|
Most of the staff had their
peculiarities and different thresholds of temper, and it paid to remember
these so that you knew how far you could go. Offences considered more serious
were of course dealt with by caning. Being cheeky to Masters was rare, and
would have been punished on the spot with a clout. Bullying or persecution
was not uncommon but would never be reported by the victim as one of the
first golden rules instilled into the ‘new boy’ was that you do not ‘blab’.
But ‘answering back’ Matron or the Housemaster’s wife would probably earn a
few strokes. Although dreaded and very painful (and the usual long wait
outside the Housemaster’s study until he was ready to deal with you
compounding the agony) the effect soon wore off and didn’t really alter your
behaviour, it only made you more careful not to get caught. Surprisingly,
talking in the dormitory after ‘lights out’ or being out of bed seemed to be
the commonest cause of being given the cane. The Master on duty came round
the dorms once or twice after listening at the door. If he heard talking you
had to own up or the whole dormitory would be punished.
During my times at school, I got
the cane six times. I recorded these in a little notebook as follows:
‘Times I have had the Swish’
1. Three strokes. For talking to
Billy Newby at his bed. (aged 10 or 11)
2. Four strokes. For playing
football in the dorm and breaking a picture. June 1924 – aged 11.
3. Three strokes. For ‘wragging’
Bell for snoring in dorm at his bed
4. Six strokes. For talking after
lights out. Matron heard me say that I didn’t care about the stick, so got 2
more. June 1925 – aged 12. ‘Could not sit down in class and it bled a bit’
5. Three strokes. Talking after
lights out.
6. Five strokes. ‘Wragging’ – ‘Old
Lower’. Fetching several boys from Old Lower. Waking Matron up.
Total Number of Strokes = 24
Picture credit: Billy Bunter’s Own
For
more True Memories, click here
Traditional
School Discipline
Traditionalschooldiscipline@gmail.com
|
Comments
Post a Comment