Book: The Dominie. 1

 

A ‘dominie’ is in Scots a school headmaster. In The Dominie, William (Bill) Fyfe Hendrie, himself an experienced headmaster and prolific writer, chronicles the life of the Scottish dominie through the centuries.

Naturally, any history of schooling cannot leave out corporal punishment and Hendrie explores the use of the tawse – a leather strap often split into three tails at the business end – in great detail.

You can see a review of the book written by Charles Smith in the Times Educational Supplement, 29 December 1997, here.

Here’s the first of four extracts: ‘For over half an hour, my hand felt as though it was about a foot thick and the tips of my fingers, which felt like balloons, pulsed with agony. The suddenly the pain changed to a warm glow and everything was very pleasant.’

Look out for further extracts in coming weeks.

The Dominie, A Profile of the Scottish Headmaster, (John Donald Publishers, Edinburgh, 1997)

Traditional School Discipline

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