“I’d never imagined in my wildest dreams I’d see the day I’d be standing playing at the Olympics. It was absolutely amazing,” said tenor drummer and band secretary Sharon Wighton.

“We had three rehearsals in the stadium when it was at full capacity, so we’d got used to playing there and to a massive crowd. It meant that when we were doing it for the actual ceremony we were able to appreciate the moment rather than feel really nervous.

“We could hear the crowd gasping as we stepped out to play. It was incredible to know it was for us.”

The Fintry Pipe Band was selected in March to be a showcase for all the music of Europe, although it was kept a closely guarded secret.

Five musical acts from five different continents were chosen to perform at the opening ceremony and it was the task of musical director Kexin Yhang, to find the performers.

“Kexin had this recurring theme of pipe and drum sounding music as he looked round Europe for a sound that embodied this continent. So he searched the Internet for pipe bands in Scotland,” explained Sharon.

“After sending information back and forward to check out our band we were told we’d been chosen. It was difficult to keep the event to ourselves, as we needed to fund-raise £25,000 to get ourselves to Beijing. Fortunately we had many generous donations — most notably £10,000 from the Gannochy Trust.”

The pipe band was in excellent company as they stood in the stadium, as they were just feet away from tennis champions Andrew Murray and Roger Federer.

They also received a very warm welcome from the Chinese and some Scottish travellers.

“We bumped into a Scottish guy who had been living far from home for four years and he’d not seen one Scottish flag or anything since he’d moved. He seemed very happy to have a reminder of his birthplace.”

The band arrived in Beijing on July 28 and returned to Dundee on Sunday night.