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THE CELTIC CONNECTION • MARCH 1993
Teacher's Belt — Now Replaced by a Pat
"Fergus the Field" was our Grade Five teacher. A recent graduate, he was a sadistic man whose teaching methods were utterly ruthless. As he generously doled out the daily dose of medicine, his angry red face was suffused with loathing.
Preceding each lesson, he would tap his hand with a leather strap, deliberately intimidating his pupils. Promising punishment, he'd say, "Two errors, one of the belt -four errors, two of the belt — six errors, three of the belt." A line of children faced him, trembling hands outstretched. As the belt descended, split ends splayed painfully across each palm.
My ten-year-old hands frequently smarted and I will never forget the sensation of overwhelming fear, a terror which paralysed my mind and erased any trace of literacy. A vivid memory remains of panicking as the strap approached my
hand. I pulled away and the belt landed forcefully between Fergus's legs. Doubled over, he hopped around in obvious pain. I was obliged to swallow a large portion of humble pie, two slices served painfully on each palm.
Over the years, I have found myself in conference with my son's teachers in an attempt to find solutions to miscellaneous dilemmas. These teachers never fail to amaze me with their enduring patience, and I have nothing but ad miration for such dedication.
MysonRory is well named. Distinguishing features reveal his Scottish parentage. Rory is.a Gaelic name which descriptively means "red-head." At ten years of age, he is struggling his way through elementary school. In every way imaginable, rebellious Rory is any teacher's nightmare. He enjoys school but views it as a place of recreation. Education is a minor detail.
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Primary education in Scotland was strict and rigid. Children were non entities who spoke only when asked. Precocious conduct was met with disapproval. It would not have occurred to us to challenge an adult's authority. Encouragement was not part of Fergus's psychology.
Rather, a steady diet of negativity was the prescribed nourishment. Repeatedly chastised, I soon cultivated a skeptical belief in my own ability to achieve. Subsequently, I developed a resistance to enlightenment and a predictable depreciation of self-worth.
In Rory's reality, his teacher is being unreasonable when he is expelled to the cloakroom. Sitting among jackets, sneakers and other obscure objects, he is not
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distracting his peers. The worst punishments he has ever servedare brief detentions, which he craftily merges with his social life.
A mother compares her school days with her son's
Thankfully, no comparison can be made of Rory's experience with that of my own at the same age.
I was a sensitive, artistic student, who frequently escaped the harsh reality of the classroom into the realms of fantasy. The fact that I was a teacher's daughter raised expectations of my performance. This proved to be as unlikely as rinding haggis in a kosher butcher, and further frustrated the logic of a man whose expectations were based on perfection.
Ironically, my school day always
began with the Lord's Prayer. My comprehension of the terminology was somewhat distorted.
Our Father Which Art in Heaven. "Art? Great!"
"Which art?" Not that it mattered. I could draw anything!
Give us this day our daily bread.
"What? Only bread? Surely the food up there was more exotic than a bit of bread?"
Thy Will be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
This was the ruination of all my spiritual expectations. Blasphemous flashes of mutiny decided my destiny. On no account was I going up there for another dose of Fergus!
Today, Rory can enjoy freedom of speech and mutual respect in a nurturing environment. Encouragement and compliments reassure him of his self-worth. His mind has not been contaminated with negative responses. Rory may choose not to conform to adult expectations but I have faith that he is developing his own unique personality.
Modern Technology Invented Long Ago!
printers' type and sensitive paper under the swinging styluses to complete the message line-by-line.
By PAUL COWAN
LONDON — Further proof that there's no such thing as a new idea. Researchers have discovered that the fax machine was invented 150 years ago by the son of a Scottish crofter.
Alexander Bain started experimenting with electrical machines on his father's croft in Caithness, using heather for springs and cattle jawbones for hinges.
In 1843, he filed a patent for a seven foot high machine which used electricity to transmit images of words by telegraph cable.
The machine used a pendulum swinging in a magnetic field, which passed over a page of old fashioned printer's type.
When a stylus connected to the pendulum made contact with the raised parts of the letters, it completed an electrical circuit.
The electricity travelled down the telegraph wire to a receiving machine, with a similar pendulum and stylus arrangement swinging at the same speed.
Instead of printers' type, the receiving machine had a sheet of paper soaked in potassium ferro-cyanide which turned black where it was touched by the electrified stylus.
Clockwork pulleys drew the
In the 1860's the French tried the system to connect Paris to Lyon but the experiment was not unsuccessful and the idea was forgotten until recently, when the original patent was rediscovered in London.
Now, a replica of the machine is to go on display at the Science Museum in London.
Bain, who also invented the electric clock, spent most of his life fighting patent battles with other, more famous inventors who he accused of stealing his ideas. He died in poverty.
Edinburgh Folk Festival
SCOTLAND — One of the most popular ethnic cultural events of the year is the annual Edinburgh Folk Festival. This year's week-long festival will take place between April 2 to 11. Events will Include concerts and 'ceilidhs' amid a friendly informal atmosphere, throughout Scotland's capital city.