A former Black Watch soldier who piped in the funeral procession of President Kennedy is to pay homage to that role 50 years on.
Kirriemuir man Bruce Cowie, 74, will travel to London to play alongside opera singer Alfie Boe to mark Friday’s 50th anniversary of the assassination.
He was one of nine members of the Black Watch Pipe Band who played as part of JFK’s funeral procession in 1963.
The president’s wife, Jackie, had requested the group play after they had captured her husband’s heart with a performance at a charity event at the White House nine days before his death.
The president even boarded the band’s bus to pass on his personal thanks to the men who played at the White House.
Bruce said JFK shook every piper’s hand and thanked them for their work something that still resonates with him today.
Only a few days later Bruce and his colleagues were approaching their hotel when news came through of the assassination.
Bruce was only 24 at the time and is the last remaining British-based piper of the men who played.
“It was surreal,” said Bruce, who stays in the Glengate with his wife Anne. “We were leaving the White House on the bus and JFK came on with secretary of state Dean Rusk to thank us personally. It was a real personal touch.”
When news of the assassination filtered across the country the band’s evening performance was called off out of respect.
Bruce and his colleagues went about their own business as America reeled in shock.
Soon after, The Black Watch received a letter from Mrs Kennedy asking the band and their pipe major to perform four songs at the funeral procession.
The men played Brown Haired Maiden, Badge of Scotland, 51st Highland Division and Old Rustic Bridge.
They piped as the coffin was taken up the steps into the White House before peeling off from the procession and finishing with the Green Hills of Tyrone and After Battle.
Bruce added: “It is a hard thing to explain how I felt at the time. It was only later, afterwards, that there’s a realisation of what happened.
“You just realise you were part of history. The Kennedys as a family seemed to have a nice touch.
“JFK thanked us on the bus and Jackie sent a letter to The Black Watch saying thank you for our playing on the day.”
Bruce has now given up playing the pipes and his last performance was at a recent family wedding, which fulfilled a promise made to his niece when she was a young girl.
Major Ronnie Proctor, Black Watch Association secretary, said: “Bruce is the lasting connection of The Black Watch to the whole series of events.
“It is a great honour that a foreign country’s pipers and servicemen are allowed to take part in an overseas head of state’s funeral. It’s pretty unique.”