Punished by the Housemaster - a personal reminiscence

(Names have been changed by request)

It was the last Saturday afternoon of the autumn term and I was taking it easy - lounging in the comfortable armchair which was my favourite piece of furniture in my study - when there came a knock at the door and an unwelcome message. 'Mr Green wants to see you right away, Bairstow. He says that you're to go to him directly.' The messenger was a third-year boy and I noticed that he looked around my study with envy. Junior boys at my boarding school slept in dormitories and enjoyed very little privacy. You had to be in the fifth year or above to merit a bedroom of your own and I had now enjoyed the luxury for one term. I had been looking forward to an afternoon snooze, so the summons to see my housemaster was most unwelcome.

The message was not, however, totally unexpected for I had not enjoyed a good first term as a fifth-former. I suppose I had somewhat abused my new privileges as a senior and as a result I had been in trouble several times. It was very unusual for a senior to receive corporal punishment and I suppose that the removal of that deterrent had contributed to my recklessness. The odd detention was nothing to be afraid of - it didn't hurt like the housemaster's slipper. The occasional well deserved whackings I had received as a junior boy had certainly acted as an incentive to good behaviour.

Although I resented the interruption to my afternoon siesta I was not feeling too disconsolate as I made my way to Mr Green's rooms. I knew that I could expect a dressing down and probably the imposition of extra holiday work, but I could take all that in my stride. If I had been a junior I would have felt a lot more nervous, contemplating a possible appointment with the housemaster's flexible rubber-soled slipper - but I was a senior and expected to be treated like the 'man' I considered myself to be.

The first surprise was that Mr Green kept me standing whilst he addressed me. 'Your record this term is a disgrace, Bairstow. A disgrace! You have been in detention several times and have also had to be detained on two half-holidays. What do you have to say for yourself?'

'I'm very sorry sir...' That was my reply, but my actual thoughts were 'get it over with, you old fool, so I can get back to my afternoon snooze...'
'Any junior boy who behaved as you have done this term would have received a dose of my slipper! Perhaps that is what you require...'
I felt my heartbeat increase all of a sudden, as I recalled the smarting pain which could be produced by the housemaster's slipper. Surely he wasn't thinking of whacking me as if I was some pipsqueak junior...
'You may consider yourself to be immune to corporal punishment now that you are a senior. Well you're not! The school still reserves the right to beat when no other remedy is deemed suitable - and I think that in your case corporal punishment may well be appropriate. Now what do you have to say for yourself?'
I was so taken aback by this unexpected threat of a slippering that I was at first lost for words.
'I...I'm very, very sorry sir...I won't misbehave again...I promise...you won't need to slipper me sir..'

'Listen carefully, Bairstow. I've consulted with the headmaster and he recommends that I do not slipper you.'
My heart, which by now was thumping, slowed down a little. However, the housemaster's next words hit me like a thunderbolt.
'In fact, the head considers your record to be so appalling that he has asked me to cane you! You are no doubt aware that housemasters in this school do not keep canes of their own and it will therefore be necessary for you to visit the head and ask for the loan of a suitable rod. I shall require you to go to the headmaster's study at once in order that I may get this regrettable duty over and done with as soon as possible.'

I was still numb with shock as I walked across the quadrangle on my totally unexpected errand. The headmaster gave me a searching look as I entered his study. 'It is a matter of great regret when we have to cane any boy, Bairstow, and it is even more regrettable when that boy is a senior. But both your housemaster and myself agree that a caning - with the threat of its repetition next term if your misbehaviour should continue - is the medicine you require at this crucial stage in your school career. For once it is a truism to say that the punishment is for your own good. Under normal circumstances I would beat you myself. However, as you are now a senior I consider it more appropriate that the punishment be administered by your housemaster as part of his pastoral duties. You will therefore return to him with this cane - and take your prescribed medicine!'

While he had been speaking the head had been rummaging in the cupboard behind his desk, sorting through an assortment of school punishment canes. The instrument he selected for my punishment was of medium length and quite light and whippy. I breathed a sigh of relief, for I had expected that a thicker, heavier cane might be prescribed for a boy of my age.

The cane was too long to conceal under my blazer so I had to carry it in full view as I returned across the quadrangle. Would any boy who saw me carrying the cane assume that I was running an errand - or would they guess that it was me who was due for a thrashing? I blushed bright red at the thought. At last I reached my housemaster's door, only to find a note pinned there saying that he had been called away and I was to wait in the corridor until he returned.

There now began what seemed like the longest fifteen minutes in my life (for that is how long I was eventually kept waiting). I had to stand outside the housemaster's door like some first-form troublemaker, holding the shiny rattan punishment cane by its curved handle and hoping that none of my friends would come along. Every time a master or boy passed by I tried to avoid their eyes, but this was impossible when two boys from my own form came along..
'Hello Bairstow, are you waiting for the old man? We've got to see him about extra prep for the holidays. Is he in there?' 'I...I think he'll be back later...'
'Hey - what's that you're holding behind your back? It's a cane, isn't it? Is some poor kid up for a beating?' 'Y-yes, Mr Green asked me to fetch the stick for him.' Our conversation was cut short by the sudden arrival on the scene of the housemaster.
'Ah, Collins and Gray, I suppose that you are here for the assignment of your holiday tasks. Please return later this afternoon when they will be ready for you. Now, Bairstow, I see you have the cane so let us proceed with your punishment...'

I blushed with shame and embarrassment for my classmates had obviously heard these words and soon the news would be all round the house that I was to be caned. Mr Green led me into his study and shut the door and I handed him the cane.
'Take off your blazer and then fetch the chair from the corner and place it over here in front of my desk.' I fumbled with my blazer buttons, taking my time, for I was in no hurry to feel the sting of that cane across my backside.

'Turn the chair around so that it has its back to you. Now grip the arms and bend over.' With my head positioned on the further side of the armchair I could not see Mr Green as he approached me with the cane. 'The headmaster has directed that you receive a good old fashioned six of the best and that is what you are going to get. And I must say that you deserve each and every stroke!'

I felt a slight tickling as the housemaster brushed the tip of the cane against my buttocks and braced myself for the first cut. It was not long in coming! I heard a hissing sound as the pliant cane whizzed down, followed by a resounding 'Thwack!' as it bit into my fleshy seat, imparting a fierce, burning pain. I was taken aback by just how much the cane stung - the pain was much more intense than that produced by a slippering. The agonising sting intensified with each stroke, until it became almost unbearable, and I found myself fighting back the tears. By the time the full six had been delivered my poor backside felt like it was on fire.
'You can get up now.'
As I slowly raised myself up from the chair my backside was still tingling with pain.
'I need hardly say that I hope it will not be necessary to punish you in this way again, Bairstow.'
I nodded my head in agreement, for I knew that with the threat of a further 'swishing' hanging over me I would be on my very best behaviour next term.

As a final indignity, immediately after my punishment I had to return the cane to the headmaster and acknowledge to that gentleman that I had received the six of the best ordered.