A Very Special School

"As for the administration of formal corporal punishment, this will be exclusively in my hands and those of the eight warders, who serve also as housemasters. Those of you in the teaching staff who feel a boy has overstepped the bounds and is need of correction will be required to fill out a punishment citation which will be brought to me by the errant youth. Boys with slips will be either punished by me personally in my study, or will, on Friday evenings after supper, go to the general punishment room where they will be beaten either by me of by one of the senior warders."

"Now, as you, the teaching staff will have no recourse to the cane yourselves, to correct the minor infractions which will inevitably arise in your classes, if you feel a boy is out of line, simply send him out of the room. I am talking here about really minor infractions, which do not merit a written citation, but which must always, and I repeat here the word "always", be met with some form of immediate sanction, otherwise order will give way to chaos. I am a great believer in the maxim: "Give a boy and inch and he will take a mile". Well in this school not a single inch will ever be ceded to a boy. The rules will be strictly obeyed and if broken, punishment will be automatic."

"So, any boy sent out of the classrooms for any kind of misbehaviour whatsoever will be obliged immediately to go and stand in the corridor, outside the punishment room door. At each change of period, when there is a five minute recess, one of the warders will be visit the punishment room and the miscreants waiting there will automatically be caned. There will be no questions asked and no answers called for; the boys will automatically be caned."

"There will be a simple standard procedure; each boy will drop his pants, bend across he beating stool and the warder on duty will give him six good cuts across his naked buttocks with the pickle rod. So, gentlemen, as you can see, the cane will be in use the entire day, at each change of period, four times in the morning and three times in the afternoon. And woe betide any boy who has been expelled from a class and who then fails to present himself at the punishment room, for he will be dealt with by me personally and I can tell you that six cuts will seem as the touch of a feather compared to what such deceitful boys will get from me by way of retribution."

"So, gentlemen, there you have it; the cane will be at your disposition via the strong arms of the warders, throughout the teaching day. And so, gentlemen, I see no reason why you cannot maintain perfect order in your classrooms and I shall expect nothing less from each and every one of you."

"Now, in addition to this formal punishment schedule, the warders, who over and above their duties as housemasters, are also responsible for physical education and sports as well as for general discipline around the school, will always each carry a cane and will be able to apply instant, on the spot correction to any boy who deserves it. Gentlemen, let us be quite clear; the cane and the birch will be in regular use in this establishment and good manners and behaviour will be inculcated into these delinquent boys in the time honoured English way: they will be thrashed. As for evenings, when classes are over and the boys are in their respective houses, then discipline there will be entirely left to the discretion of each housemaster, whose study is well equipped for the purpose. Now, are there any questions?"

The Commander's authoritative manner was such that it completely discouraged any questions at all and after he had finished his speech, there was dead silence; there was a clear understanding by everyone present, that Commander Pratt-Mainwaring was in charge, firmly in charge, and that the staff had to do his bidding; the Commander was not a man to be crossed; that was very clear! This was not an establishment where discussion as to actions took place; the word consensus was not in the vocabulary of the moment; the Commander alone decided and that was that. As remarked earlier, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and here was an example of this maxim taking place before everyone's eyes: Commander Pratt- Mainwaring ruled as an absolute monarch!

The meeting was quickly closed. What the teaching staff thought of this, we shall never know, but I imagine that many of them were disappointed that they could not wield a cane themselves, for there is always among the teaching profession a certain element which enjoys beating its pupils and indeed, well into the middle of the twentieth century, it was quite normal for a master to thrash boys in front of their peers in the classroom. As for the eight warders, well they were delighted with their authority and the looked forward to exercising it with vigour, which as we shall see later, they did, for in their own way the four senior warders, each of whom headed up a house, were as ruthless as was the Commander.

Chapter 8

The arrival of the first boys was imminent, when the Commander received a surprise in the form of a letter from the Secretary for Education, which informed him that there had been a change in plan. Moulton-Midmarsh would function as a place of incarceration of last resort for senior boys from other approved schools around the country: Moulton-Midmarsh was to become the repository for senior boys whose recalcitrance made them uncontrollable in the confines of a normal reform school covering all ages from thirteen to twenty-one years.

So, just a few days before the first boys arrived, the Commander learned that his new school would be a sort of senior college catering for boys aged for eighteen to twenty-one years old. The Secretary for Education had not even had the courtesy to discuss this change with the Commander or even to inform, him verbally of the changed situation: it was a done deal over which the Commander had no control and in which is view had never been solicited. Such a high handed decision sat ill with the Commander, as you might well imagine, for he was used to issuing orders himself which he expected to be obeyed without question. Now here was a case of the boot being on the other foot: he was on the receiving end of what he considered an outrageous decision and there was nothing he could do about it other than fume quietly to himself.

"Boys," he thought to himself. "What I now have on my hands is a set of unruly young men. Well, I know how to deal with them, for it will be much like the lads I dealt with on the cadet ship."

September soon arrived and with it, the first intake of boys. Moulton-Midmarsh was organised in the form of four houses, much like an English public school. Each house occupied one of the four wings of the new building and each house was run by a two man team of senior warder and assistant who were usually known as housemasters. Each house bore the name of one of the eastern counties, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridge, the idea being to inculcate into its members a sense of belonging and loyalty and, in the time honoured methods of the English public schools, as a means of fielding four competitive teams on the sports field. As the young men arrived, they were separated alphabetical into groups by age and were then assigned randomly to one of the houses, the only criterion being to give each house approximately the same age distribution. By the end of the month, the school already had its full complement of 200 inmate's boys and was settling down into its daily routine.

The Commander brought his eight warders together and told them that, in order to show the boys (as he decided to call them in spite of their age), the way the school would be run and discipline enforced, it would be a good idea if at least five or six boys received a good caning in the first few days of their arrival.

"I think," said the Commander, "That we need to show the whole school that we are serious about obedience. So, take the even the slightest misdemeanour as an excuse to wield the cane. There is nothing, absolutely nothing at all, in my view, like the crack of the cane across a boy's bare arse to make him come to order and as a warning to the rest. So, do not hesitate; if in doubt, just whack butt and if you can do it so that the other boys are aware of what happens when rules are disobeyed, all to the good."

The warder who was housemaster of Norfolk, a muscular twenty-five year old called Marcus Selby and his assistant, of similar build, by the name of John Summers, together formed a formidable team. They rapidly came to be known and feared as S and S by the boys in their house and were very thorough in their execution of the Commander's wishes. For them it was going to be a pleasure, to thrash a good number of their charges in the first few weeks of their arrival; ''pour encourager les autres" as the French would have said. As did all the warders, both men always walked around carrying a cane and were not slow to give an odd whack to the arse of any unsuspecting youth whom they thought had overstepped the line.

"Pick up that piece of paper you have just dropped, you untidy boy." followed by a couple of whacks of the cane cross his trousers.

"Walk, boy, when you are in the building. This is not the playing field or a race track." Whack, whack.

"Stand up straight, boy; don't slouch" Whack, whack

"Don't talk so loudly, boy." Whack, whack.

You can see the sort of piffling "offences" which Selby seized upon to justify administering a few short, sharp, but nonetheless painful cuts to any errant boy's seat; and it was just the same in the other three houses. The housemasters and their assistants, with the authorised rattan cane glued into their hands, until it seemed almost an integral part of their bodies, cracked down on boys for the slightest of reasons; it was instant retribution for any offence, so often imagined rather than real; no discussion; no explanation, just a few short sharp painful cuts given on the spot."

But this was not the level of punishment the Commander had envisaged; what he wanted was a more dramatic scenario, with the errant youth being beaten, first subjected to verbal chastisement before eventually being thrashed. He wanted all the boys to realise that if they broke the rules, then they would suffer excruciating pain for it and this realization had to come from the fate of a few unfortunate lads who were to be made examples of. And so, the housemasters had to find upon some real offences being committed so that they could haul the offender off to their studies and give him a proper naked arse thrashing, with all the due process and ceremony. Thus, to meet the Commander's wishes, the housemasters forced themselves, to become extremely vigilant, in their attempts to find fault with their charges.

Selby and his assistant housemaster took to inspecting the dormitories every evening, both before and after lights-out, gas lights that is, for we are here in an age before the general availability of electric light. In fact, modern though the school was for its day, in 1899 when the building worked was commenced, the school had no electricity at all; some would have said it was that mythical period often referred to as, "'the good old days". Today, we would think it rather primitive, but that is the way it was then. Anyway, Selby's detailed inspection of the four separate fifteen bed dormitories which his house contained proved a treasure trove for the offence seeking S and S duo. They were amazed by what they discovered and just how inventive the boys were.

Selby himself quietly entered one dorm. some fifteen minutes after lights out, to find that two of the boys, Johnson and Sefton, had somehow obtained matches and were reading some book or other by candle light. They were promptly marched off, in their pyjamas, to Selby's study and subjected to a severe verbal examination before being thrashed.

"From where did you get the matches? You could have started a fire and burned the place down." said Selby.

Sefton, who seemed to wish to act as spokesman for the pair, said: "We had them when we arrived here, sir, and we saw no harm in lighting the candles in order to read."

"Hand over immediately any matches you still have; you know the rule; lights out at 9 p.m. and no talking or other activity thereafter. You boys are there to sleep, so that you can stay awake during your classes next day. And, I am very surprised at you flagrantly breaking the rules in front of your classmates and for that I propose to beat you."

"Please, sir, we promise we won't do it again. It was only once that we did what we did and we really meant no harm. It was just the first time."

But, as you can well imagine these words fell on deaf ears.

Selby walked across to the pickle rod container, withdrew a cane from the brine, wiped of the excess liquid, placed it in its handle, swished it through the air and said.

"Now, the pair of you, do you know what this is?"

"It's a cane sir, isn't it?"

"Very observant of you to realize that fact; but have you any idea what kind of cane this is? Just take a closer look at it and you will see that it is thin and flexible, much thinner and much more flexible than the normal rattan cane which Mr. Summers and I carry around with us during the day. Moreover, you will have noticed that it has been soaking in water, or more precisely in brine, a solution of salt in water. And do you know why? Probably not! Well, let me explain to you young miscreants; this cane is made of a very special type of bamboo which absorbs its own weight in water from the soaking, which makes it twice as heavy as a normal cane. But that is not all, for being thin, it is also much more flexible. Do you two lucky lads know what all this adds up to? Probably not! Well let me enlighten you further. This cane, which we call a pickle rod because of its soaking in brine, can be considered the "nec plus ultra" of canes for administering corporal punishment to the behinds of errant boys like you. Do you know what "nec plus ultra" means? Probably not! Well let me enlighten you still further. It means the best or most extreme example of something. So there, boys, you have it, your backsides are going to be treated to the very best and extreme example of the cane. Quite simply, as you are now going to find out, this is just the most painful of all canes; indeed it is considered by many as the equal of the birch, of which I am sure you have both heard, or even possibly experienced in your previous tearaway careers."

Of course, Selby had really no idea whether what he was telling these two boys about the painful attribute of the pickle rod were true or not, for neither he nor Summers had ever used it seriously on anyone. But, by treating the boys to a verbal tirade, telling them what it was and what it was going to do to them, he hoped that when they went back to their dormitory after the beating he was now going to administer, that they would, by relating what had happened to their house mates, inculcate a feeling of dread into them.

"Johnson, you first; drop your pyjama trousers and bend across the back of this stool."

Now it is a fact that for all their braggadocio, working class boys, such as Johnson and Sefton, are much shyer about exposing what they refer to as "their privates" to other people, even to their classmates. Public school boys, in general, have no inhibitions about flaunting their all before anyone and everyone, as they have, from a tender age at prep schools, been pushed in at the deep end of a rigid education system, where nothing at all remains private for long. Any public school boy having been given the order which Johnson had just received would have obeyed forthwith and bent across the chair to receive his punishment; it was all part and parcel of his world; but not so Johnson, who was aghast at the thought of having to expose himself to his housemaster and to his friend. And so he started to protest.

"But sir, you are not going to make me drop my pants here, in front of you and Sefton; you are not going to cane my bare bum, are you? I don't want that!"

"Johnson, you are arguing with me and I suggest that you stop right now. What you want or do not want is a matter of no concern to me; just do as I say, for if you persist, then I shall give you six extra cuts, which will bring your total up to eighteen stokes of the cane. So, boy, for the last time, drop your pants and do as I have told you; bend across the chair and present your arse to me, boy, for punishment."

Johnson finally did as he was told, but with great reluctance and the housemaster noticed, as is often the case when an adolescent knows he is about to be beaten, that Johnson was sporting a rock hard erection. And it has to be said that Johnson was a well set up young stud, who would, eventually make someone very happy; the boy had nothing to be ashamed off; indeed, quite the contrary!

Sefton meanwhile had said nothing at all, but was clearly frightened by what he knew was also going to happen to him. Mr. Selby noticed that Sefton too had a pronounced erection, brought on just by watching and listening to what has transpired so far. It was a very homoerotic moment for all of them, housemaster, assistant housemaster and the two boys, for both S and S were sporting their own erections, which they tried, somewhat unsuccessfully to hide.

Mr. Selby, adjusted the back of the special beating stool to ensure that Johnson's arse was in the perfect position for his assault with the cane, swished it around a few times to heighten the drama of the proceedings and then began to tap Johnson's cheeks, preparatory to making his first stroke.

"Sefton," he said, "Perhaps you would be good enough to count the strokes for your friend, as I would hate to give him too few or, on the other hand, too many. You will call out the number, there will be twelve cuts in all, and I will then make the stroke."

"One," said Sefton.

"One what?" bellowed the housemaster.

Poor Sefton had not the faintest idea what he had done wrong, but he was quickly apprised of his error by his housemaster.

"Sefton, where are your manners? You are totally and utterly disrespectful in the way you just addressed me and I can see that I shall have to teach you an additional lesson. You have to understand, boy, that you do not address any master in this school in the way you have just addressed me. It is not "One" it is "One, sir". Do I make myself clear? For your insolence I shall give you three extra strokes when I put you across this chair after I have finished correcting your friend here."

And then Selby started to beat Johnson's arse in earnest. He was amazed just what the pickle rod did to the boy's buttocks with each stroke. The cane, due to its flexibility, wrapped itself right around the boy's cheeks and each stroke produced a long, thin livid welt, which rapidly turned red.

So each of the next eleven strokes of this truly awful cane landed with a resounding crack on Johnson' arse. The housemaster measured every stroke carefully, placing each of them side by side so that both cheeks were crossed with angry red furrows. The final stroke, he placed cross-wise, to hold the preceding eleven cuts together, as it were. It was a virtuoso piece of beating with a vicious implement and poor Johnson could hardly get up from the chair after the twelfth stroke had finally landed across his arse. He had not let out any sound during this entire time and hobbled silently across to stand at the seed of his friend, Sefton, who was now on the verge of tears at the thought of what he was now about to happen to him.

Johnson stood there silently; wondering what was about to happen as the housemaster was looking at him with a truly baleful expression, which somehow boded ill for the young man.