Burlington High School - Rarebits Yearbook (Burlington, Ontario Canada)

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48 RAREBITS nobility, upon the walls. Yvaiters in dress suits and curling moustaches glided about. The meal was fairly good, but I left the place between the bowing waiters and steward about twelve shill- ings poorer than I was before the meal. lt was rather an expensive lesson, but it was well learned. The last and most disgusting things in London are the tourists of the sheep type. These pitiable creatures go about in large flocks, presided over by a swift moving guide. They advance through the galleries, castles and churches, bleating and bah-ing, and scratching upon scraps of paper. Whenever they stop, the guide belabours them with a series of vocal noises resembling blah, In the churches they seem to be a sacrilege. Instead of perusing quietly a book and strolling about in one's or two,s they form little armies and depend upon the sing-song monotonous voice of the guide. These parties do London in a day or two, and Europe in a month. They then return to America with their valises Covered with bills, and account themselves highly educated travellers. How can this be so, when London alone takes years to see and understand?-Lezzgfzlon. LOWER, MIDDLE AND UPPER SCHOOL DEBATING CHAMPIONS Sitting-Pauline Tancock, Iolene Macklin. Standing-lack Manzer, Reg. Cozens.

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RARE statues are everywhere in the Abbey. After wandering around the nave we come to the South Transept, better known as the Poets' Corner. We now find it necessary to enlist a guide to take us around the Royal Tombs. Guides are pests who allow one no time to look at things. However, in this case we must make the best of it, for no one is allowed to enter the Royal area without a guide. We trail this disciple of Charlie Paddock through the South Ambulatory, past little chapels, up some wide stairs and into Henry VII's Chapel. Here rest kings and queens of ancient might, but the most novel tomb is that of a baby daughter of Charles II. She was found dead in her cradle one day, and a sculptor was en- listed to carve her effigy and cradle in stone. The body is in the cradle under its effigy. Henry VII, founder of the chapel, is interred in an elaborate tomb in the middle of tlie chapel. The chapel is also the chapter house of the Knights of the Bath. Above their oak stalls are their swords, helmets, crests, and ban- ners. The roof is especially famous for its stone carving. We will now pass out of this chapel and enter Edward the Confessor's Chapel, which is immediately behind the Altar. Around the sides of the chapel are Royal Tombs. One claims attention because the silver head of the effigy was stolen during the Commonwealth. Another claims notice by its size. Its occupant is Edward I, known as Longshanks , who was six feet two inches tall. The tomb of Edward the Confessor is in the middle of the chapel and was also badly mutilated during the Commonwealth. At the west of the chapel is the Coronation Chair and the long two-handed sword of Edward III, a sword seven feet long. On leaving the guide we walk toward the Western Door, within a few feet of which we stop to examine a flower- bedecked slab of black marble. The inscription tells simply and effectively of the person below. It starts thus:- Beneath this stone rests the body of a British Warrior Unknowniby name or rank. There a few more lines and the in- scription ends as follows- They buried him among the Kings BITS 47 because he had done good toward God, and toward His house. To those who have had patience to follow me thus far, my article may be becoming dry and dull. Therefore, to relieve the monotony, I shall now tell you some of the things about London which are seldom heard of. To become critical, London, with all its magnificence and pomp, has several very annoying features. To begin with, the omnibuses rarely, if ever, stop for people and it is rather a reckless practice to mount one on the run because of the dense traffic. The theatres of London are very ex- pensive, ridiculously so. There are very few middle-class theatres. They are mostly either low, with noise and arguments, or very high class, with ex- tremely formal evening dress. About the finest middle-class theatre in London is north of Trafalgar Square and is called the Empire . The general run of restaurants in London are a curse. When one enters a restaurant and wants some water with his meal he must ask for it as though it were tea or coffeeg it is never placed on the table. There is a three-penny charge for each serviette. Worst of all, the use of cream in tea is almost unheard of. Many a time have I mixed up a stiff whipping cream with milk to use the lumpy mess as table-cream. After a fortnight's practice Icould have claimed the admiration of the finest plaster- mixer in London. There is one good thing about the poor servicegit gives you time to read your guide-books. In about a week I found a good high- class restaurant on Holborn Street, where the service and prices were fairly rea- sonable. However, when the unsuspecting tourist stalks the streets of London for a place to eat, let him beware. I learned my lesson early. In fact, my first meal in London taught me that the poorest external appearance may hide the most expensive and renowned place. My place of execution was a humble looking restaurant on Oxford Street called the Trochedero . Inside, the room was gorgeously decorated in George III style. There were auto- graphed photographs of knights, lords, earls, and dukes and all branches of the

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RAREBITS -19 what 'ar ga 'htel 1111 NINA L. As the editor of Rlll'Cl7l.f11 first classics page, I have a difficult task ahead of me-that of con- vincing the majority of the students in this school that Latin has some practical value besides being necessary for passing their matriculation. It is an unfortunate fact that the spirit pervading most Canadian schools at the present time seems to be definitely anti-Latin. It is easy to under- stand this attitude for it is one which to-day is adopted by many older people and educational- ists. The twentieth century has seen a new division in education-the classics vs. science and every year science seems to gain ground at the expense of the classics. One extenuating fact must be mentioned. It is noticeable that those who question the use of Latin' are those who have not taken it to any great extent in either high school or university. Most university graduates acknowledge its X7alue. Now, what, exactly is the value of Latin? It is not, of course, a practical subject for the man in the street, but its main values are cul- tural. It is a well-known fact that fifty-six per cent. of the English language has been de- rived either directly or indirectly from Latin. In view of this fact we see that a person who knows Latin thoroughly has the key to the Eng- lish language. Another value of Latin is the contribution which it makes to the training and development of the mind. This value must not be discounted for it may be of great importance in the building up of character. Here we might put in a word for Greek. As is the case with Latin, part of the English lang- uage has been derived from it and it also develops and trains the mind. Greek is very popular in England where a man is not considered a real classicist unless he knows Greek. In the education of an English boy, Greek and Latin have the most prominent place and they start when he is at a very early age. He follows up the classics through his primary and secondary schools, and finishes his classical education at university. Compared with this education the little we learn of Latin and Greek in high school and university would be held in contempt. Hence, although we get Canadians to fill the science chairs in our famous universities, we have to go to England for our classicists. Those thoughts which I have advanced so far as proof of my argument have been the result of my own experience which, of necessity, has been rather limited. However, for confirmation of these statements we might refer to the cultured leaders of English literature at the beginning of the last century. That illustrious trio, Byron, Keats and Shelley are examples of the influence of the classics. Byron, who progressed through school in a laxadaisical, lazy manner, excelled, to the Iaaaira .aa EIJXVAIIDS, IV. amazement of his professors, in classics at Cam- bridge, and acknowledged the great debt he owed to his classical training. Keats, on the other hand, was not a classicist, but the effect of reading merely a translation of Homer was to cause him to write one of the most beautiful sonnets ever composed. XVhen a translation affected him to such a great degree, we may imagine what it would have meant to him to be able to read Homer in the original and thus to be able to appreciate the real beauty and grandeur of classic Greek verse. Shelley, the third in the trio, was first and foremost a lover of beauty. This love of beauty caused him to fall under the spell of the classics and he loved the beauty of the Greek verse. Another poet who was influenced by the classics was Matthew Arnold, the famous son of the well-known classicist, Dr. Arnold of Rugby. Arnold's poetry was so affected by his training that in parts it is an exact replica of the severe Greek style. Yvhile Macaulay, the poet and historian, was greater as the latter than as the former, he is chiefly known as a poet for that series of poems, the Lays of Ancient Rome, the material for which he secured from the reading of the classics. Two men of entirely different type from those whom I have already mentioned here, but who also are under the spell of the classics, are General Allenby, who took part in the Great VVar, and that mysterious figure, Lawrence of Arabia. Wlhere Allenby goes, there also go the copies of the classics he loves while Lawrence is so familiar with the classics that a line of Homer translation would to him be a novelty. IF Pk if Bill Hopkins went into a bookstore. . Vtlhen the clerk approached him Bill said, l'd like the Life of lulius Caesar. You can imagine his amazement when the clerk answered, Sorry SlI', but Brutus 'ot ahead K H . S of you. Jr wk :oz Miss Cannom in Ancient History class: Lockhart, what was lulius Caesar noted for? Osler: He wrote a Latin reader for be- ginnersf' ik Pk PF Fourth Formers are still wondering what for whoml Marjorie YVilkerson was thinking of when, after Bliss lxlarlatt asked her the gender of a certain noun, Marjorie answered: Ablative of the gerundf' Bk ak wk Ut jucundas Cervus undas Aestuans desiderat, Sic ad rivum Dei vivum Mens fidelis propera-t.