Lisgar Collegiate Institute - Vox Lycei Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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C Libl'?-'VY CJ. nw lghiixrsissrr-girOS'LfQSt 0 I Business Training VVILL INCREASE YOUR CHANCES for SUCCESS HE object of all education 1 is the development of the l individual to the point where he leads the largest, full- est, and happiest life. To be educated+especially a practical education-means an even chance for -the comforts and convenience of life, -together with the opportunity for social, business, or professional pres- tige. A man with no education hfas l only one chance in l50,000 for performing distinguished serviceg with an elementary education, he has four ftimes the chance: with a High School education, 'he has 80 times the chance: and with a 'busi- ness education, 'he has 800 times the chance. Are you going to avail yourself of our excellent training and thus place yourself where you will have 800 'times the chance for performing 'the kind of service thfat brings big returns? When business men, in advertising for stenographers, specifically say, Graduates of l'lenry's School preferred, there must be a reason. Henry's must be the right school to attend. I-IENRY'S SHORTI-IAND S HOOL not only gives fthe correct training, but also helps students -to positions rough many channels of undoubted advantage. We Educate for the Best Positions. Henry's Shorthand School E i D. E. Henry, Director. - COR. SPARKS AND BANK STREETS QUEEN 4644 H1010 1 ojtlil11oirl101011li01lbi0ill10Zibiolxi4bi17i4111J11bZtli

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VOX LYCEI 53 ing. XYe must have stayed in Belfast all of two hours, and then decided to 'do' Dublin in the afternoon. We 'did'. lVe spent the afternoon and such part of the night as we foolishly did not give over to sleep in that delightful spot. and then went to Cork early next morning. The town we did' in the record time of three-quarters of an hour, kissed the Blarnev stone two hours later, and went on to Killarney that evening in order to 'do' the lakes the next dav. Wie got in about dusk. Finding the dining-room at the hotel closed, we hied up town to find the wherewithal to replenish the inner man. Going past one humble spot-they all looked humble enough-we espied a red-headed girl apparently in charge. Roy's great weakness, among others too numerous to mention, was tor is it 'were', Mr. Mann?l lasses with Titian locks. So we forth- with entered. Pause now. a la Henty. for some contemporary history. XYe were in the heart of the Sinn Fein country. The Easter rebellion was but three vears back, and the country was seething with the discontent that afterwards! broke out into open hostilities. There had been no conscription in the country. It was filled with young men who, we had noticed with sad regret, paid scant respect to two august Canadian oflicers of the sublime rank of Lieutenant: in fact thev were inclined to scoff at us. Some of the later bickering with the police had already begun, and there was at that very time martial law in Limrick. which was, T suppose. about fifty or seventy-five miles away. But back to our muttonsl Enticed by the appearance of the auburn- tressed damsel, we entered the tea-FOOIU, or whatever it was. But immediately we had wished we hadn't: for it seemed to us that the entire male population of Killarney was in the background, and they seemed to have forgotten to put out the mat with 'illelcome' on it. I don't suppose there were more than ten of them altogether, but even that seemed about eleven too many. However, Roy had a Military Cross, and I am not built for speed, so we kept our dignity.-and our seats. It didn't increase our feelings of ease to any noticeable extent to hear numerous mutterings behind our backs, particularly after we had made gestures of friendship, which were turned down cold. And then. all but two went out. That didnlt help either. NVe wished they had stayed where we could keep our eye on them. However, we finished our refreshments. and finally engaged the younger of the two remaining Irishmen in conversation. By this time we had taken off our overcoats: and the 'Canada' badges on our tunics-there were none on our top-coats-lent an entirely different aspect to the affair. Before. we were merely British Officers, loathed and hated: now we were brothers in arms, sufferers under the cruel heel of Britain. It transpired that Mick, the younger Irishman, was the 'swateheart' of the fair ludv whose amber locks had brought us in. The other chap, who possessed a walrus moustache and whose name I forget, had some similar interest in the proprietress, a rather angular lady of uncertain age. Then there was a dark- haired little flapper of possibly sixteen, and apparently unattached, whom we for obvious reasons christened 'The Map of Trelandf Tempus fugitted. There was some sort of curfew law in the town and the shop windows had to be closed: but by this time we had established an entente cordiale all round, and we were invited to a rather dingy back room, where more eatables and drinkables were produced. Somehow or other we got to singing, softly, lest the police get inquisitive: and after we had got rid of a few Canadian airs, Mick took up the burden. He had a fine untrained tenor voice, and he crooned away at some of the old mournful Irish tolk songs. Then he .went on to a few songs of the rebellion and of these later times. the first of which is

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54 7 VOX LYCEI the tune you know so well in your school song. The title is f'lYhack fol la diddle , which means absolutely nothing at all: it is just like the 'fol de rol rol' of some of our own songs. There were about five verses. all containing the most exaggerated sentiments of loyalty toward Englandg but one was supposed to see that the singer meant the exact opposite of what he said. The first verse and the chorus ran:- XVc'll sing you a song of a land we love. Oh, God bless England! is our prayer. xvimr fs! la diddle lol la ai do day. Whack fol la diddle 101 121 di do dar. A land that rules all lands above: , . . . XVhack fol la diddle lol la di do day, XX hack tol la diddle lol la di do day. SO we Say' Hip hoomyt iff peace and plenty be hc' Share- Come and hear us while we pray XVho kept our homes from want and care. XVhack fol la diddle lol la di do day. Of course Mick sang several other songs of a similar natureg but this, both words and music, particularly struck my fancy. and I asked where I could get a copy of it. So the next day before we went to see the lakes, -ludy met me and escorted me down to a store where with a great deal of Hush Hush , I was able to secure a copy of this and a couple of other songs, along with a few Sinn Fein souvenirs, all of which were very much forbidden at that time. There is very little more to tell. affecting this part of the story. XVe had another similar party next night in the same place, but on neither night would Mick let us go to our hotel alone, as there had already been some trouble in the neighbourhood, and Mick was a bit afraid of what some of his compatriots, not knowing our kind and noble hearts. might do to us. And the little Map of Ireland undertook to embroider us a couple of Sinn Fein flags to send to us in Scotland for souvenirs, but she got into some sort of mix-up with the police over her patriotic activities: and when her room was searched, the flags were found and confiscated, So we didn't get them. As to the words of the song, as they are known to the students of the O.C.I., I plead guilty to perpetrating them. But I also plead as excuse that they were written in a big hurry, for reasons which shall appear. In the spring of 1927. the Lyceum was at a loss to know how to conclude its season: so some of the staff suggested a teachers' program. At that time we had on the staff four or live who could land wouldl put on anumber each, besides a body of whole-souled choristers who agreed to form a chorus. VVe had to have music right smartly, and I put the words you know to the old tune in a big hurry for fear the chorus would back out. A Incidentally this meeting of the Lyceum was a startling success. Some of us rather feared the outcome. It was just possible that we might be the reci- pients of some unwanted coppers tossed at us by the unsatisfied cash customers -a thing not entirely unknown in the annals of the 0.C.I. However we seemed to capture the hearts of the audience right away by taking a high F in the chorus of the hrst song. XX'e intended this as a serious effort but the audience took it as a joke. which is perhaps just as well. Anyhow, everything else that we did that afternoon was regarded as high humor. Four or five of the staff contributed stunts, all the way from playing the piano handcuffed to delivering foolish monologues: and the program was brought to a conclusion by the initial singing of 'AUp with the Colours of the O.C.I. , after Miss Muir had explained and fervently blessed it. ' Some time later, Mr. Bearder provided an orchestration and put it in your morning repertoire beside Mother Machreen and A Song of Canadaf' XV. D. T. ATKINSON, M.A., Now Principal of Collegiate at Collingwood.