The Wilfred Owen Violin performs on Christmas Eve - Royal Shakespeare Company

A violin that has been made to commemorate 100 years since the start of the First World War is to make its RSC debut.

The violin will be played during a special Christmas Eve performance of Phil Porter's new play The Christmas Truce.

The performance on Christmas Eve will mark exactly 100 years since soldiers along the Western Front left their trenches to meet their enemies in No Man's Land to talk, exchange gifts and play football.

The violin is made from wood from the branch of a sycamore tree in the grounds of Craiglockhart, a hospital in Edinburgh that was an important military psychiatric hospital during the War for the treatment of shell-shocked officers.

One of their most well-known patients was the war poet Wilfred Owen, after whom the violin is named.

The violin was made by Edinburgh instrument maker Steve Burnett, to honour the memory of Wilfred Owen and his generation.

An annual 'Violin Champion' will be chosen from students within the Edinburgh Napier University music department during the next four commemorative years and the violin will be made available on loan to other musicians for concert and educational work.