JULY 1927
Editorial. Dum domus Aeneaei capitoli immobile saxum Accolet venture such as the production of this Magazine may appear, at A first sight, to require some justification, and the burden falls upon those who have made themselves responsible for this first number. It was felt that the rapid growth of the S. Catharine's Society, and the success which has attended its annual dinners, showed the necessity for some link, not only between the Society and the present members of the College, but between the members themselves—particularly those who, for various reasons, could not be present at the Dinners. The College Magazine, lately developed from an annual to a terminal production, reaches a small circle only ; and its appeal is, obviously, too temporary and too limited. Nowhere do generations pass so quickly as in a college, and names mean little to a man who has gone down three years since ; but the various clubs and their activities provide permanent interest, as do the general affairs of the College.
Certain difficulties, some of them inevitable, have hampered the production of this number. The news of past members is incomplete, and, without help from individuals, will tend to remain so in the future. When the new Register is issued matters should improve, but the Editors will be extremely grateful, at all times, for material containing either information or reminiscences. The fullest co-operation is essential if we are to attain that sense of cohesion which a Society of this kind must possess.
Of the College itself during the past academical year there is much to tell, and the tale will be found in the pages that follow. Many who S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 3 read this may have known the College only in pre-war days, and that four years' interval has split the Society into two well-defined groups : the improvement in numbers, in organization, and in general equipment since 1919 are notable and extensive, reflecting to the full the increased activity of the University at large. Outwardly the buildings have changed but little. The trees of the Grove, where so many generations of rooks conducted their business, have vanished ; and the court, while revealed to the gaze of the American tourist as King's, is made an unwilling critic of the architectural cubit added to their stature by our neighbours across the road. The Chapel, under the loving care of Bishop Drury, now shows its full beauty. The lamp-posts have vanished from the borders of the Court ; the Old Lodge provided sets of rooms, and its cellars are baths. Sic transit......
But nothing changes. The weathered brick of Ramsden Buildings hardly alters its hue in a decade : the rough tiles of the roof are steadfast before time and the feet of the mountaineers. The atmosphere of a University which is consecrated by ages and has learnt the habit of repose is no thing to be lightly spoken of, and the buildings in which a man spends his most impressionable years are not easily forgotten. The sense of harmony and strength which comes from stately walls and deep-rooted tradition goes with a man in all his ways, though he be half unconscious of it. Learning may advance, and customs change : this does not. That frenzied search for a sense of stability and dignity, which is, perhaps the leading pre-occupation of the New World, has no place here. In the College and in the University, at almost every turn of the day's work, we are reminded that our life is a partnership between the Past, the Present, and the Future ; the realization of that is the condition of Progress. From the proud carving in the oak panel south of the Altar rails—Haud Immemores—to the flagstone whose inscriptions have long since turned to dust : from the libraries where the brains of the past lie buried, to the portraits of the benefactors of our walls : from the name scratched on a leaded window-pane to the group of a winning crew: this sense of tradition is, and must be, with us. It is the greatest possession of a College. 4 S. Catharine's Society Magazine.
To carry that sense of proportion and values into national life is not the least of our achievement ; to reinforce that spirit of fellowship and service is the aim of our Society. It is at once our fate and our fortune. The pride and strength that ring through those lines of Vergil may well stand, though it be no more than an ancient court with a green lawn, and the last of the sunset bright upon its roofs : Fortunati ambo ! Si quid mea carmina possunt Nulla dies umquam memori vos eximet aevo, Dum domus Aeneaei capitoli immobile saxum Accolet, imperiumque pater Romanus habebit.
S. Catharine's Society News.
T is hoped that members will, in the future, send to the Editor items I of news concerning themselves or other members. It is obvious that without such help this section must be left incomplete.
MARRIAGE. Instructor-Lieut. C. R. Benstead, M.C., R.N., on April 21st, 1927, at S. John's Church, Husborne Crawley, to Mary Collie, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Collie, of Masterton, New Zealand.
BIRTHS. To Edith, wife of C. L. M. Brown, on April 29th, 1927, at Sysonby, 107, Cross Oak Road, Berkhamsted, a son. To Dorothy, wife of C. Vernon Dier, Ridley House, Worth, Sussex, a daughter.
DEATHS. Robert Edgar Blofield died on November 6th, 1926, at Nuneatoxl. He came into residence in October, 1913, as a Scholar. He passed Part I. of the Mathematical Tripos in the First Class in 1915. In the S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 5
early days of the war he most presistently sought to enter the Army, but was rejected on grounds of health. However, when medical standards were lowered he at length was accepted. He never recovered from the effect of war service, and although for a few years he resolutely refused to own himself broken, he passed over to the other side. He was a thoroughly loyal son of the College. Despite his failing health, he always attended the meetings of the Society, and was present at the last annual gathering.
Robert Gordon Roe, at Acle Rectory, Norfolk, on May 19th, 1927. The son of Robert Roe, an artist, he was born in Cambridge in 1860. He was educated at the Perse School and took his degree from S. Catharine's in 1884. For the most part his work lay in East Anglia, his first important living being that of S. Margaret's, King's Lynn. He subsequently was Rector of Leiston, in Suffolk, and Blakeney, in Norfolk, and in 1923 became Rector of Acle. He was appointed a Hon. Canon of Norwich, in 1918. He was a keen student of ancient stained glass, and the fine old Churches with which he was associated benefited by his loving care. He married in 1885 a daughter of Lieut.- Col. Kysh, of the 5th Fusiliers, and had six children. His youngest son was killed in action at Oppy Wood in 1917.
Henry Von Essen Scott, (M. 1875), died in July last. He was senior optime in 1879, and one of the best all-round sportsmen of his time. After being for many years the Head of a very successful Preparatory School, at Eastbourne, he became Vicar of Christ Church, Eastbourne, in 1915, and held the living till 1925, when illness overtook him. His surviving contemporaries speak of him in terms of the warmest appreciation.
MEMORIALS. An appeal has recently been made to those members of the College who were in residence during the Masterships of Dr. Johns and of Bishop Drury, for subscriptions to defray the cost of putting up tablets to their memory in the Chapel. Although the best memorial of the 6 S. Catharine's Society Magazine. work they did whilst they ruled over S. Catharine's is the great develop- ment of the College, begun in the one reign and continued in the other, it was felt that there should be a permanent record of this work. It is gratifying to find that a good response has been made to these appeals, and it is hoped to have the tablets in place by the beginning of the Michaelmas Term. As there may be still some who would like to subscribe to one or other of these memorials, the list will be kept open until the end of July.
The following are among the recent appointments of which the Editor has received notice :— R. G. Howe (M. 1912), First Secretary, British Embassy, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. J. C. Sterndale-Bennett, C.M.G. (M. 1918), Second Secretary, British Legation, Santiago, Chile. Rev. G. L. Collins (M. 1891) to be Rector of Otley, Suffolk.
Books recently published by members of the Society include the following :— Dr. W. H. S. JONES.—" Disciplina," H. J. CHAYTOR.—" Dramatic Theory in Spain." " Les Chansons de Perdigon." " Embagada Espanola " (Reprinted from the Camden Miscellany, Vol. XIV.). " The Travels in Spain of Thomas Williams." G. G. COULTON—" The Medieval Village." J. A. STEERS.—" Introduction to the Study of Map Projections." C. R. BENSTEAD.—" Round the World with the Battle Cruisers." " The Strange Adventures of Richard ConwayBowen." W. T. STEPHENSON.—" The Elements of Railway Economics." J. S. PURVIS.—" Bridlington Charters, Court Rolls and Papers." L. S. WOOD.—" The Romance of the Cotton Industry in England." C. L. M. BROWN.—" The Conquest of the Air." S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 7
The Rev. R. V. Sellars has been approved for the degree of B.D.
Ordinations—Trinity Sunday. By the Bishop of Bradford—T. W. Grange, to Pudsey Parish Church. E. V. Talbot, to Christ Church, Skipton. By the Bishop of Southwark—J. H. Gibson, to St. Stephen's, Sneinton.
The Annual Dinner of the Society will be held at the Holborn Restaurant this year on Tuesday, July 5th ; in 1928 it will be held in the College. It is hoped that the largest possible number will attend.
The usual cricket match on Whit Monday, when an Eleven of the Society play the College, had to be abandoned this year owing to the difficulty of raising a team.
College Notes. HE list of members of the College who have played on various T occasions for the 'Varsity is imposing. A. P. Dearsley against Oxford at Fives ; L. J. Genn at Chess ; O. N. Paxton and H. N. Slimming at Soccer ; C. W. Rowling, A. S. Le Roy and L. A. M. Parsons at Hockey ; R. Chapman and G. H. Lintott at Golf. There are in addition a number of Blues and Half-Blues ; W. G. Morgan for Rugger ; M. F. Young and G. W. Pomeroy for Athletics ; F. W. Carpenter for Hockey (he has also been Secretary for the past year). J. A. Hartley, now Captain of Cross-Country Running. As we write, A. K. Judd has been playing regularly in the 'Varsity side, and has some very fine performances to his credit. He has now been awarded his Blue. 8 S. Catharine's Society Magazine.
The College Ball will be held on 14th June, and has every prospect of being a great success, in spite of the numerous other balls held on the same night.
The College record in Scholarship has been consistently high during the past few years ; we hope, in our next number, to print figures showing the past achievement. The list of First Classes of the present year is as follows :—
EARP,C.W. Mechanical Science. NASH, G.J. Mathematics, Part II. SARGENT, C.B.R. Natural Sciences, Part I. NORTHAM, L. H. Mathematics. TAYLOR, R. G. MANCHESTER, F. G. History, Part II. RIDDY, D.C. RUSSON, L. J. Modern Languages, Part I. SEIGNE, L. L. GRIFFITHS, F. W. G. Geography. JENNINGS, W. I. Law(LL.B.)
The Boat Club.
GLANCE at the Charts of the Lent and May Races over a number of years A shows that the crews of the smaller colleges tend to retain a certain average position, which in our case seems to be somewhere at the head of the Second Division. Occasional incursions are made into the First, but the supply of raw material varies from year to year, and a lack of enthusiasm among any one group of Freshmen makes itself felt in no uncertain manner. At present the Club is recover- ing from an extremely lean year in 1924 ; the numbers and stamina of the Freshmen are promising, but good oars are not made quickly. Four Crock Eights provided some exciting racing. The Clinker Four raced well against Corpus (the finalists), but lost by seven seconds. We have had no first-class Fours of recent years ; the difficulty of selecting a crew of the necessary uniformity and power has been almost insuperable. S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 9
The Lent Races were disappointing ; we were dogged by the same ill-luck as in the previous Mays, and lost no less than three men from the first two crews, through illness, all within a week of the races. The First were lucky to lose only one place, and that to King's, a four-bump crew. Our substitute stroke, however, performed well and pluckily. The Second Boat, somewhat slow off the mark, made two good bumps ; a little enthusiasm would have made it four.
As we go to press, on the third day of the May Races, there is, unhappily, no great event to chronicle. The Second Boat, through failure to spurt at a critical moment on the first night, has lost two places. The First appears likely to gain at least two, and so come again within striking distance of Division I. Perhaps the best augury of the future is the extraordinarily plucky display made by the Getting-on Boat, which was only beaten by a few yards in the Final. It is to be hoped that next year, with new and spirited material, the boat may be sent to Henley.
Rugger Club.
HE standard of College Rugby, always high since the War, reached its highest T point in the Knock-Out Competition last March. With two Welsh Inter- nationalists, one of them a Blue, in the three-quarter line, the attack was necessarily strong, but the way in which the whole team acquitted themselves in a very gruelling game was quite beyond praise. We reprint below an account, written by W. Rowe Harding, describing the Final against Clare.
Final of the Knock Out.
St. CATHARINE'S V. CLARE.
HE Final of the Inter-College Cup Competition took place on the 'Varsity T ground on Saturday, 5th March.
Clare were universally expected to win, for had they not trounced S. John's, the original favourites, who went into training in the early Autumn. S. Catharine's on the other hand had an easy pathway to the Final, encountering only dwarfs while Clare were overcoming giants. 10 S. Catharine's Society Magazine.
It was, however, significant that the Cognoscenti, the College groundsmen, those turf experts, had tipped S. Catharine's to win.
The 'Varsity ground was in excellent condition, and the result of the game evidently depended upon the ability of the S. Catharine's forwards to get a reasonable share of the ball from the scrums and loose melees.
After the first ten minutes it was evident that Clare would never establish complete mastery in the scrummage. How far this was due to the absence of their regular hooker is a moot point, which cannot be decided, and so should not weigh when estimating the worth of the S. Catharine's victory. All through the competi- tion it had been evident that Clare relied entirely upon the absolute supremacy of their forwards. The backs, although they tackled well, had no idea of constructive back play, and relied entirely upon touch kicking for making ground until they got within a few yards of their opponents line, when they hoped for the best, the best being usually a bullock through by a forward, or a snatch try on the blind side of the scrum.
These tactics failed completely in the Final. The Clare forwards were perhaps slightly better in the loose rushes, but in the tight the S. Catharine's forwards held their own, and gave their backs an adequate number of opportunities.
Perhaps it may with truth be said that the threequarters might have attempted to play a more open game than they did, and it seemed at times that Bowcott hung on too long, or attempted too much. However that may be, nothing could be finer than the tactical kicking of both Bowcott and Guy Morgan, one screw kicking amazingly with his left foot, and the other giving the best exhibition of long and accurate kicking seen on the 'Varsity ground for a very long time.
There was not much scoring. Clare scored first, and Scott converted, but S. Catharine's equalized shortly afterwards, Pyke kicking a good goal, and so the game went on ding-dong till half time.
Ten minutes after the start of the second half, Clare missed the flood tide, and through it lost the match. One of their rare passing bouts, in their opponents twenty-five, left the right centre with his wing man uncovered, and only ten yards to go, but for some inscrutable reason, he attempted unsuccessfully to drop a goal, and S. Catharine's touched down. Shortly after, John Roberts fielded a loose punt and ran hard up to the full backs where he threw in a tremendously long pass which Guy Morgan fielded, and running diagonally, and away from his pursuers, he scored a thrilling try near the goal post, and Pyke converted.
That was all the scoring. Clare made desperate efforts to equalize, but were invariably driven back by Morgan's uncanny kicking. The game ended in a terrific shower of rain which quickly made handling impossible, but Clare's fierce S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 11
footwork was never good enough to rush the ball over S. Catharine's line, and so the cup rests behind the bars opposite Corpus for at least twelve months.
The credit for the victory must go primarily to the forwards who confounded their centres and the Clare pack. Behind the scrum, reference has already been made to the part which Morgan and Bowcott played. It remains to be said that John Roberts ran and tackled with determination, and never failed to go down to the ball, while the full back was safe and kicked a very good length. W.R.H.
Association Football Club.
HE year seems to have brought the Soccer Club an undue share of misfortunes. T Early in the first term it was clear that the team would, be without two of its strongest players in Pomeroy and Elizalde, while accidents during the first few matches further decreased the normal strength. In view of such difficulties the Club's record was a very creditable one, the best result being perhaps the defeat of the Old Aldenhamians, 3-0. In the Lent Term the team was again unlucky in meeting John's, the ultimate runners-up in the second round of the Knock Out, after beating Corpus 6-2. When one remembers that on no occasion was there a full side out into the field, the attempt may be reckoned a very gallant one.
Hockey Club.
HE year has been at once adventurous and successful. In the Michaelmas T Term, an unbeaten second team was entered for the getting-on match and only just lost to the finalists after playing extra time. In the second term the Club and the College realised a dear ambition in winning their position in the First League. Final victory was only achieved on the last day of term, when, after a miniature league of half-hour matches, the team defeated Clare and Pembroke and earned promotion. Much of the credit is due to the Captain (J. R. Rossiter) and to F. W, Carpenter, who was so successful in the 'Varsity match, and was also awarded a Minor International Cap during the year. One may also congratulate Le Roy and Rowling upon their Wanderer's Colours, With Parsons, they have been frequently chosen for the 'Varsity side. 12 S. Catharine's Society Magazine.
Rugby Fives Club. NOTHER newly established Club, the Rugby Fives, has well earned its A recognition by the College in easily reaching the final of the Inter-Collegiate Knock-Out, beating John's in the semi-final by a good margin. As the last match is still to be played, our congratulations to the Club may well be added to, but we can at least include here those certainly due to A. P. Dearsley, who again helped the'Varsity to beat Oxford.
Athletic Club. LTHOUGH the general standard of Athletics has not approached that of the A year 1922, when the College won the Knock-Out Competition, there are some fine individual athletes, and the College is strongly represented in University events. M. F. Young and G. W. Pomeroy were second strings against Oxford in the sports, for the Half Mile and Long Jump respectively ; each did well to obtain second place. J. A. Hartley has been elected Captain of the Hare and Hounds Club. A recent feature of our athletics has been the meeting with Sandhurst and Cranwell ; last term Sandhurst was beaten by 15 points to 9.
Tennis Club. HE Club has been unlucky in receiving little reinforcement this season, T though Platts is to be heartily congratulated on gaining his Fenner's colours as a Freshmen. In the doubles and singles Knock-Outs, we got through the first round and were unfortunate in going down to Jesus in the second after hard games. It is too early in the term to apprise the result of the League, but the team has done well to win three of their most important matches so far.
Golf Club. N the second year of its existence the Golf Club has amply justified its formation. I Out of fourteen matches played the team has won ten, and was unlucky to be defeated by Emmanuel in the semi-final of the Inter-Collegiate Knock-Out. Lintott and Chapman are to be congratulated on playing fairly regularly for the 'Varsity, and as reserves in the match against Oxford. S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 13
The Shirley Society.
N essential product of the general renaissance in the College life, the Shirley A Society was formed early in the Michaelmas Term, 1920, " to provide some means of bringing together members of the College interested in the arts, and to overcome the difficulty, so often experienced by Freshmen, of rinding others in the College with tastes similar to their own." As a safeguard against the Society becoming solely a Literary or Musical Society, each member of the Committee is delegated an Art, Literature, Music, Frame and Graphic Art or Plastic Art, and he is expected as far as possible to see that his interest is adequately represented in the Society's activities. Meetings of a most informal nature are held every Sunday evening, during the first two terms of the year. It is then that the real purpose of the Shirley Society is served. A paper is read by a member or visitor, and a discussion follows. In an atmosphere of tobacco smoke and contentment, anything may happen intellectu- ally, and the spirit has moved members to deliver themselves of memorably bright remarks and ideas. Three times in each term are held General Meetings open to the College. At these it is usual for some literary or artistic " Lion " to gamble before us, in that same atmosphere of informality which permeates the Society in every activity.
Since its inception, among others, the Society has had the pleasure of enter- taining Sir A. Quiller-Couch, the late Prof. W. P. Ker, Dr. Coulton, Laurence Binyon, Rutland Boughton, Dr. W. H. S. Jones, the Dean of the College, Robert Lynd, Harold Monro, F. L. Lucas, G. Lowes Dickenson, and Dr. Alexander Nairne. When the talent of the College permits, once every term an informal musical evening is held. The annual " Shirley Concert " has become well known without our walls. The crowded two nights of the Shirley Plays in the Lent Term testifies to their popularity. Early in the History of the Society the plays acted were written by members ; recently plays by Galsworthy, G. B. Shaw, G. K. Chesterton and Lord Dunsany, have been produced, and this year a very successful experiment was made in presenting " The Gulling of Malvolio," out of " Twelfth Night," in modern dress. The interests of Drama are closely watched. Every fortnight the Play Reading Circle exercises itself. From Aeschylus to Maeterlinck the choice of plays has varied. The readings are largely attended, and the atmosphere at the reading of some of the lesser Elizabethans is not easily forgotten. 14 S. Catharine's Society Magazine.
For some years past the Committee of the Society has been responsible for the production of the College Magazine. Under the new regime it has been produced every term with obvious benefit to the life of the College. In the Literary section may be seen the fruits of the Michaelmas and Lent Original Work Evenings held by the Society.
It may be said that " The Shirley " is one of the great channels of expression in our College life. It is no mere highbrow coterie of exotic litterateurs. Every member of its committee is a sportsman of sorts and, on several happy occasions, the Captain of Boats and the Captain of Rugger have been Presidents of the Society.
Though every member of the College may not contribute to the life of the Society, it is the sincere belief of the Shirley that by its manifold activities it enters into the life of every member of the College, and that in consequence (and this is all that matters), the College is the richer for its existence.
As a result of Plays, Concerts and General Meetings, the Society has acquired no small reputation in the 'Varsity, and, in consequence, has many friends who, by their willingness to contribute papers, greatly add to the quality of its activities.
It is generally acknowledged that the Society is unique, that in no other College is there a Society of this nature with such a universal appeal, at whose meetings athletes and scientists, musicians, and readers of the humanities may be seen smoking their pipes in peaceful communion with the Fine Arts.
The John Ray Society.
HO was John Ray? the question is almost inevitable from all save certain w specialized scientists. It must suffice here to say that, the son of an Essex blacksmith, he entered this College in the year 1644, sojourned nearly two years with us and then migrated to Trinity. His fame rests on the fact that he was " Father of the Botanick Science." He it was who, after extensive journeying in search of specimens, first classified by means only of the eye, the flora of England and of a large part of the Continent. The subsequent development of science, giving opportunities of exhaustive chemical tests, has only shown how well, and with what genius and patience, he had done his work.
Though there has been a flourishing " Ray Society " in London for some years, over two centuries have passed before he received due acknowledgment in his own place of learning. This was made in perhaps the happiest manner by the formation of the " John Ray Society " in the Michaelmas Term, 1924. S. Catharines Society Magazine. 15
Professor Biffin took the chair at the inaugural meeting, and the Society was formed with the object of providing for the Philosophical and Scientific interests of the College. This was to be attained by the reading of Papers of a non-technical character, written either by members of the Society or by visitors.
Already at General Meetings, among others, the privilege has been offered of hearing Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, Prof. Macbride, Dr. E. S. A. Marshall, Dr. F. A. E. Crew and Prof. Seward.
Though scarcely three years old, the Society has flourished since the day of its inception, and fully justified the opinion that some such organization was required. If the manner of its administration so far, becomes a tradition, there is little fear for its future success.
The Debating Society.
HE Debating Society has gradually acquired the unenviable position of a body T designed to be at once useful and entertaining. Sometimes the balance is difficult to maintain. There are times when the J.C.R. is re-upholstered and painted, but no one debates there, others when debates are frequent but in chaotic surroundings.
Two traditions have been handed down in the Society which usually provide the most entertaining evenings of the year. In the Fellows' and Visitors' Debates the Society comes into contact with something more vital than the still vexed question of the irregularities of the J.C.R. clock. The last Visitors' Debate was held a year ago now, when Mr. John Drinkwater, Mr. Philip Guedalla, and certain prominent members of the University debated on the relative values of Fiction and History. A Fellows' Debate was held last Michaelmas Term when the Dean and Mr. T. R. Henn opposed Mr. L. F. Newman, on the question of the value of popular education.
Other debates during the year have not been so productive of good speakers as was to be hoped, though both the speakers and their subjects have touched heights and depths as far apart as the place of the individual in Society and the preference of gentlemen for blondes. On the whole the Society has tended to produce talkers before debaters, and the tradition of debates has been towards intelligent conversation before epigramatic rhetoric. Thus the Society, while providing few speakers for the Union, provides opportunities for discussion open to those who have opinions as well as those who have the wit to express nothing well. It is certainly fulfilling a good purpose. 16 S. Catharine's Society Magazine.
Some Reminiscences of Cambridge and S. Catharine's near the Middle of last Century.
S one of the few surviving Alumni of S. Catharine's from near A the middle of the last century, I am venturing (at the kind invitation of the Editor) to record some of my reminiscences, although I fear I have nothing of striking importance to relate. Men who enter the University now can hardly imagine what it was some sixty years ago. There was no Girton College, no Newnham, and not even a Selwyn. The idea of women competing with men and taking degrees was only just beginning to be imaginable. There were no motors, and not even a bicycle. The first bicycle I ever saw on a public thoroughfare was in Paris a year or two after I had gone down, although I believe " bone-shakers " were already in existence.
S. Catharine's itself has not much changed outwardly, although it has lost the shade of the beautiful elms in front. The Hall had then only recently been Gothicized (or Tudorized). The intention was, I believe (if there had not been an outcry), to treat the Chapel and perhaps the whole of the Front Court in the same way. It certainly altered the unique character of the building, which (as I understand) Ruskin declared to be the most perfect thing of its kind in Cambridge.
As regards the personnel of the College, it is a remarkable fact that while nearly all my contemporaries in statu pupillari have passed beyond the veil, two of the Dons are still living. Much as I dislike the use of the first personal pronoun, readers will, I am sure, pardon its almost unavoidable intrusion in what follows.
I entered S. Catharine's as a Freshman, in October, 1868. My only distinction was that of having previously graduated at Oxford in Music (Mus. Bac), which I did at the age of 19. It was this probably, as well as the friendship of the late A. W. Spratt (then recently elected to a Fellowship), which secured me the Choral Scholarship. My S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 17 predecessor (owing, apparently, to a too luxuriant growth of "wild, oats ") had unfortunately been compelled to vacate before the normal time. He is said on one occasion to have spiked himself on the College railings in an effort to avoid a too frequently recurring gate fine.
It was, perhaps, a blow to my youthful vanity that I was advised not to appear in Chapel in my Oxford Hood, which at that time (it has been changed since) was a very pretty one, light blue lined with white fur.
The College itself at that period was rather under a cloud, by reason of sinister rumours respecting the election of the then Master (C. Kirkby Robinson). These rumours were, I believe, quite ill- founded. The Master, however, was never elected to the office of Vice-Chancellor.
Among the undergraduates of my time was Norman Moore, who later on gained great distinction in the medical profession, and indeed in general knowledge. When I went up he was a fourth year man, and fourth year men had not much to say to freshmen. Later on, when I was a Minor Canon at St. Paul's, he used frequently to attend the Cathedral services. His main work was in connection with St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and he eventually was elected President of the Royal College of Physicians and was made a Baronet.
I do not think that any of my contemporaries became men of special mark. Among my closest friends were J. Skinner Wilson, who eventually became Dean of St. Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, and A. Janson Smith, later Head Master of King Edward's School, Birmingham. He enjoyed the friendship of Shorthouse, the author of John In§lesant. Another friend was George Sarson, who, although not particularly distinguished as a scholar, was a man of good intelli- gence and strong character. He was for a time Curate of St. Martin's in the Fields, and belonged to a Society of young clergy of liberal tendencies, which at the time attracted considerable attention in London. Among its members were Stuart Headlam, H. C. Shuttleworth, and the present Archbishop of Canterbury, then Domestic Chaplain to 18 S. Catharine's Society Magazine.
Archbishop Tait. Afterwards, as Vicar of Holy Trinity, Dover, Sarson came into conflict with the Borough Council because he spoke very plainly on what he thought some of their corrupt practices. On the whole the men in my day were quiet and orderly. I can only remember one serious outbreak, when, in order to show their resentment against a man who refused to join the Boat Club, they " made hay " of his room, i.e. upset and probably damaged his furniture.
The position of the College Boat on the river at that period was not such as to be proud of. As far as I can remember, it was rather low in the second division. The University boat itself had been suffering a series of defeats at the hands of Oxford, and was then only just beginning (under Goldie as stroke) to regain lost ground.
Old Munsey, the College butler, used to tell some wonderful stories about the College in earlier days, known at that period as the " Hunting College " (though commonly described as Catharine Hall). One of these stories regarding a hunting man (too long to relate here) was quite romantic.
Among the varieties of men in my day were one or two particularly conspicuous for religious zeal. There was one man especially, no doubt genuinely devout, but sadly wanting in discretion, who, on one occasion asked a number of his fellows to his rooms for a social gathering, and when they were beginning to get a little hilarious, suddenly got up and said, " Let us Pray." There was of course a stampede.
The College Dons (apart from the Master, already spoken of) were the Rev. E. T. S. Carr, A. W. Spratt (a distinguished Classical Scholar), and the Rev. G. F. Browne, Lecturer and Chaplain (late Bishop of Bristol), who, being married, could not hold a fellowship or reside in College. He used to lecture to the freshmen on Mathematics, which he did in a most businesslike way. I can still picture his coming into the room turning on his heel and saying at once " Question One." Question One in those days being not infrequently a rider on Euclid. He was considered rather stiff and donnish in his manner, S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 19
but was perhaps, the most respected of all the Dons. I was brought into relationship with him later, when I was Succentor (i.e. in charge of the Choir and Music) at St. Paul's, and he became Canon and Bishop of Stepney. My own recollection or impression of College Dons generally in those days was not very favourable. They seemed to be unduly given to gaudies and conviviality, and to concern themselves very little with the moral well-being of the men under them. Many a young man might, I felt, have been helped on, or at any rate saved from collapse, with a little more sympathy or interest on the part of those in authority.
There were some notable leaders in the University : J. B. Lightfoot (afterwards Bishop of Durham) ; I had the privilege of attending some of his lectures on Greek Testament, but alas ! I was not sufficiently a scholar to appreciate a disquisition of some forty minutes duration on a Greek particle. Then there was F. D. Maurice—a suspect on the part of many contemporary Churchmen—but a fine intellect and a man of noble character. I attended some lectures of his on Moral Philos- ophy, and even if I did not profit as I might have done from his instruc- tion, to have sat under him was in itself an inspiration. The religious aspect of Cambridge sixty years ago was not exhilarating. The only Church in which there was regularly an early service on Sunday was St. Clement's, where Mr. Wood (who is still alive and Vicar) was then Curate. His spare figure in contrast with the rotundity of Mr. Ward, then Vicar, was I fear, not unfrequently the occasion of somewhat irreverent mirth. The only other Church which exhibited distinct signs of life was All Saint's, where H. M. Luckock (afterwards Principal of Ely Theological College, and later Dean of Lichfield) was Vicar. The sermons of Harvey Goodwin, Vicar of St. Edward's, and later Bishop of Carlisle, used to attract large congregations. The services in College Chapels were mostly very dull, if not slovenly; excepting King's, Trinity and St. John's, very few had musical services, or even an organ in use. It used to be said of Caius, where 20 S. Catharine's Society Magazine. there was no organ, that the Dons, having a gaudy on every day in the year except one, sold the organ to endow that one. St. Catharine's made some laudable efforts in the way of musical services, and the Chaplain (Mr. Browne) used to intone his part, though, it must be said, not always in perfect tune. The organ then stood on the floor of the Ante- Chapel against the West wall. Besides some of the undergraduates, there was a choir of boys, drawn, I think, mostly from Barnwell. In my last year (with the consent of my own College authorities) I was invited to form a Choir and play the organ at Pembroke, which I did so far as the times of services did not clash. There was a new tutor at Pembroke that year (1870), C. E. Searle (Master in 1880), as well as a newly elected fellow (Geo. Henderson), and they were both keen on a musical service. Until then the organ had long been silent and was quite out of repair. The Master (J. Power) was of a very old fashioned type, and wore a white necktie so copious that the Master's Lodge, then opposite Peterhouse (now I believe belonging to the latter) was commonly called the laundry. It is impossible to conclude these memories of a period long past, when the number of men in College was less than a third of what it is now, without reference to the wonderful growth and development of S. Catharine's in later years. A knowledge of its actual condition acquired chiefly by hearsay or an occasional visit, is, of course, only superficial. But it is such, I am sure, as to give to its former sons great cause to be proud and to rejoice, and to feel grateful that its destinies seem to be eatrusted to such wise and competent keeping.
W. RUSSELL.
The Early Eighties. HEN I was asked to put down some random reminiscences for w the Society, I was in a difficulty, not from lack of material, but because I remember such an appalling amount. However, on calm consideration, it seemed that the most practical thing would be to S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 21
recall the events of my own undergraduate career, and leave the other seventeen years of my experience to other and younger scribes.
The first impression that the College created in me was one of absolute comfort, contrasted with the vast open spaces and spartan simplicity of Haileybury, the scene of the previous five years. Other people may have groused, but I, for one, thought that I had fairly fallen on my feet when I ate my first dinner in Hall, and rose with a feeling of repletion to which I had hitherto been a stranger. We were small in number, but quite a family party ; there were eleven in my year, quite a large crowd when you consider that the second year numbered the ideal seven, but they were a good seven, who included two first classes and a Smith's Prizeman.
I could write pages about the Dons, but I must be concise :— There was (1) the Master, who can best be described in a line of sacred song as " courteous, pitiful, and kind." I certainly found him all three. Robinson was a tragic figure ; the old stories of the election in '61 were still going strong ; he did not deserve a tithe of what was said about him, for (and I state it confidently), the whole affair was a tissue of misunderstandings. A more hot-headed or combative nature would have fought the matter and settled it one way or the other, but he was not the man for that ; the memory he has left me is that of a fine gentleman who had found things out of joint and could not put them right.
E. T. S. Carr was Tutor—kindly, scholarly, and occasionally drastic. I certainly found him to be the latter on one historic occasion over which we will draw the tactful veil. Before he left the College he enjoyed much and well deserved popularity in the University ; he was one of the best of hosts and has done many kind things which have never reached the light of day, and I imagine, is still doing them.
But the man who will always claim the largest share of my affection and gratitude is A. W. Spratt, who has done me more good turns than all the rest of my acquaintances put together. Had it been required I 22 S. Catharine's Society Magazine. could have filled this magazine with my recollections of him. Spratt was inimitable, whether in his coaching room, which attracted about half the Classical Tripos, or dealing with people he did not like (and they were not few), or sitting at the head of his dinner table, or walking with Red Morgan, or telling the latest story from his beloved Norfolk, there was no one like him and there never will be. Now and then some of his ancedotes sounded almost too good to be true, and, like all great raconteurs, he could make a bad story into a good one, but let me quote just one fact. Spratt always said that he could hit in his youth. Now stories of big hits are sometimes received with incredulity, so I asked Fitch, a man a few years senior to me, what he knew about it, and I got what I wanted. Fitch said that one day when he was in a net at Fenners, Spratt was standing behind, he must have been getting on for forty and out of practice, and was, of course, not in flannels : he asked Fitch what sort of bat he had got hold of and tried it. The first shot he lifted right across the ground ; I derived great comfort from this. But we must hasten on to a very different personage, Professor Lumby, majestic, ponderous, and omniscient ; the latter trait is best illustrated by the classic story of the second hand wooden leg ; I wonder if it is still in being. I know that Cambridge stories die hard.
Pretor was a bird of very different plumage; had he been obliged to work hard he would have made a great name as a classic of the old school ; few men could talk classical shop to better advantage, but Cambridge saw very little of him. He was a near neighbour of mine when I came into Dorset and till his death I saw him often. He was always hospitable, always realised that a walk of two miles must make a guest very thirsty, and did many kindnesses to his poorer friends.
The remaining don of my youth I saw about twice : W. E. Turn- bull. He was one of H.M. Inspectors of Schools, and much liked by those who knew him, but to me he was but a name.
Bishop Browne was not a Fellow, but he was the best known man in Cambridge. Mr. Heitland's delightful book perpetuates the saying about him and I will not spoil it by quoting from memory. S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 23
(As Mr. W. E. Heitland's book, " After Many Years," is not perhaps, very widely known, we quote the story to which Mr. Conway writes ;— Well do I remember a conversation I heard between two resi- dents. A. "I met a foreigner in the streets, who asked me to show him the University. I didn't know what to do, what would you have done?" B. " I should have introduced him to G. F. Browne."—Ed.)
It will interest later generations to hear that he occupied Mr. Rushmore's rooms on 'C' staircase, and utilised them for the official home of the Cambridge Locals. His College office was that of Chaplain. He has done me many a good turn, and if he reads this, I take the opportunity of thanking him most heartily.
It was in my second year that W. T. Southward came back into residence ; he, perhaps, has been the most familiar figure to his genera- tion. For many years he had to deal with irregularities of Chapel keeping and similar crimes. If he had not been so kind he would have been more potent, but he had an irresistible tendency to believe everything that was told him ; yet the College owes him a great debt. As Spratt and Pretor gave the College its Classical fame, so Spratt and Southward inspired the musical tradition. But what a time we had at practices ; Southward rapping a futile baton down below till Spratt's Olympian thunder from the heights of the organ reduced him to comparative inertia. I am wandering out of my period as bad historians will, but I wonder whether Mr. Rushmore remembers an incident connected with the Diamond Jubilee and a practice which never happened.
But before leaving the officials of the College I must not forget the butler, Munsey. If ever a man looked his part it was he ; immaculate linen and broadcloth, a high choker collar and black stock, topped by a very broad brimmed and episcopal silk hat. Had Munsey " walked in " as the faithful family retainer in any piece he would have ensured 24 S. Catharine's Society Magazine.
a run. He and I were always very good friends, and more than once I was successful in finding him in the act of decanting sherry. What could he do but ask my opinion of it ? Certainly, a very great man. The men of my early days were a very nice lot ; the different years kept themselves apart in spite of small numbers, but nowhere could a freshman have had a kindlier welcome. Space forbids me to say much of them individually, but they were a keen, patriotic crowd, who were ready to turn out for the College at any game going whether they could play it or not. One man must be mentioned, J. M. Thornton, for many years Mathematical Master at Blundell's. Thornton was a born financier and a great organiser. He became boat captain when the Club owed £90 (there was no Amalgamation then), and no bump had been seen for about three years. He got the debt paid off, he started an upward move which produced seven bumps in the next twelve nights, and ought never to have been allowed to leave Cambridge. He would have been the Bursar of a century. But perhaps the chief tribute to his fame may be found in the fact that he got the present writer through his additional. But there was one fly in the ointment ; we had too many migrates. These gentlemen appeared for about three terms, ate, worshipped, and did nothing else. They did us no good and in some cases much harm. College discipline was in some ways stricter but in others far more lenient. We were supposed to keep three or four, I forget which, Chapels in the week and two on Sunday, but it was possible to crash perennially in examinations without official notice. The Chapel was bare and rather dingy ; the organ small, and in the Ante-Chapel, where the choir boys put on their surplices, an organ scholar was responsible; he had the boys to work on and any volunteers he could pick up. As they seldom practised the result was small. C. M. Wood officiated in my early days; as he was very keen, an old Harrovian, a good oar and able to play any game he liked, he made things go. He was one of the best. One great attraction of Chapel was the lighting arrangement, an ingenious system of dummy candles which were really gas jets ; by adroit manipulation S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 25 it was possible to turn them off and on at one spin, an irresistible attraction for idle worshippers. Sermons on the whole were dull; the Master's tour de force, called by Spratt the Nautical Almanac Sermon, was frequently served up ; this was an ingenious disquisition on the date of the Nativity, fortified by astronomical allusions. Many of Southward's discourses achieved fame, especially some preached at commemoration, but space forbids quotation.
Life in those days was not so crowded as it is now. To begin with there was practically no Society other than male for the average under- graduate. In three years I suppose I received about three invitations, and, if possible, forgot to go. The new statutes had not been long in force; there were not many married University people outside the highest circles, and so we kept very much to our own company. Besides this, our small numbers made those of us who took part in College affairs very busy people ; there was much doubling of parts, and it was quite possible to hold office in four or five different clubs or societies ; this was arduous but most useful, and an invaluable training for after life. There were two pianos in the College, and in that prehistoric age, not a single bicycle.
As regards games the first thing to remember is that every club was independent, there was no amalgamation (the history of its intro- duction is interesting, and, from some points of view, a story of intrigue, plots and counter plots, but time fails me to tell of the wire pulling, and the free lunches and other devices to drag voters to the poll); the natural result was that every Club was in debt, or only just afloat. The Boat was the chief centre of patriotism ; by the system of that time there were three divisions, the first and second rowed in the Mays, the second and third in the Lents, so we, as a second division boat, appeared twice annually. We were very good at the beginning of my time ; in May, 1883, we had six first boats below us : Emmanuel, King's, Queen's, Peterhouse, Sidney, and Magdalene. E. G. Cull, now an ex-Chaplain, R.N., stroked us, an excellent oar and a cheery soul, who might have been tried in higher company. 26 S. Catharine's Society Magazine.
The only other games when I joined were football and tennis. Football was only of the Soccer variety, but at that time it was quite as popular as the other code. We played on a narrow and precipitous ground along side the Graduates' Tennis Club, better known perhaps as the "Cock and Hen." We started Rugger my first term, and Soccer died for three years or so; then it revived, thanks largely to Freddy Brewer who had appeared with the old Preston North End side, and Rugger waned. The two games got fairly going again about 1892 and since then have carried on side by side. Tennis was the only thing to do in the summer, cricket having gone bankrupt a year or two before. We had three courts at the top of the football field, but except for one or two experts, we were not convincing.
In the June of '83, we started cricket again, the original club having crashed about three years before. We had twelve men up, about six of us played, and we whipped up sundry out-college people and had very good fun. We won one match against a Trinity L.V. team including the present Vice-Provost of Eton and Professor Postgate. I seem to remember bowling both of them. In the next May Term our effort had roused dormant interest and the Club was regularly started, includ- ing the blazer ; it may interest present cricketers to know that the official designation of the Colours was claret and blotting paper pink. The late Dr. Swinstead v/as a very keen and competent performer, but there was no ground till '93 or so. Matches had to be played on the Piece or on other people's grounds, which did not simplify fixtures, but we did quite well.
The sports had also been in suspense, needless to say for financial reasons, but in '83 we revived to some purpose and in the next four seasons four of us had represented the University, and three are still alive to tell the tale. Societies were few. The Debating Society was the only one when I came up, and it also ran the Reading Room which was the Lecture Room as well : C. Staircase, opposite Mr Rushmore's present rooms. We debated in different men's rooms, and there was rather a rush to S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 27 secure first place in the armchairs. Debates were taken seriously, and the terminal motion " That this Society do take in the Sporting Times," was always virtuously routed. In my second or third year a super- select society "The Wodelarks " was floated. Their numbers were limited to twelve, and as at least twelve more thought themselves the intellectual equals of the chosen few (and we made ourselves very unpleasant) it naturally died early and its place was taken by the present Literary Society.
Such were the modest distractions of our simple life, but one or two more details may be added. Hall was at 5.30 in the winter terms and at 2.10 in the May Term ! This, at any rate, gave long evenings, and was not bad if you wanted to work. Dress was more conventional. No one ever thought of appearing outside the College, even to go to a Coach, unless complete with hat, stick and often gloves. At Fenners a boy was always on duty on sports and match days, bellowing from morn till eve "Stick in the rack, Sir ! " Most people put on Sunday clothes, generally a tail coat, and to wear a gown without a cap, even in your own college, was practically unknown. Cap and gown on Sunday was strictly observed; if you wanted to go abroad without them you had to choose the most secluded ways till you were clear of the town. But things were gradually easing up, and in '83 we tried for a later hall. A College meeting was held in someone's rooms and a motion proposed to petition for a ' seven hall.' It was urged in opposition that five hours was too long to go from lunch to dinner ; someone rose and tentatively suggested afternoon tea. This brought to his legs our then intellectual light, who since adorned the see of Gibraltar as its very excellent Bishop. In a voice quivering with emotion he expressed his abhorrence and regret that he had heard mentioned, in a Cambridge College, such an effeminate institution as afternoon tea. Can anything show better autres temps, autres moeurs? R. R. CONWAY. 28 S. Catharine's Society Magazine.
1882-1885. T would probably be difficult for those knowing S. Catharine's only I in its present overflowing state, to realise what the internal life or the College was in the thirty years preceding 1886. Far easier it is to understand the part taken by the College in its outdoor competition with other Colleges. At no time were there more than sixty under- graduates, and for most of the period, numbers varied between thirty and fifty. As, however, the College could accommodate within its walls all or nearly all its men, small numbers were no disadvantage from the point of view of study or of corporate life.
For recreation, a small College had, of necessity, to concentrate largely on some one branch of sport, and circumstances seem to have determined that that should be rowing. Then, as now, men were usually proficient in cricket and football when they came up, and a small College could expect to attract no more than an occasional good man. On the other hand, few entered with any real knowledge of rowing, and it is possible for a man of ordinary physique to become a respectable oar in a few terms. Moreover, rowing is supremely suitable as an exercise for students, and until 1884 was, with the exception of cricket and athletics, the only sport considered worthy of the Full Blue.
Other forms of recreation were not by any means neglected, but it was understood that these were not to interfere unduly with the work of the boat. Such was the tradition of the College in 1882, a tradition, held, there is reason to think, for many years previously. Otherwise it is difficult to account for the successful attempt made in 1863 to get a Third Boat on the river, the College then having less than forty men.
From 1852, at least, S. Catharine's had always taken part in the boat races, and in the Mays of 1855 the boat went up from third of the Second Division to twelfth in the First and retained its place in the First Division for some years. In the Lent races of 1872 the boat went head of the Second Division, keeping its place throughout the Mays and taking part in no less than fourteen races in the two terms. S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 29
Every interested member of the College will cherish the remem- brance of some incident of the river. The writer recalls with as much- pleasure as an equal number of bumps could afford, two gruelling races in Lent, 1883, when Peterhouse, with a good and heavy crew, drew up to S. Catharine's on two successive nights at First Post Corner and, though never more than a few feet away and many times overlapping, failed to make their bump. Is the spectacle of four boats close together a rare one ? Such a thing happened in the 1884 Lent races at a spot some 300 yards below the Railway Bridge. Cavendish, S. Catharine's, Queen's and Selwyn were the boats concerned. S. Catharine's bumped Cavendish hard into the bank and athwart the stream on the Barnwell side, Queen's just failing to make a bump in time found themselves in a cul-de-sac, and Selwyn, rowing past on the open side, claimed a bump.
In other forms of sport, members of the College from time to time earned distinction in 'Varsity contests. The first official record of University Athletic Games shows that in 1860, for instance, Mason, of S. Catharine's, was first in the 100 yards, 440 yards, High Jump and Long Jump, and Second in the Half Mile. In 1861, Mason was First in the Hurdles and Second in the Weight and repeated his success in the 100 yards, 440 yards and Long Jump. Others took part in 'Varsity Cricket, Cross Country Running, in Athletics again and in the Rifle Volunteer Corps. T. BROWN.
1906-1909. WENTY-ONE years ago, when I came up, S. Catharine's, like T several other colleges now flourishing, was just emerging from one of those periods of stagnation which occur in the lives of communities as well as of individuals. As in Venice (where this is written) so in those days at S. Catharine's, one had the feeling of being the unworthy inheritor of a more ample past. 30 S. Catharine's Society Magazine.
There were then about eighty members of the College in residence. My own year, 1906, numbered twelve. For the most part we were as modest in circumstances as in numbers, but the fact of our being so few made it unnecessary for anyone to be left outside the full activities of college life. Whether true or not I do not know, there was a tradition that in comparatively recent days S. Catharine's had been rather a " blood " College. The gyp of " E " staircase, Newell, quite the most dignified figure of his kind in the whole University, used to recall with complacent melancholy the greater spaciousness of bygone days. He was a tall, portly man, red-faced, with an important voice, and the bearing of a duke's butler, who, as a bull-dog, could make the most insignificant proctor look like a State procession. " I remember the day, Sir," Newell would say in his dignified aldermanic manner, " when, if the S. Catharine's gentlemen 'adn't come up, the drag'ounds couldn't go out. Queen's Lane would be full of our gentlemen's 'orses on a 'unting morning." Such reminiscences of vanished splendour, even if apocryphal, created in our minds that pride of past which is the best foundation for affection towards an institution. With us it was not a case of the 'Varsity Drag being held up for lack of a full attendance of S. Catharine's men, but of our own teams. The Rugger XV. and Soccer XL had many members in Common, and one or two rowed in the Boat as well. Yet weakness of numbers did not discourage enterprise. In 1908, at the end of my second year, the Boat, having done well in the Mays, went to Henley, and made a creditable showing in the Thames Cup. Of our small freshmen's year of twelve, one, Reggie Davies, was given the first Rowing Blue that the College, I believe, had ever received. He is now a distinguished officer in the Sudanese Civil Service, and, when I saw him in Khartoum at the end of 1924, was coping with the consequences of a mutiny of the Sudan Army in the same humorous and efficient way as he handled the affairs of the S. Catharine's Boat Club in such financial crises as the procuring of a new lightship and a house at Henley nineteen years ago. S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 31
Another member of our year, Maltby, known as "Pink 'Un," from his youthful complexion, only narrowly missed a Soccer Blue. He was a man of few words, rather older than the ordinary under- graduate. His end, a few years later, was a grim one. He had been appointed to the Colonial Service and was an Assistant District Com- missioner somewhere in the Nigerian " bush." Service requirements took him into a disaffected area shortly after a Governor-General's order had prohibited armed escorts for Political Officers. The result was that Maltby, with all his carriers, was massacred, and when a punitive expedition, months later, reached the place, " Pink 'Un's " head was found impaled on the top of a tree. In 1906, indeed, we had touched the bottom of the College curve of depression. The year that followed saw a vigorous entry of keen men, and from that time onward, I believe, the ascent to S. Catharine's present size and prosperity has been continuous. This we owe, I am convinced, not so much to any growth of undergraduates virtues as to a new spirit among the dons. In my undergraduate days the regime at S. Catharine's still had much of the picturesqueness and inefficiency of the eighteenth century. The Master had held office since 1865. He was certainly in his dotage, and was belived to reach the Chapel from his Lodge on Sunday only by the persistence of forty-year-old habit. In the rest of the College life he took no part. Sometimes one saw him crossing the bridge at the foot of Silver Street, mounted on an old, steady-pacing cob. Behind him walked a manservant, whose function it was, we understood, to pick the Master up when, in the feebleness of extreme old age, he rolled off his mount. The Dean was the controlling personality of the College, a thoroughly eighteenth century type of don, scholarly, gouty, with a cultivated taste in wine and a power of vituperative expression which scared some people and offended others. He was a man of good heart but short temper, of large frame, with big red face, sandy whiskers and a hobbling walk. In all matters of College discipline he was a martinet, and his rebukes were uttered in a whisper which gave them a character of intense ferocity. It was the general belief that he had once ordered 32 S. Catharine's Society Magazine.
a President of Queen's off the grass in Cat's. The Tutor on the other hand, was mild and ineffective. The Bursar, even then an old man, we hardly saw. The hand of age lay too heavily on the College in those days of twenty years ago. It was by the rise to authority of a younger generation of Fellows, that the stagnation in which S. Catharine's had been held was dissipated, and a new impulse given to the life of our venerable and well-loved House. G. WARD PRICE.
The College and its Future.
N 1908 the College had twenty freshmen, the smallest entry in the I University. It then began to grow in numbers and credit until 1913, when there were forty freshmen and fourteen Blues of various kinds. Then came the War which put an end to University life for four years. It was to be feared that our prosperity was of such recent growth that it would not survive. The better known Colleges could regard the future with more confidence. The post war rush brought eighty-four freshmen into residence, and fortunately some of the pre- war undergraduates came back to finish their interrupted course and to give continuity to College life and tradition, whilst among the new- comers were many who were well qualified to keep S. Catharine's in the forefront of studies and sports. This happy mixture of the old and the new gave the College a new lease of life, and it has never looked back since. The number in residence has settled down to about two hundred. Last year there was great difficulty in keeping the admissions within the proper limits, and this year the rejected applicants are still more numerous. It is clear from this that the buildings which were accustomed to house sixty undergraduates are altogether inadequate for two hundred. " The place where we dwell is too strait for us." S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 33
The first need, then, is fresh buildings. Ultimately it will be accessary to own the whole island site enclosed by Trumpington Street, Silver Street, Queen's Lane, and King's Lane. But for the present it will be sufficient to deal with the ground already in our possession, and there is ample room to add two wings to the present main court without destroying its open character. The cost of building at the present day has given the Governing Body pause. However, it is realised that an extraordinary effort must soon be made to raise a Building Fund of very great size. If a benefactor comes along so much the better, but it is no good waiting till he appears. It will be safer tor rely upon our own exertions. It is a supreme need, and when the call is made surely our alumni will do their best to answer it in the spirit of our seventeenth century ancestors who gave us the present buildings. For the College deserves a bigger habitation. Not only is the present population more than treble that of twenty years ago, but the general estimation in which the College is held has been raised very considerably. It can now hold its own in every branch of University activity, and it is not going too far to say that public opinion expects it to enlarge its borders.
The fact that the College is now as good as any in Cambridge, and better than most, is gradually becoming known to the Public Schools where new ideas are of tardy birth and slow growth. The bulk of schoolmasters still think of Cambridge as it was in their day. Of recent years a certain number of S. Catharine's men have taken up Public School work and we want more to do so. Propaganda of a decent and correct kind is always useful, and it should be undertaken by our men as by those of other Colleges. Moreover, in the world generally much good can be done by the word in season. There is no need for shame when one speaks with one's enemy in the gate.
F. M. RUSHMORE.
S. Catharine's Society Magazine. 35
HE hills touch heaven and thence we climb T Through bright orchis and wild thyme To greet the golden crest and be Swathed in the bands of mystery.
And merging through the cloud and mist, The sun, God's great evangelist, Engraves upon the morning skies A lovelier law than Sinai's.
All glorious with gold and red,— Lo ! as thy Lord is perfected Thou shalt be perfect—even so
L. B. TOWNER.
Kings Count their Treasuries.
INGS count their treasuries in yellow gold, K In old brown cities and in lands wide spread. Blue seas and mighty rivers do they hold To yield their feud of service ; and the tread Of fifty thousand horses and brave men Sounds when they cry to war, and young boys Turn eager from their playing to cruel death, when The war horns call with their imperious voice.
Yet I their subject envy not their powers, For within me are treasures that I keep Stored in untidy garners of the wind, Gathered from casual beauty of the hours. Old brick walls in the sun, and hounds that sleep, And the first cuckoo call, fresh down the summer wind.
J.B.CHUTTER. 36 S. Catharines Society Magazine.
Sonnet. BOUT the citadel that is your mind A How many bastions and walls are set, How many turrets guard the town behind, Bright with fed roofs, and flag and banneret. When from the hills my cavalcade of words Winds down to parley at the outer gate, The battlements are manned and starred with swords, And my poor speech turns back disconsolate. Why is your heart so watched, your thought defended ? Why are my heralds so ineloquent? There is too much in these their words intended That you should thus frustrate their true intent ;— Down then, throw down your doors, my travellers bring Uncounted treasure from their journeying. C. R. ALLISON.
Evensong. ARTH like a green cathedral close E Keeps silence 'neath the lofty sky Where beautiful benediction flows From evensong in eternity. Deep within deep screeneth the day Under the glowing warmth of night, More spacious as the far array Of summer stars looms large and bright. Light dies in light, and thought is free Beyond the wont of word and rhyme. Betrothed unto eternity We wait—the fitful guests of Time. L. B. TOWNER.
CRAMPTON & SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, SAWSTON, CAMBS, CONTENTS.
PAGE Editorial 2-4
News of the Society 4-7
College Notes 7,8
Boat Club 8,9
Rugby 9-11
Association 11
Hockey 11
Fives 12
Athletics 12
Tennis 12
Golf Club 12
The Societies, Shirley and John Ray 13-15
Debating Society 15
Articles by former members of the College :
(1) Canon W. Russell 16-20
(2) R.R. Conway 20-27
(3) T.Brown 28,29
(4) G.Ward Price 29-32
The College and its Future, by F. M. Rushmore 32, 33
Verse 34-36