Page:A History of Horncastle from the Earliest Period to the Present Time.djvu/121

102 owl were found in the thick fir plantations, or those of the jackdaw in old ruins; the rarest specimens being presented to the Doctor himself, while commoner kinds were hung in festoons from the ceiling of our study at his residence. The two chief holidays at this season were the Queen's Birthday, May 24th, and "Royal Oak Day," May 29th. On these two days the boys were expected to decorate the school in the early hours of the morning; a sine qua non being, that, on the Doctor's arrival at 7.30 a.m., he should find his desk so filled with floral and arboreal adornments, that he could not enter it; whereat he would make the remark, repeated annually, "Well, boys! you have shut me out of my desk, so we must give up work for the day." He also, on these occasions, often brought with him a daughter, and the two carefully looked into the decorated desk, when they were rewarded by finding the nest and eggs of a "feather-poke" (long-tailed tit), or some other rare bird, which he always took home and preserved in his study, as a trophy till the following year. No questions were asked as to how the decorations were obtained, but in practice the process was as follows. On the day before, between school hours, certain of the younger boys were sent round the town to beg flowers, and then, later on, followed what, as we should have said, the present hypercritical generation would call, at the very least, "dishonest pilfering." After retiring to rest, and when the final visit of the Assistant Master had been made to the dormitories, all became excitement; boots and caps had been carefully concealed under the beds. The elder boys were quickly re-clothed, booted and bonneted; and we crept down, by back stairs, to the kitchen, with the connivance of the cook and housekeeper; those good souls also providing some refreshment for us, to be taken either before we went out, or after we returned; and then, stealthily emerging by the back door, we separated into small companies of twos and threes; some re-visiting gardens in the town, and taking without permission further flowers; others going into the country; sometimes even taking a light cart from one yard and a pony or horse from another, and then visiting gardens or parks in the neighbourhood, and returning laden with branches of horse-chesnut flowers, pink may, &c., which were quietly conveyed to the school; and by the appointed hour the work of decoration would be completed; and we, having returned to our dormitories, refreshed through the cook's kindness the inner man, and washed the outer, were ready to greet the good Doctor and his daughter on their arrival. The only difference between the decorations on the 24th and 29th was, that on the latter day oak leaves and acorns were a distinguishing feature, some of the sprays having been gilded on the previous day for presentation to the young lady.

There was another great day called the "Treasurer's holiday." Once a year the one of the Governors, who held that office, was entitled to ask the Head Master to give us a whole holiday, which he was always pleased to grant. The custom was for one of the senior boys to call upon, or write to, the Treasurer, usually after some period of extra hard scholastic work, asking him to exercise this privilege. The way in which these holidays were spent varied. Sometimes we had a "Paper Chase," or "Fox and Hounds." One boy was sent out as fox, sometimes accompanied by another boy, both carrying in bags a supply of paper, torn into small shreds, which formed the scent. In this sport the Doctor sometimes offered a reward of five shillings to the "fox" who should manage to elude his pursuers until he had reached the bank of the river Witham, a distance of about six miles, but increased to 10 or more miles