CHAPTER VIII._A History of Giggleswick School from its Foundation, 1499 to 1912

The Rev. George Ash Butterton, D.D.

1845-1858.

In 1834 the Governors felt some doubt respecting the legality of the

last Statutes of 1795 and proposed to bring forward some Scheme to

obtain sufficient power for the management of the School. Thereafter for

six years the Minute-Books were completely silent on this matter, but in

1840 they noted that the number of boys in the High School learning

Writing and Arithmetic under Langhorne was greater than one man could

efficiently attend to. The Headmaster was therefore requested to propose

regulations such as he might think expedient for making the High School

more useful, as subsidiary to the Grammar School, either by insisting

upon qualifications in the Scholars previous to admission, limiting the

number to be admitted or otherwise, and to submit such regulations for

the consideration of the Governors. Presumably some steps were taken,

but the Governors were beginning to feel that all was not right, and in

1843 they became more definite. They decided first, "That from the

change of Times and other causes, the Education afforded at the

Giggleswick Grammar School is at the present time insufficient for

general purposes, and more especially for the purposes of Trade and

Mercantile Business."

[Illustration: REV. G. A. BUTTERTON, D.D.]

It will be as well to pause here and remark this very notable statement.

Reformers had been at work before, but their effect had been very

slight. They had succeeded in establishing a Writing Master, whose duty

it was to give free elementary instruction. Now, forty years later,

dissatisfaction was surging in the breasts of the Governors, because the

elementary instruction was too elementary, and because its spirit did

not pervade the whole School. Now for the first time was it laid down

that the business of a School was to train its children so as to fit

them in some obvious manner for the work of their life. Latin and Greek

and Hebrew had become the touchstone of education, primarily because

they were the "holy" languages, and after Religion had long ceased to be

the mainspring of education, their intrinsic merits fell into the

background. Utility became a more pungent argument. Secondly, the

Governors decided that the Endowment and Statutes, together with the

particulars of the income of the School, should be laid before a

competent Chancery Barrister who should suggest a system of education

upon a more extended scale.

The necessity for some alteration in the Statutes was established by the

refusal of the Governors in 1844 to accede to Mr. Ingram's desire for a

new Assistant. They declared that such an arrangement was not

contemplated by the Charter and Statutes and therefore could not be

made. An impossible situation had arisen, and the Statutes must be

revised. But there was one difficulty. A new Scheme could not be carried

out except on the appointment of a new Headmaster or with his willing

consent. Ingram was approached upon the subject and declared his

readiness to retire on a pension of £300 a year, and with permission to

continue to occupy his official residence, Craven Bank. He was

seventy-eight years old, and in view of his long service to the School,

his request could scarcely be denied. Four years later he died, and like

his predecessor, William Paley, was buried in Giggleswick Church, amidst

a great gathering of men who came to bear tribute to "his truly

Christian character."

His resignation had paved the way for a new Scheme, in accordance with

the Act passed in 1841, for "improving the condition and extending the

benefits of Grammar Schools." The Scheme was drawn up by the Governors,

commented on by Arthur Lynch, Master in Chancery, 1844, and in the next

year confirmed by the Vice-Chancellor of England. It will be well to

examine the Report in some detail. In the first place the Bishop of

Ripon was in all cases substituted for the Archbishop of York, where the

latter had jurisdiction. Secondly, the 1795 Statutes were wholly omitted

and of the earlier Ordinances of 1592, only such were retained as were

in tune with the spirit of the age.

New regulations were also added. The Headmaster must be a Clergyman of

the Church of England, and a Master of Arts. He must be a good Classical

Scholar and a Mathematician, thoroughly capable of teaching both

subjects, and qualified to teach Logic, Rhetoric, English in all its

branches, and Moral and Political Philosophy. The requirements in an

Usher were less exceptional. He must be a member of the Church of

England, but need not be in Orders. He should be capable of taking the

higher Classical Forms occasionally, be skilled in English, and rather

less advanced Mathematics, and have an elementary knowledge of Modern

Science. He was to be appointed by the Governors.

The salary of the Headmaster was to be a minimum payment of £210 and a

maximum of £360, with a house; the Usher was to receive a house and £150

and a capitation fee of £2, which was so limited that it was only

possible to rise to £210. Each could receive ten boarders. Other

Assistants might be employed, but their united salaries were not to

exceed £230. The retiring age was fixed at sixty-five, when the Master

and Usher would be granted a pension, but the Governors could extend the

services of either beyond the age limit, if they so willed. The surplus

funds were to be used in such a way as to make the Exhibition money from

the Burton Rents, etc., up to £70 a year. The Bishop of Ripon was to

appoint an Examiner every Christmas, and receive a Report from him.

Holidays were fixed for a month in the Summer and at Christmas, three

days each at Easter and Whitsuntide, in addition to the Saturday and

Sunday and Good-Friday. Every Saturday and the day of riding the Parish

boundaries were to be whole holidays.

Further, the arrangements by which one Master relieved another in case

of illness or absence, the place where each Master should sit in School,

the disposition of the School into Forms and Classes, the amount of time

to be devoted to each branch of instruction--provided always that every

boy should learn some Latin and Greek--all these questions of internal

arrangement, which were essentially within the province of the

Headmaster, were to be agreed upon by the Governors and reduced to

writing.

It is almost inconceivable that such a scheme was ever put on paper, yet

it lived for twenty years. The Headmaster was bound and shackled beyond

belief. He could not appoint or dismiss his Masters, he had no power to

admit boys into the School, nor, unless they were "altogether negligent

and incapable of learning," could he remove them. He was powerless.

Ingram had retired in 1844, and the scheme then had gone forward and

been completed before a new Headmaster was appointed. Thus the details

of the management of the School were settled, quite irrespective of the

point of view of the man who was to be responsible.

In August, 1845, the Governing Body--eight discreet men--met to appoint

Ingram's successor. There was, as in 1800, a strong list of applicants,

but the choice fell unanimously on the Rev. George Ash Butterton, D.D.,

late Fellow of S. John's College, Cambridge, and at the time Headmaster

of Uppingham School. As a boy he had been fortunate enough to have been

one of Kennedy's Sixth Form pupils at Shrewsbury School, and his

subsequent success at Cambridge shewed that he was among the ablest

Scholars of his year.

The first three years passed uneventfully. Small alterations were made

in the School, and with the aid of £150 from the Governors, he added a

wing to his house at Craven Bank. In 1849 he desired the Governors, in

accordance with the scheme, to appoint a Master for teaching Modern

Languages, but they were unwilling to do this "until such addition shall

have been made to the School, as will afford suitable accommodation for

such a Master and his class." This is the first intimation that the

Governors were considering the question of building. Complaints had been

made before that numbers were increasing and exceeding the limits of the

room or the staff, but nothing had been done. Now, however, the question

was actively taken up.

The immediate resolve was to build an addition of a Library and a

Class-room for Modern Languages, and further to raise the School-rooms

and give them better light and ventilation. Many Subscriptions were

offered by the Masters, Old Pupils, and other friends of the School,

towards a more ornamental style of building than the School funds could

afford. The Architects' plans grew, and it was soon found that very

little of the old structure would remain. Consequently in 1850 it was

decided to build the School afresh from its foundations.

[Illustration: THE OLD SCHOOL.]

Finance troubled the Governors much, for they did not feel justified in

spending more Trust money than was essential for the upkeep of the

School. The Library and the new Class-room were essential, and the

Governors were prepared to find the money for them, but the rest they

hoped to receive from outside help. They put forward a statement of the

need, and the resulting subscriptions were very satisfactory. Two Old

Boys and sons of the Usher, the Rev. John Saul Howson and his brother

George Howson, undertook the entire expense of the Ornamental Doorway.

The relatives of the Rev. John Carr, Professor of Mathematics in the

University of Durham, put in a long window immediately above the

doorway. In this window is a representation of John Carr, the Headmaster

up to 1744. Further, £50 remained over from the Ingram Testimonial Fund,

and was now to be applied to the decorating of a window in the Library

with stained glass.

The building was substantial and sound. The main part consisted of two

long Class-rooms, one on the ground floor, one above. These both ran the

whole length of the building, until the Library was reached which with

the Modern Language Room formed a transverse addition. A stone

staircase, winding and unexpectedly long, ascended from the main

entrance, and at its top was the High or Writing School. In the

Class-room below were two platforms, now disappeared, the one by the

door for the Usher's desk, the one by the Library for the Master. The

Modern Language Room opened into it. There were two doors, one the main

entrance chiefly used by the boys, the other smaller and undistinguished

for the Masters only. It led into the Library and into a Tower, where

the School bell was. The Library was not very big but a long narrow

room, and inset in the wall was a fire-proof safe, for the better

preservation of the Charter and other documents. It alone has continued

to serve its original purpose. It is not possible to judge accurately

the difference in size between this building and its predecessor, but it

was distinctly bigger. The poplars which are to be seen in the

photograph of the Drawing of the 1790 School were felled for the new one

and the School filled the space. In addition there was a cloister-like

building at the back, where in hours of play refuge might be sought from

the weather.

The total cost was over £2,000, or more than seven times as much as its

predecessor. Much of the money came from subscriptions, some from the

surplus income of the School, but the rest was obtained by selling out

£645 7_s._ 2_d._ New 3¼ per cent. Stock belonging to the Exhibition

Fund. The Governors pledged themselves to pay 3½ per cent. to the

Exhibition Fund, thus depleted, and to repay the principal out of

surplus income at the rate of 10 per cent. per annum, or more, if

convenient. It was represented that this would at once be an advantage

to the Exhibition Fund and also an economical method of borrowing the

necessary money. The money was repaid by 1855.

[Illustration: PORCH OF THE OLD SCHOOL.]

The cost of the Ornamented Doorway, paid for by the Usher's two sons,

was estimated at £48 13_s._, but this was exclusive of the Niche and the

Statue of Edward VI which it contained. This Statue was an object of the

frequent missile and was so often cast down that it was at last removed.

On the outside of the Library Wall is a Coat of Arms belonging to the

Nowell family and underneath is the extract from the Charter "_Mediante

Johanne Nowell_." One relic of James Carr's School remained, the stone

slab with its Hexameter inscription, and as it had found a place inset

in the wall of the second building, so it did in 1850, but after a time

it was removed owing to its decay.

The first Speech Day in the new School was celebrated in a fitting

manner on March 12th, 1851. Three prize Odes were composed on the

subject of re-building and were read by their respective authors. F.

Howson recited some rapt verses, extolling Queen Victoria and telling

her that the New School should stand as her memorial.

O Fairest star, with radiance divine

Gilding the honours of thy royal line!

Too pure thy beauty realms of earth to cheer

A brighter orbit gained in a far brighter sphere.

But unextinguishable still

Thy parting glow!

As from Sol's latest smile of light

Steep Alpine summits of eternal snow

A purpling lustre cast o'er the deep vales below.

So beams thy virtue, after life has fled,

In deeds reflected, which their blessings shed

Still o'er thy people, and will ever be

Illustrious tokens of thy piety.

This spot an endless monument

Of thee shall stand,

And still perpetuate thy praise:

For here from age to age a youthful band

Shall learn the fear of God, the love of Fatherland.

J. Brackenridge gave a short description of the extent of his Classical

Studies:--

See this the third! theme of mine ode,

Adorned by sculptur'd art;

Make it, O Learning, thy abode,

Thy gems through it impart.

There may the bards of tragic name

Forever flourish, Graecia's fame--

With Homer's deathless lay!

Here Maro with heroic glow,

And Naso's elegiac flow

Outlive their mould'ring clay.

Jackson Mason was the best of the three, though strongly suggestive of

Gray. He describes the tale of a maiden "vanished down the gulph

profound" and now

The ruffled water of the well

Mov'd by bosom's fall and swell

Alternate ebbs and flows.

The tale is o'er; the old man gone.

With tottering steps and slow

He pauses ever and anon,

To view the vale below:

And, leaning on his staff the while,

Gazes with pleasure on the pile,

Which crowns that landscape fair:

Then as the grateful tear-drop falls,

For blessings on those goodly walls

Breathes forth this fervent prayer.

Such was the poetical achievement of three boys in 1851.

The School might reasonably be expected to go forward quickly, with new

buildings, a new Headmaster and strenuous Governors, and in 1850 they

received a just recognition of the quality of the teaching. The Provost

and Fellows of Queen's College, Oxford, had a very large sum of money

at their disposal, which was devised to them by Lady Elizabeth Hastings.

She had intended the money to be divided annually among boys from

schools in the North of England. The privilege of being one of the

schools able to send boys in for the Exhibitions--which were very

valuable--was offered to Giggleswick and gratefully accepted. The

Exhibitions have frequently been won.

The first Examination under the new scheme was held in December, 1862.

The Bishop of Ripon appointed the Rev. William Boyd, M.A., Examiner. He

found the School in "an efficient working condition," in both the higher

and lower departments. The first class, which in those days consisted of

the senior boys, passed a good Examination in Greek Testament, a play

of Aeschylus, Homer, Thucydides, Horace, and Vergil, Geography and

Ancient History. The Latin Prose Composition of two or three was very

good.

The Second Class were examined in Homer, Xenophon, Ovid, and Cæsar.

Books were given as prizes to the value of £13 4_s._ Both in this

Examination and in the two succeeding years the proficiency of the first

form was very marked, and the general efficiency of the teaching was

commented on. The most general excellence lay in Divinity, but as the

subject was a limited one _e.g._ Life of Abraham, and the work for it

began six months before, perhaps too much stress should not be laid on

it. There were seven classes, all of them doing Latin, with the fourth

class doing Eutropius, and they were also examined in Modern Geography,

the History of England, and the Catechism.

In 1844, four old boys, William Garforth, John Saul Howson, John

Birkbeck, and William Robinson agreed together to contribute to a fund

for the provision of two prizes each half year. They were to be called,

"The Giggleswick Pupils' Prizes," and were to consist of Books, stamped

with the School Seal. One was to be given to the boys of the Upper part

of the School for the best English or Latin Essay, and the other to the

Lower boys for General Merit.

In 1853, the Howson Prizes were given by the Fellows of Christ's

College, Cambridge, and other friends, in memory of George Howson, a son

of the Usher, and himself a Fellow of his College. It was a striking

testimony to the character of the man that his associates should thus

wish to "perpetuate the name of our highly gifted and lamented friend."

They wished in some small degree to advance "the interests of an

institution, which was, we know, most dear to him, from early

associations, and also from his worthy father's long and honourable

association with it." They asked that two prizes should be given

annually to the boys of the Lower School, one for General Proficiency,

regard being had to conduct, and one for the best examination in a

defined portion of Scripture History; the subject was to be announced at

least six months before.

The School had been re-built chiefly in order to provide room for a

Teacher of Modern Languages, and in 1855 the Governors proposed to

appoint such an one. They laid down the following regulations: He should

attend five days a week--all classes except the highest and lowest

should learn French, and the highest might, if they wished. Italian,

German and Hebrew were to be optional with all. Lastly, all classes

except the highest must attend the English Master. The salary of the

Modern Language Master was to be £130 a year.

The Masters were requested to draw up a scheme of work. The hours of

School had been altered in 1844 and were now from 8-0 a.m. till noon,

and from 2-0 p.m. till 5-0 p.m. (in the Winter till 4-30 p.m.). All the

Masters and Assistants were compelled to teach every hour of every

school day. The scheme is as follows:

THE HIGHER DIVISION.

---------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

---------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

Morning |1. Classics &|1, 2, 3. |1, 2, 3. |1. Classics &|1, 2, 3.

|2 & 3. | | |2, 3. |

---------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

|2, 3. |2, 3. |2, 3. |2, 3. |2, 3.

---------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

THE LOWER DIVISION

---------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

---------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

Morning |4, 5. |4, 7. |5, 6. |4, 5. |4, 5.

|6, 7. |6. |7. |6, 7. |7.

---------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

Afternoon|5, 6. |4, 5. |6, 7. |6, 7. |6, 7.

|7. |7. |4, 5. |4. |4, 5.

---------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

|6, 7. One |7. One hour |6, 7. One |6, 7. One

| hour in the | in the | hour in the | hour in the

| morning for | morning for | morning for | morning for

| Latin | Grammar, | Geography | Exercise,

| Grammar, | Exercise, | Exercise, | Grammar or

| Exercise, | etc. | etc. | History.

| etc. | | |

+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

THE MODERN LANGUAGE MASTER

---------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

---------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

---------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

---------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

N.B. The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, mark the different classes

The stragglers, not classified, are included under number 7.

Every class did Classics for at least two hours every day, very often

four. English had no place in the Schedule for the first three forms;

yet by the scheme the second and third had to attend the English Master.

Arithmetic was the only subject of a mathematical type. It was only a

scheme for the General Course of Instruction and doubtless under the

name of Classics or of Mathematics, they may have found some scope for

English or Scripture. Scripture was certainly done by the first and

second but possibly only in the Greek Testament.

The Examiner appointed by the Bishop of Ripon in 1855 paid many tributes

to the excellence of the first class, and added "all of whom bid fair to

do honour to the School by high University distinction." It is the

nature of some men to exude praise, but words such as these certainly

seem to point to a very fair level of scholarship in the class taken by

Dr. Butterton and to considerable powers of teaching on his part.

Dr. Butterton was destined to rule the School for two more years, but

they were filled with such bitter fruit that it is difficult to describe

them. It will be remembered that the Governors according to the new

scheme held themselves responsible for the election of boys who wished

to enter the School. At the beginning of every term the Headmaster

would supply them with a list of boys, with the district from which

they came and, if there was room for them, there seems to have been no

hesitation about admitting them. There was not even, as far as appears,

a question of a certificate of character for those boys who wished to be

Boarders, though perhaps it was so customary since Ingram's early years

that it passes without comment. Only once, in 1854, does the number of

applicants appear to have exceeded the number of vacancies. Acting on

the presumption that such a selection or election was almost a matter of

form Dr. Butterton admitted certain boys into the School on his own

authority in 1856. He had clearly put himself in the wrong and he was

admonished by the Governors.

There was also at the same time a dispute between him and the Governors,

relative to the appointment of the Modern Language Master. There had

been several applicants and one had been chosen, but the Headmaster did

not consider the choice wholly an impartial one and he was unwise enough

to say so. The Governors pointed out to him that the appointment of the

Masters was vested wholly in the Governors and that it was most improper

for him to interfere. The Governors were acting perfectly within their

rights and in accordance with the scheme. But the scheme was totally

unsound for the proper management of a School. Again when Dr. Butterton

wished the Whitsuntide holidays to be added to the month in the Summer,

he was informed that according to the scheme there must be holidays at

Whitsuntide and not more than a month in the Summer, and so nothing

could be done.

Perhaps as a man he was too impetuous and slightly intolerant, and,

though it would have been difficult for the most godly of men to keep a

school alive and progressing under such conditions, it was quite

impossible for him to hope to succeed, unless he kept the staff upon his

side. But he quarrelled with John Howson, the Usher, on two distinct

occasions, one on a question of discipline and one with regard to a

French Class that he caused to be held during School hours in his own

house, by a man of his own choice. On both occasions the immediate cause

of disagreement was but the final spark of a smouldering and mutual

discontent, and it is impossible to distribute the blame.

The Modern Language Master was placed upstairs in the High School and a

space was partitioned off for him from the main part of the room, where

Mr. Langhorne was giving Elementary Instruction. Such an arrangement was

not entirely suitable and the French Classes were afterwards taken in

the room which had been especially built for them next to the Library.

The next months saw the gradual development of a situation that caused

Dr. Butterton's retirement. The Rev. John Howson also showed signs of so

serious an illness that he expressed his readiness to retire, should

some suitable arrangement be made. The Governors agreed to give him a

pension of £120 a year.

Dr. Butterton's Headmastership cannot be dismissed without a reference

to certain customs that were prevalent in his time. Down the centre of

the pathway that runs alongside the School palings on to the main road

there is a black stone fixed in the ground. This was a familiar place of

torture. Every new boy was taken thither and made to sit down heavily on

its top. It was a custom that continued for some years, until the

removal of the School buildings to their present position took away the

temptation. The distribution of Figs and Bread on March 12 still

continued but cock-fighting had gradually died out. It had long been the

custom to use the Figs as missiles and the objects of attack were

Masters, Governors, spectators and even Ladies. It is very difficult to

say whether March 12, was ever a day on which the Masters used to

collect money gifts from the boys. Potation Day was the customary day

for such offerings in many schools, but at Giggleswick the practice of

receiving money from the Scholars was particularly forbidden in the

case of the Writing Master in 1799, and at other times. And it may be

that money was taken in a more official way. Three guineas frequently

appears in the Minute-Book as the "contribution of the Scholars" towards

the firing and heating of the School, and in 1852 blinds were provided

for the School windows, but the Minute-Book expressly said that they

were to be kept in repair by the Boys.

There has already been occasion to notice the very heavy glazier bills

that the Governors had to meet, and there is a fitting commentary upon

them in an extract from a letter to the Governors written by the Rev.

Dr. Butterton:

"I take the opportunity of mentioning a circumstance, which

requires the interference of the magistrates or at any rate of

the police. Every evening all the rabble of Giggleswick and

Settle assemble in the Schoolyard and conduct themselves in such

a riotous manner, that no schoolboy dare enter the yard and no

lady dare pass through it. They play at ball against the library

wall to the imminent danger of the windows, and frequently climb

up to the top of the building to the serious injury of the roof.

As the nuisance seems to increase every evening, it appears to

me that strong measures must be taken to put it down."

This chapter cannot close without a brief and inadequate account of the

Rev. John Howson. He was born at Giggleswick in 1787 and was a pupil at

the School during the later years of William Paley's Headmastership; in

1798 his name was in the list of pupils who received a prize. He

graduated B.A. and M.A. at Dublin, and in March, 1814, he came back to

his old School as Second Master on John Armstrong's death. He was

ordained Priest and married a daughter of Mr. J. Saul, who had been at

one time Writing Master at the School. He remained at Giggleswick till

his death. He was of a type of schoolmaster, now extinct, hot tempered,

but kindly natured; one of his pupils is said to have returned from the

Colonies bent on one thing, determined to have his revenge on Howson for

some act of supposed injustice done to him as a boy. His portrait

reveals a geniality that marked him always, though at times he was

inclined to distrust new ideas and new men. He preferred the

well-trodden path.

[Illustration: REV. JOHN HOWSON, M.A.]

[Illustration: SIR JAMES KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH.]

The year before Dr. Butterton had been appointed Headmaster had been

marked by the first appearance of a School Magazine, of which record

remains. The Giggleswick School Olio ran to three numbers under the

motto of Vade, Vale, Cave. Its contributions are ambitious and graceful,

poetry haunts its pages, and is of a kind that reflects considerable

Classical reading.

Two boys under Dr. Butterton deserve some mention. Jackson Mason, the

son, grandson, and father of Giggleswick boys, recited a poem in honour

of the re-building of the School in 1851, and after being a scholar of

Trinity College, Cambridge, became later Vicar of Settle. Though an

invalid, he made his mark as a translator of many hymns from the old

Latin, and his work remains in the Ancient and Modern Hymn-Book. J. H.

Lupton was a Scholar of St. John's College, Cambridge, and afterwards

Fifth Classic and Surmaster of S. Paul's School. These are not isolated

examples of the academic success that attended Dr. Butterton's

Headmastership. The Speech Day of 1855 recorded not a few. It was

notable for being the first year a Giggleswick boy--Bramley--had ever

won the Lady Elizabeth Hastings' Exhibition at Queen's College, Oxford,

and was marked by high distinctions gained at Cambridge by three other

former boys, Lupton, Mason, and Leeming.

Under Dr. Butterton there is probably little doubt that, with the

exception of his last year, the School had increased greatly in

efficiency. Its numbers averaged eighty-three and once reached

ninety-one. It had re-built itself and had attracted the generosity of

old boys and friends in the endowment of prizes. The subjects of

instruction had been increased. The discipline, had improved. Fresh

blood had been wanted, and a fresh scheme. They were both obtained. But

perhaps the scheme did not represent the summit of human wisdom, perhaps

the fresh blood was too rich.

A History of Giggleswick School from its Foundation, 1499 to 1912 · 第 8 / 13 章