Article XVII written by Alexander Gunn was published in
the Northern Ensign on 17 November 1881 – Part B
 |
| The route along the coast from Badbea to Berriedale. The school was just below the Berriedale cemetery |
Frequent Rows
"There were frequent little “rows” between us boys on our
way to school. The long road we had to travel (four miles), tended a little in
that direction, and these squabbles sometimes ended up in a stand-up fight. One
of our Badbea boys was constantly on my top, and many a sound thrashing he gave
me; but while I well knew that it would end in my defeat, I never shrank from
facing him, nor showed the white feather."
 |
| A white feather on stinging nettle. A white feather was a traditional symbol of cowardice. |
Victor
"This state of matters went on for years, but one day as
we were returning from school, he again picked a quarrel with me. We were just
at the top of the Berriedale brae, and we turned down off the road to a bit of
short smooth heather, and went at it full tilt, when, to my great delight and
his evident surprise, I came off victor. This settled matters for some time,
but, as of determined not to be beat, he picked a quarrel with me once more.
This time I came off victor with greater ease than the first time. After this
we were the best of friends, and quarrelled and fought no more."
Boys Quarrels
"While we fought amongst ourselves pretty frequently, as
boys will do, we always made up matters among ourselves, and neither parents
nor master knew anything about our differences. So much was this the case, that
we were referred to by the master as the best behaved boys under his charge,
and less complained of by the public on our way to and from school than the
others. We took a pride in this and sought in every way we could to keep up our
good name. Our quarrels were but boys’ quarrels, and when they were ended, we
were as if they had never occurred."
 |
| Gunn tells us elsewhere that the boys wore kilts to school in Auchencraig but they may have worn homespun clothes to Berriedale school like these boys from St Kilda. |
My Comments:
According to Wikipedia a white feather has been a
traditional symbol of cowardice, used and recognised especially in the British
Army since the 18th century. It was used by some patriotic groups in
order to shame men who were not soldiers. The white feather supposedly comes
from cockfighting and the belief that a cockerel sporting a white feather in
its tail is likely to be a poor fighter.
I am not going to try
to figure out what was going on in these fights. Looks like a case of bullying
which would be hard to condone. But Alexander Gunn was charitable enough many
years later to almost shrug off the beatings he received at the hand of a
bigger boy especially as Gunn was the victor in the end. Gunn suggests it was
boys being boys.
It certainly doesn’t seem as though the classroom and home teachings of the Bible and the Shorter Catechism with their emphasis on “whatsoever ye do, do all to
the glory of God” did much to curtail the fights the boys had. Anyway the very
real business of being soldiers and fighting for the crown was part of the
fabric of their lives. Alexander’s grandfather was press-ganged and forced to
enlist and his father was in the Aberdeenshire Militia at the time of his
marriage to Marion. Alexander Gunn went on to become a policeman enforcing law and order.
No comments:
Post a Comment