Book: The Dominie. 2

 

Here’s the second (of four) extracts from The Dominie, a history of the Scottish headmaster by William (Bill) Fyfe Hendrie, himself an experienced headmaster and prolific writer.

He continues his discourse on the use of the tawse – a leather strap, often cut with two or three tails at the business end. We meet the tawse manufacturers, including the most famous of them all John Dick ‘the high priest of punishment’ at Lochgelly.

‘The secret of its searing sting lay in these slit tongues, which the dominies of old were convinced enabled it to communicate so much more effectively than angry words to the young delinquents who it chastised.’

For more extracts from The Dominie, click here.

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

Picture credit: Andy Arthur (Threadinburgh)

 

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