What was a lochgelly tawse and who would have used one?

Answer 1

The Lochgelly tawse was a leather strap used to inflict corporal punishment on Scottish school pupils. The belt had 2 or 3 tails and came in a variety of weights and sizes. If a pupil was deemed to have misbehaved to the extent that he required corporal punishment he would receive between 1 and six strokes of the belt on the palms of his hands. The pupil would be instructed to raise both hands with one resting on top of the other. The teacher would place the strap on the pupil's hands to judge the distance of the strokes. He would raise the belt over his shoulder and then with a very sharp and forceful movement would bring the tawse down on to the pupil's fingers and palms. The belt was specifically designed to cause instant and ferocious pain to the hands and even one stroke was difficult to endure. Despite this it was certainly quite common for boys in particular to be given six strokes with the tawse for almost any minor or major offence. Beltings were in no way an unusual phenomenon and it was possible to witness many beatings during a school term. The sound of a belting could be heard through classroom walls and a distinctive sharp slapping noise provided evidence of an ongoing punishment. Most boys endured the very painful punishment stoically though a small minority would find it hard to maintain their composure during the beating. The pain lasted for up to an hour or more and the hands could feel tender for well over a day. Most male teachers in particular used very considerable force when administering the tawse.

The tawse was used in Scotland's schools from before the 17th century. As that time it was a leather strap with 4 to 6 tails slit to about one third of the length of the tawse and was applied across the buttocks. With the arrival of state education for all in 1872 and the admission of girls, it was felt more appropriate that the tawse, or belt, was applied to the palms of the hands.

The first Scottish firm to design a school belt, 27" long, 1 1/4" wide, 7mm thick and with 2 tails for almost half the length, specifically designed for use on the hands was Robert Philp in Lochgelly, Fife from c.1885. He perfected the design and demand for his product developed by word of mouth. His manager, Mr Heggie, continued to cut school tawse until 1945 but one of Mr Brownlee's apprentice saddlers, George Dick, left the firm and started his own saddlery business in Lochgelly, also making school tawse. They were also very effective and c.1951 he passed the firm on to his son John J. Dick, a master saddler. John developed from the school strap from a single 24" 2 tail model to a range of different models (Light, Medium, Heavy and Extra Heavy weights) with levels of severity, both 21" and 24" length and with 2 or 3 tails.

There were about 30 school strap makers in Scotland in the 1960's but about 70% of all teachers used a Lochgelly strap made by the Philp or Dick families. They were regarded at the finest examples of their type, most favoured by teachers, most feared by pupils. They would easily last 100 years and remain as efficient as when new.

The belt was used frequently in Scottish schools with the majority of boys receiving it on a regular basis. Boys of between 12 and 14 were belted more frequently than any other pupils and, as every classroom teacher was permitted to inflict corporal punishment, it was possible for a boy to to be belted twice or even three times in one day. Boys could be belted for all sorts of infringements of the school rules, for being late, for forgetting homework and for a variety of often very minor misdemeanours. The usual number of strokes varied from school to school but there appears to be some consensus that three was usual for minor offences and six for more serious ones though there is some evidence that 12 or more strokes were sometimes given. In a newspaper debate on whether or not the belt should be retained in Scottish schools, one headteacher reported that he had given a boy 12 strokes for stealing.

Pupils as young as five and as old as eighteen could be and were strapped. Some teachers were known for being particularly liberal with their use of the strap and could easily belt boys in almost every lesson. Many thousands of strokes of the tawse were given to Scottish schoolboys every year.

In his book, Musings of a School Teacher, Willie Young writes about giving the belt, 'As I pulled the belt down on that outstretched hand I did so with as much force as I could muster. I wanted to inflict the maximum pain on the recipient. I wanted to see the hurt in his face. Sometimes their hands would be red raw by the time I was finished with them'

Starting out as a school teacher he says he 'disagreed with the idea of hitting a pupil on the hand several times with a hard piece of leather strap'.

However, he began to use one and says, 'everyone staff and pupils alike, knew which teachers had the hardest belts, and to some members of staff it became a thing of pride to be able to boast that you had a real tough Lochgelly'.

Young describes an occasion when he belts a boy for not paying attention in class. At first the boy refuses to hold out his hands. Young forces his hands up and administers 'six of the best in front of the class, delivered as hard as I possibly could.'

Not only would a boy be suffering from acute pain in such circumstances he would also have been humiliated in front of his classmates. Being hit very hard by an adult man (or woman) on a number of occasions is not only painful but shameful and this was clearly the intention when teachers belted a boy in front of his peers. The shame could be increased by the teacher asking a boy to fetch a belt from a colleague. This would be used on the boy and after his beating he would be required to return the belt to the relevant teacher. Usually this involved the boy carrying a belt along the school corridor after having asked for the belt in front of a classroom full of pupils. This would happen when the teacher administering the punishment did not have a belt of his own or where it was thought the offence was deemed to require punishment with a heavier strap than the teacher administering the punishment possessed himself. Similarly a female teacher might send a boy to be belted by a more athletic male teacher. The boy would report to the male teacher and inform him that "Miss so and so has sent me to be belted."

Pupils were belted either in front of their classmates or in the corridor. Male teachers were more likely to belt than female ones and were usually more adept at giving hard strokes. Pupils who received the belt would be asked by their classmates to show the marks on their hands. These marks were caused by the tails of the belt and could be visible for sometime after the strap had been applied. The outline of the belt's tails were often visible on the palms and wrists and could still be there the day after the strapping had taken place.

Anyone who is able to examine a used Lochgelly tawse will notice the dark sweat stains at the belt's tails and at the handle end of the belt. A frequently used strap will be black with sweat.

The strap was banned from Scottish schools by August 1987 and the firm of John J. Dick of Lochgelly ceased production.