|
THE
STAFF
An anomalous and not
satisfactory feature of the old Madras was that there was no
headmaster. Each master was head of his own department. No
master had a general supervision of the boys either as
regards education or conduct. The only central authority was
the governing body, consisting of the Provost of the town,
the two ministers of St Andrews , and a county magnate - the
Lord Lieutenant, I think. If a skating or other holiday was
wanted, the signatures of the three resident governors had
to be obtained. When any serious breach of discipline had
occurred, not connected with any particular class (a rare
event, I am glad to say), Dr Boyd and his local colleagues
had to be called in.
The heads of
departments in my time were :- English, Dr Armstrong;
Classics, Dr Fogo; Mathematics and Physics, and Geometry, Dr
Lonie; Arithmetic, Mr Reid; French and German, Dr Schaefer;
Writing, Mr Morrison; Drawing, Mr Paterson. I was past the
stage of learning writing, so I was never taught by Mr
Morrison (father of Dr Edward Morrison) nor (unfortunately)
did I take French or German under Dr Schaefer. There was no
headmaster to guide us to a course or to adjust hours. I
chose my own classes and alas! I chose those where I thought
I would shine. I wanted to take geometry as I had a knack
for it. Lonie refused at first to take me into the geometry
class because he deemed me too young for geometry. He gave
way, and at the end of the session I was first prizeman in
the junior class. Of the teachers under whom I worked I
entertain the most grateful and affectionate memories. I
shall not particularise except as regards one - Dr Lonie.
This teacher was a character. He was short, bearded, and
stout, with a huge head and a glass eye, and another eye
which possessed a power of glaring more terrifying than even
the tawse. He was immensely interested in his work, most
painstaking and kind, and yet he was afflicted with a fiery
and I fear a somewhat rancorous temper. With one at least of
his principal colleagues he was not on speaking terms. He
was an excellent teacher of both geometry and physics. In
geometry he was the inventor of a device, which caused some
talk at the time, but I fancy came to nothing, for ocularly
demonstrating the conclusions reached through ratiocination
by means of small slips of wood with many joints. The
peculiar interest of his class, however, was his digressions
on all sorts of topics of the day which interested him, and
he had many interests from the Franco-German war to the
freezing of the water in his bedroom ewer. I do not suggest
that he wasted time, but he got into the hour a great deal
that was topical and also stimulating to general
intelligence. A favourite topic was the United States and
what he had seen on a visit there. I recall that he told us
that the trip cost him £99 19s 11d. Corporal punishment
was, rare in the upper school. Dr Lonie never used it. If he
detected a boy in any flagrant delinquency he gave him a
glare of his one live eye and exclaimed, " Moont the form."
Lonie's nickname was " Bim". Why, I have forgotten. Another
familiar nickname was "Green", that of Aitken, the
assistant classical master, an elderly man and perhaps the
most popular of all the staff. Armstrong was "Bobby", and
Morrison was "Cheesy".
|
