Tails of the Tawse

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I sus­pect that this is a few inch­es short­er than school rules allow, so.…..’ the skirt flipped up briefly reveal­ing a glimpse of underwear. It was never used in my girls' school, but in the state sector, and in my brother's school, the Lochgelly Tawse was usually laid on the teachers desk in full view of the pupils as a reminder to behave. On their way home one evening, they had been joined by Wendy, a girl that Thomas had a schoolboy crush on. Both Dan and Thomas were in a particularly boisterous mood, both trying to impress Wendy. Dan had dared Thomas to take a few apples from the tree just inside the wrought iron gate of 'Wood End House'. The girl kept her eyes on the ground, ‘No, Miss,’ then, look­ing up deter­mined­ly, ‘except if I can explain it was some kind of protest.’ She start­ed to trem­ble slight­ly. ‘Ever since you sent me to Dr Rudd for pun­ish­ment I have not felt part of the school. It wasn’t so much the actu­al strap­ping, but the fact it was giv­en by him, in his study, notyours.’

Good," she said, standing up and walking to a cupboard. "Let's swap apples for strokes of the cane, strokes of the cane across your bottom, Thomas." Go and fetch me that chair,’ she sud­den­ly instruct­ed, indi­cat­ing a low wood­en chair near the win­dow, ‘and put it in front of thedesk.’ In the meantime, the youngest girl in the school (Ethel Milton), evidently a ringleader amongst the others and who had been absolutely defiant for some days, had behaved very badly, had refused to work and had used very foul language to the staff. The Superintendent there had given her severe corporal punishment -- perhaps rather too severe though justified under the special circumstances. She replaced the receiv­er and let her head rest momen­tar­i­ly in her hands: there was only one pupil enti­tled to wear orange that day, and that was the rep­re­sen­ta­tive for Drake house – it’s hound, Miran­da Spears.The Superintendent (Miss Langley) had only recently taken charge and there is no doubt that the girls had got badly out of hand under the late Superintendent. Corporal punishment on the posterior was not forbidden by the rules in force at the school, though the managers strangely enough did not appear to know that it was in the power of the Superintendent to inflict it. I think Dr. Norris was perfectly right to adopt the course he decided to take, and but for his prompt action the state of affairs might have become much worse. I continued to see quite a bit of Mr Rattray's office in the following year. I recall clearly he had a print of Bruegel's Hunters in the snowand his Census in Bethlehem on his office wall just inside the doorway. Although, given that I regarded Mr Rattray as something of a tyrant, Bruegel's Massacre of the Innocents may have been more approprate! Punishment came in two forms: a long lecture on my shortcomings followed by two or more of the strap (or tawse, but I don't recall Mr Rattray using that Scottish expression) administered with some force on my hands held together (making in harder for the hand receiving the strap to fall away with the blow). They're coxes - the apples." she said after a few moments, obviously in no hurry to return to her house. "The tree's past its prime now, but I enjoyed excellent crops until a few years ago."

This somewhat surreptitious measure to conceal his own personal tawse, always provided him with a painful element of surprise for any pupil who may have erred in a given task, or who may have simply spoken out-of-turn. You are not going to deny it was you with that boy from Till­wood, or that you were unaware such unchap­er­oned encoun­ters were entire­ly against the rules?’ Still no response from the girl: this was typ­i­cal, thought Miss Svenson. I was sniffing away tears as I reluctantly lowered my short grey trousers and placed them on the chair. My little bottom felt so vulnerable. This is my first blog, and indeed blog entry, on the subject of the punishments I receive for being a less than obedient and well behaved wife! This blog was given to me, by my husband, as part of any punishments I receive.Before leaving the school on the 22nd I had a conference with some of the Managers and saw the girls at work and am of the opinion that the trouble has practically ceased. The Managers throughout had been helpful and grateful for my assistance and I think on the whole the Superintendent has acted sensibly and has been supported by her staff. I believe that the whole trouble was a conspiracy on the part of the girls to get rid of the new Superintendent, having realised that the absolute want of discipline and lazy habits allowed by the late Superintendent One teacher who took the English class, was an absolute tyrant who terrified everyone and appeared to delight in giving miscreants the 'belt'. (This was a leather strap known as a 'tawse' and commonly used as a punishment and deterrent in Scottish schools.) Thomas was unable to put Miss Craven out of his mind for the rest of the week. He was almost desperate to know if she was the same lady who had threatened him with the cane. The thought excited him and scared him.

The next few weeks were hell on earth. I tried a host of topics related to my geography degree; environment, weather, town planning, country capitals, quizzes, puzzles….even ‘draw your granny!’ The cries of ‘useless’ and ‘boring’ rang in my ears each night as I trudged home to mark jotters with nothing in them, or worse, comments I’d rather not decipher. After the second I was crying. I got three on each hand. Afterwards she gave me a hug, again said she was sorry she had to strap me, but she couldn't allow me to talk in class. She also said that if I felt I needed to be strapped again in the future she wanted me to come and tell her after class and not disrupt the class. She made me promise that if I wanted the strap again I'd tell her. I got another brief hug and was told to go to the bathroom down the hall to wash up and then rejoin the class. She stood, then walked up to stand behind him, then gently traced a finger across the lattice of angry weals that covered his bottom. Well Miran­da, I haven’t seen you in my office for a while,’ began Miss Sven­son. Miran­da remained silent.As a teenager I always used to spend about ten days each year with Cousin Clare and her parents. Clare wasn’t actually my cousin, but her mother and my mother were at school together, and it was a convenient way to refer to her. Clare was an only child. Well, this sounds like a very child­ish offence,’ assert­ed Miss Sven­son at last, sur­vey­ing the tall fifth-for­mer before her. I too have been fortunate to have enjoyed a trinity of experiences, each intertwined with love, despair and ultimately, success The net result being, on reflection, that my creator dealt me a pretty good hand… but it didn’t get off to the best start - by any stretch of the imagination. Oh, but I can, Thomas, and I will. Step over to the desk, please. Face the desk, now, or I will add strokes."

The teacher, with a rather hor­ri­fied expres­sion on her face, came and stood in front of the boy. Gen­tly she wiped the trace of a tear off his cheek and took hold of his wrists.

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Miss Sven­son put down the tele­phone and called in the girl. She had no doubt Miran­da Spears would resent her more than ever, but it was a nec­es­sary pun­ish­ment and, she knew in her heart, a justone. Look me in the eye,’ she com­mand­ed; the girl com­plied. ‘Are you going to deny it?’ A moment’s hes­i­ta­tion, then ‘No, Miss.’ Miss Sven­son breathed an inward sigh of relief: Miran­da Spears real­ly was the most obsti­natepupil.