Chapter 10

Little Acorns

Chapter 10
SCHOOLDAYS IN THE EARLY 1900's

Dressed in fustian trousers vhich when new smelled strongly, and covered the knee, coat and waistcoat. Stockings of knitted wool reaching over the knees and held up by elastic garters. Laced up clogs were worn, low or tall shod with fore and heel irons, the toes having metal plates in front. Some clogs mostly those of women and girls were fastened by a clasp in front. These were low clogs. Boys and mens clogs were laced with leather laces (thunks). Boys wore celluloid collars which were fastened with a ribbon. The collars were often broken in wrestles and scuffles among the boys as the celluloid was so brittle.
The little round caps were the usual fashion in those days. Clogs were ironed by the shoe maker, a front iron 1d, and a heel iron 1/2d.
There were several cloggers (shoemakers) in those days. Sometimes boot tops were clogged by putting in wooden soles and then ironed, being cheaper than a new pair of clogs.
Our family went to the Spiby brothers who had their cloggers shop in Smithy Lane facing the end of the Short Butts path. One of the brothers came round on New Year's Day to collect his accounts.
When I started School a,bout 1906 everybody talked in dialect so that children starting school had to learn a new language. I have known grownups go out of the way to avoid the Rector or the Schoolmaster because they were unused to speaking proper English. Learning to read or write was most confusing as in dialect the consonants were the same but the vowels had a different value or were ehanged. Dialect was called talking broad and the talking of proper English was referred to as "talking fine".
At the school the young scholars started in the little room, there being three classes - babies - second class and first class. First class scholars afterwards moved up to standard I and then standard II in the classroom. Another teacher took standards three and four at the west end of the big room. Stanards 5, - 6 - 7 were at the other end of the room taught by the headmaster Mr. C. A. Goodyear. Mr. Goodyear was organist and choirmaster at the Church. He played the piano and taught the scholars the hymns used in the church service. The Commandments and the Creed were taught in school. The Lords Prayer was said by the scholars at the opening of School in the morning and Grace at mldday.
The Infants were first taught to write and draw by using slates and pencils. Sometimes a child would set the teacher's teeth on edge by making a screeching noise with the pencil on the slate. The infants were taught the vowels A E I O U repeating these altogether with the appropriate sounds.
One day when all was quiet in the big room during a reading lesson, the infant teacher could be heard. She had a high pitched squeaky voice, shouting "I'll smack your B.T.M.".
The three top standards were taught much the same syllabus, history after the summer holidays with the new standard five always started with the Ancient Britons so that 5 - 6 - 7 went over the same ground over and over again.
The master had been teaching his class about the Stone Age. The Brigantes coming from France in boats or dugouts made from hollowed out tree trunks. and the use cf coracles constructed of wicker work, linked with skins to travel along the rivers. One lad when asked how the Brigantes crossed over to this country answered they came over in stone boats. The master went wild and the fustian jacket took a beating.
There were a few poor families in those days where one of the parents had died and the few poor managers.
Some of the girls had lice in their hair through neglect and other children were shabbily clothed and ill fed.
Children would say to one another thaa's getten a praytu i thi stockin meaning their heel was showing, through the stocking needing darning. Several of the lads had corduroy jackets which were very stiff and strong being light brown in colour. These jackets originated from a charity in Croston. The master if he had lost patience with one of these lads who were not of the brightest would strike him hard across the shoulders with his cane raising a cloud of dust and the attention of the rest of the class by the noise. The Jackets were as hard as leather so that the lads could feel nothing. One or tvo these lads used their cuffs instead of hankerchiefs, giving their cuffs a bright shine.
Children made their own amusements such as on the way to school playin at horses with string for harness. One acting as driver and two as horses. At times if they possessed a ball they would play at passing it as they went along. There were only horses and carts on the road at the time.
Girls would play at hop scotch on any smooth stretch which could be chalked out, They also played a game on the school steps wth a marble and pottery jacks. Rounders used to be played, also skipping, two holding the ends of a long rope for several skipping at once.
Boys played marbles, these were the usual sized marbles with a larger blcbber, a big one made of pottery. Iron rummies were also used, these were of cast. metal costing 1/2d. for the smaller ones and ld. for the larger.
Three of us were on the steps of the boys cloakroom going in when the bell rang, after playtime. The foremost lad turned and threw his iron rummie through the classroom window. The teacher's face appeared at the window whilst the two of us turned staring at her.
The thrower had dashed inside but was soon brought back to book. He died about a year ago, a parish councillor and school manager in another village.
The roads in the village prior to the 1914 -18 War were paved with stone sets. After a severe frost succeeded by a shower of rain, the frost would rise from the stones giving them a coat of ice like glass. This was termed locally as the frost having "gin agen" given again. The children could slide or skate all the way to school in their clogs.
Farmers and other horsekeepers prepared for this in the early winter by having the horses specially shod. The horses shoes were made with holes in to take studs to grip the roads when icy. There were two types of holes and
studs, square and round threaded. The horsemen could fit the studs as needed. One day on the way home from school a man from the corn mill at four lane ends was bringing a cow from the field to be milked. He put the palm of his hand on the cow's rump and kissed the back of his hand repeating - Bumps kiss cayus rumps, eightin podditch oh uv a lump.
Some of the lads had catapults (cattipusses) a few were experts and could knock a pin over at ten yards. Birds were killed in the hedges at night with the catapults. The birds were outlined against the sky and then shot. Another way was going with a flashlight and shining the light on the bird,s, perched on the spout hooks at night. At one time there was a price per head for
sparrows and a price for rat tails paid for by the council.
On the 29th May (Royal Oak Day) we wore sprigs of oak leaves to school. Anybody found wearing leaves witlh a reddish tinge got nettled - these were regarded as Papish.
Guinea peg was played occasionally. The peg was placed on a brick and stuck on the point with a stick. The peg when it rose was hit some distance. The striker and his cpponent each calculating the distance struck. The distance then being stepped out and the difference then being allotted.
A game played in the home was called "Put and Take". This consisted of a saucer into which players each placed a marble. A Wooden top with four sides (home made), the sides being marked P put one in the saucer, T take one, L let them lie T.A. take all, - the players spun the top in turn.
A game called Jack Stones was played by the older lads when I was small, large stones were placed at each corner of the large rectangle, a smaller stone was placed on each of these. The player had to throw and displace the smaller stone. This game was played on the road end.
Children found various things to eat in my schooldays, there were the sour docks a small edition of the dock family. The leave!s are smooth and tender with a slightly sharp flavour. Growoups used them as part of a mixed salad.
At certain times of the summer, the soft tender shoot of the blackberry were eaten. The strong newly grown, soft tips were picked and the skin stripped off. These had a pleasant fruity flavour.
Another edible object was what we called the earth nut which tasted like the shoe nut cr Brazil nut. These were the corms cf a plant like a miniture Queen Anne's Lace. These grew on the edges of fields, land which was left undisturbed or uncultivated. Last summer journeying up to Scotland I saw quite a number of these plants on unlevel land which retained its natural state.
There used to be a few varieties of wild flowers in the village which have now disappeared. There were a few primroses to be found near the Wood Lane area. Cowslips were to be found along the banks of the Bentley Brook but not many. In some pasture fields a few plants of Sanctuary (pink) were to be found. The purple Orchid at one time called crackers were to he found.
There used to be only one place in the village pre 1914 where the Willow Herb grew which was in Sandy Lane. Marsh marigolds grew in a few swampy places. I think these still survive. In a hollow in a meadow, there were some ornamental grasses growing which were very dainty. We called them skakeladies. Along the streams between Kester's Old Lane and Bentley Lane there were original varieties of crab apples. Sloes or wild damsons were also found there. Oak apples and burrs of the wild briar seem to be practically non existent nowadays.
Herbs. House leek are still to be found on a few of the old outdoor lavatories. These were said to be good for bathing the eyes.
There is another plant surviving around older houses - Pillatory. This was made into a drink for suffers from back trouble.
In the early 1900's people gathered horse manure from the roads for their gardens as competition was very keen at the annual show. There was only horse traffic in those days and children had to go with barrow or bucket and shovel "pyekin awse muck".
A pastime practised by the lads was knick knacking. A reel of cotton was used with a shoe button on the end. After dark they would press a large pin into the centre bar of a house window. The cotton and button were then hung on the pin. The lad would be at some distanoe away with the cotton unwound, he would give light tugs on the cotton to make the button swing against the glass. The people would come out and see nothing for the lads would hav stopped when the door opened, but would start again when the people hadgone inside.
One once occasion they played this trick at the Red Lion, using a large coat button. The cotton was passed over the telephone wire which ran aslant the front of the Inn. The lad working the cotton was up an apple tree across the road. The customers came out several times swearing but eventually spotted the button being raised up. On Sundays children attended Sunday School in the morning. .They had to learn the collect for the day and repeat it in class.
After morning school the children walked in procession to Church to sit in the Gallery. On one occasion a lad was misbehaving in Church so one of the Sunday School teachers gave him a clout on the side of his head with a hymn book. The Teacher saying "Th'art wost little devil i't church". On Sunday afternoon the children attended Sunday School again, repeating in Class the text from the card they had received in the morning.