"There in his noisy mansion,skilled to rule
The village master taught his little school"
- From The Village Schoolmaster By Oliver Goldsmith.
My siblings and I attended a small rural village school in Ireland. There, the schoolmaster taught sixth and seventh class with an iron fist.
Life was difficult in the 50s and 60s and for most schoolchildren; seventh class was the end of the line educationally. To that end, he wanted to give a broad education so as to equip us for life with his considerable knowledge.
We always addressed him as "Sir" or "Master."
He taught Shakespeare, poems by the English poets - Byron, Wordsworth, etc - and a broad range of English Literature. He urged us to read, read, read and introduced us to a world of literature and poetry. He was adamant that we would have good grammar, speak properly and enunciate every word.
He would tell us: "Speak clearly if you speak at all / Carve every word before you let it fall."
We memorized reams of poetry which we recited in class while enunciating clearly. We wrote an essay weekly on a variety of subjects. The Master drilled us in geography and taught us about exotic places beyond the sea. At catechism class, every day we were like mini theologians as we rattled off the capital or deadly sins and the sins crying out to Heaven for vengeance.
The Master taught us that the Sassenach - the British - were the cause of all our troubles. He taught us about our sad history of Famine and the plundering and pillaging of humble homes at the hands of tyrants. He taught us that the Sassenach enacted a series of laws in the 17th century called The Penal Laws. These laws outlawed our beautiful Gaelic language and our Catholic faith, and attending school was strictly forbidden.
The love of education and religion was so strong that educators risked their lives and held what was known as Hedge schools. These were open-air venues in wooded areas. Priests held mass in woods and glens using large rocks for altars, even though there was a bounty on their heads for doing so. These mass rocks can be found throughout Ireland today. The Master let us know that we were lucky to have roofs over our heads for school and church.
The Master was very patriotic and made sure we knew about our Irish Patriots who shed their blood so that Ireland would be free of British shackles. We believed that we were standing on the shoulders of giants who had paved the way and had given their lives for our freedom. We felt that we owed them a debt of gratitude as we carried the weight of a wronged nation on our small shoulders.
The Master was a complicated man and we did not know from day to day what his mood would be like. But…
"We learned to trace
The days disaster in his morning face."
He had a mean streak and carried a stick which he used on students for minor infractions. With the unerring judgment of children, we learned it was best to stay out of the firing line on those days. Today, his actions would come under the heading of child abuse. We did not complain at home as the teacher was held next to God in power and glory. There was no child psychology in those days.
The Master was truly a Renaissance man and many students benefitted from his wealth of knowledge.
‘’And still the wonder grew
How one small head could carry all he knew’’
I did not like him, but I will grudgingly say that I can remember many things he taught, while I have long forgotten much of what I learned in later years.
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