Peter Lord (G 58-62) has sent a ‘follow up’ to his brother’s article on Grindal in the last Bulletin.

“Though I followed on a year after my brother Chris, much of what he reminisced about in the last Bulletin I remember well. Although memory loss is certainly with me now, long term memory, particularly of those unique years is as clear as ever, not least the ghost of Sam Parkinson!

As a piano pupil of Donald Leggat (there lies another story), I often practised on the piano in Grindal dining room. As a result, for the last two years of my time at Grindal I had to play the hymn every night at House Prayers. SP would stand next to me throughout this brief Christian ending of the day. However, this eventually landed me in big trouble.

For much of my last term I took up smoking after supper, behind the bike sheds, with a fellow housemate - who shall be nameless. After our few minutes of ‘adult behaviour’ - as we thought it - precautionary cleaning of teeth and washing plus after shave took place. For some inexplicable reason about four weeks from the end of my last term, I became a little complacent and failed one evening to take the routine precautions.

To my horror, immediately after prayers had finished, as usual with me standing right next to him, SP addressed the whole house and ordered the member who had been smoking to report to his study immediately. Glaring at me as he left the room followed by the prefects, I knew his remarks were aimed at me. He was a non-smoker and had smelt my breath.

I won’t go into any detail at this point, save to say I was with him for 10/15 minutes, when he tried hard to get the names of any other smokers. He did not succeed and a short while later the beating procedure took place with me the unfortunate target. I am still convinced to this day that his anger at not being able to extract the names of any other smokers (one) from me was reflected in the strength he put into the caning! I received six strokes of the thinnest cane imaginable, by which time I was probably in tears.  

However, perhaps even now the ghost of SP lives on and with him perhaps earning the last laugh! By the third or fourth stroke of the cane, I swore, reaction from the excruciating pain experienced. When it was over, despite my distressed and humiliated state, I apologised and received the response: ‘Candidly, you hound, you weren’t the first and probably won’t be the last’. 

Anyone recall the phrase, ‘Candidly you hound’?”

 

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