ALUMNI FIFE AND DRUM CORPS
Arriving in Colonial Williamsburg Friday afternoon allowed us opportunity to watch the Colonial Williamsburg Fife and Drum Corps open Drummer’s Call weekend, when they marched through Merchant Square.
DRUMMER’S CALL – SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN
Bringing us to the Kimball Theatre, we entered for Drummer’s Call Successful Campaign, featuring the Colonial Williamsburg Senior Fife and Drum Corps and one of the invited guests for the weekend.
Throughout the program the host shared military music history and explained the songs that would be played.
At the end all three fife and drum corps units came on stage to play a tune together.
Their encore piece was a tune from the French Revolution called Downfall of Paris!
While leaving the historic area, we passed the pond where the frogs croak out their own musical scores in ranges from tenor to bass, one of my favorite experiences of spring.
PLAYBOOTH THEATER
The next morning, we attended the Playbooth Theatre where I pursued research on 18th century theater for our homeschool studies, after which we walked down to the Capitol for the Grand March.
DRUMMER’S CALL – GRAND MARCH
At the capitol we joined all twelve fife and drum corps units from America and Canada assembled for the march to begin.
Since it was Armed Forces Day, Drummer’s Call celebrates the military history of the Fife and Drum Corps units, essential for battlefield communications.
Patrick Henry, who led the Virginia militia in 1775, opened the Grand March.
Marching down Duke of Gloucester Street one after another, the crowds followed them to Market Square for the Grand Review.
DRUMMER’S CALL – GRAND REVIEW
After the Colonial Williamsburg Junior Fife and Drum Corps opened the program with a beautiful version of the Star-Spangled Banner, each of the corps units display their music and marching on the field.
FIREWORKS
Enjoying a picnic lunch on the Palace Green in front of the Governor’s Palace, we enjoyed the fireworks after dusk fell.
MILITARY TATTOO HISTORY
The purpose of the fife and drum corps was to beat out communication signals for the military as early as 15th century Switzerland.
Most famous for battlefield calls, the corps also beat out calls in camp, where fife and drum corps signals announced the next stage in the day: wake up, breakfast, sick call, assembly, lunch, duty calls, dinner, evening retreat, lights out.
Before evening retreat was called, the fife and drum corps marched past the taverns, beating out the signal to “turn off the taps.”
The origin of the word tatoo is die den tap toe, from the Dutch…which was later called taptoe…which eventually assimilated (changed in pronunciation for ease of speech) to tatoo.
DRUMMER’S CALL – MILITARY TATTOO
After the last explosion from the fireworks, the torches were lit.
Led by a torch bearer, each fife and drum corps unit took a turn marching down the street from the Governor’s Palace, making a left onto Duke of Gloucester Street, marching past Chownings Tavern, Weatherburn Tavern, Raleigh Tavern, Kings Arms Tavern, and Shields Tavern.
We followed the last group, the Colonial Williamsburg Senior Fife and Drum Corps.
While cressets burned in front of Shields Tavern, the jam session broke out!
COLONIAL GAMES AND FIFING WITH COLONIAL FRIENDS
