the border, or more
specifically between Westminster, the Scottish Office, and Scottish civil
society.5 Scotland, it must be remembered, entered the political Union with
England in 1707 as an independent country, a status that has endured in
distinct educational, legal and religious structures and practises. Alongside
other components of civil society, the development of such institutions has
given a large degree of autonomy to the Scottish nation, within the British
state.6 Of course, such relationships need not be politicised, yet at key
periods of change or disagreement the opportunity to do just this has often
been taken. Aside from a role in British politics, Scotland has been subject to
European and global developments, sometimes via London, often from a
more local foundation. The ideological and popular currents which saw the
foundation of the United Nations, the strengthening of formal ties within
Europe, and the breakdown of the Soviet Union have all fed into Scottish
political thought, taking effect as local conditions dictate. The interplay of
cultural and political developments such as these informs much of, and is vital
to, this study. Many developments inhabit a grey area between these two
forms of expression, such as the establishment of Ireland’s Abbey Theatre as
the world’s first state subsidised theatre, and the debate which has
periodically shrouded the British Museum’s collection of ‘Elgin Marbles’ over
the past two centuries.7 With the popular, politicised, support given to
devolution in the successful 1997 referendum, Scottish national identity has
received renewed attention. It is because of the interaction between the
forms such identity can take, and the accepted importance of civil society in
Scotland, that studies which look to cultural and political developments as
being mutually influential take much of their justification.
Finlay is acutely aware of the ‘individual nature of national identity’, whereby

there may be little actual common ground between individuals’ experience of
life in Scotland, yet they ‘imagine’ others see the nation largely as they do.8
He therefore draws on Benedict Anderson’s notions of an ‘imagined
community’ as the source of modern national identity, a phenomenon born of
‘capitalism and print technology’ which allows the citizens of a nation to
debate and disseminate common aspects of nationhood.9 This is therefore a
somewhat more active civic form of national identity than those such as
Anthony D. Smith's which emphasise the ethnic basis to nationhood as ‘first
4
Marr 1992; Brown et al 1998; Finlay 1997
5
Brown et al 1998, pp47-65
6
7
Jarman 2000
8
Finlay 1997, pp6-7
9
Anderson 1983, p49
Page 2
and foremost a community of common descent’.10 Both strains of thought will

inform this study, however the former will predominate. Interaction between
culture, politics and national identity, and the ways in which it is received,
perceived and accepted or rejected demands active engagement, and it is
evidence of this which is being sought and investigated. Political events in
1997 can be cited as evidence that Scotland’s imagined community was
indeed active in reaffirming popular notions of nationhood. Analysis of
referendum research by Brown et al demonstrates the extent to which
Scotland as a whole actively endorsed the Government’s White Paper on
constitutional reform.11 Overt nationalism may not have been a high priority
for many, yet voting was a universally shared experience for those who took
part, and the majority saw Scotland’s interests lying in a newly defined,
democratic expression of government, and identity.
The purpose of this study is to draw these strands together, using a

chronological framework constructed with reference to both Scottish politics
and the Festival, to seek out the ways artists and audiences, contributors and
critics, interested parties and casual observers have discussed the Edinburgh
Festival and Scotland, Scotland and the Edinburgh Festival. Three distinct
periods provide that framework for analysis. The first will cover the mid- to
late-1940s, when the International Festival was devised and launched,
accompanied by the International Film Festival and an embryonic Fringe. A
fervent desire for international neighbourliness was paramount in a Europe
emerging from the second catastrophic war of a generation. The first
International Festival set out its intentions to contribute to just such an ideal
from its opening concert and the Lord Provost’s call for ‘a new way of life
centred round the arts’.12 The second section looks to the 1970s, remarkable
in Scottish political history for the sustained electoral success of the Scottish
National Party (SNP). Though it may have taken much strength from the
discovery of oil in the North Sea, and brought responses from the London
leaderships of both the Labour and Conservative parties, the SNP challenge
faltered with the unsuccessful 1979 devolution referendum, and the
inexorable rise of Margaret Thatcher and the dominance of English Toryism.13
Concurrently, the Festival was becoming a larger, more diverse event,
developments which can be largely attributed to the Fringe’s accelerated
growth under a professional central administration.14 The final section seeks
to bring the study up to date as Scotland's national identity has once again
received mass politicised support, and devolution has been achieved.
Constitutional reform may mean a new and different emphasis has been
placed on the identities which are presented at the Festivals, new debates
opened and questions asked. This thesis does not set out to predict the
outcomes of those debates, however, placing them into a historical context to
10
Smith 1991, p11. It is important to note the duality of discussing ‘civic’ identity as that
relating to an urban, geographically restricted area, and also one implying citizenship, which
relies on participation to a greater degree than merely residential status.
11
12
From the Lord Provost John Falconer’s preface to the 1947 International Festival of Music
and Drama Souvenir Programme. NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society Ltd., Dep. 378:1
13
Marr 1992, pp121-163
14
Moffat 1978, p84
Page 3
identify continuities and changes over time helps justify the benefits in turning,
and returning, to the topics covered.
This dissertation complements the existing literature; its focus is on subjects

that have been widely commented on and written about, yet with little done to
collate and analyse those ideas. Hugh MacDiarmid regretted that ‘the festival
authorities have not seen fit to make adequate representation of Scottish
music in their programme’ in 1947.15 September 1976 brought SNP concern
that without further state support the ‘blossoming’ Scottish culture could
wither, the International Festival was a ‘stagnant institution’ anyway, with the
Fringe as the focus of ‘Scotland’s new spirit’.16 The debate continues today,
Kenny Ireland, Artistic director of the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh, believes the
International Festival’s Director to be ‘disparaging about what he sees in
Scotland…[when] There’s a lot of really good stuff on Brian’s [McMaster]
doorstep’.17 Richard Demarco, ‘renowned Edinburgh impresario’, feels ‘We’re
in danger of destroying one of the most beautiful things Scotland has ever
had, a thing that gave it dignity’.18 Despite the highly personalised and varied
experiences of visiting, watching or performing at Edinburgh, there are clearly
debates which seem intrinsic to the Festivals themselves. The question of
identity will forever be important as situations change, events affect the
political and cultural landscape, and new generations of individuals contribute
to a process of continual reassessment. As such, it cannot be denied that this
research and analysis will be of its time. Much literature appraising the
Festivals accompanied the 50th event in 1996, and the Golden Jubilee a year
later. The years since have seen devolution achieved and the Scottish
Parliament established, a new National Museum of Scotland opened by the
Queen on St. Andrew’s Day 1998, and a ‘National Cultural Strategy’
consultation launched by the Scottish Executive.19 Likewise, the experiences
of all who have contributed, including – especially – the author, will define
many of the priorities highlighted and approaches taken. The intention is not
to produce too subjective a report, too personal an account, but to contribute
a wide ranging study informed and illustrated by the developments and ideas
of over fifty years of Festival history.
One of the International Festival’s Aims and Objectives is ‘To reflect

international culture in presentation to Scottish audiences and to reflect
Scottish culture in presentation to international audiences’, implying that its
organisers feel an obligation, or even a duty, to take on a Scottish identity.20
Perhaps ‘The Festival should be the gateway through which our guests go on
to discover the riches of Scotland’s heritage’, which is a heavy burden to have
carried for over half a century.21 Many would surely agree however that
‘modesty is becoming in a host who, after all,…cannot help revealing himself
15
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society Ltd., Dep. 378:386: Glasgow Herald, 11.02.1947
16
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:68: The Scotsman, 07.09.1976
17
The Guardian, 21.08.2000
18
19
Scottish Executive, Celebrating Scotland: A National Cultural Strategy, 1999
20
www.eif.co.uk/about/aims, 18.12.2000
21
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society Ltd., Dep. 378:390: Aberdeen Press and Journal,
27.08.1949
Page 4
at every turn to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear’; it is not
imperative to make a home identity too blatant to those who are surrounded
by it as they leave their hotels, use Princes Street’s shops and visit the city’s
pubs and restaurants.22 Yet if one takes this attitude, it is Edinburgh the city
the visitor is experiencing, exerting a civic identity. That city may well be
Scotland’s capital, but it cannot supply the breadth of the Scottish experience
in its entirety within walking distance of the Assembly Hall or the Festival
Club, except in performance, presentation and exhibition.
The challenge, if one seeks Scottish inclusion in the Festivals, is to discover

how successfully this opportunity has been grasped. Which elements of
Scotland and Scottishness have been included, by whom, and under which
agendas and pretexts, aims and objectives? The Festivals also seek an
international identity, some including it in their titles. The implications for
Scottish national identity could suggest that presenting intra-Scottish regional
identities has to be done with reference to much broader contexts, more
universal themes perhaps, in order that Scottish experiences have relevance
in an international arena. The extent to which such considerations are made
by artists preparing work for the Edinburgh Festivals is likely to vary
enormously: is not an artist’s first priority his or her art? In some respects,
however, the degree to which a performer or audience member overtly,
implicitly or accidentally contributes to the debate is irrelevant. Scotland, as
with any other theme or subject, has to be interpreted before it can be
presented, and thus it is an identity which will almost inevitably be linked to
others. Individuals carry multiple identities, their experiences determined by
nationality, but also by gender, race, age, region or class, for example. The
Arts Council asserts that ‘Festivals bring people together in small or large
communities, and help forge an identity for those communities’.23 Where
Scotland is that community, and Edinburgh the festival, there is an annual
opportunity to discuss the meaning of that identity, and in the full glare of
national, British, and international attention. In the pages of newspapers,
books and reports, the stages of concert halls, renovated churches and
schools, such issues are as old as the Festivals themselves – and that is
without asking why the Tattoo outsells all other shows, every single year.
Initial research for this study focused on a number of well informed books that
have been written on the Festivals. This was important to gain a more
extensive knowledge of their histories, both in general terms and as regards
the events and productions, individuals and groups, that others have felt
warrant particular attention. It was through such reading, alongside research
which put the Festivals into their wider political and social contexts, that the
viability of choosing a three period chronological structure was established.
The basis for most of the subsequent research has been the Edinburgh
Festival Society archives held by the National Library of Scotland.24 This has
22
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society Ltd., Dep. 378:386: The Scotsman, 25.01.1947
23
National Arts and Media Strategy Monitoring Group, Towards A National Arts and Media
Strategy 1992, p119
24
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378; NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society,
ACC 11779; NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518; NLS, MSS, Edinburgh
Festival Society, ACC 10572
Page 5
proved a very rich source of information, the records available providing a

great deal of the primary material used. The implications of this are similar to
those of the secondary literature – there is an implicit reliance on those who
compile and maintain the archives to have created and made accessible a
store of information which fairly and accurately represents the Festivals. The
most serious limitation for those studying a broad range of Festival
experiences is that the archives are heavily weighted towards the
International Festival, where most of their contents originated. It is
nonetheless a vast resource, and does contain considerable information on
other Festivals, and topics connected to their work. In fact, its sheer size
restricts the collection’s relative use; its contents cover the full time span of
Festival activity, and judicious use of the archives’ indices is required to find
relevant source material. This can result in useful, sometimes unexpected
finds, alongside some disappointments.25 Either way, it has meant that much
of the available resources have been left untouched for lack of time and the
desire to cover breadth as well as depth in a given time period or topic.
Appeals for archived material were also made to the City of Edinburgh
Council, West Register House in Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, and Edinburgh
Central Library. The most fruitful proved to be the Central Library which has
valuable resources in its Edinburgh Room, particularly regarding Festival
Society publications. The Council was able to provide some recently
published reports on the economic impact of the Festivals, the local
authorities have always taken a keen interest in the financial implications of
the Festivals.26 In order to develop a picture of the attitudes and approaches
of some of the key individuals involved, autobiographies have also been used,
as well as an interview with Paul Gudgin, the current Administrator of the
Festival Fringe Society. It is to be hoped therefore that with many types of
resource available to those studying the Festivals, despite some limitations
and restrictions, general appraisals and specific examples can be called upon
to enliven this study.
In seeking to trace contemporary opinions on the ways Scottish national

identities interacted with the Festivals, the National Library archives’ collection
of newspaper cuttings have proved an invaluable resource. A range of
publications is included, with high levels of representation from the Scottish
press, both local and national. Discussion on the themes covered is evident
from the earliest days, one writer arguing that ‘the lack of this or that Scottish
contribution, might, if allowed to go unanswered, assume importance out of all
proportion to their true value…this is essentially an international and not
simply a national Festival’.27 Papers from the rest of Britain also feature
prominently, although the question of Scottish representation and identity is
25
Of particular value have been transcripts of performances such as Edwards’s Celebration
of MacDiarmid. Less valuable were the ‘Green Paper Books’, which although spanning
several decades, contained an exhaustive collection of correspondence between the
International Festival and its customers regarding lost tickets and hotel bookings, and were of
little practical use for this study.
26
Festivals in Edinburgh, report discussed City of Edinburgh Council, meeting 29.06.2000,
item 15; Festivals in Edinburgh – A Financial Review, report discussed City of Edinburgh
Council, meeting 21.11.2000, item 20. These reports will inform a ‘Festivals Strategy’
document, due to receive delayed publication by the Council in Spring/Summer 2001.
27
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society Ltd., Dep. 378:386: The Scotsman, 25.01.1947
Page 6
not found to anything like the same degree. Despite this, The Guardian did
cite Scottish oil, the SNP and Billy Connolly as chiefly responsible for a new
confidence in Scottish artistic output in 1978.28 The archives also contain
International Festival publications relating to specific performances and whole
programmes, transcripts of some performances, financial and annual reports,
correspondence over contracts and performances, and many photographs.
What can be built up is a picture of how the Festivals were received at
different stages in their development, and also how particular elements of the
programme came to attract heightened attention and interpretation.29 This
dissertation is not, indeed could not be, a review of the wealth of literature that
has accompanied the Festivals in the periods under examination; a process of
selection has been deliberately and consciously employed to highlight the
press articles, performance reviews and reports which can most profitably
illustrate and contribute to this study. This should not diminish the value of
the work, but help to confine it to the subject areas covered.
Texts written on the Festivals themselves have proved invaluable. What

some have in common is their highly personalised nature, recalling private
encounters, favoured shows and their authors’ own experiences of the
Festivals.30 A subjective approach such as this is arguably the most
appropriate to take, acknowledging the individual nature of the Festival
experience, and seeking to share such memories, privileged as they may be,
with a wider audience. None does so without wider reference of course, but it
is perhaps little surprise that Iain Crawford’s recollections – as Marketing
Director in 1977 – should include sponsorship negotiations with North Sea oil
companies ‘which had displayed some anxiety to have an identification with
Scotland’.31 Likewise Owen Dudley Edwards – critic and contributor –
highlights more often than not the cultural offerings available, concurring with
Philip French of Critics’ Forum that ‘If Festival fare brought Scotland to the
forefront, so much the better’.32 A restriction on Crawford’s work is its focus
on the International Festival, something shared by Eileen Miller.33 With
comprehensive listings of all the performances and their principal performers,
as well as financial returns, from 1947 to 1996, Miller’s is a valuable piece of
work as both reference and analysis. The chronological structure she uses is
based on the tenures of individual Directors of the International Festival,
recognising the importance of that individual in determining programming
policy and wider aspects of the Festival’s operations. It is perhaps telling that
Alastair Moffat’s 1978 history of the Fringe concentrates less on individuals
than on movements and ideas – viz. ‘The Scottish Element’ – and particular
groups which have contributed to and developed with the Fringe – such as the
28
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society Dep. 11518:117: The Guardian, 18.08.1978
29
As well as more ‘peripheral’ subjects. Visits by Sean Connery and Princess Grace (née
Kelly) attracted much publicity, while the Daily Express celebrated ‘The Festival of Beauties’
in 1975. ‘There must be more beautiful women per acre in Edinburgh just now than in any
city in Europe’, was there considered opinion.
30
Crawford 1997; Edwards 1991; Bruce 1975. To this list should be added the
autobiographies of Rudolph Bing (1972) and John Drummond (2000), although they are
equally valuable as primary source material.
31
Crawford 1997, p135
32
Edwards 1991, p109
33
Miller 1996
Page 7
Traverse theatre and 7:84 Theatre Company.34 A loose chronological

structure co-exists with a thematic approach, and could be said to reflect the
development of the Fringe itself. It is also little surprise that the Traverse has
its own independent history, as does Glasgow’s Citizens’ theatre; each has
contributed to both International and Fringe Festivals, exists outside of the
Edinburgh Festival, and has its own relationships with Scottish national
identity.35 Divisions between primary and secondary source material may be
arbitrary in some places, and not very important in others. A wide variety of
channels are open to those studying the Edinburgh Festivals, and while any
interpretation of the ‘facts’ as they appear on the stage separates the historian
from his subject – if indeed the Festivals are best represented in their starkest
form on the stage and screen – such interpretations carry their own value.
Consideration of both is necessary in order to build a picture of the Festivals
and their reception.
34
Moffat 1978, pp22, 89-95, 53-66
35
McMillan 1988; Coveney 1990
Page 8
Founding a Festival
‘The standard of performance was to be the highest the world could

provide. If Scotland could itself contribute on that level, so much the
better. But the level was not to be accommodated to meet native
claims. That Scotland has, in this first decade, come to contribute so
much and so worthily is a matter for national satisfaction’
- Edinburgh Festival: A review of the first ten years of the
Edinburgh International Festival (1956)1
‘The Festival took time to permeate Scottish life. Even in the 1960s, to
defend it in the Edinburgh City Labour Party was like publicly kicking an
old-age pensioner’
- Harvie, No Gods and Precious Few Heroes (1981)2
The Edinburgh International Festival’s first Director, Rudolph Bing, was

surprised at the ‘immensity of the enterprise’, his vision bringing the world’s
finest artists to a northern European city where austerity and rationing made it
difficult to curtain recently blacked out windows, and immoral to floodlight the
Castle while coal supplies were low.3 The model set by Bing’s Festivals has
changed remarkably little through the history of the International, albeit
accompanied by many other events from its earliest days. The stimulus to
create a festival, the means and the will to do it, and the context in which it
happened must therefore be studied no matter which time period or theme is
being researched. Events of the foundation years help illuminate the
Festivals’ relationship with Scotland and Scottish national identity, explaining
why some felt that the ‘Festival of Music and Drama is certainly a hot idea, for
it is precisely in music and drama that Scottish culture is deficient’.4 The
focus of this section is necessarily on the International Festival, those ‘Round
the fringe of the official Festival’ lacking the central administration and
perhaps common purpose many share today.5 The Documentary Film
Festival’s distinct links to Scottish cultural heritage will however receive
particular attention, as does the Tattoo.6 These years saw those involved
balancing opinions and pressures from a number of directions, forging
identities for the Festivals that may have suited them well or done them a
disservice, been close to the mark or inaccurate and misrepresentative.
1
Edinburgh Festival: A review of the first ten years of the Edinburgh International Festival, its
aims and its origins, its achievements and its hopes for the future, 1956, p9
2
Harvie 1981, p138
3
Bing 1971, p88. The partial floodlighting ban was imposed by Mr. Shinwell from Whitehall.
Press opposition to such a move was ubiquitous in August 1947, many arguing that memories
of the battlements set against a starlit sky would cement the Festival in the minds of visitors.
4
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society Dep. 378:386: Edinburgh Evening Dispatch,
05.02.1947
5
Robert Kemp’s phrase in the Edinburgh Evening News, 1948, is often cited as the
Christening of today’s Fringe. He continued, ‘there seems to be more private enterprise than
before…I'm afraid some of us are not going to be often at home during the evenings.’ The
Fringe. 50 Years of the Greatest Show on Earth, 1996
6
Hardy 1992, pp15, 16. Had it not found itself too late to join the International programme,
the Edinburgh Film Guild might not have responded to the impulse to set up their own event.
Page 9
Despite the immense planning necessary for the Festival, no single vision
dictated its germination.
Placing the establishment of the Edinburgh International Festival into its wider
cultural and political contexts helps explain why it was created and how it
developed, but also gives its creation a wider significance. Culturally, this
task is well served through a consideration of the Arts Council of Great Britain,
a body formed with clear aims and a conscious recognition of its role in post-
war Britain. Its ideology was partly politicised, coming as it did alongside
other reforms of the Attlee government, but a more specific picture of the
political environment into which the Edinburgh Festival was born must focus
on Scotland’s experience.
Where key figures of a cultural elite were important in the International

Festival’s establishment, they were critical in the Arts Council’s formation and
its ‘role of leadership in the encouragement and dissemination of the arts in
this austere post-war Britain…a vision of what the good life should be’.7 Both
organisations concentrated on the ‘civilising arts’, and with financial
considerations utmost at this time, both saw the increasing importance of
public money as subsidy.8 Whereas the International Festival was a recipient
of this development with a guaranteed minimum £10,000 for its first two years
from the Arts Council, that body was charged with finding a rationale in
providing it, a task which fell to its architect and first Chairman John Maynard
Keynes. No longer were the most affluent members of society able or willing
to support ‘the delights of fine art’ adequately, and ‘State patronage of the arts
has crept in’ he claimed.9 Such support for the International Festival implied
that there was a place, if not a need, for it in the eyes of those allocating
funding. The basis for this judgement appears to be twofold: the arts were
deemed intrinsically beneficial, ‘the artist and the public can each sustain and
live on the other’; and the particular ideals of the Edinburgh Festival were
appreciated by a body which felt the state had an interest in supporting
them.10 Rudolph Bing was among those who realised that Keynes and John
Christie, the owner of Glyndebourne, simply didn’t get on, although he denies
in his autobiography that he was aware of the reasoning behind this.11 Bing
therefore placed great importance behind the International Festival’s early
links with the British Council and its Scottish board member Henry Harvey
Wood. It is perhaps in the connections that the International has forged with
both these organisations that the cultural and intellectual position of that
7
Harrod 1951, p392. The role described is actually that of John Maynard Keynes, yet it is
equally applicable to the organisation he led.
8
Harrod 1951, p521. Harrod provides a transcript of a BBC ‘broadcast talk’ given by Keynes
on 12.07.1945.
9
Harrod 1951, pp 518, 521; Moggridge 1974, pp28-29. The Arts Council grew out of the
‘Committee for the Encouragement of Music and Arts’ (CEMA). Created in 1940, CEMA
sought to provide for cultural expression at home as ENSA did for the services, and the
British Council did overseas. In transforming CEMA into the Arts Council, the individuals
involved sought to avoid a title which could so easily be shortened to a pronounceable
acronym. Important projects supported by the Arts Council and CEMA included the
restoration of Covent Garden Opera, and the Bristol Theatre Royal.
10
Harrod 1951, p523
11
Bing 1972, p84
Page 10
Festival is best pictured. Nationally state-funded cultural provision that

promoted a clearly, but not exclusively, international identity from its earliest
days, seeking to support artists and benefit audiences. International co-
operation forged the United Nations, encouraged European union and played
its part in easing Britain’s grip on its Empire. It found cultural expression to
embody its ideology in the Edinburgh International Festival.12
In placing the Festivals in a contemporary political context, the stance taken

below concentrates on Scottish experiences, whilst being aware that union
within the UK has had various meanings for Scotland. Scottish national
identity was not always politicised in this period, but covering those individuals
and movements which sought to make it so highlights the potency which it
could hold. The SNP had spent the 1940s debating the merits of pursuing its
goals via the ‘low road of party politics’, or the ‘high road’ of agreement in the
form of a movement.13 One such was the two million signatures collected for
John MacCormick’s Home Rule petition in 1949.14 Failure for both – electoral
success was marginal while the petition carried no weight in Westminster
without MPs to support it – suggests that national identity was not a high
enough priority to rouse support for change. The ideology of post-war
consensus politics, with particular support north of the border, advocated state
distribution of the spoils of war: education, health, housing, and, through the
Arts Council, culture. Yet it was the British state which had won the war, had
the ability and the mandate to redistribute wealth to Scotland’s advantage,
and had already devolved considerable power to the Scottish Office,
especially under Tom Johnston’s war-time leadership.15 Scotland’s identity,
however distinctive, was spliced to the Union, a renewal of Graeme Morton’s
mid-nineteenth century ‘unionist nationalism’ of Scottish achievement through
participation in British success.16 Nationalism was a vibrant force in this
period, yet material well-being was a priority for the state and the individual.
Scotland’s peacetime political context was one affected by economics and
expediency, conscious of its Scottish identity with an awareness of the
strengths and weaknesses of Union.
The Edinburgh International Festival has its roots in East Sussex, Rudolph
Bing acquired his job at its helm through holding such a position with
Glyndebourne Opera. Edinburgh was a means to an end:
12
Lord Boyd Orr, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949, later nominated the Edinburgh
Festival Society for the same award, Edwards 1990, p18.
13
Marr 1992, pp92-94. MacCormick had favoured the movement ideal, bridging the gap
between parties and interest groups to prompt constitutional reform as a popular measure.
14
Marr 1992, pp95-101; Brown et al 1998, p148. The first signatories pledged their
allegiance in the Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland, a venue with particular resonance
for International Festival audiences. This period also saw the Stone of Destiny stolen from
Westminster Abbey, violent protests against Queen Elizabeth proclaiming herself the second
monarch so named in Scotland, and the short-lived existence north of the border of post
boxes proclaiming this development.
15
Finlay 1997, p134-136
16
Morton 1999
Page 11
‘Britain’s poverty in the aftermath of the war had made it impossible to

reconstitute a Glyndebourne season. Indeed, what was keeping
Glyndebourne going was the Edinburgh Festival, which had been my
own original idea for just this purpose’17
Miller dismisses the somewhat romanticised version of events which saw key
Glyndebourne figures likening the Edinburgh skyline to Salzburg’s and
declaring it an ideal place to hold a festival.18 However virtually all
commentators agree on the importance of Henry Harvey Wood, Sir John
Falconer and Edinburgh’s cultural elite.19 Such individuals brought Bing’s
idea to Edinburgh, taking care of practical considerations, while serving
alternative agendas.20 Adequate performance spaces were needed,
accommodation for 50,000 to 150,000, pleasant surroundings and local
support from authorities and citizens alike. In supplying them, Edinburgh
could claim cultural status rarely seen since the Enlightenment, attract
valuable economic benefits, and encourage civic pride and promotion. Sir
John was vital in overcoming what Miller calls ‘civic obstacles’ – Bing ‘Scottish
town politics’ – setting a precedent for subsequent Lords Provost to assume a
dominant position in the International Festival hierarchy.21 In its practical
realisation the Festival successfully married an international ideal with the
need for civic co-operation. While Oxford, Cambridge and others were
considered, Bing saw in ‘Scotland’s ancient capital’ the opportunity to present
international ‘Art, the language beyond languages’.22
At a January 1947 meeting attended by members of the International Festival

hierarchy, press and public, ‘Another questioner said the Gaelic-speaking
community were acutely disappointed to see that Gaelic singing was not
included in the Festival programme. The Lord Provost said that point would
have careful consideration’.23 The 1947 issue of Festival News outlines the
response in its preview of a Scottish Song concert:
‘In the absence of a native drama and its poetry, the heritage of ballad
and folk-song took on a special importance in Scotland.…Without the
strong continuance of this heritage of song, much of the national
character would have been diffused and lost.’24
17
Bing 1972, p1
18
Such a version of events can be found in Eric White’s The Arts Council of Great Britain,
1975, p215. Glyndebourne were touring The Beggar’s Opera, a full moon and the blackout
combining to great effect.
19
Miller 1996, pp1-4; Crawford 1997, pp1-5. Lord Provost Falconer was aided by individuals
such as Lady Roseberry and figures from Edinburgh University.
20
Crawford 1997, p2. The preconditions set out for a suitable festival host were originally
drawn up in 1946, published in The Scotsman, 07.08.1947.
21
Miller 1996, p2 ; Bing 1972, p86
22
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:386: The Scotsman, 25.01.1947
23
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:386: Edinburgh Evening Dispatch,
16.01.1947
24
Festival News, 1947. This short brochure was ‘Published for the International Festival of
Music and Drama’, and draws the reader’s attention to an exhaustive list of prominent
institutions, traditions, buildings and individuals associated with Edinburgh, ‘a living and lively
Capital, focusing the distinctive national activities of the Scottish people’.
Page 12
The threat of Anglicisation had been successfully and consciously seen off,
much as a concerted effort by An Commun Gaidhealach – The Highland
Association – had been necessary to ensure its inclusion.25 The importance
of the first Festival was manifest, and this example of a section of Scottish
civil society claiming an identity with that Festival helped ensure the Festival
identified with them. Henry Harvey Wood’s acknowledgement that the
International Festival was feeling its way regarding inclusion of Scottish
events came in a The Scotsman article on the eve of the inaugural event.26
It was unjustified for Scots to take an attitude which demanded the inclusion
of ‘My country, right or wrong’ he stated, but while two Scottish orchestras, a
‘famous Scottish choir’ (the Glasgow Orpheus) and ‘Gaelic and Lowland
Scots songs’ were ‘adequate’ for 1947, the future could see increased native
input. Whether the ‘festival authorities…[felt] ashamed’ of initial under-
representation as hoped by Maurice Lindsay of the Dunedin Society is
unlikely.27 The International Festival was seen by its creators – especially
those who owed a particular loyalty to Scottish culture – as a source of
‘infection and inspiration’, to spur Scots to greater achievements at a time of
‘a general consciousness of Scottish affairs’.28 Perhaps it is in the nature of a
festival to blur the ‘clear purpose and direction’ advocated by some when
putting such events together, ideal being tempered by reality.29 Bing’s
experience, expertise and contacts made the International Festival a
possibility, but others around him realised the worth of local inclusion,
including Gaelic Song, to a greater degree.
A frequently repeated demand required that inclusion of Scottish

performances on the International Festival occur only if of sufficient quality.
The strength of such an argument is twofold, it provided unsupportive
programmers grounds on which to resist pressure for local involvement, while
demonstrating a championing of Scottish culture if it did find a place. Indeed,
several prominent Scottish voices were heard on the early International stage:
Eileen Herlie, from Glasgow, enjoyed a high profile in 1948 as Gielgud’s
eponymous Medea and the Queen in a Film Festival Hamlet; Gaelic songs
featured again; Sir Thomas Beecham conducted the Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra at the 1949 opening concert.30,31,32 Achieving the highest
standards has been an International Festival priority throughout its time, each
Director seeking to avoid compromise within his – for they have all been male
25
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:386: Glasgow Bulletin, 15.05.1947
26
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:386: The Scotsman, 07.08.1947. This
article also raised the possibility of a revival of Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaites.
27
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:386: Glasgow Herald, 11.02.1947
28
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:386: Time and Tide, 25.01.1947
29
Rolfe 1992, p1. This study of Arts Festivals in the UK by the Policy Studies Institute makes
clear as no other source used in this study the relative size of the Edinburgh International and
Fringe Festivals when set against other comparable events. The two are treated separately,
yet each ranks very high in terms of income and expenditure, audience and performer
attendance and participation.
30
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:388: Weekly Scotsman, 02.09.1948
31
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:388: The Scotsman, 04.10.1948. In this
article Ian Whyte was interested to know what constituted ‘festival standard’.
32
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:387: The Scotsman, 20.02.1948. This
despite Beecham’s proclamation that Edinburgh’s £60,000 expense on the 1947 Festival was
a ‘damned fools’ policy.
Page 13
– budget. Critics may attack what they see as low standards, yet at the other
extreme, Hugh MacDiarmid felt Edinburgh lacked the cultured foundations for
such quality, it was ‘like giving the content of a University Honours Course all
at once to a class of mentally defective children’.33 However, should a
Scottish work capture the limelight, confound the critics and attract audiences,
it was widely celebrated.
A defining example of the International Festival proclaiming a Scottish identity

was the 1948 revival of Sir David Lindsay’s sixteenth century pre-Reformation
drama, Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaites.34 So important did George Bruce
feel The Thrie Estaites to have been to Scottish identity that he ranked it
alongside the Declaration of Arbroath in terms of impact.35 Robert Kemp, he
who had coined the term ‘fringe’, adapted the original nine hour text to a
manageable three, Tyrone Guthrie directed, and was instrumental in choosing
the venue, the Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland on The Mound,
adjacent to Edinburgh Castle.36 The revival took on an overt and visible
Scottish identity, and had it not been such a success it could have fractured
home identification with the Festival and shown to many that Scotland couldn’t
provide at the necessary standard. The critical response was however
remarkable, praising the piece ‘both as a work of art and as a valuable
contribution to the renaissance of the Scottish theatre’.37 The Scotsman
heralded The Thrie Estaites ‘a step in the right direction. It is recognition that
Scottish drama has a right to be represented’.38 Iain Crawford notes however
that the impetus for the production came from a 1947 meeting of elite figures
in the Scottish theatrical community, suggesting that The Thrie Estaites was a
reaction to the lack of Scottish drama in the first International Festival.39
Despite its success, with repeat productions in 1948, 1951 and 1959, it
doesn’t feature in Rudolph Bing’s autobiography, it has been revived a
number of times since that book’s publication as well. The most important
figure in the International Festival thus appears to have dismissed the most
33
Miller 1996, p19
34
Miller 1996, p14-15; Crawford 1997, p16-19; Bruce 1975, p25-29; Edwards 1996, p37. The
Estaites were the Lords Spiritual, the Lords Temporal and the Merchants, the Satyre a
representation of the experiences of ‘John the Common Weal’ – the common man – against
the corruption and suppression of what made up ‘the old Scottish Parliament’ (Miller 1996,
p14).
35
Bruce 1975, p26. The somewhat sycophantic style of Bruce’s book was not to everyone’s
liking. In Festival Times: 1975, vol.1, it is labelled ‘shy-making, cringe-making, squirm-
making’.
36
Crawford 1997, p17. In 1558, during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots and following
Lindsay’s death, the Scottish clergy ordered texts of the play be burnt because of the attacks
he had laid at their door, and therefore a central pillar of the state. Nearly four hundred years
later their successors were permitting its performance in their own front room. The symbolism
of the venue continues as it was of course host to the first signatories of MacCormick’s
petition for greater devolution of powers from London in 1949, and now that this has been
achieved it is the temporary home of the modern Scottish Parliament.
37
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:387: Glasgow Herald, 26.08.1948
38
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:387: The Scotsman, 31.01.1948. The
Scotsman, 14.09.1948,was among the newspapers reporting a debate during the Festival that
asked whether schoolchildren should be taken to see The Thrie Estaites. Whatever the
benefits, the Rev. Walter Clancy, from Edinburgh Corporation, felt that ‘if we carry on this
policy we are just adding to the work of the psychologists’.
39
Crawford 1997, p16
Page 14
influential native contribution, or rated others much higher at the very least.
Yet Scottish theatre was well aware of the play’s importance, and it has
inspired further output, such as The Wallace, also staged at the Assembly
Hall for the Festival.40 Demands for increased Scottish input came with
recognition that the opportunities provided by the International Festival were
great. It could bring individuals together from across Scotland at a time when
Dublin’s Abbey Theatre had a high profile and the National Theatre was being
discussed, designed and built in London. The Thrie Estaites showed the
International Festival, Scotland and the world what the host nation could
provide. ‘It is our main Scottish contribution, and a magnificent one it is’, one
that has now entered Festival heritage as a benchmark of quality and an
expression of identity.41
Midway through the third Festival the Edinburgh Evening News featured an
article entitled Festival Plays That Hold the Mirror Up to Scotland, ‘They show
a Scotland eager to venture, full of warm-blooded life, and gifted with a sturdy
independence’.42 The foreword to Hutchison’s The Modern Scottish Theatre
notes ‘nearly all historical example indicates a connection between social and
national stirabout in other fields and an active drama…drama flourishes best
in times of turbulence’.43 It has an acute role in transmitting identities, lacking
the need for interpretation necessary with much classical music and the visual
arts, and is more accessible to wider audiences than opera and dance. In
1949, The Thrie Estaites was joined by The Gentle Shepherd’s ‘quiet pastoral
interlude’ from c1725, while ‘the latest renaissance of Scots culture’ was
represented by Anna Merry.44 A quartet of plays with Scottish connections
was announced for the 1950 event, three of which were to be performed by
Glasgow’s Citizens’ theatre company.45 On this evidence, it would appear
that the International Festival was able and willing to respond to calls for
greater Scottish input, certainly in the theatrical programme. Europe’s finest
composers continued to take the honours in classical music and opera, yet
the Scottish press reassured its readers of International policy whereby ‘once
again every effort would be made to ensure that the Scottish contribution to
the programme would be increased’.46 Lord Provost Murray, in July 1950,
promoted Scottish culture in London with his belief that ‘Scotland and
Edinburgh have learned to take a more national, and therefore more
international, and less provincial attitude towards the arts’, via movements
such as the Festival and the ‘Scottish Renaissance’.47 In only a few years,
40
Edwards 1996, p37
41
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:387: Edinburgh Evening News,
25.08.1948
42
30.08.1949
43
Hutchison 1977, piv. The foreword, by Christopher Small, cites the birth of the Irish Free
State and the Republic’s experiences in the 1920s as a prime example of this.
44
30.08.1949
45
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:390: Glasgow Herald, 16.03.1950.
Among the four was a revival of Rev. John Home’s Douglas which had received
performances in London in the 1750s. One appreciative Scot responded from the audience
with the challenge ‘Whaur’s yer Wullie Shakespeare noo?’ The Scotsman, 16.03.1950
46
47
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:412: News Chronicle, 07.07.1950
Page 15
those leading the International Festival were claiming a leading role in

Scotland’s cultural development and output, and seeking to marry their pre-
eminence with a resurgent ideology that ‘North Britain’ should no longer be
viewed as a region of England. A distinct and distinctive Scottish identity was
the message, many felt the International Festival and its programme the ideal
medium through which to advertise it.
Had the International Festival satisfied everyone’s demands, it might today be

a respected festival with a unique heritage owing to the idealism and
achievements of its post-war creation. That it is all this, yet accompanied by
so much more is testimony to those who sought to expand its horizons, and
supply themselves what they felt it lacked. Alastair Moffat’s history of the
Fringe recognises that it had small beginnings, a lack of media coverage and
cohesion, and was not considered by many to be the place for ‘heavy’
comment.48 Back-projection from the late-1970s size and relative
professionalism of the Fringe administration might prompt Moffat to invest
greater significance in the earliest groups, identifying a coherent evolutionary
development from humble beginnings. Also, a selective reading of his book
disproportionately highlights the relevant material, finding vibrant seeds for
later growth in the eight groups which performed uninvited in 1947. Either
way, six of them were Scottish, ‘a show of strength of amateur drama in
Scotland…[in an] atmosphere of enterprise and missionary zeal’.49 Moffat’s
clearest statement on the subject declares that:
‘One of the major criticisms of the early Festivals was that they did not
contain an identifiably Scottish element, and that the official Festival
represented a largely foreign import grafted onto an Edinburgh
setting…more Scottish drama would build a secure local audience for
the Festival’,
The Thrie Estaites wasn’t enough.50 Without ‘official’ backing in 1949, An

Commun presented a Gaelic programme themselves, likewise the Saltire
Society were independently involved that year too.51 The fringe, not yet a
proper noun, was already being seen as the way to redress the balance when
interests were not catered for, cultures underrepresented and voices not
heard.
While the risk of a selective use of resources is possible, in this research to a

greater degree than Moffat’s, it does have some justification. If the approach
of this study turns again to that of the experience of visiting the Festivals, and
the chosen visitor seeks to explore elements of Scottish culture and themes in
his or her itinerary, they will understandably prioritise such performances.
This section has done so without disregard for the rest of the Festival, but with
a broadly defined yet predominantly Scottish focus. The picture presented
thus far suggests that in order for the Festivals to adopt the same broad brush
required far more than the International Festival was able to supply itself.
48
Moffat 1978, pp15-30
49
Moffat 1978, p15
50
Moffat 1978, p22
51
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:390: Glasgow Daily Record, 27.08.1949
Page 16
Whether Moffat would also cite class based reasons for the involvement of
non-International groups is not clear, although Hutchison believes such
divisions did exist in Scottish theatre after the war.52 The International
Festival has had an elitist tag for periods in its history, and a contributor to the
Glasgow Sunday Mail asked what’s in ‘our own Festival…[for the] low brow’ in
1948.53 The groups which gathered around the first International Festivals
may not have been directing their work primarily at a ‘low brow’ audience, yet
if the Director’s programme did not cater to all tastes, there was room for it
outwith those pages.
The special place reserved for the International Documentary Film Festival
respects the fact that Scotland had claims of some seniority in this relatively
new, rapidly evolving form of film culture. In opening the 1949 Film Festival,
Sir Stephen Tallents proclaimed the documentary film to be ‘a unique
instrument for meeting an urgent modern need’, that of exploring the post-war
world, sharing ideas and experiences between nations.54 An international
identity was important from the start, while the Edinburgh Film Guild provided
the administrative machinery, Scotland contributed through key individuals
and seminal productions. John Grierson was one such, his film Drifters a
landmark alongside others with Scottish themes such as North Sea and Night
Mail.55 In the festival environment, an international community of film makers
and critics compared presentations which highlighted local experiences of
widely shared events, the Second World War was most prominent in this
way.56 Great interest in the Film Festival was shown in the press, The
Scotsman declaring ‘Yesterday was Scotland’s day’ in 1947 when six of the
seven films shown were Scottish.57 Not only were they Scottish in content,
they were said to embody Grierson’s intention to provide ‘revelation’ through
documentary film, windows on life. Since Grierson and his work took on a
Scottish identity, as did other prominent figures, there was just cause for the
home nation to recognise its contribution. The Film Festival successfully
combined different objectives better than any other this period, it had an
impressively international range, yet brought Scotland into that on its own
merits. Though a forum for film makers, presentations in the vast Playhouse
demonstrated popular appeal for the programme. Equally important was the
Edinburgh basis to its creation and organisation, civic, national and
international identities manifestly embodied in cultural expression.
52
Hutchison 1977, p108
53
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:388: Glasgow Sunday Mail, 29.08.1948
54
Hardy 1992, p21
55
Hardy 1992, p17
56
In 1947 Rossellini’s Paisa was presented, one of the first films to show war as ‘hell’
according to Hardy. That year also saw work by the ‘Danish Resistance Movement’ among
the 75 or so featured films. The following year’s offerings included Germany Year Zero set in
post-war Berlin, and Paris 1900’s portrait of the French capital before the Great War. Future
programmes saw contributions from other nations including Yugoslavia, and The Last Stage,
a Polish film about Auschwitz.
57
Page 17
‘Among the biggest hits [of 1947] was Edinburgh’s own contribution, a military
tattoo in the courtyard of the castle.’58 The Royal Command performances
were present from the first International Festival, only becoming a distinct
Festival as the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 1950. The role they played in
defining an identity for Edinburgh’s Festivals can be likened to that of the
prominent Royal patronage the International has received throughout its life.59
The monarchy has been a British institution since 1603, associating it with the
International Festival meant recognising this dual nationality, one firmly based
in Scotland, yet within a larger political union, another example of unionist-
nationalism. The imagery associated with the military performances was
likewise a result of numerous influences, carefully outlining and symbolising a
distinct Scottish experience formally within the Union.60 This part of the
Festival thus focused on one of the most important considerations regarding
Scottish national identity: the nation’s links to a larger, economically and
politically more powerful, southern neighbour. The implications of possible
Anglicisation of Scots culture have rarely been neglected, the Daily Mail was
positive about increased Scottish participation in 1948, ‘this is desirable in that
it tends to reduce the artistic inferiority complex so noticeable among the
Scots last year’.61 It is however telling that credit for some of the most
prominent Scottish contributions to the early Festivals went to the armed
forces, organisations which took their place in a British hierarchy. The
immense popularity of the spectacle – ‘I’ll never forget this tattoo as long as I
live’ commented one visitor – owed a great deal to their value as
entertainment.62 The fact that this romanticised version of Scotland’s heritage
could be packaged so easily, and depoliticised so successfully to be
acceptable to so many, suggests that while one debate may have been active
over Scottish contributions to the Festivals, there were those who were willing
to present a highly populist identity. There were many eager to see it too, to
experience that version, that component, of Scotland’s identity: the Tattoo
welcomed its five millionth audience member in 1976.
Edinburgh played host to a range of events in the first Festivals, each year
bringing a new cast of performers, a different programme of concerts, plays
and films. What they shared in common was their Edinburgh location, so
Alastair Moffat’s belief that the International Festival had been imported, an
imposition on the citizens, needs careful consideration.63 While inclusion of
Scottish productions may have required prompting from beyond the Festival
58
Bing 1972, p93
59
Edwards 1990, p17
60
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:454: Christian Science Monitor (Boston),
01.09.1950. Scottish regiments have had a particularly strong link to the tartans ubiquitous in
post-war tourist Edinburgh, for a generation following the 1745 Jacobite uprising of Bonnie
Prince Charlie they were the only individuals permitted by the British government to wear a
cloth which subsequently increased in symbolic attraction. By 1950 they were joined in the
Tattoo by a re-enactment of the ‘installation of General the Duke of Gordon as governor there
[Edinburgh Castle] in 1828’, a Royal appointment from London which let audiences know
where formal power in Scottish society lay.
61
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:420: Daily Mail, 28.08.1948
62
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:454: Christian Science Monitor (Boston),
01.09.1950
63
Although Dunfermline Abbey was an early ‘fringe’ venue outwith the city.
Page 18
hierarchy, Bing and Falconer were active and vocal in their requests that
Edinburgh provide an atmosphere to match the standard of international
culture. The Director noted the ‘surprising numbers of visitors from all over
Lowland Scotland’ among the audiences in 1947, suggesting that appeals to
them had been for alternative reasons than their attendance in the Usher Hall
or King’s Theatre.64 How could local people help? Largely, though of course
not exclusively, in the practical aspects of establishing a festival.65 The whole
city was being appealed to, far more people than could possibly attend
International Festival events, yet financial and commercial motives for
responding to the appeal were recognised from the start, by Festival and
business communities alike.66 While multiplier effects and the workings of
Edinburgh’s economy would have benefited many people indirectly, those
who stood to gain directly from the Festival were those providing goods and
services to visiting tourists, not necessarily a large sector of the workforce. At
the same time, Edinburgh District Council provided £20,000 towards the first
International Festival, a third of the total funds raised. Expectations of a
return on such an investment were justified. On this evidence, Moffat’s
‘import’ charge appears justified. The administration was led by a Sussex
opera company, performers arrived from across Europe, visitors from North
America and Australasia as well. In the first years of the Edinburgh Festival, a
civic identity resulted as much through economic expediency and simply
‘revealing himself at every turn to those who have eyes to see and ears to
hear’ as through the promotional efforts of the authorities.67
This section has introduced some of the key elements of the first Edinburgh
Festivals, paying particular regard to the part they have played in illuminating
contemporary attitudes to Scottish national identity, and the way each has
influenced and interacted with the other. Culturally, the International Festival
benefited from and played a leading role in an Arts Council led ideology which
aimed to bring the arts to the people, while forging international co-operation.
The first Festival brought Bruno Walter out of exile to conduct the Vienna
Philharmonic for example; he had had to leave Austria under the threat of
Nazi persecution, their reunion captured the spirit of the Festival, ‘Here human
relations have been renewed’ he believed.68 National identity was not key to
such developments, particularly in a festival which strove to break down
barriers through the arts. Politicised nationalism was however present in
Scotland, the clearest example being MacCormick’s Scottish Convention and
home rule petition. Conscious of their own national identity, groups and
individuals performed and presented work outside of the International
programme, whether more formally in the Documentary Film Festival, or as
64
Bing 1972, p93
65
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378:386: The Scotsman, 16.01.1947.
‘Women’s Outlook’ reported Falconer’s suggestion that ‘hostesses should charge’ 12s 6d for
bread and breakfast accommodation if responding to the call to house visitors. Hoteliers, taxi
drivers and waiters were amongst those asked to become ‘missionaries for the Festival’, while
thousands of municipal flowers were planted and shop windows decorated.
66
67
68
Miller 1996, p31
Page 19
part of a germinating fringe. A high profile exhibition entitled Enterprise

Scotland 1947 also responded, in a Scottish accent, to charges that Britain
was ‘“finished” and, in its lamented demise, has brought the whole of the
British Empire crashing in red ruin about its ears’.69 Some may simply have
felt a need to be present at, and get involved in, an important new cultural
endeavour, while others passionately believed there could, and should, be a
native contribution to and identity for the Festival. Importantly, the
International Festival authorities were keen to present a civic, Edinburgh
identity. One example of this can be seen in the development of the Opening
Ceremony, held in and around St. Giles’ on the Royal Mile. Scotland’s Lords
Provost were invited to attend the first on August 25th, 1947, resplendent in
their ermine, 1948 brought the Lord Mayors of England, the following year ‘the
Mayors and Burgomasters from many foreign cities’, principally from Europe
although the Mayor of Dunedin was granted the Freedom of the City.70
Edinburgh was thus placing itself alongside Athens, Paris and Amsterdam,
continuing its leading role in attempts at European harmony. For this purpose
its own nationality was secondary, the Festival city demonstrating what it
could achieve on its own terms. If one accepts Eric Hobsbawm’s thesis on
‘invented traditions’, this ceremony, involving and deriving much of its
importance from individuals outwith the International’s own areas of
competence, served to establish and legitimise the institution, its status and
even ‘relations of authority’.71 Each subsequent Ceremony contributes to the
tradition, while its apparently permanent nature and illustrious heritage is a
source of prestige for the International Festival and Edinburgh. It is also
interesting to note that when the guests were predominantly Scottish, it was
the civic leaders of the principal towns and cities who embodied the nation.
The International Festival was a self-consciously cultured and cosmopolitan

enterprise, Edinburgh was its host city and took pride in the status it attracted.
Despite serious opposition, much of which was won round in future years, the
first Festivals were a great success, an atmosphere of ‘bemused joy’
accompanying the presence of so many stars of stellar calibre.72 Scottish
national identity, in some of its guises, had found an outlet too. As the
International Festival cemented its place in the city’s calendar, some may
have wondered what the following years would bring for native performers,
playwrights, composers and artists. The aims and objectives of the
International were unlikely to change, yet there were signs that those working
outside of its limits were interpreting the festival model as they saw fit. It
would be up to contributors and observers to direct and discover what this
would mean for Scottish contributions, and Scottish identity.
69
The International Festival of Music and Drama. Souvenir Programme, 1947
70
Edinburgh Festival: A review of the first ten years of the Edinburgh International Festival, its
aims and its origins, its achievements and its hopes for the future, 1956, p29-39
71
Hobsbawm 1992, p9
72
Crawford 1997, p13
Page 20
Electing an identity
‘what is this Festival, after 21 years, what has it become? The answer
is: it was Culture, it has become Scotland…it has turned fatally and
permanently into another Scottish Thing, another structural element in
the tiresome fantasy-life the Scots have been doping themselves with
for the past three centuries to avoid their real problem…a constituent of
the Great Scottish Dream…a dream-nationhood to take the place of
the real one’
- Tom Nairn, Festival of the Dead, (1967)1
‘Philip French wanted his programme [Critics’ Forum] always to remain

an Edinburgh as well as a Festival programme…His insistence
stemmed…from a lifelong conviction that a country must be allowed to
speak in its own terms, not simply in yours’
- Owen Dudley Edwards, City of a Thousand Worlds (1991)
A focus on either the Festivals or developments in Scottish identity would

justify close examination of the 1970s, both left this second period in radically
different shape from how they entered it. Andrew Marr has labelled this ‘the
decade of “devolution”…at times Scottish politics would seem less about
power than about identity crisis’.2 The Scottish National Party’s (SNP) share
of the Scottish electorate rose to 30.4% in the October 1974 General Election,
the most visible sign that this reappraisal of identity was also ‘a challenge to
the UK state’.3 One part of the nation’s political landscape had flourished,
altering the operation and perceptions of the whole. The Edinburgh Festival
was undergoing a parallel change, the Fringe played host to 182 groups in
1976, a threefold increase in just six years.4 Increased professionalism at a
central Fringe administrative hub allowed easier access to the Fringe stage,
and the opportunity to present your experiences, your priorities, your
arguments. The International Festival’s fifth Director, Peter Diamand, took up
his position in 1966, his thirteenth and final programme came in 1978.
Scottish society was changing around him, yet was a neglect to recognise and
respond adequately to these changes partly responsible for the Fringe’s
growth? Scottish national identity took on a more conspicuous, and for some
politicised, character in this period, coinciding with the development of the
Edinburgh Fringe, and the wider Festival.5 Aside from direct links between
the two, this section will argue that more importantly each was subject to
similar economic and social forces and trends, and responded accordingly.
Studying each in more depth will help illustrate whether such a correlation is
coincidence, or evidence of something more significant.
1
Nairn New Statesman, 01.09.1967 (vol.74), pp265-266
2
Marr 1992, p120
3
Brown et al 1998, pp154, 20
4
Moffat 1978, pp84, 106
5
This chapter deals almost exclusively with the International and Fringe Festivals. The
Tattoo was a larger event than before, though run largely on the same lines with the spotlit
‘lone piper’ the established climax. The Film Festival had lost its documentary focus and was
less significant for this study.
Page 21
Politics and government are inextricably linked to financial matters, the 1970s
were a turbulent decade and seldom before had global and British economic
influences been such a prevailing factor on the experiences of so many Scots.
Edward Heath’s Conservative government of 1970 to 1974 went some way to
breaking the post-war ‘consensus’ in British politics – full employment was no
longer a priority, trades unions lost influence – until their U-turn of 1972.6 The
Arab-Israeli war and ensuing oil crisis in 1973 slowed the world economy,
putting pressure on private enterprise and public services – principally
services provision and welfare benefits. The Labour government from
February 1974, which had minority status until the October election, found
itself forced to take a $3.9 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund in
1976, which came with conditions.7 The sort of measures which became
necessary were a precursor to the ‘winter of discontent’, and the assault on
consensus politics levied by Margaret Thatcher from 1979 – the Lady who
possibly did more to guarantee successful devolution in 1997 than anyone
else.
Scotland’s first post-war referendum on devolved government from

Westminster had been on March 2nd, 1979, and had produced a majority
favouring constitutional reform, but not the required 40% of Scotland’s eligible
electorate in order to become law.8 In the same year, the SNP’s share of the
Scottish general election vote fell from 30.4% to 17.3%, the enthusiasm for
change was draining away.9 Scotland’s distinct experience had served a
rising Nationalist party well; the oil crisis had rocked the world, but British
Petroleum had struck oil off Scotland’s east coast in 1970, the implications
were immense.10 Any opposition to Scottish independence relying on a lack
of economic viability could now be brushed aside by the SNP, from
September 1972 ‘It’s Scotland’s Oil’ became their most successful
campaigning slogan. When the Kilbrandon Report advocated some form of
devolved government for Scotland and Wales a year later, the constitution
was once again on the political agenda.11 Oil revenues, many argued, should
have brought material benefits to Scotland, instead jobs were being lost in
staple industries. Events such as the ‘Upper Clyde Shipbuilders’ work-in’ of
1971 contributed eventually to Heath’s U-turn.12 Imposition of laissez faire
measures hit opposition which ‘was both nationalist and socialist’ in Scotland,
and was ultimately successful when state finance secured jobs once again.13
Nationalism was a potent force, in Scottish society and London politics, yet it
failed to carry the 1979 referendum. Surely Scotland had squandered its
chance, been offered its prize and failed to take it, meanwhile being shown
that the Union was no longer sacred to England. Finlay believes that what
6
Jones et al 1998, p28
7
Gardiner and Wenborn eds. 1995, pp123, 814
8
9
Brown et al 1998, p154
10
Marr 1992, pp131-132
11
Finlay 1997, p151
12
Marr 1992, p133
13
Page 22
emerged from the devolution debate was a divided civil society in Scotland,
with accompanying ominous threats of sectarianism and ‘attachment to
England’.14 A national identity which had been put to the test and failed.
The Nationalism of the 1970s had been a protest against a UK state which
wasn’t delivering in Scotland,
‘the Scottish electorate expressing a continuing preference for a

welfare state, delivered through distinctive Scottish agencies. Only if
that was not available from the Union would these agencies have to
include a separate Parliament’.15
SNP breakthroughs at the ballot box had demanded a response to the

‘Nationalist threat’ and an electorate that increasingly diverged from
England’s.16 Devolution had been Westminster’s means to that end, keeping
Scotland and its oil on-side while attention needed to be focused on economic
and political matters which affected Britain in its entirety; if the Labour
government’s membership north of the border didn’t share their leadership’s
enthusiasm, they would have to be won over with the rest of the electorate.17
As hoped, the separatist threat was calmed, partly through ambiguity over
what devolution meant, ‘neo-Nationalism or a more stable form of Unionism?’,
but equally because sufficient reform had been completed by Labour to
deliver the social democratic objectives of the electorate, without need of a
devolved assembly.18 High hopes had been dashed and more administrative
devolution was only a way of transferring competencies between Civil Service
departments. In politicising its national identity in both the SNP and
referendum, Scotland had given it a focus which attracted great support and
no mean share of success. The risk of failure was real however, and only two
Nationalist MPs faced Margaret Thatcher and her 338 supporters across the
House of Commons floor after the 1979 election.
The political and economic backdrop to the Festivals had varied

consequences, but perhaps the most important were changes in local
government.19 In 1975 and 1976, Edinburgh District Council (EDC) and
Lothian Regional Council (LRC) used the International Festival as a ‘political
football’ in their overlapping areas of jurisdiction.20 With local government
reform, each contributed financially following the demise of Edinburgh
Corporation and its annual grant. The resulting period saw rival Councils ‘buy’
seats on the Festival Society Council, dispute the Lord Provost’s position as
its chairman and argue over the benefits the Festival brought to the city and
14
Finlay 1997, p156-157
15
16
Brown et al 1998, p19-21
17
Marr 1992, pp121-163
18
Marr 1992, p123; Brown et al 1998, p21. Conspicuous amongst these reforms was ‘the
Scottish Development Agency, intervention to help failing industries, and the transfer of
powers over regional development grants to the Scottish Office’ (Brown et al, p21).
19
Inflation and the falling value of sterling caused some International Festival contracts to be
renegotiated, restoring the level of remuneration to overseas companies for example.
20
Miller 1996, p93
Page 23
the region.21 From 1977, LRC removed its grant and involvement, EDC
stepped up its support, but also the rents it charged on venues and office
space, and a territorial debate became party political.22 The Labour group
canvassed support for ending the ‘squandering’ of public money, an attempt
to ‘capture the moron vote’ according to the Conservatives.23 The Festival’s
civic identity appeared insecure, despite reports which calculated economic
benefits of between £3.7million and £16,485,799 to the city.24 While
ideological and constitutional considerations occupied Scottish, national
government, local disputes were centred on the practicalities of keeping the
International Festival within a tight budget. After thirty years the Festival was
established, with a distinct heritage and identity of its own. Support had not
been universal in its earliest days, but disputes had been hurdles to be
overcome in pursuit of presenting the best possible programme. By the
1970s, the Festival itself was a target, perhaps testimony to its success, but a
distance from the prestige in which it had been held at the highest levels of
local government.
The structure of the previous chapter prioritised the International Festival, with
the other attendant presentations and performances developing as responses
to Bing’s enterprise. Although often still the case in the 1970s, it took a more
indirect form now that the other Festivals had their own distinct identities and
practices. It was a period in which many, including the International’s Director
Peter Diamand, felt each Festival should have a defined role and identity,
‘What about the Tattoo?…Then there’s the Fringe’.25 Diamand went on to
opine ‘I cannot please every single member of the public’, voicing a
widespread feeling that the overall Festival should be as universal an
experience as possible.26 There were various motivations behind this
philosophy, but the primary means to achieving it were growth and
diversification, and here the International no longer took a visible lead. It will
still be covered first as focusing on each Festival in turn remains a valid
approach, and the International may in some ways be interpreted as a
constant against which others may later be judged.
21
Crawford 1997, pp125-126
22
Miller 1996, p390. EDC and LRC contributed £90,000 each in 1975, Edinburgh’s
contribution rising to £106,500 a year later and £222,620 in 1977 once Lothian had withdrawn
their contribution.
23
Miller 1996, pp93-94
24
Crawford 1997, p125; NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:90: The
Scotsman, 28.10.1977; Edinburgh Evening News, 26.10.1977; Glasgow Herald, 28.10.1977.
These two reports used different accounting methods in ways which could be said to have
favoured their sponsors. The more generous was conducted by Hank Putsch who was
investigating the viability of a similar event in Philadelphia. He concluded that alongside the
direct financial gain, Edinburgh and Scotland attracted £2,150,000 of media attention free,
and saw its tourist season lengthen from three to six months. The figure of £3.7million, more
objective or realistic to some, an underestimate to others, was prepared for LRC and the
Scottish Tourist Board in 1977. Each had been attacked for not giving adequate support to
the Festival, a charge much easier to rebuff if the benefits were only around a fifth as great.
25
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:16: Scottish Daily Express, 09.09.1971
26
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:16: Scottish Daily Express, 09.09.1971
Page 24
As stated, every International programme in this period up to 1978 was set by

Peter Diamand, ‘like an Edinburgh national monument, difficult, windswept,
but immensely prestigious’.27 It is easy to pigeonhole elements of the
Festivals as exemplars of its personalities, or the key motor behind a
particular development. If Diamand is subject to such analysis, an emphasis
on ambitious international opera, such as the 1977 Carmen, over native
drama is detectable – ‘Scottish material was even more pointedly slung out for
its audiences as fare for the hopelessly parochial’ – and a Festival ‘running
out of steam’ as he neared retirement.28,29 Concentrating on such judgements
ignores the productions which did connect with Scotland. Many of them share
the notion that only the International Festival could have staged or presented
them, which returns to the philosophy that each Festival should concentrate
on its strengths. Nonetheless examples of Diamand’s apparent reluctance to
bring in Scottish artists may not have endeared him to many north of the
border:
‘The policy of the Festival is that the mere fact that something is
Scottish is not a qualification…They [Scottish Ballet] will come to the
Festival…after all, it took Scottish Opera 10 years’30
It may have taken a decade for Scottish Opera to achieve ‘festival status’ in
1967, but they received support and praise for a 1975 production of Robin
Orr’s Hermiston.31 This was the first Scottish composed opera to appear at
the International Festival, and was based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s late
nineteenth century novel The Weir of Hermiston.32 The Financial Times
labelled it ‘a fairly trite tale of love and betrayal in a Lowland setting’, possibly
not contributing much new to its understanding of this part of Scotland, yet still
a production worthy of comparison on an international stage.33
It confirmed Diamand’s policy ‘where artistically justifiable, to involve Scottish

elements’, which left the Director and his assistant Bill Thomley scope to give
opportunities to native talent or not as they saw fit. What this tended to mean
was high quality presentations along older themes, and some important
contributions of new work. 1973 saw another revival of The Thrie Estaites,
alongside The Prince and the ’45, a piece which explored Bonnie Prince
Charlie’s successful march south as far as Derby and some ‘what might have
beens’, reflecting the contemporary fragility of the Union state in former
times.34 Further reference to such topics, this time in the fifteenth century,
was given in a Border and Ballad concert, depicting the ‘bitterness, danger
and violence’ of these disputed lands in the reign of James IV.35 In the time of
27
Edwards 1990, p14
28
Edwards 1990, p29
29
Festival Times, no.4 1983, p8
30
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:66: Business Scotland, August 1976
31
The production also received a great deal of publicity, and some notoriety, for a fifteen
minute hanging scene in which the stricken actor repeatedly fainted while suspended.
Hospital treatment may have been required, but he was determined to complete the run.
32
Crawford 1997, p127
33
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:51: Financial Times, 29.08.1975
34
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:30: Yorkshire Post, 31:08:1973
35
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:30: Yorkshire Post, 27.08.1973
Page 25
Kilbrandon and the SNP’s general election breakthroughs, hindsight might

give too great a significance to suggestions that the International was
commenting on its political environment. For example, The Observer felt that
The Thrie Estaites had little to say in the 1970s, both politically and culturally,
‘the late masters’ [Tyrone Guthrie] spirit has departed beyond recall’.36
Attracting wider appreciation in 1975 was an exhibition celebrating the 350th
anniversary of James VI & I’s death, ‘ an exhibition of major importance which
no historian or Scot should miss’.37 As a constituent of the International
Festival, such a presentation attracted attention, with the potential to spark
debate.38 The theme was taken up by many publications, with The Tablet
concluding that ‘There might never have been an Edinburgh festival’ without
him. With one more year as an example, 1976 saw Scottish Opera’s
acclaimed production of Verdi’s Macbeth, and Tom Fleming’s rendition of
MacDiarmid’s A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle. The opera was well
received, part of a programme which meant ‘those who, periodically, shout for
more Scottish participation can scarcely complain this year’.39
Perhaps Diamand was correct mid-way through his Directorship to claim that
the Festival ‘is even more deeply rooted Edinburgh and Scotland than it was’,
but the methods he used to promote such identities were to some extent
paradoxical.40 Large scale productions such as Macbeth declared their
identity and status as part of a pantheon of established Scottish contributors,
such as the Scottish National and Chamber Orchestras. Alternatively, A
Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle, a ‘belated tribute to Hugh MacDiarmid’, falls
into a category of presentations best appreciated by those already familiar
with the subject matter.41,42 The bulk of Scottish society was not being
represented nor appealed to, charges of International Festival elitism appear,
on this evidence justified. With little middle ground between establishment
spectacle and minority appeal recital, the International neglected large
sections of the society it found itself in, contributing in turn to the ‘false image’
of Edinburgh which concentrated on the Commonwealth Games and ignored
the city’s social problems.43
If each Festival was to concentrate on what it was good at, its speciality that
couldn’t be achieved elsewhere, what was the multifaceted Fringe to do?
Evidence from the 1940s suggests it responded where the International was
36
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:31: The Observer, 20.08.1973
37
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:56: Sunday Telegraph, 24.08.1975
38
As a cultural figure the monarch was undoubtedly important to Scottish society, he had
strident views on the role of the monarchy, while taking his court to London in 1603 had
important consequences for Scotland and Edinburgh itself.
39
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:66: Daily Express, 21.08.1976
40
Crawford 1997, p106
41
42
Miller 1996, p90
43
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:16: Scottish Daily Express, 21.08.1971.
The Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh in 1970 and 1986. It was asked how the
city could find the money for these events, but not a new opera house which had been
planned for many years and needed since 1947. Touring companies almost invariably had to
scale down their sets to fit the King’s Theatre stage until the Festival Theatre was opened in
1996, ‘Inventive adaptation of bizarre premises may be part of the Fringe’s charm, but should
not be required of an international festival’, remarked The Scotsman, 11.09.1973
Page 26
deemed lacking, while deciding what was missing was largely up to those who
felt the urge to present it themselves, whatever ‘it’ was. The Festival Fringe
Society was established in 1958 and acquired limited company status from
1969, taking on a formal identity, and developing the machinery to help ever
more groups take part.44 It was becoming increasingly justified to talk of the
central Fringe administration as a distinct body, yet, in Alastair Moffat’s words,
‘Never once did I make a value judgement. The democracy is what binds the
Fringe together’.45 The International Festival has a Director, the Fringe an
Administrator, direction on the Fringe is in the hands of performers, theatre
companies and venues. To draw conclusions from as disparate a group as
this was increasingly found to be is to risk making sweeping generalisations
which mask innumerable individual statements, or vague, conservative
summaries which say very little at all. In approaching the issue of the Fringe
and Scottish national identity, space will therefore be devoted to particular
elements of that Festival which showed a connection with such an identity.
Theatres and companies such as the Traverse and 7:84 will not be held up as
representative of what those in the Fringe did, because each had different
motivations and approaches. They are however examples of what the Fringe
could do, the two cases mentioned had particular agendas and interpretations
towards a national identity. The unique role of the Fringe, indeed its raison
d'être with or without a central organisation, has been to offer a stage and a
voice to those who wished to use it, and as the political context of the time
suggests, there was much to talk about.
The Traverse Theatre realised the vision of its founders as a ‘year round’
Fringe venue from 1962, presenting new work in a ‘mid-60s explosion of
avant-garde art and performance’.46 At its best, the venue, its resident theatre
company and script writers attracted an international identity that was located
both in Scotland and Edinburgh, and definitely not England. Its most
successful years in this period seem to have depended on the clear vision of
its Director. Chris Parr filled the role from 1975 to 1981, a man ‘absolutely in
tune’ with the theatre’s social environment, using ‘local experience to
illuminate broader issues’.47 The importance of the Traverse for this study is
its focus on the Festival, or more specifically the Fringe. The exposure it
received from the artistic world in an intense three week period made it unlike
any other venue in Britain, a year’s work and new material was annually
distilled to form a programme which offered a composite picture of Scottish
life. Harvie believes this period of ‘work by Scots about Scotland, in history,
politics and economics, was as distinguished as anything since the eighteenth
century’, when it was presented on stage, it was often at the Traverse.48 Of
the many plays which deserve mention, some appear to have achieved
special status in existing work on the theatre. ‘Scotland’s most notorious
criminal’ Jimmy Boyle contributed to John McGrath’s The Hardman and Street
44
The Fringe. 50 Years of the Greatest Show on Earth, 1996, pp4, 5
45
The Fringe. 50 Years of the Greatest Show on Earth, 1996, p6. Alastair Moffat was Fringe
Administrator from 1976 to 1981, the number of companies involved grew from 182 to 494 in
that time.
46
Edwards 1996, p45; McMillan 1988, p21
47
McMillan 1988, p76
48
Harvie 1981, p157
Page 27
Fighting Man, while Hector Macmillan’s The Gay Gorbals was about a gay
club in the Gorbals.49 Although the Cambridge Evening News is right to
highlight the way such plays exploit the need for co-operation in the creation
of a community, McMillan clearly values the way the Traverse and its
productions focused on a particular type of community.50 Such plays
presented the Traverse’s largely middle class Fringe audience with the
‘working class experience in Scotland and particularly in Glasgow’, it was
aggressive, physical, Protestant and male.51 It was not necessary, indeed
often counterproductive, to attempt to present all of Scottish life in order to
make a coherent, considered point about one element of the national identity.
If we return to Benedict Anderson’s identification of ‘imagined communities’ as
being central to a nation’s coherence, the importance of presenting and
debating the experiences of others in order to define what binds us is also
crucial. The works cited were all part of Fringe programmes at the Traverse,
where new work was well received, especially so if by or about Scots.52 The
role of the theatre in presenting work whose implications and resonance
extended far beyond the venue’s walls was immense, capturing the
heightened sense of class that had infused Scottish politics through the
decade’s economic and political debates, for example.53 The theatre’s
conscious desire to present Scots writing for a broad audience has faltered at
times, and suffered considerably as devolution failure and Margaret Thatcher
drained much of the creative energy from Scots who resisted the desire to
follow Billy Connolly and others to London.54 Nevertheless, although some
feel it moved closer to the mainstream in this period, the Traverse remained
the most important place to present the world it found on its doorstep.
‘1971. 7:84 Scotland perform their first Fringe production at Cranston Street
Hall. It is Trees in the Wind by John McGrath.’55 This understated entry in the
Fringe’s fiftieth anniversary publication announces the arrival of one of the
most dynamic forces on the Fringe. A ‘very obvious and perhaps naïve left-
wing commitment’ informed much of the work they presented according to
Hutchison, while as with the Traverse, Alastair Moffat believes their
techniques and values were born of the Fringe.56,57 The Scottish identity they
49
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:117: Daily Mirror, 22.08.1978; McMillan
1988, p79; Moffat 1978, p66; NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:70:
Cambridge Evening News, 25.08.1976
50
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:70: Cambridge Evening News,
25.08.1976
51
McMillan 1988, p80
52
The Traverse adapted what is now Edinburgh University’s Bedlam Theatre as ‘The Other
Traverse’ in some Fringe years, increasing the amount of work it could present and exposure
it could gather during the Festival.
53
Marr 1992, p150
54
McMillan 1988, p88
55
The Fringe. 50 Years of the Greatest Show on Earth, 1996, p13. 7:84 was formed in 1971,
formally splitting to form a Scottish company and an English company in 1973. John
McGrath, who co-wrote Z Cars, was central to the enterprise and felt that the class orientated
appeal received wider support north of the border (McGrath 1996).
56
Hutchison 1977, p117. The company’s name reflects this policy of class-based comment.
Promotional material for a 2001 tour of Marching On – ‘a hard-hitting, humorous and topical
play about a family torn apart by its conflicting Loyalist views’ – reads ‘7% of the population of
this country owns 84% of the wealth (source – The Economist 1966)’.
Page 28
sought to create and present had two key influences: responding to working
class life in Scotland, and often using history and past experience in order to
do it.58 The specific significance to this study of 7:84 Scotland is the group’s
wider importance to the nation’s cultural identity, reflecting subjects and
themes which were unlikely to feature in the subsidised middle class theatre
after the war, and presenting them back to those who consumed most of their
culture via the television.59 Connecting with an appreciative audience across
the country, via ‘ceilidh, variety show, convert party, music hall, band shows’,
was endemic to the organisation, yet during the Festival their unique ideology
received wider scrutiny and a louder voice.60 As Scottish nationalism gained
a firmer footing both politically and socially, and the Fringe grew far beyond
sizes once deemed excessive, 7:84 sought to politicise their contribution of a
form of Scotland’s identity that didn’t get recognition on the ‘official’
programme. This is an example of Fringe growth through International
Festival neglect, presentations that went beyond diversionary entertainment to
form ‘new work and fresh culture’.61 7:84 is one example of a theatre
company who took the dynamism of the Fringe and used it to explore
elements of a working class Scottish national identity during economic and
political instability.
Selected examples from the Fringe’s expanding presence during this period
need to be seen as such, only parts of the event and its cornucopia of topics
and themes, of which Scottish national identity was just one category.
Highlighting – albeit perhaps artificially – occasions when it was prominent
draws attention to an often complex and important engagement with a
contentious issue. Performances not mentioned above include The Great
Northern Welly Boot Show, Billy Connolly’s 1972 appraisal of the Upper Clyde
work-in of the previous year. Michael Billington felt:
‘…the show is sustained first by a driving, angry conviction that

Scotland has been turned into an economic disaster area by
successive English politicians; and secondly by its application of all the
elements of pop theatre…to a serious end…popular theatre…attracting
a local audience rather than the usual collection of visiting culture
vultures’.62
Such issues which had reached the world through print and electronic media,
communicating to Scots what was happening to their fellow countrymen,
received a new interpretation on the Fringe stage. In keeping with the idea of
Fringe democracy, neither Connolly nor those involved with 7:84 or the
57
Moffat 1978, p90
58
Andrew Marr cites The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black, Black Oil as the ‘most famous
piece of theatre in Scotland’ in the 1970s, a play which linked the effects of the nineteenth
century Highland Clearances to those of the contemporary exploitation of North Sea oil (Marr
1992, p135). Similar connections were made between ‘the great days of the Red Clyde and
the new aspirations of the SNP’ for example, performed by a company which wished to reflect
the ordinary ‘industrial areas of Scotland now’ (Moffat 1978, p89).
59
Hutchison 1977, pp108-109
60
Moffat 1978, p90
61
Festival Times, no.1 1975, p4
62
Moffat 1978, pp94-95
Page 29
Traverse would deny others their own contribution. The Clyde is Red –
continuing this study’s focus on the Fringe and representations of Glasgow –
was a ‘poem-play’ presented in 1979. In contributing to the debate over
Scotland’s future, this production warned of the dangers of sectarianism:
‘The content at once hypothesises and demonstrates how current

political method could, given a sinister turn, make an Ireland of
Scotland…how the voice of a people can be ignored and those people
suppressed “in the national interest” by a distant government
misinformed by its own informers’63
The expansion of the Fringe gathered a momentum in this period which

encouraged more groups to take part, more arguments to be presented. If
there did come a point at which the Fringe began positively developing its own
identity – rather than forming primarily negative definitions which compared it
to and distanced it from the other Festivals – it was with recognition that some
things only the Fringe could do. Painting in Parallel at the Edinburgh College
of Art in 1978 saw Scottish artists bringing together and juxtaposing their
work, some from the Glasgow sprawl, but also Celtic imagery from the
Highlands, experiences of the sea and the Borders, past and present.64 The
end result needn’t have been presented on the Fringe, but the fact it was
suggests the artists featured had a great deal of involvement in the
conception and realisation of the exhibition, without having to consider the
artistic policy and priorities of an external Director. When Scottish national
identity was presented on the Fringe, it was not out of ‘necessity’ as some felt
was the case with the International, it was because those with something to
say on the matter, and the wherewithal to do it, had grasped the opportunity
before them and done it themselves.65
This chapter sought to examine the parallel development of the Edinburgh

International and Fringe Festivals and Scottish national identity, considering
the idea that in the 1970s similar economic and social forces had affected
each and brought important responses. Two hypotheses will be considered in
the remainder of this section, the first of which states that in both cultural and
political terms, a sense of ‘democratic deficit’ was identified and steps taken to
redress the balance. Secondly, the process of addressing the situation and
seeking answers brought a greater understanding of the issue and thus a
clearer sense of identity.
As has been explored, the state’s role in Scottish affairs was increasingly felt
to be failing Scots through the course of this period. Administrative devolution
may have appeased Scotland since the Scottish Office was established in
1885, but with growing electoral support for a reformed constitution and
increased democratic accountability of those who directed Scottish life, a
structure which was deemed inadequate needed a remedy. Likewise the
63
64
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:117: The Guardian, 18.08.1978
65
Hutchison 1977, p122
Page 30
International Festival was susceptible to intense criticism, labelled a

mausoleum by Tom Nairn in an article whose resonance was felt for many
years, and perceived as somehow detached from life in Scotland. Nairn felt
the Festival was an annual exercise in escapism, the Tattoo and Scots poetry
diverting attention from Scotland having ‘no voice and no present’.66 The
motivation to change this was inspiring, and many people in Scotland were
connecting with the Festival, identifying with it, believing it could do more, and
getting involved themselves. It would be naïve and ignorant of the complexity
of the situations to draw too much from apparently simultaneous nature of
these developments, but important practical steps were taken to move both of
these situations on. The SNP received considerable backing at the ballot box
and devolution with an elected assembly in Edinburgh was enacted by the
British government, subject to confirmation with referendum success; in
response to Nairn’s accusations the ‘establishment snorted and sneered its
contempt’ while the Fringe ‘grew into a protest movement all the sharper’.67
Polling over 30% of the Scottish vote at a general election, the SNP could not
be ignored, neither could a Fringe enjoying year on year growth which at its
best captured the Zeitgeist. On this evidence the first hypothesis is correct.
However, for a multitude of reasons devolution failed its litmus test, from the
reformers’ perspective, while the Fringe appeared to be in fine health, Alastair
Moffat’s administration witnessing an increase from 182 groups in 1976, to
494 five years later, a six fold rise in a decade.68 Perhaps the most important
success the Fringe enjoyed as an exponent of Scottish identity in this period
was a growing acceptance by the ‘establishment’. To take two examples, a
new Director was appointed at the Traverse in 1975, Chris Parr was selected
with intentions to increase the amount of Scottish work produced.69
McMillan’s history of the Traverse cites the importance of the Scottish Arts
Council in the choice of candidate, the largest source of the theatre’s income
acted as a conduit through which the ‘Scottish theatrical world’ was
expressing its opinions as to the Traverse’s role.70 Thus a Fringe venue was
entrusted with expectations to reflect Scotland and a Scottish identity by those
willing and able to support it financially from public funds. A new Director was
required elsewhere in 1979, to lead the International Festival after its 13
seasons under Peter Diamand; the appointment itself had been made before
the 1978 event when John Drummond left the BBC to fill the vacancy. He
intended to ‘encourage rather than exploit the Fringe’, and in his first
programme chose to do so by employing the Traverse, the Citizens’ from
Glasgow, and Richard Demarco, long celebrated as a uniquely Scottish and
international voice on the Fringe.71 The upstart Festival was key to the
differences brought to the International by Drummond; ‘in 1979 it
changed…the central one was its sense of Scottishness’.72 A reformed
66
Nairn New Statesman, 01.09.1967 (vol.74), pp265-266
67
Edwards 1996, p35
68
The Fringe. 50 Years of the Greatest Show on Earth, 1996, p5
69
McMillan 1988, p75
70
McMillan 1988, p75
71
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:106: The Scotsman, 13.07.1978. The
Sunday Telegraph felt Demarco ‘is still what the Festival all about and what romantic, idealist,
vigorous, bloody, visionary Scotland has always been about’ (24.08.1975).
72
Edwards 1990, p20
Page 31
political democracy would have to wait, the Fringe meanwhile was a central
force consolidating the Festivals’ competency to help define Scottish national
identity.
The second hypothesis states that greater depth and clarity of understanding
of the debates was reached than in the earliest days of the Festivals, as
explored above. The resources – time, money and personnel – spent
investigating what form a revised Scottish constitution could take, leading to
the passing of Scotland Bill and referendum, are evidence that politically the
hypothesis might be supported. However, closer analysis of the chain of
events leading to the vote illustrates the level of disagreement present in the
debate. Kilbrandon’s committee had failed to reach unanimity in 1973 for
example – after three years, three reports were published.73 The Scottish
Nationalists pursued a separatist agenda, Labour proposed devolution, the
SNP were unsure whether to support it. Clarity of understanding was not
forthcoming nor consensus reached, but the primary objective of devolution
had always been to limit support for independence. It cannot be denied of
course that the Festivals presented a panoply of contributions to the Scottish
identity debate, yet instead of incoherence, an acceptance of the complex
nature of Scotland and Scottishness resulted. The illustrations concerning a
working class Glasgow experience used regional, gender, class and at times
politically based identities. Romanticised images of the nation, and
particularly its heritage, featured in ways which were often none too
complimentary, the most important of which, Scotch Myths, formed part of
John Drummond’s third programme in 1981.74 Drummond also presented
‘Owen Dudley Edwards’s celebration of Hugh MacDiarmid…It’s a fair
indication of previous poverty of thought and attitude that MacDiarmid’s poetry
can only be read in the official Festival once he is no longer there to hear it’.75
Through such performances, the International Festival joined the Fringe in
engaging with Scotland. The key difference between the fog of a partially
politicised nationalism and the spectrum of presentations which contributed to
the Festivals’ representation of Scottish identities was native involvement.
Devolution lacked home support in sufficient depth to be able to realise it in
popular legislation, the protest vote could be answered sufficiently in other
ways. Through this period however, the Festivals’ growth accommodated
many voices. In responding to the second hypothesis, it is clear that the
inherent heterogeneity of Scottish national identity fed the Festivals and their
73
Marr 1992, pp136-137. The three suggestions were for a 100 member Senate, with a
Scottish Prime Minister and cabinet, and proportional representation; or, a weaker
administrative body; or, a wider reaching reform that would introduced a federal structure to
Britain via Scottish, Welsh and regional English devolution.
74
Scotch Myths, an exploration of Scotchness, 1981. The exhibition’s artefacts explored the
roles of Ossian, Sir Walter Scott, George IV, Harry Lauder, Brigadoon, Dr. Finlay’s Casebook
and others in the blurring of myth and reality in Scottish identity. ‘Our principle aim is to
question a culture that continues to portray itself in distorted national stereotypes’ wrote the
curators Murray and Barbara Grigor. Drummond’s introduction to the programme declares it
an ‘exhibition with a moral’.
75
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 11518:129: Weekly Scotsman, 18.08.1979.
Tom Fleming had read A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle under Diamand in 1976, the
inconsistency lying with the Weekly Scotsman. The Celebration appears to have been a
more important contribution to Scottish culture and the Festival however.
Page 32
understanding of Scotland, while confusing the search for political national

identity; the hypothesis was true for the former, not so the latter. Clarity can
only be found if such complexity is accepted and used as a force for union
rather than division.
The political, social and cultural dynamism of the 1970s brought Scotland to
the brink of devolved government. The form and content of the Festivals’
development was also affected, largely because of the success of the Fringe.
In testing the two hypotheses towards the end, this chapter has also shown
that the Festivals ultimately had greater success than the politicians in
reaching the targets of the latter. Such contrasts show Scotland to have been
more willing, or more able, to display its distinctiveness culturally than
politically. SNP votes were a form of protest for many, the unsuccessful
devolution campaign one of containment. Nairn’s criticisms from 1967 have
credibility, but when set against some of the later engagements with
contemporary Scotland seen in the 1970s, show that they were acted upon.
Within a UK context, the Festivals demonstrated a Scotland eager to express
sections of its identity, a nation in dialogue with itself. The host nation has a
wider audience to consider as well though with the international exposure of
the Festival, its ability to maintain a distinct identity here too is a continuing
challenge.
Page 33
Political and cultural devolution?
‘We believe that arts and culture have a central role in shaping a sense
of community and civic pride in the new Scotland…A cultural strategy
will recognise that: Scotland has a distinct and valuable cultural
identity…Scotland’s culture is the culture of all of Scotland’s people,
not the preserve of particular institutions, classes, creeds, racial or
linguistic groups’
- Scottish Executive, A National Cultural Strategy (1999)
‘What is your impression of Scottish culture?’

‘I only do one impression and that’s a very poor Frank Sinatra’
- Paul Gudgin, The Scotsman (1999)1
Anniversaries prompt retrospection, and such was the case around the 50th
Festival in 1996. Looking back, the accompanying literature was largely
supportive, with high hopes that growth, development and experimentation
would continue. For many within a wider Scottish society, the future was an
opportunity for change, the political agenda in the mid-1990s and the twenty
first century has been dominated by a seemingly inexorable passage to
devolution and the establishment of a Scottish Parliament. The SNP’s focus
is now on the benefits that the European Union could bring to an independent
Scotland, an idea which gained greater credence as the existing UK state
structure appeared to be failing the nation, as happened a generation earlier.2
Rhetorical symbolism hides the details, but the Conservative government was
held responsible for high unemployment and public sector under-investment,
while Denmark and Ireland are two states seen as thriving under the EU
umbrella. Of fundamental importance to the differing fortunes of the 1979 and
1997 referenda is the extent to which native support was galvanised into
action; a reformed constitution was in fact supported by more people who
opposed independence that supported it.3 Active citizenship, important to the
idea of an ‘imagined community’, was widespread, ‘Many organisations and
groups in Scottish society have become accustomed to playing their part in
developing the proposals for change’.4 While the Festival experience may not
have undergone change as radical as the political scene, nor seen
developments akin to the 1970s growth of the Fringe, it has still had the
opportunity to act as a barometer of the situation, reflecting opinion and
contributing to the debate. The International Festival and the Fringe, again
the focus of discussion, are still joined by the Film Festival and the Tattoo,
while the Book, Jazz and Blues, Television and Mela Festivals are also now
part of Edinburgh’s summer festival. The period under analysis is largely the
1
The Scotsman, 09.08.1999. The paper featured a short questionnaire entitled Anything to
declare during the Festival in this year, giving an insight into various individuals’ experiences,
such as the Administrator of the Fringe.
2
3
Brown et al 1999, p147. The Scottish Referendum Survey 1997 found 44% of respondents
favouring devolution (with or without tax raising powers), and 39% favouring independence
(with or without membership of the EU).
4
Page 34
current situation, and it can be more problematic to draw conclusions from so

recent historical events, but the 100th anniversary is perhaps too far off.
The current International Festival administration’s engagement with Scottish

identity has encompassed a variety of art forms, and has made important
contributions to Scotland’s cultural life.5 One such was an eighteen piece
retrospective of the work of ‘talented attention-seeking, Catholic-socialist-
Scottish nationalist composer’ James MacMillan in 1993.6 Only 34 at the
time, his new work has often appeared in subsequent Festivals, and formed
part of the opening ceremony of the new Parliament, in the Assembly Hall.
John McGrath was commissioned to write A Satire of the Four Estates as part
of the fiftieth celebrations, the original by now had become ‘inextricably
interwoven with the fabric of the Edinburgh Festival’ according to the
International’s own history, which clearly placed a weight of expectancy on the
new production.7 ‘Surely our case for national identity is stronger than this’
came one of the reviews, but the role of the Festival as an accepted forum for
such debates was clearly acknowledged.8 McMaster has also included
productions which highlight Catalonia’s culture, in 1993 and 1999, inviting
comparisons between the Spanish region’s position and Scotland’s, its
experiences with and within a larger state. The threat of parochialism has
emerged at times, Channel 4’s Mr. Janusczak perceived ‘misplaced
nationalism’ in the 1992 programme, a ‘tragic transformation into a minor,
local event’.9 This was juxtaposed by Scots who felt Alastair Gray’s saga
Lanark had been mutilated, ‘its lack of critical approval, was the natural result
of anger against alienation coinciding with a coterie thinking sacrosanct its
private view of the state of the art’, was Edwards’s interpretation of this.10 Too
nationalist for some, not enough for others, the International Festival has
recognised its role in contributing to the debate, although it mustn’t be
forgotten that it is primarily a cultural event, bringing a taste of global art to
Edinburgh. The most enduring developments of the past decade have
increased its ability to do that – the opening of the Festival Theatre and the
Hub, Edinburgh’s ‘festival centre’ – but they have a greater civic identity than
national, they are part of Edinburgh’s cultural infrastructure as the Citizens’ is
to Glasgow’s.11 However, commenting on the International the Directors of
the Aldeburgh and Dartington festivals advocate strengthening just such a
5
Brian McMaster’s first programme was the first to be presented by a Director living in
Edinburgh. Commitments to Glyndebourne had kept Bing in London, precedent and the
apparent advantages of having access to world culture had kept his successors in the
metropolis. It was also argued that a London office saved money otherwise necessary for
travel in Britain and abroad.
6
Miller 1996, p143. The quotation Miller used came originally from the Sunday Times,
15.08.1993.
7
Wishart 1996, p46
8
Crawford 1997, pp248-249
9
Miller 1996, p140
10
Edwards 1996, p38
11
The Festival Theatre is a renovation of the Empire Theatre which had previously hosted
bingo. The Hub occupies the Highland Tollbooth church, bringing the International’s offices
under the same roof as catering, box office and shop facilities, and the main hall in which the
Festival Chorus practises.
Page 35
sense of community ownership and locality.12 Perhaps this is a natural stance

to take for festivals which lack Edinburgh’s status in a wider global festival
environment, but then to be truly international perhaps requires a civic identity
that extends beyond buildings, and a national identity based on the widest
possible range of experiences from the host nation.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is now a very large event, ‘Gargantuan size’ to
Owen Dudley Edwards, ‘over 1,000 companies from 36 different nations
performing 1,523 different shows in 189 different performance paces over 23
days’ in 1996 to the Fringe Society.13 In researching this section of the study
on the Fringe, an informal interview was held with the Society’s Administrator,
Paul Gudgin.14 He leads the Festival’s central office which has consolidated
the development it experienced in the 1970s, making it ever more feasible for
groups to perform at the Edinburgh Festival under its banner. For this and
other reasons, he sees the Fringe as an opportunity – to perform, to get an
audience and media coverage, and to voice an opinion. It is the direction of
artists and venue managers which drives the Fringe’s output, and with the
sheer size of the event it is not surprising that a sense of overall identity may
be found lacking.15 It follows therefore that although no discernible Scottish
thread runs through the Fringe programme, in Gudgin’s opinion components
of it adopt and very successfully promote this identity as part of the Festival.
The Traverse theatre continues to play such a role, while companies such as
Communicado and most recently Grid Iron have sought to give a voice to
contemporary Scotland. All such organisations have sought and utilised a
high profile on the Fringe, yet it is still an under-used forum for debate.
Unsurprisingly, financial considerations can undermine its effectiveness in this
area, it is simply too expensive for some groups to perform and take the risk
of economic failure. While this could be true of any group from any nation,
Gudgin believes native contributions have suffered because the Scottish Arts
Council (SAC) has too often missed the inherent potential of the Festival
Fringe. The importance of the SAC cannot be underestimated – it has
supported the International Festival since its inception, supplying £869,779 in
2000 – while demographics leave Scottish touring companies far fewer home
cities to visit than their English counterparts, leading to a greater culture of
dependency.16 Tellingly, Grid Iron is one company who have obtained
support, and their success on the Fringe has been substantial. Despite, or
more accurately because of, the Fringe’s determination to uphold the ideals of
its ‘founders’ it has evolved into the world’s largest festival in its own right.17 It
capitalises on its Edinburgh identity, using venues throughout the city, while
12
13
Edwards 1996, p35; The Fringe. 50 Years of the Greatest Show on Earth, 1996, p6
14
The interview was carried out at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, High Street,
Edinburgh, 26.03.2001. It was not recorded due to its informal nature.
15
Edwards 1996, p35
16
Edinburgh Festival Society. Annual Review 2000, p18
17
The Fringe Society drew up a constitution in 1958, eleven years after the original 8
companies appeared. Commenting on the development, the Society’s history states: ‘Artistic
vetting it to have no place in the society’s aims, a decision which remains central to the
development of the Fringe’, The Fringe. 50 Years of the Greatest Show on Earth, 1996, p4.
Financial and artistic risks and rewards lie with the performers.
Page 36
Edinburgh and its citizens cannot ignore its presence.18 The profile of the
event in Scotland adds weight to Gudgin’s argument that the Fringe is among
the most important opportunities Scottish companies have access to, in
exploring their national identity as for any subject. 400,000 Fringe tickets
were sold to those from the Lothians region alone in 2000, for those who take
the risk, Scottish identity has an audience.
As case studies were used to examine elements of the Fringe’s relationship

with Scottish national identity in the 1970s, so Grid Iron shows the potential
impact a group can have today. Numerous awards since 1995 recognise the
achievements of a group ‘committed to new writing in Scotland’, aside from
SAC funding and a number of commissions.19 In the course of this research,
correspondence with the company’s producer, Judith Doherty, has made clear
the importance of the Festival:
‘because of the Fringe festival and my early involvement in it, I was

afforded the belief that we actually could start a new theatre company
and have support from audiences and more seasoned professionals
alike…we also felt that there was a greater freedom to be had here…I
think this is because the influx of quality European/international work
during the festivals has allowed/educated the audience to be more
open minded’20
It may be hard to say who constitutes Grid Iron’s audience – although such
research may have been carried out – to find out how great a range of
Scottish and Edinburgh citizens have been similarly influenced by the
Festivals. However, their Company Background outlines the freedom it has
allowed, a series of innovative ‘site-specific’ productions connecting their work
to particular locations for example.21 Grid Iron has been recognised as
contributing to an understanding of contemporary Scotland, a fact appreciated
by Doherty as it confirms the success of one their objectives. Their
performances in the international context of the Festival complement one of
the Scottish Executive’s aims regarding cultural interaction between Scotland
and other nations:
18
This is increasingly true as the Fringe takes over a pedestrianised High Street during
August, Holyrood Park on ‘Fringe Sunday’ and Princes Street for the Cavalcade of floats
which open the event. Ian Rankin sums up one particular attitude in his novel Mortal Causes:
‘The Edinburgh Festival was the bane of Rebus’s life. He’d spent years confronting it, trying
to avoid it, cursing it, being caught up in it…where else would bagpipes, banjos and kazoos
meet to join in a busking battle from hell?’ Rankin 1994, pp3, 5.
19
This is enshrined in Grid Iron’s Policy Statement, as is ‘a commitment to providing
opportunities for theatre workers early in their careers’, recognising that to be innovative often
requires young blood.
20
Correspondence has been via email, this sent 30.03.2001.
21
These have included The Bloody Chamber in Edinburgh’s haunted underground vaults and
the London Dungeon; Monumental, in ‘the foyers, back alleys and carparks’ of the Citizens’ in
Glasgow; and most recently Decky Does a Bronco in an Edinburgh school playground during
the 2000 Fringe. Grid Iron: Company Background, March 2001
Page 37
‘to maintain and strengthen our Scottish base, not in the interests of
parochialism, but to nourish the particular as a means of giving
universal expression to what is uniquely Scottish’22
Echoes can be heard of London Calling’s assessment of the Festival in 1948,

advocating ‘the preservation of individual [Scottish] culture’ in the international
gathering, indeed feeling it should be the Festival’s ‘raison d’être and
inspiration’ as Mozart was to Salzburg, Shakespeare to Stratford.23 Grid
Iron’s experience has supported such a model, ‘the Fringe has been
extraordinarily important in…awarding us an international stage on which to
be recognised as a quality Scottish company’.24 And yet the structure of
Britain’s cultural infrastructure has complicated the next stage in their
development; the company forms part of the 2001 ‘British Council Showcase’
during the Festival which acts as a shop window and an opportunity for
cultural export from these shores. In Doherty’ words, ‘if we are to have
international success, we have to be viewed abroad as a ‘British’ company
(before being viewed as a ‘Scottish’ company)…I wonder what that means in
terms of a difference between political and cultural devolution?’25 There are
elements of the Festival who have pursued this composite identity, it has
served the Tattoo very well for example. The British Council was of course
instrumental in establishing the first Festival, it has representation in scores of
countries around the world and the potential benefits of becoming involved
are limitless. Yet surely it runs counter to the spirit of devolution that a
Scottish company must give up, or at least blur, some of its national identity in
order to reach out. Paul Gudgin believes devolution is yet to take effect, if in
fact it does. The Festivals appear illustrative of the passage of devolution:
having been exhibiting a Scottish identity as Nationalism gained formal
support in the 1970s, continuing to do so a generation later as the constitution
was eventually reformed, and yet remaining subject to structures which pre-
date devolution, and the Festivals themselves. Culturally and politically, being
Scottish partly means being British, but it is only a part, and always has done.
Politically, the Union has proved strongest when its benefits have suited Scots
and Scotland, there seems little reason to suppose that should being British
not suit Grid Iron, preferable alternatives will be found.
In this third chronological section, opportunities have been highlighted. The

EU has presented Scotland a political opportunity to leave the UK with greater
security than might otherwise have been the case. The Festivals have given
elements of Scottish national identity opportunities to present themselves to
international audiences. James MacMillan, six years after his International
Festival retrospective, used it as a platform on which to explore the divisions
in Scottish society as he saw and experienced them:
22
A National Cultural Strategy, 1999
23
NLS, MSS, Edinburgh Festival Society Ltd., Dep. 378:411: London Calling, 01.04.1948
24
Email: 30.03.2001
25
Email: 30.03.2001
Page 38
‘[One of the] major cancers in society is the lingering and sleepwalking

bigotry that many in Scotland feel about Catholics, which has huge
implications for a pluralistic democracy’26
Successful devolution may well have removed the force keeping such
divisions hidden, no longer is a united front necessary with the goal already
achieved. Many groups contributed to the plans for devolution, it is to be
hoped that that which unites them is stronger than that which divides. The
Festivals hold open their doors to those who wish to present their identity, as
long as finance and confidence, ‘materialist constraints’ and resisting the
temptation to ‘Cringe’, allow.27
26
The Scotsman, 09.08.1999
27
Edwards 1996, pp46-47
Page 39
Conclusion
‘The objects for which the company is established are:-

(A) To promote and encourage the arts, especially opera, plays,
drama, ballet and music, and the study of the arts, and for these
purposes to organise, promote, manage and conduct festivals of
music, drama and other entertainments in Edinburgh’
- Memorandum and Articles of Association of Edinburgh Festival
Society Limited, signed 22.11.1946
‘Edinburgh is a city rich in tensions. Your challenge is to make as

many as possible of them tightropes on which you and your festive-
performing bear can turn cartwheels’
- Roger Savage, After Diamand (1977)1
The introduction to this dissertation cited a host of resources available to

those studying the Edinburgh Festivals, the intervening chapters have used
many of them to explore the roles Scottish national identity has played in their
histories. The choice of time periods covered was informed by the
development of the Festivals themselves and expressions of national identity
in Scottish society, most overtly through its politicisation. It is to be hoped
however that many components of Scotland and Scottishness have been
explored, as happened in the Festivals with each production, performance
and performer who contributed to the relationship between culture and
identity. By the time the Festivals entered the third period under analysis,
from the 1990s onwards, the overall Festival was an established and very
widely recognised event, its disappearance would be hard to contemplate. In
concluding however, it will be argued that it was from a germination which
wasn’t so obvious, lacked the assurance of success and growth which
hindsight can imbue, and was quickly and unpredictably subject to change
and influence from many quarters that the importance of the Festival to
Scottish identity and vice versa was founded. Themes and trends have
appeared and reappeared in the course of that evolution, their continued
relevance is key to the modern Festival.
The importance of getting Bruno Walter to perform at the first Edinburgh

International Festival was clear to its Director, until that point Rudolph Bing’s
plans had met with puzzlement amongst artists, the idea was sound, but why
Edinburgh?2 The two most prominent pre-war festivals of this sort, Salzburg
and Bayreuth, would take a few years to recover from the conflict, presenting
an opportunity to others to fill the void, but their links to the work of Mozart
and Wagner respectively validated and justified the festivals. Edinburgh
lacked such obvious foundations but it was precisely this which qualified it for
Bing’s plan, his priorities lay with Glyndebourne Opera and an ideal of
international co-operation. That Edinburgh, with enthusiastic local authorities
and citizens, could provide a clean slate on which to work allowed the
1
Edwards 1991, pp55-56. Savage’s piece, originally in Festival Times, 1977 (no.4), sets out
to define the Edinburgh International Festival to prospective Directors. It concludes, ‘please
make the EIF more festive, more international, more Edinburgh’.
2
Bing 1972, p87
Page 40
ambitious programmers greater freedom and flexibility. No single composer

or art form would take undue precedence, artists would be invited from as
wide a geography as possible. From the earliest period, this enthusiasm was
also taken up by those who had different interpretations of the festival model,
who claimed some ownership of it, and sought to contribute, serving their own
agendas. This has been seen with the establishment of the Documentary
Film Festival on behalf of that art form, but also by An Comunn Gàidhealach’s
promotion of Gaelic singing and the nation-wide co-operation which resulted
in Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaites. Playing their part in the process of
establishing the Festival were those who wished it to have a stronger native
base. The same stimulus was interpreted differently by each group, each
individual, with limitless possibilities. Bing’s clean slate was there for others
too, and those who didn’t find a place in the established Festivals performed
anyway. Had there been an easily definable foundation on which to build the
Festival, its development may have been constrained, artistic limits placed on
what it was felt possible to achieve. Such a clear identity was not explicitly
present in Edinburgh, but there were many who felt the Festival should
instead root itself in a native, Scottish, culture. This has continued to be the
case, each year performers give voice to their own identities, claiming their
right to present their ideas on the Festival stage, transferring their identities in
the process. Puzzlement no longer surrounds anyone’s wish to perform at
Edinburgh, it is a unique opportunity, this dissertation has shown the role of
Scotland in making it so.
Each Festival has remained distinct, this study has concentrated on the
International and Fringe Festivals because of their current high profile and
their importance in the periods covered. The Film Festival and Military Tattoo
have also been discussed, reflecting the diversity of the Festival experience,
yet they have only been included where they add significantly to the debate.
The Festival has also changed considerably over time, as seen in the
preceding chapters, but some themes recur, questions are repeatedly asked
and answers found. The position of Scotland within the United Kingdom has
rarely been off the political agenda, but it also played a key role in locating the
Festival in Edinburgh through Henry Harvey Wood at the British Council. That
same body is now the most important means to an overseas market for
companies such as Grid Iron, which could cause them to compromise their
own national identity, veiling it within its British context. Smout’s ‘concentric
loyalties’ idea places the individual, or perhaps the theatre company, within
various communities, each exerting its own attractions.3 While it may be more
important to Grid Iron to show themselves as Scottish, the Tattoo revels in the
part Scots have played in Britain’s history. Likewise the regional identity of
the Traverse’s Glasgow based work of the 1970s highlights the heterogeneity
of the nation itself. As each level of identity has shown itself most
appropriate, with sufficient blurring between them where necessary, it has
been adopted, exploited and presented. The communities represented may
be ‘imagined’, but the Festivals have provided common images on which
Scots, and others, may build their own ideas of what constitutes the home
nation. In doing so, other identities are apparent, they illustrate the
3
Smout 1994
Page 41
complexities of Scottish life via class, gender, age and other loyalties. Indeed
it is through an ability to do this that productions which explore Scottish
national identity have significance beyond the parochial and have relevance in
a truly international context.
The model on which the Edinburgh Festivals have developed saw an

international ideal made real thanks to visionary civic promotion, with a
national identity quickly establishing itself through native involvement. The
maintenance of a London base for the International’s Director until the 1990s
meant a detachment from the Festival’s environment, and a reduced ability to
reflect it in such a way as the Traverse in the 1970s for example. Presenting
Scottish national identity at the Edinburgh Festival has benefited from two
principles, firstly it was predominantly best done by Scots and those in touch
with Scottish society, secondly each Festival is most successful when it plays
to its strengths. Thus the International Festival can and does present the
National orchestral, ballet and opera companies, it can bring together the
finest talents in the country for large scale productions. The Film Festival,
certainly in its early documentary based days, brought stark images from
Scotland’s landscape and society to wide attention. The Fringe has given
Scots an opportunity to present their identity on their own terms with
significance to the individual and the community. The Tattoo is tartan and
shortbread personified. The effects of Scottish national identity have been felt
in its politics and its culture, both of which have often proved adept at
responding to its varying attractions. There is a role for the Festivals in
presenting such identities, acting as barometers as much mirrors, if they
continue to give voice to the diversity of Scottish life, to represent the nation.
Page 42
Bibliography
Primary sources
Archived material
National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh Festival Society, Dep. 378
National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh Festival Society, ACC 10572
Interview and correspondence

Paul Gudgin, Administrator, Edinburgh Festival Fringe: interview held
26.03.2001
Judith Doherty, Producer, Grid Iron Theatre Company: correspondence March
and April 2001
Miscellaneous
Company Background: Grid Iron Theatre Company, 2001
Consultation Paper: Celebrating Scotland: A National Cultural Strategy,
Scottish Executive, 1999
Edinburgh Central Library: Edinburgh Festival. A review of the first ten years
of the Edinburgh International Festival, its aims and its origins, its
achievements and its hopes for the future, Edinburgh: Edinburgh
Festival Society Ltd., 1956
Edinburgh Central Library: Festival News, Edinburgh: 1947
Exhibition programme: Grigor, M., Grigor, B. Scotch Myths. An exploration of
Scotchness, Edinburgh: Edinburgh International Festival, 1981
Leith Library, Queen Margaret University College: Memorandum and Articles
of Association of Edinburgh Festival Society Limited
Newspapers
Aberdeen Press and Journal, Business Scotland, Cambridge Evening News,
Christian Science Monitor, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Edinburgh Evening
Dispatch, Edinburgh Review, Festival Times, Financial Times, Glasgow
Bulletin, Glasgow Daily Record, Glasgow Herald, Glasgow Sunday Mail,
News Chronicle, New Statesman, Scottish Daily Express, Sunday Telegraph,
The Guardian, The Observer, The Scotsman, Time and Tide, Weekly
Scotsman, Yorkshire Post
Reports
Anderson, B. and National Arts and Media Strategy Monitoring Group
Towards a National Arts and Media Strategy, London: HMSO, May
1992
Dunbar, A. Report on Marketing the Arts in Scotland, Scottish Arts Council,
1980
Edinburgh International Festival Annual Review, Edinburgh: Edinburgh
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Edinburgh International Festival Major Review, Edinburgh: Scottish Arts
Council, 1995
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Jarman, D.S.R. The curatorial and political arguments surrounding the

restitution of the Elgin Marbles, Edinburgh University undergraduate
project, 2000
The City of Edinburgh Council: Aitchison, T.N. Festivals in Edinburgh. Chief
Executive’s Report, Edinburgh: The City of Edinburgh Council,
29.06.2000
The City of Edinburgh Council: Coutts, H. Festivals in Edinburgh – A
Financial Review. Director of Recreation’s Report, Edinburgh: The
Executive of the Council, 21.11.2000
Owen, M.L., Duffield, B.S. Survey of Summer Visitors to Edinburgh, 1971,
Scottish Tourist Board, 1972
Page 44
Secondary sources
Cultural and political

Anderson, B. Imagined Communities. Reflections on the origin and spread of
nationalism, London: Verso, 1983
Bell, B. ‘Revisiting the National Theatre debate: Once More, With Feeling…’,
in Edinburgh Review, 2000 (no.105)
Brown, A., McCrone, D., Paterson, L. Politics and Society in Scotland, 2nd
ed., Basingstoke: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1998
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Harvie, C. No Gods and Precious Few Heroes, London: Edward Arnold, 1981
Hobsbawm, E. ‘Inventing Traditions’, in Hobsbawm, E., Ranger, T. (eds.) The
Invention of Tradition, Cambridge University Press, Canto edition 1992
Hutchison, D. The Modern Scottish Theatre, Glasgow: Molendinar Press,
1977
Jones, B. et al Politics UK, 3rd ed., Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall Europe,
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McGrath, J. A Good Night Out. Popular Theatre: Audience, class and form,
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Marr, A. The Battle for Scotland, London: Penguin Books, 1992
Morton, G. Unionist-Nationalism: Governing urban Scotland 1830-1860, East
Linton: Tuckwell Press, 1999
Rankin, I. Mortal Causes, London: Orion, 1994
Rolfe, H. Arts Festivals in the UK, London: Policy Studies Institute, 1992
Scott, P.H. (ed.) Scotland: A concise cultural history, Edinburgh: Mainstream,
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Smith, A.D. National Identity, London: Penguin, 1991
Smout, T.C. 'Perspectives on the Scottish identity', in Scottish Affairs, Winter
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aspects of the man and his work. The first Keynes seminar – 1972,
London: Keynes College, Macmillan Press Ltd., 1974
White, E. The Arts Council of Great Britain, London: Davis-Poynter Ltd., 1975
Texts specifically related to the Edinburgh Festivals

Bain, A. The Fringe. 50 Years of the Greatest Show on Earth, Edinburgh,
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Bing, Sir R. 5000 Nights at the Opera, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1972
Bruce, G. Festival in the North, London: Edinburgh International Festival
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Coveney, M. The Citz. 21 years of the Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre, London:
Nick Hearn, 1990
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Crawford, I. Banquo on Thursdays. The inside story of fifty Edinburgh

Festivals, Edinburgh: Goblinshead, 1997
Dale, M. Sore Throats and Overdrafts, Edinburgh: Precedent Publications,
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Edwards, O.D. City of a Thousand Worlds, Edinburgh: Mainstream
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Edwards, O.D. ‘Cradle on the Tree-top: the Edinburgh Festival and Scottish
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Since the Seventies, Edinburgh University Press, 1996
Hardy, F. Slightly Mad and Full of Dangers. The Story of the Edinburgh Film
Festival, Edinburgh: Ramsay Head Press, 1992
Jack, R., Edwards, O.D. The Edinburgh Festival, A Pictorial Celebration,
Edinburgh: Canongate Publications Ltd., 1990
Logan, B. (ed.) ‘“It should have energy and a bit of magic. But this is dull”’, in
McArthur, C. ‘The Rises and Falls of the Edinburgh International Film
Festival’, in Dick, E. (ed.) From Limelight to Satellite. A Scottish film
book, London: Scottish Film Council and British Film Institute, 1990
McMillan, J. The Traverse Theatre Story, London: Methuen Drama, 1988
Miller, E. The Edinburgh International Festival 1947-1996, Aldershot: Scolar
Press, 1996
Moffat, A. The Edinburgh Fringe, Edinburgh: Johnston and Bacon, 1978
Nairn, T. ‘Festival of the Dead’, in New Statesman, 1967 (vol.74)
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Page 46

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Mirror of the nation?

The Edinburgh Festivals and Scottish national

Edinburgh, April 2001

Lourd on my hert as winter lies

political and national identity. The development of a politicised Scottish

Finlay is acutely aware of the ‘individual nature of national identity’, whereby

and foremost a community of common descent’.10 Both strains of thought will

The purpose of this study is to draw these strands together, using a

This dissertation complements the existing literature; its focus is on subjects

One of the International Festival’s Aims and Objectives is ‘To reflect

The challenge, if one seeks Scottish inclusion in the Festivals, is to discover

proved a very rich source of information, the records available providing a

In seeking to trace contemporary opinions on the ways Scottish national

Texts written on the Festivals themselves have proved invaluable. What

Traverse theatre and 7:84 Theatre Company.34 A loose chronological

‘The standard of performance was to be the highest the world could

The Edinburgh International Festival’s first Director, Rudolph Bing, was

Where key figures of a cultural elite were important in the International

Festival is best pictured. Nationally state-funded cultural provision that

In placing the Festivals in a contemporary political context, the stance taken

‘Britain’s poverty in the aftermath of the war had made it impossible to

At a January 1947 meeting attended by members of the International Festival

A frequently repeated demand required that inclusion of Scottish

A defining example of the International Festival proclaiming a Scottish identity

those leading the International Festival were claiming a leading role in

Had the International Festival satisfied everyone’s demands, it might today be

The Thrie Estaites wasn’t enough.50 Without ‘official’ backing in 1949, An

While the risk of a selective use of resources is possible, in this research to a

part of a germinating fringe. A high profile exhibition entitled Enterprise

The International Festival was a self-consciously cultured and cosmopolitan

‘Philip French wanted his programme [Critics’ Forum] always to remain

A focus on either the Festivals or developments in Scottish identity would

Scotland’s first post-war referendum on devolved government from

‘the Scottish electorate expressing a continuing preference for a

SNP breakthroughs at the ballot box had demanded a response to the

The political and economic backdrop to the Festivals had varied

As stated, every International programme in this period up to 1978 was set by

It confirmed Diamand’s policy ‘where artistically justifiable, to involve Scottish

Kilbrandon and the SNP’s general election breakthroughs, hindsight might

‘…the show is sustained first by a driving, angry conviction that

‘The content at once hypothesises and demonstrates how current

The expansion of the Fringe gathered a momentum in this period which

This chapter sought to examine the parallel development of the Edinburgh

International Festival was susceptible to intense criticism, labelled a

understanding of Scotland, while confusing the search for political national

‘What is your impression of Scottish culture?’

current situation, and it can be more problematic to draw conclusions from so

The current International Festival administration’s engagement with Scottish

sense of community ownership and locality.12 Perhaps this is a natural stance

As case studies were used to examine elements of the Fringe’s relationship

‘because of the Fringe festival and my early involvement in it, I was

Echoes can be heard of London Calling’s assessment of the Festival in 1948,

In this third chronological section, opportunities have been highlighted. The

‘[One of the] major cancers in society is the lingering and sleepwalking

‘The objects for which the company is established are:-

‘Edinburgh is a city rich in tensions. Your challenge is to make as

The introduction to this dissertation cited a host of resources available to

The importance of getting Bruno Walter to perform at the first Edinburgh

ambitious programmers greater freedom and flexibility. No single composer

The model on which the Edinburgh Festivals have developed saw an

Interview and correspondence

Jarman, D.S.R. The curatorial and political arguments surrounding the

Cultural and political