New Guv's Test and Random Recollections

Gerald Wilson (M 1962) sent an email with some more memories of the New Guv's Test, as follows. Note his last paragraph about the memorial service at the National Memorial Arboretum on 7th May. If you can come then do be in touch with the Society. I'll write a note about it maybe tomorrow, but you can follow the tag on the bottom of this post to earlier posts about the NMA.

Gerald writes:

Your blog item on graces struck a chord.  I was asked to say grace for my wife's aunt's 90th birthday a couple of weeks ago.  I decided against the well remembered Latin grace from school and went for the more familiar English translation.  The Haileybury version was somewhat shorter than the one trotted out from memory by Sir Richard at the Foundress' Feast last week.

 

Looking back at the blog items about New Guv Tests I wonder whether beaks are "ticked" any more (a sort of diminutive Hitlergruess!)  Other questions I remember from the New Guvs test were on house colours, heads of houses, housemasters and beak's nicknames.  I remember Hiker (WG) Thompson, Blimp (BG Wennink), "Dick" Richards, "Pussy (EW) Williams, "Dangers" Daltry (pronounced with a hard G), "Bogue" Manning (apparently bogus was a favourite word), "Hanc" Nurden (Latin & Greek beak), Harry Hotplate (Hargreaves, chemistry beak), Herr Mueller (Mr Miller, who may have had a slight speech defect and sounded a bit German), RJ (for Mr Rhodes-James, also occasionally Rhodeo-Joe but not, I was told, in his house Melvill). 

The Boot?

 

Of course there was also the Boot for the Master, which was originally the nickname for Canon Bonhote.  Imogen Thomas's book records this as a corruption of his surname, though it was always said amongst the boys that it related to a predilection for corporal punishment.  The nickname was transferred to his successor Christopher Smith, who I experienced for 12 months.  Though a distant figure I remember him with affection and respect.  He knew the name of every single boy in the school and their parents.  My parents & I had met him once when I sat the scholarship at Haileybury in November 1961.  On entering Quad in September 1962 he instantly  greeted us by name.  When William Stewart became Master in 1963 he was known as "The Boot", though due to his loud voice and custom of addressing any boy within 50 yards (a stark contract to his predecessor's unassuming manner) "The Boot" was often transmuted into "The Boom". 

 

I wonder if you will be attending the Haileybury memorial service at the National Arboretum on 7th May.  I am about to put in a late booking.  I haven't been to the National Arboretum yet, but my first alma mater was St Christopher's School in Alrewas (long since closed, but the buildings were still there when I visited 10-15 years ago) so it seems an appropriate opportunity.