GRUMPY old soldier. Major Brian Leishman, former long-time business manager of the Tattoo, is one of 400 old comrades who this weekend commemorate the 40th anniversary of the disbandment of the 1st Battalion the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).
Says Brian, fervent believer in what his regiment was all about and editor of their quarterly magazine: "We were victims of the MoD's defence cuts in 1968 and rather than amalgamate with another Scottish regiment, we chose to disband.
"Proud? You
bet! We had 13 VCs in two world wars. We'll gather on the site at Douglas Water where the regiment was raised in 1689 and where we disbanded on May 14, 1968. We have an officers, dinner in Edinburgh on Saturday and an all-ranks, gathering at Douglas, Lanark, on Sunday."
A recent hip op has stifled the major's mobility but he assures me: "They may well have to wheel me in but I'll be there, hell or high water."
Time to rhyme Chiles. Remember the name. Rhymes with piles. Adrian Chiles' future was far from assured when he was at the BBC for work experience. But see where he is now. Among other things, anchoring The One Show, a nightly magazine so stultifying, it's long been the one show I try to avoid.
The night I slipped up, it opened with somebody, not me, filling a sickbag. On another he was enthralling viewers with an in-depth item about the Lindisfarne Gospels. Riveting.
Times are so craz-ee in television that Chiles reportedly has been offered a £6m contract to defect from the Beeb to ITV. And, it's said, he is "startled" by his success. So am I son, so am I. I recommend, as well as a larger size of hat, an extended reintroduction to that work experience stint.
Talking rhymes, better not ask what rhymes with Nish. My advice to Colin Nish, sometime Hibs striker whose back-chat to refs has brought more yellow/red cards than anyone else in the PL: keep yer trap shut. Six of the belt, we're confiscating your teddy bear and your Disneyland trip's cancelled. So there.
Afterwords . . . . . from Harrison "Indiana" Ford: "I don't fall in love easily but when I do, by God, I have both the need and expectation for it to be equal." Don't we all.
The full article contains 392 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
