The cane was the chosen instrument in most English schools which permitted corporal punishment - and with good reason. In the hands of person with a modicum of skill the cane is capable of inflicting a very painful sting - whether applied to the backside or the palm of the hand.
The best material for punishment canes is rattan, the stem of a plant which is abundant in the Far East. With the growth of Britain's world trade it became practical to import quantities of rattan and in the later 19th century the cane superseded the birch as the preferred instrument of physical chastisement in most schools. The fact that the cane worked effectively when applied to the clothed seat of the offender (unlike the birch) fitted in with Victorian ideals of modesty.
Even through two or three layers of clothing a springy cane can impart a considerable sting. Of course, the pain is even more intense if the rod is applied to the bare buttocks, but despite the prevalence of this modus operandi in fictional accounts, in reality the vast majority of school canings were given 'trousers up.'
A similar mythology holds with regard to the number of strokes, with stories of a dozen or more cuts being endured. In fact, most school canings consisted of two, three or four strokes, with 'six of the best' being reserved for the more serious offences. As regards canings across the palm of the hand, one or two cuts on each palm were usually ordered, with four on each hand for the worst crimes
(Surviving school punishment books provide a useful documentary record. View this sample page from the 1920s. Another example from 1949 records a caning suffered by future pop idol Marty Wilde.)
One reason the cane is so effective is because the springy pencil-thick rattan makes contact with a relatively narrow area of flesh. All the force of the stroke is concentrated into that area, producing a burning sensation which has been likened to 'a line of fire'. Another aspect of a caning which should not be forgotten is the ominous hissing noise produced as the rod scythes through the air towards its target. This can be frightening in itself.
Finally we must not forget the physical results of a caning. The stinging pain is intense to begin with, gradually subsiding to a soreness and then a warm glow. The cane normally leaves a pattern of purplish-red weals on the recipient's backside which, depending upon the particular boy, were either considered a trophy or a mark of shame. Certainly the marks, while they lasted, were indicative of the fact that a salutary punishment had been meted out.
I attended an English boarding school between 1948-51. A boy was often summmoned for a caning at bedtime when he had already changed into his pyjamas, which meant going to bed that night with a well striped behind. Incidentally, we always called a whacking a 'three bar gate' or 'five bar gate', referring to the number of marks on show in the communal showers the next morning. In my first year, aged 11, it was normal to get caned four or five times a term. Really bad boys might get a lot more whackings, of course. (Memory contributed by a visitor to this website)
The slipper is a much more rough and ready instrument of punishment than the cane. Unlike canes, the dimensions and weights of which were often specified by the local education authorities, slippers came in all shapes and sizes. However, the type of slipper most likely to be used in a school was an old fashioned rubber-soled plimsol.
In the right hands this implement can inflict a high degree of discomfort, but slippers are diffficult to apply with accuracy and the effect cannot be guaranteed. By its nature the slipper covers a much larger area of the seat than the cane and the pain is thereby less intense but more widespread.
Slippers were most effective in the hands of PT masters, applied with vigour across gym shorts or even the bare bottom of the offender. Such whackings were usually unofficial and unlikely to be entered in the official punishment book.
Seen above, from left: Prep school slipper, employed to discipline younger boys; Teacher's classroom slipper from a tough secondary modern school (actually an old-style plimsol); PT master's slipper (a flexible smooth-soled gym shoe)
The traditional Scots leather tawse is a very effective tool of punishment, intended for application to the palm and fingers of the hand. Teachers north of the border generally carried a rolled up two or three tailed tawse in their jacket pockets and 'the belt' was often used to punish quite minor classroom offences.
Serious offences might merit a more severe tawsing, inflicted with a heavier four-tailed model. A vigorous 'belting' was extremely painful, often leaving the offender's hands swollen and sore, as described in this personal recollection. Another recipient has described the procedure:
The pupil held out his hand to the front at shoulder height. The master gripped the strap so that it hung over his shoulder down the back and brought it down smartly on the proferred palm, the spreading tails covering it lengthways from the back of the hand all the way to the fingertips. The operation would be repeated several times, with both hands receiving the treatment in serious cases. The effect could be devastating. The palm is left stinging fiercely and the fingers feel as though they are as thick as sausages and throb with excruciating pain. After about ten minutes the throbbing starts to diminish and half an hour or so later everything is back to normal.
Some schools in the north of England also used leather straps, often applying the implement to the boy's seat rather than to the palm of the hand. View this photograph of three English school straps and read a recollection of being at the receiving end.
Two types of birch were generally in use in the British Isles - the spray birch and the Isle of Man type. The spray birch (of which the Harrow School birch pictured above is an example) was constructed from a bunch of lightweight birch branches, usually from three to five feet in length, tied together at one end to make a handle and leaving a spray of twigs at the business end. The Manx birch was a more formidable instrument, consisting of several stout hazel branches, three feet or more in length, tied in a bundle.
The birch was always applied to the bare backside. Indeed, the lighter-weight spray birch produces little effect across the clothed seat but when applied to the bare flesh it is capable of producing an intense smarting. The first few cuts may be accepted with relative equanimity but the cumulative effect as the flogging continues can be extremely painful.
There is also a degree of shame involved in being flogged. The act of taking down the trousers and underpants and submitting to the birch - usually in a kneeling position - can be very humiliating. At Eton boys knelt at a block to be castigated and the birch used was 54 inches long with a weight of 12 oz. The Christ's Hospital School birch, in contrast, was only 32 inches long, with a weight of 3 oz. (Facts gleaned from 'School Life in Christ's Hospital', published in 1877, from which this illustration is taken.)
The school museums at Eton and Christ's Hospital are both well worth a visit and among the many fascinating exhibits are historically accurate birchrods. Harrow School also has an old birchrod on display.
The Isle of Man birch was used for the judicial punishment of juveniles on the island until the practice fell into abeyance in the 1970s following the intervention of the European Court of Human Rights and the British government. Up to 12 strokes could be ordered, with five or six being the most usual sentence. The offender was held down across a low table and the flogging was administered by a policeman deputed to the task.
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