eral vols. of
MS. poetry. {99c}

The school hours were from 7.30 to 9, before breakfast; 10 to 12.30
midday; afternoon 3 to 5; while the boarders at his own house worked with
the Assistant Master from 7 to 9; the day boys, in the town, preparing
exercises and repetition for the next morning, at their own homes. It
was an amusement, for some of the more active, to get up some quarter of
an hour earlier than the others, and hurry down to St. Mary's Church, to
help old Dawson, the sexton, to ring the Grammar School bell. {100a} As
the Doctor was very active in his movements, any boarders who were late
in starting, could only reach the school in time, by running across the
fields between the two branches of the canal, called "The Holms." Woe
betide those who were late!

From the Doctor's energy of character it would be expected that he would
encourage active healthy recreations. The days of cricket were not yet,
{100b} although "single wicket" was sometimes practiced. Nor was
football popular, as it is now. The game was indeed played, but we had,
in those days, no Rugby rules, and the ball was composed of a common
bladder, with a leather cover made by the shoemaker. In the school yard
the chief game was "Prisoner's Base," generally played by boarders
against day boys; in this swiftness of foot was specially valuable.
There was also a game named "Lasty," in which one boy was selected to
stand at the upper end of the yard, while the rest gathered at the lower
end. After a short interval, the one boy darted forward towards the
others, who all tried to avoid him; his object was to catch one of the
other boys, and when he succeeded in this, the boy whom he caught took up
the running to catch another, and this could go on for any length of
time. There was another exciting game called "Lug and a Bite." In the
fruit season a day boarder, from the country, frequently brought his
pocket full of apples; he would throw an apple among the other boys, one
of whom would catch it, and run away biting it; the others would chase
him, and seize him by the lug (ear), when he would throw it away, and
another would catch it, and continue the process, he being, in his turn,
caught by the ear, and so on. This afforded much amusement, and many
apples would in this way be consumed. There were large slabs of stone
laid down in the yard, on which marbles were played with, and peg tops
were spun. Hockey, or shinty, as it was commonly call