AD 2022: Welcome Back Cane & Birch!

The Headmaster felt sure that once the school was made aware of the reintroduction of the rod, the prefects would feel cheated that they were no longer allowed to beat their classmates themselves. Mr. Moulton-Danvers was well aware that in the past, once elevated to the rank of prefect, boys usually became enthusiastic thrashers of the backsides of their fellows. This had been the norm at Rigby as in most public schools; but under the new regime the prefects would have to content themselves with giving out demerit slips and hoping that their classmates would accumulate enough demerits to merit a thrashing.

In one respect Rigby maintained its traditional approach: all boys would be thrashed on their bare arses; no trousers or underpants were to be worn; the cane and the birch would both bite directly into the bare flesh of a miscreant's buttocks. All this was as yet unknown to the pupils, all of whom had been born after the passing of benighted law abolishing corporal punishment. So as you can well imagine, a nasty shock awaited them on their return from the long summer vacation to start the new school year.

The first day of the autumn term arrived and the whole school was assembled as it did every morning in the main assembly for the traditional morning assembly. Things at Rigby had not really changed much over the years in spite of the changing face of the population due to the heavy immigration. But Rigby as a nominally Christian establishment had managed to retain its character due to the fact that it had did not have any immigrants in its intake. Other more famous public schools had always had a certain parentage of rich foreigners, many from the British colonies, who came to England to be given an education and to learn the manners of English gentlemen. Rigby, however, was not in that league; its entire intake was basically from the upper middle classes who were still rich enough to pay the eye-watering fees which the school charged.

So ostensibly Rigby paid lip service to the concept of a being a Christian School in what had become to all intents and purposes a secular society; in this context the morning assembly had a format which was more or less engraved in tablets of stone; nothing, absolutely nothing at all, had changed in the last hundred years. So after roll call each morning the entire school trouped into the Assembly Hall, to sing a hymn, say a prayer, hear a text for the day and a few comments on its meaning and to listen to the announcements made by the Headmaster, who always presided at these gatherings.

Bu this first day of the new school year was unlike others as the Headmaster went to great lengths to tell his charges that as of now the cane and birch would be in daily use in the school. Gone were all the laissez-faire attitudes which had crept in unobserved as discipline had slipped from the hands of the teaching staff. So the Headmaster, having explained precisely how the new regime would work and who was empowered to use the dreaded cane, went on to remind the boys that all the school rules which hitherto had been broken with impunity would, if ignored henceforth lead to very painful sanctions. In a word, miscreants would be beaten and beaten hard. The Headmaster closed his remarks by saying that the concept of Rigby Rigour would again rule the day. Most of the lads who were listening to this discourse had no idea what the expression "Rigby Rigour" meant; they would, however, soon find out as they went to bed nursing well-beaten arses.

The Assembly Hall had a balcony and the upper sixth formers always occupied the back row. The Headmaster was about to dismiss the gathering when a voice from on high and clearly from the back row said: "Is this guy serious? Whose leg is he pulling?" This was followed by a murmuring of the word "rhubarb" several times, followed by a sound in imitation of a fart.

"Stand up the boys in the back row of the balcony who have just made these remarks." There was no movement. The Headmaster repeated his order and added "If the culprits do not make themselves known in the next five seconds then I shall punish all the members of the upper sixth on the back row." There was a pause and then three lads stood up and acknowledged that they were responsible for the remarks.

The entire school stood below waiting with baited breath wondering what was now about to happen. "You three gentlemen will come to my study this evening at eight thirty precisely, when I shall punish you for your rudeness, I will not tolerate such comments and vulgar sounds as you have just uttered in front of the entire school, especially as we have today an intake of first formers on their very first day. There is no way in which I can let your remarks pass unpunished. And as you three will be the first to benefit from the reintroduction of the cane, then let me tell you that the correct attire for the type of meeting you will be attending this evening is your gym shorts and singlets; no underwear or socks to be worn; just wear slippers and as you will be coming from your separate houses you may wear a dressing gown. And the rest of you; I hope that you all heard and registered what I have just said; any boy summoned for punishment by me will wear the regulation kit I have just outlined. Any boy turning up in other than the appropriate attire will receive three extra strokes of the cane. I trust that that is clear to all of you. Now if there is nothing more, the assembly is now over and you may go to your classes."

The Headmaster was truly delighted that the three sixth formers, all three of them well-muscled members of rugby fifteen with good meaty buttocks just perfect for beating, had, by their stupid actions, given him the opportunity to thrash their arses that very evening: the very first day of the new term. What more could he have asked for? He knew he was alone among the entire teaching staff to have any experience of administering the cane, and he knew also that prior to 1998 when he had regularly thrashed arse, that he was generally considered as being the hardest caner in the school.

That distinction he had truly enjoyed for it seem to him right and proper that the Headmaster should be the person to be most feared by boys awaiting a thrashing. It was now twenty years since he had last addressed a boy's backside with the cane; but he knew, that in spite of this age, he was still quite capable of taking any supplicant to hell and back. Beating a boy across his naked arse with a cane was akin to swimming or riding a bicycle; once you had learned the technique it was there forever; and that evening he fully intended to give the three delinquent young men, for they were young men aged eighteen and in their final year at school, an experience which they had never before had and one which, after they had realised just how excruciatingly painful a beating could be, would never ever wish to repeat.

And so the Headmaster spent a pleasant half hour going through his stock of canes, which, as we know, in spite of the 1998 ban on their use, he had put away in a cupboard, hoping against hope that one day they would again be useful. And now, this very evening, his optimism was to be rewarded; the law had been changed and he was once again free to "correct" his pupils as he saw fit; and not to beat about the bush he intended to deal with the three lads with the utmost severity. He had every intention of sending them to bed with backsides which they could not bear to touch: backsides so sore that they would not be able to sleep on them or even bear the touch of a bed sheet on their freshly roasted flesh. Yes indeed, the three lads would find themselves sleeping on their stomachs that evening, with their naked arses exposed for their classmates to observe., This was indeed going to be a most instructive re-introduction of the cane to Rigby and the Headmaster had every intention of making it a memorable occasion.

The Headmaster looked over his canes, some twenty in number, many of which date back to his early years as a new master at the school and had seen sterling service. He finally selected an extra-long, some 40 inches, senior cane, which had seen more than twenty years' service before its forced "retirement" in 1998. It had always been his favourite instrument for thrashing the oldest boys in the two sixth forms. In its years of faithful service, the Headmaster estimated that he had beaten roughly 500 boys with this very instrument; and here it was today, still superbly flexible and in perfect condition: the ideal instrument with which to inaugurate the new regime this evening. He smiled contentedly to himself as he anticipated with considerable pleasure, a pleasure which he could never outwardly acknowledge, which the evening's proceedings would give him.

He almost salivated at the thought of seeing for the first time in twenty years, three, muscular, totally unblemished, virgin backsides, bent across the backs of three chairs, waiting with apprehension for the first stroke; their owners wondering what it would feel like. He felt a stirring in his trousers, just at the thought of what he was going to do to the three lads. Had any of them any idea of just how painful a beating could be? Just imagine it: three young men aged eighteen being forced to bare their arses to be caned for the very first time. For the Headmaster musing over the situation, it seemed like a gift from on high.

At the fatidic hour of eight thirty that evening the three rugby players were ushered by the Headmaster into his study. The young men had no idea what to expect and were wondering if this were not all a joke. A boy named Sutcliffe, evidently delegated to speak for the three of them began: "Headmaster, we are all extremely sorry for what happened this morning and we do most sincerely apologise to you for our unforgivable rudeness. You see sir, we none of us thought that you were serious about reintroducing the cane into the school. After all sir, it had been dropped more than twenty years ago, and we could not believe that you were intending to bring it back into use, sir. But now that we realise that everything you said this morning was for real (that was how he put it) we do not think it appropriate that it should be used on the sixth formers. After all sir, we in the upper sixth are all eighteen years old and are already young men in our own right and we do not think it proper that you that you should even think of beating any of us sir, and in the past sir, when the cane was in daily use over twenty years ago, it is our understanding that even the fifth formers were considered too old to be beaten."

The Headmaster listened stony face to these words, which amounted to nothing more than a plea for clemency. Had the three lads taken notice of the three chairs set out in the centre of the room, with the wicked looking cane sitting across the seat of one of them, they would have realised that they were wasting their breath.

"Gentlemen, as your spokesman has just so rightly said your rudeness at assembly this morning was quite unforgivable and let me tell the three of you it is not going to be forgiven quite as easily as you would like. But first let me disabuse you of another point. Rigby in the old days was one of the foremost exponents of corporal punishment among English public schools and all boys, from the entry year through to the upper sixth, prefects, House Captains and Head Boy included were subject, without exception, to the cane and the birch too if they merited it. I can tell you that on two occasions I personally birched the then Head Boys for offences they had committed. And as of now, that same all-inclusive regime still holds good; so gentleman, I am going to beat the three of you, whether you like it or not. Frankly it will a unique experience for the three of you to take your first beating in your final year at school; normally boys used to arrive here from their prep school aged thirteen, already well acquainted with the delights of the cane. So down to business, gentlemen; please step out of your gym shorts and each of you bend over the back of one of those three chairs there; any chair will do as you are all going to be beaten together."

At this instruction the three lads looked at one another in horror. Sutcliffe began: "But sir, you don't mean that you are intending to beat us on our bare buttocks, sir, do you? Surely not sir; it's not decent to ask us to bend half naked across a chair so that you can beat us; really sir, it's totally indecent sir; indeed sir, it's obscene; you cannot really be serious sir."

"I have never been more serious in my life, my dear Sutcliffe. Were the three of you unaware that here at Rigby, all beating, for the past one hundred and fifty years has always been done on the bare, which is the polite way it is normally put? Rigby has always followed the code of practice adopted by other leading public schools, all of which beat on the bare. And in the future, now that the use of the cane and the birch is again allowed, they will always be applied to a boy's naked buttocks. I trust I make myself clear. So kindly now do as I told you; step out of your shorts and bend across the chairs."

"Sir, I think that we, as sixth formers have the right to refuse to strip half naked in front of you, sir. What you suggest sir, is totally obscene. So I for one totally refuse to do what you ask and I suspect I speak for the three of us sir."

"Sutcliffe, in spite of your age, you are still pupils at this school until the end of this academic year. As such you will do as I say or be expelled from this establishment. I am not bluffing so do not test me; either you drop your shorts and bend across the chairs and take your well-deserved punishment on the bare, or you will be expelled. Think on it carefully; I mean what I say and if you are expelled, which I will do without hesitation if you defy me, then you will ruin your careers. Oh and one further point: your parents all approve of the re-introduction of the cane and the birch in this school. Did you know that? You have fifteen seconds to decide. Your future is in your own hands."

This little essay in brinkmanship was of course won by the Headmaster and he now found himself looking at three superbly muscled and beefy arses which were just crying out to be beaten. It would be his first use of the cane in over twenty years and the prospect was erotically exciting; he could feel himself hardening inside his trousers as he as he surveyed the superb globes of virgin flesh he was about to introduce for the first time to the cane. He wondered to himself if the three lads had any idea of just how painful an experience they were about to undergo.

He let the lads stew in their own juice for several minutes, bent uncomfortably across the chairs, their naked arses twitching with fear whilst he lectured them on the "delights" of what awaited them. He began by picking up the cane he intended to use and gave it a few swishes through the air to set the scene for what was to follow. "This cane, gentlemen, has been with me throughout my entire career as a master at Rigby. It is my very favourite senior cane which I selected from a dozen or so similar objects in 1983, now almost forty year ago, when I became junior mathematics master. It served me well throughout my entire career until it was forced into retirement by the benighted 1998 law outlawing the use of corporal punishment in the UK."

"As I took it out of store this afternoon, I estimated I had thrashed some 500 boys with this very instrument. And as you can see, it is just a supple and ready for use today as it was when I first acquired it. I suppose you could compare the ageing of a cane to that of a fine wine; both improve with age. Why do I tell you lads all this? Well I would hate you to think that as the first boys to benefit from the new law, a law of the new age of enlightenment one might say, that you had received anything other than the very best that Rigby can offer. Allow me to assure you gentlemen that the beating you are about to experience will truly be in the best tradition of Rigby Rigour: the Rolls-Royce of corporal punishment."

By this time the three supplicant lads were just wishing the Headmaster would shut up and get on with it. They still did not know how many cuts they were to receive and not one of them had any idea of the utterly excruciating pain he was about to experience. But the Headmaster had not yet finished with his monologue.

"You will receive just the standard tariff of twelve cuts of the cane across your buttocks. As your offence was committed together. I propose to beat you together. So I shall begin by giving one of you the first stroke. I shall then pause for about five seconds before passing to the second boy, where I shall then give him his first stroke. And then after a further five second pause the third boy will have the pleasure of feeling the cane bite into his backside. Now this technique and timing will ensure that each of you has about fifteen to twenty seconds to enjoy the effects of the first cut. I shall them return to the first boy and the whole procedure will be repeated until all twelve strokes have been given."

"Thus gentlemen you will all have the privilege of having some fifteen seconds between strokes which will allow you fully to appreciate the exceptional quality of your beating. And believe me, gentlemen, you will all truly understand just now painful a caning in the Rigby tradition is. You are privileged this evening to have the only master of the present staff, myself, who has experience in wielding the cane and believe me when I tell you that in spite of an interval of some twenty years, I am still a master with the cane. You will all leave my study sporting what is crudely put as a "well beaten arse", a commodity which you will in future wish to avoid like the plague."

The Headmaster finished his little homily and positioned himself first to the left side of Sutcliffe who was hunched over the first of the three chairs. Sutcliffe, like all rugby players had a beefy, well-muscled pair of buns, as yet totally undefiled by any cane. The Headmaster stood looking at the boy's arse feeling himself getting ever harder in his trousers as he placed the cane lightly on what one might call the equator of the two globes and gently tapped the naked flesh which was quivering with fear. The suddenly with no further warning, the cane rose high into the air and descended at lightning speed to mate precisely with the midpoint of the lad's arse. Sutcliffe took and enormous audible breath as the cane landed on his backside and then, a split second later, as the intense pain that the rod had delivered manifested itself, let out a resounding howl of pain. And so it was with the other two lads; there is always a split second as the cane mates with its target with that inimitable crack of rattan meeting naked flesh at high speed, before the excruciating pain is actually felt. All three lads let out howls of pain from the first stroke; howls which became ever louder as the beating proceeded.

The Headmaster, a past artist at beating boys' naked arses, worked upwards from the first central stroke with neatly spaced intervals, laying each stroke on parallel to the other. four strokes were given addressing the boys' arses from the left hand side and the long flexible cane wrapped itself over the further buttock so that the side of the buttocks were included in the beating, He then changed sides and addressed the boys' backsides from the right, using a backhand stroke, at which was a true expert and descended with a further four excruciatingly painful strokes down to the very sensitive place where the buttocks join the legs.

By this time all three lads were in tears. They were not actually crying but they could not stop tears coming to their eyes. The Headmaster gave the severest strokes he could without actually breaking the flesh and the build-up of pain was indescribably awful. After eight cuts the boys begged the Headmaster to stop but to no avail. He now applied the four final strokes diagonally, two in one direction and two in the other. He then stood back and admired his handiwork which was the testimony to a masterly piece of caning. Each lad's arse was now decorated with eight parallel strokes and four cross strokes all turning a rich reddish purple and neatly defined by the swelling. The Headmaster secretly congratulated himself on his artistic handiwork as he saw that even after twenty years he could still deliver a masterly artistic beating.