A History of Giggleswick School Part 12

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CHAPEL EXTERIOR.]

Every style of Architecture makes its own peculiar appeal to mankind.

One kind of Church seems better adapted to the needs of Englishmen; Eastern peoples prefer a different style. Mr. Morrison proposed to take a distinctive feature of each and make them one. For the general building he chose the Gothic style because, though not native to England, it has imposed itself to an overwhelming extent on the Parish Churches and Cathedrals of the country, and to it he added a Dome. There is one feature that these two apparent opposites have in common. Gothic Churches vary greatly, but many of them are notable for their appearance of loftiness. The cl.u.s.tered columns seem to lead the eye upwards to the roof, as if men naturally went about the world cramped and confined, and were now bidden turn their gaze to the heights. A dome has a somewhat similar effect: it carries on the gaze and it gives an increased and unexpected vision. The bold union of the two has created a School Chapel, which satisfies every wish. It is suited to the surrounding country, it is possessed of great beauty, and it breathes the atmosphere of wors.h.i.+p.

But there is another consideration. One of the most striking characteristics of boy-life is the feeling of personal possession.

Everything that is of importance has a personal aspect. Whatever a boy sees belonging to his own School is at once invested with a curious sanct.i.ty and defended with all the armour of pride. It is of supreme importance that the side of school life, the religious side, which sometimes appeals to a boy with a greater force than any other, should have a building of its own. The Parish Church can never lay claim to the same devotion, and therefore can never exercise the same influence. A School Chapel develops a feeling of unity and brotherhood; such unity is less possible in a Parish Church.

Buildings and surroundings have a power to mould character. It is the big, silent things of life that often really move a man: the walls that he can learn to love and know, and invest with life and memory. These feelings are not recognized at the time, and it is well that they should not be. Emotionalism and probing self-a.n.a.lysis are dread dangers. But the memories of school in after life are not in the first instance memories of friends, but of the places where those friends were met and the friends.h.i.+ps made. A boy's life is made up of moments and impressions, and many of the indelible impressions of his youth are formed in the School Chapel. Hence the gift of a beautiful School Chapel is the greatest gift a man can give. Boys at Giggleswick have at their right hand the natural glories of the Craven District, they have now also a supreme example of the architect's skill and courage and success.

Environment is the keynote to the development of character. These boys have the twofold opportunity of profiting from Nature and from Art.

The mind must go back three centuries in the history of the School to find a parallel to this gift, and even then no individual example will stand comparison. The difficulties of the work were great, but were surmounted with complete success. The Chapel is a striking and beautiful landmark. The Building was begun in 1897, and the foundation stone was laid with some ceremony on October 7, by the Duke of Devons.h.i.+re, and work proceeded for four years without interruption.

There are many interesting features about the building, and no expense was spared to get the very best material. In the interior all the fittings and seats were made of cedar wood imported direct from Tuc.u.man, a Province in the Argentine. Two Bronze Statues, one of Queen Victoria and one of Edward VI were designed by Mr. George Frampton, A.R.A., and placed in niches over the west door. A cast of the one of Edward VI was given by the sculptor and placed in Big School. The main feature of the interior is one broad aisle in the centre, balanced on either side by two pa.s.sage aisles, and the centre of the broad aisle is paved with black and white marble. At the West end are eight stalls with carved and pierced standards to the canopies.

The Organ was the last instrument built under the direction of Mr. Henry Willis--Father Willis--and its construction was superintended by Sir Walter Parratt. The outside pipes are made of spotted metal, and the organ has three manuals. The Pulpit was put in later standing at the North-West end of the Choir it is visible to the whole congregation.

The Dome was constructed in a way, hitherto probably untried in Europe, it was built without centering, on a principle of interlocking blocks of terra cotta. The outside is of timber covered with copper; inside on the lower part with a gold background are mosaics of sixteen angels. They are slightly over six feet high, and are represented as playing musical instruments; their wings cross one another and give a fine pattern of colour. In the pendentives are seated figures of the four Evangelists.

These were all worked, not from the back as is usual, but from the face, and each was fixed on the vault bit by bit.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JAMES CARR.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CHAPEL DOME.]

The gla.s.s has special interest. The East Window contains subjects from the Life of our Lord, and the South Transept Window contains figures of James Carr, Edward VI, Josias Shute, Archdeacon Paley, the Headmaster and Mr. Morrison. The Clerestory Windows contain in groups of threes, Christian worthies of various times.

NORTH SIDE. SOUTH SIDE.

1. MARTYRS. 4. WARRIORS.

Sir Thomas More. Sir Philip Sidney.

King Edmund. King Alfred.

Bishop Latimer. General Gordon.

2. DIVINES. 5. MISSIONARIES.

John Bunyan. Henry Martin.

John Wycliffe. Columba.

John Wesley. Livingstone.

3. TEACHERS. 6. POETS.

Alcuin, of York. Milton.

William, of Wykeham. Caedmon.

Arnold, of Rugby. Tennyson.

The West Window was designed by the Architect, and is a very curious representation of the Creation, full of daring colour. The roof and part of the walls are decorated with sgraffito work. The Chapel was opened for use on October 4, 1901, by Dr. Warre, Headmaster of Eton, and dedicated by the Bishop of Ripon, and has since been regularly used for services on Sunday.

The generosity of Mr. Morrison did not stop with the Chapel, but at the same time he constructed a fine stone Pavilion at the West end of the Cricket Ground, and a Gate-house and Porter's Lodge at the entrance from the public road. The enthusiasm aroused by the sight of this open-handed generosity was so great that it was at once determined to open a fund for a portrait of Mr. Morrison and hang in Big School. The subscribers were nearly four hundred in number, and many of the old masters and boys were among them. Sir Hubert Von Herkomer was commissioned to paint the portrait, and on July 28, 1903, it was unveiled in the presence of a large gathering of people. It is a striking portrait, and well suggests the kindliness, humour, and generosity that are the distinguis.h.i.+ng features of Mr. Morrison's character.

It was close upon thirty-five years since Mr. Style had first taken over the charge of the School. The year 1869 had been a most unpromising one in the history of Giggleswick; the future was difficult and doubtful.

But courage is one of the first essentials in a Schoolmaster, and Mr.

Style had a full share. Every old School is steeped with tradition, but much of it at Giggleswick was bad, and Mr. Style did his best to eradicate and replace it. The boy of that period was a rougher boy than is common in public schools to-day, and he needed sterner treatment. Mr.

Style was an awe-inspiring disciplinarian, but he was no Busby or Keate in his use of the rod. The temper of Schoolmasters had been rapidly improving, and there are no instances of the astonis.h.i.+ngly unjust punishments that were common in an earlier day. In the early part of the century one of the masters had once thrashed a boy, and the apparent injustice of the punishment had been so indelibly inscribed upon the boy's mind that years afterwards he came back to the School, not with the feelings of affection common to most men when they revisit the scene of their boyhood, but filled with a fierce resentment against his former master, and vowing that if he were alive he would thrash him within an inch of his life. Mr. Style was of a different mould; he set before himself the ideal of absolute justice, and this fact was recognized by the School. On one occasion some boys had placed an elaborate "b.o.o.by"

trap, consisting of two dictionaries on the top of the door of the end "prep" room and awaited the arrival of their victim. To their horror the door opened and crash went the dictionaries on the Headmaster's top-hat.

There was a moment of awful suspense, and he said, "I know that was not meant for me."

With the building of the Hostel it was necessary to build up afresh a complete system of school life. As the numbers increased he established a monitorial system, by which many of the lesser breaches of discipline were dealt with by the boys themselves. There was great opposition to the innovation on the part of the boys, and as a consequence the system never worked so well as it should have done. These head boys were called Praepostors, a conscious echo of the two "Praepositors" of the first Statutes of 1592. f.a.gging was allowed but was not unduly practised. It consisted chiefly of running messages or blacking boots or boiling water. Perhaps the most unpleasant duty of the new boy was the compulsion that he was under to sing for the benefit of his elders.

On the second Sat.u.r.day of term the senior boys in the Hostel were a.s.sembled in the underground Baths and every new boy was put upon a chair in their midst and made to sing. The penalty for singing out of tune was a cup of salt and water but it is doubtful whether the penalty was often enforced; even so there is no continuous tradition; it was irregular and spasmodic. Another task for the new boy was to climb the Scars a quarter of a mile from the School and place a stone upon the cairn, called "Schoolboys' Tower."

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHAPEL, EAST.]

The Praepostors had also the power of punishment by giving "lines" or by thras.h.i.+ng but the latter was subject to proper control. Some years previously the monitorial system in schools had been given a new lease of life by Arnold at Rugby and it was in theory a legalised increase of the natural power possessed by the Sixth Form; but it was often found that intellect and strength of character did not always accompany each other. At Giggleswick no position in the School gave a prescriptive right to be a Praepostor. The choice lay solely in the hands of the Headmaster and although more frequently those chosen were members of the Sixth Form, it was by no means necessary, and the captain of the Football Fifteen was almost always chosen among them.

In the early days the Athletics of the School needed much encouragement.

The Schoolyard for generations had provided the only opportunity for games; Football and Cricket were in their infancy. In most matches against teams, other than schools, Mr. Style took a personal part. He was a keen wicket-keeper and a good bat and did not cease to play cricket till 1890.

There were other ways in which his personal character greatly influenced the boys. He spent a great part of each day, when not in School, in the Governors' Room at the South end of the Hostel and there he was always ready to see those who wished to speak to him on any subject. Many received special tuition from him after Evening Prayers and one great secret of the esteem with which the boys regarded him was the personal interest that he took in their life. There is the story of a boy who was particularly anxious to enter the School as a day-boy, but his attainments were insufficient for his age and he knew no Latin. He came himself to see Mr. Style and to press for admittance and at last he was told that if he could learn some Latin before the entrance examination of the following term, his age should not stand in his way. At the same time Mr. Style advised him to come to him every now and then and tell him how he was getting on. After a while the boy came and said that he had learned the Latin Grammar as far as the dative of the relative. On being asked why the dative of the relative had been his limit, he explained that his teacher had not been able to p.r.o.nounce it and so he could go no further. He was put through some questions and could not answer them but if asked to decline any word he would do it in this fas.h.i.+on: _Mensa_ _mensae_ _mensam_ _mensas_ _mensae_ _mensarum_ _mensae_ _mensis_ _mensa_ _mensis_ and so on all through the Grammar until he came to the relative and at the dative he failed. Mr. Style considering that the memorising of the Latin Grammar in such a way implied some quickness of mind told him to leave the school that he was at and come to him at certain times each day. His time-table was however very full and he could only give the boy half an hour a day at 6-0 a.m. and 7-0 p.m. This he did and he found the boy extremely quick and intelligent.

He pa.s.sed him into the School the next term and seeing he had a distinct gift for Mathematics encouraged him in every way. Eventually he sent him up to S. John's College, Cambridge, with a Mathematical Scholars.h.i.+p and hoped that at last he had prepared a boy who would be Senior Wrangler. Unfortunately his health broke down and he came out seventh but some years later in 1889 was made a Fellow of the College.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHAPEL, WEST.]

Mr. Style was an early riser. Every morning at 6-30, without fail, he was in the Governors' Room ready to talk over any necessary matters. He took very full duty in School, and made himself chiefly responsible for the higher Mathematical work; and in addition with some a.s.sistance from Mr. Mannock or Mr. Bearcroft, he undertook most of the laborious business work connected with the organization of the Hostel and the School.

His a.s.sistant Masters always look back to their days at Giggleswick as some of the happiest they have ever spent. Mr. Style was naturally anxious to keep his staff with him as long as possible, but he realized that he could not expect to do this while the Trustees felt themselves unable to guarantee salaries sufficient to enable a man to marry. He gladly and generously helped them to find promotion. Many became Headmasters. Mr. J. Conway Rees, who for years had been the most painstaking and successful of men in making the Fifteen a match-winning side, left to become head of a school connected with the Mohammedan College at Aligarh. Mr. Rhodes went to Ardingly, and so on.

Every Sunday, in the early days, Mr. and Mrs. Style would ask the whole Hostel and later, as the numbers increased, the upper forms to come into the Governors' Room and there they would be regaled with sandwiches and lemonade and a musical evening would be held. Bubble and Squeak the boys called these evenings and they were much appreciated. Delicate boys would sometimes spend a week or a few days living in the Headmaster's house, and sometimes boys would be invited who were suffering from colds or other slight illnesses, and thus in the middle of a term they would find a short reminder of home life. In innumerable ways the boys were made to feel that the Headmaster was no official pedagogue but a man such as their own fathers, and they felt a corresponding affection for him.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE GATE HOUSE.]

Ascension Day was a whole holiday and for some years the Headmaster was in the habit of taking the whole School, after a service, out for a day on the hills. On one occasion they went to the top of Graygreth (near Kirkby Lonsdale) on a very hot day. In the evening four boys were found to be missing. The Headmaster taking two boys with him scoured the hills till darkness drew on, but in vain. At last they came to a wayside inn and made inquiries, at which a yokel remarked "You must be a fine Master, if you can't look after your own boys." As a matter of fact all four boys were in safe quarters at Kirkby Lonsdale, after losing their way in a thick mist. This was the last occasion on which the Headmaster ventured to take the whole School out. In future the boys went in smaller bodies with their House Tutors.

What was the secret of his power and his success? First undoubtedly was the keenness of his eye. "I have been all over the world and I have never come across a man with as keen an eye as Mr. Style" said one of his former pupils. He seemed to look quite through a man and there was no thought of evasion with him. Then there was his thoroughness. He was so absolutely devoted to his duty that his example was bound to affect those who came near him. It was noticeable in everything he did. He played a game of cricket as if it were the most important thing in life.

Thirdly he had another most necessary quality in a Headmaster, the power of choosing the right a.s.sistant Masters. Dr. Marshall Watts, G. B.

Mannock, Douglas R Smith, S. P. Smith, C. F. Hyde, Rev. J. W. Chippett, A. W. Reith, are only a few among the many who helped him with every quality they possessed.

As a teacher he was sometimes unable to restrain himself with a dull boy. "Do you understand?" he asked a boy who was struggling with the intricacies of Algebra. "No sir." "My good man! My fine owl! Now do you understand?" But with the abler boys he was remarkably successful. In October, 1896, there were twenty-six old boys at Oxford and Cambridge and of these twelve were Scholars or Exhibitioners of their College, two played for the Cambridge Rugby Fifteen, one rowed against Oxford, and another gained his half-blue for Swimming. This year represented perhaps one of the latest successful years. Between 1880 and 1894 nothing could go wrong; numbers increased and Scholars.h.i.+ps were gained but about the latter year the School suffered a serious set-back owing to an outbreak of scarlet fever and the numbers began to sink.

During the long period of growth Mr. Style was watchful over every detail of the building that was going on, and was projecting much for the future. "It is my opinion that the Headmaster is never happy, unless he can hear the sound of hammer and nails," an Old Boy once said. He was determined that the School should have the very best buildings and fittings possible, although he was never at a loss to carry things on when a makes.h.i.+ft was necessary.

"Some of the best Science work that has been done here was done in my scullery," were his words.

This absorbing love of the School was a tonic to every one who was under him. He came at a time when there was only a collection of boys with no unity and no sound traditions. He left it united and loyal. He came to a rich endowment, which was spending its resources with little visible result. He left the School prosperous, and possessed of a reputation all over England. He had been among the first Headmasters to acknowledge the value of a training in Natural Science, and he showed men that a thorough and efficient training in modern subjects could be given in one of the oldest of England's Public Schools. He did not wait upon time, he did not waver upon his path, but marched straight forward.

Prosperity grew step by step, buildings rose up, numbers increased, and distinctions were won, but behind all the outward success was the vitalising energy of the Headmaster, the inspiration of the optimist, the personality of the man.

CHAPTER XII.