Stiffening the School Tawse

It seems as though obscure folks of a certain age feel impelled to include spanking references in their autobiographies, perhaps to boost sales to the likes of us. A quick bookshop browse can invariably turn up a startle.

Take the following description of the tawses in use at the school attended by David Findlay Clark, taken from “Remember who you are”:

“Some were so hardened by soaking in brine that they could be used as pointers in class”

Now, I’m familiar with said technique for making birches more flexible; it’s fascinating to see that it has the opposite results for the tawse. I may have to experiment with one of ours to see if I can replicate the results.

The same book contained an interesting reference to the daughter of the rather fierce Headmaster being withdrawn from her father’s establishment. One wonders to what extent his strict approach at school was replicated at home.

12 thoughts on “Stiffening the School Tawse

  • 31 August, 2007 at 9:17 am
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    My tawse could be used as a pointer, sadly I think that’s just because it’s not been broken in properly yet… I look forward to the day when it’s all floppy and has that air of well-usedness about it.

    To my mind a brine soaked tawse would just be all crusty and rather off-putting, think I’ll stick to soaking birch rods only for now.

    Also… should I know who David Findlay Clark is?

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  • 31 August, 2007 at 8:39 am
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    Surely Sarah hasn’t been a good girl, such that her tawse is still relatively unused?!

    I’m just wondering what my – very stout original John Dick XH Lochgelly would do to a girl if brine made it even harder. (No, Haron, leave it alone).

    And I’ve never heard of said Mr Clark – quote why he felt the need to write an autobiography is beyond me, but it did enliven a few minutes in Blackwells in Edinburgh recently!

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  • 31 August, 2007 at 6:16 pm
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    Of course I’m a good girl, my halo hardly ever slips. A shame in a way because the tawse does paint a lovely picture on a naughty girl’s behind.

    Abel – I am very impressed with how you seem to have replied to my comment before I even sent it… are you a mind reader? I’d better watch what I think if that’s the case or I could find myself in trouble!!

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  • 31 August, 2007 at 9:57 pm
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    How on earth did that happen? My technical expert is about to be thrashed for incompetence…

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  • 1 September, 2007 at 11:03 am
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    Abel, it occurs to me that you’ll be a good person to ask about this (although I may live to regret it!) – M has been muttering recently about tawses, how we don’t have one and that’s something that needs remedying. I pointed him at the London Tanners but he’d prefer to go with a UK-based company – are there any you could recommend? Er, it needn’t be a gen-u-ine Lochgelly, I’m not sure my bottom could cope!!

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  • 1 September, 2007 at 10:41 pm
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    Hi. I do love everything I’ve played with from London Tanners – and still think they make the best new tawses. And Ian, the proprietor, is incredibly helpful and friendly. Strongly recommended!

    But if you want to buy in the UK and can’t find anything on eBay (and genuine Lochgellys seem to be prohibitively expensive these days), I’ve been impressed with tawses from Quality Control.
    (http://www.quality-control.co.uk/products/tawses)

    Do post and let us know whether you buy anything, and whether it proves effective :-)

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  • 2 September, 2007 at 11:47 am
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    My one and only tawse was from ebay, new, inexpensive and as I’ve mentioned, very stiff but also very effective… as noted from the receiving end at least

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  • 2 September, 2007 at 6:21 pm
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    It pains me to post this…

    The closest thing I’ve found to a real lochgelly I’ve found are the ones sold by MC Customs. http://www.mccustoms.co.uk/

    London Tanners also sell rather effective weapons of (m)ass destruction, but MC customs are probably the best UK supplier – although maybe I should offer my real lochgelly for sale on ebay when Katie isn’t looking 😉

    Simon

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  • 2 September, 2007 at 7:16 pm
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    Simon, you do that – and I’m *so* telling.

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  • 3 September, 2007 at 11:36 am
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    Thank you all for the recommendations!

    I’ll let you know if anything happens – although, of course, I’m in two minds about it already!

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  • 3 September, 2007 at 8:11 pm
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    I’d forgotten about MC Customs. I’d certainly agree with Simon’s endorsement of them.

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  • 4 September, 2007 at 12:22 am
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    Having spotted a horrible looking piece of leather (which looked to be a barber’s strop) in a friend’s bathroom on the weekend, I wouldn’t reoommend a tawse from ANY company. Believe you me, I was on my best behaviour for the rest of the dinner party – everything he had cooked, in my book, was “simply divine”.

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