Sunday Times 2
Reminiscences of student life at Royal College 80 years ago
View(s):I would like to walk back along the corridors of Time, spanning eight decades, till we reach 1932, the year when I was admitted to our Alma Mater, after passing a competitive entrance examination. The day I walked through the portals of our prestigious school with its imposing buildings has been etched in my memory for over eight decades, as I am now over 93 years of age and probably the oldest ‘Old Royalist’ residing in Sri Lanka.
Just before the assembly bell was rung, she shepherded her 30 new students in single file, close to the banister of the staircase and we took our seats in the last two rows of our school hall
In January 1932, I entered our school building with some trepidation as I was only nine years old and I walked up the stairs to my class and reported to my form teacher Miss. Ludowyke. Just before the assembly bell was rung, she shepherded her 30 new students in single file, close to the banister of the staircase and we took our seats in the last two rows of our school hall. On the other side of the centre aisle, the 30 new students of Miss. Vansanden’s class occupied the last two rows. The students in the higher forms sat in front, with about eight prefects sitting close to the stage platform facing us. The Principal, Mr. H.L. Reid, made a short address and we returned to our class after all the older students had left. Mr. Reid was succeeded by Mr. L.H.W. Sampson as Principal in April 1932.
At that time, having an elder brother in the school was a plus point for admission, which was very competitive. There were many sets of brothers, such as the Gunasekeras, de Soysas, Kadirgamars, Jillas and the de Zoysas. The 1932 group was the lowest form in the school for three consecutive years from 1932 to 1934 as Royal Primary School was formed in buildings adjacent to Royal College in the premises of the Training College for Teachers. From 1935 onwards, there were three parallel classes for each form of 30 students.
In the 1930s, Ceylon was a British Colony and our curriculum was oriented towards the British system and students had to obtain a pass at the Senior Cambridge Level or the London Matriculation Level to proceed with our higher studies and to enter University. English was our first language and Latin our second. It was mandatory to obtain passes in the three compulsory subjects English, Latin and Mathematics at the same sitting along with three other subjects Physics, Chemistry, Botany or Advanced Mathematics. Getting distinctions was an additional qualification to get a Grade 1 Pass. We had fairly good teachers in the lower forms for all subjects, except Latin. As a result, we learnt very little Latin and were so exasperated that we sang a little ditty:
“Latin is a dead language,
As dead as dead can be,
Once it killed the Romans
And now it’s killing me.”
I remember one student being asked to translate the saying: ‘Barking dogs do not bite.’ He got up and with a straight face said ‘Burana ballo non hapakabunt,’ a hybrid form of Sinhala and Latin. Fortunately in the upper forms we had very good Latin teachers and we gradually acquired a good knowledge of Latin grammar and Literature and we faced the Latin paper at the Cambridge Senior Examination in 1939 with confidence. Many of us obtained distinctions in Latin. We also had good masters in the science subjects as well as in English Language and Literature throughout our school career. Thus, many students obtained distinctions in these subjects, some getting distinctions in all six subjects when we did our exams in 1939. When the results of this Cambridge Senior Examination were published in the Daily News in February 1940, Royal College topped the list in order of merit with nine students. All of them obtained distinctions in all the subjects they sat for.
There were only a few masters from the Burgher community but there was a fair percentage of students of the Burgher community in each class whose surnames were Loos, de Kretser, Van Cuylenburg, Spittel, Drieberg, Toussaint, Maclean, Kelly, Henricus, Sansoni, Kelaart, Porrit and Jansz. There were also a few students of British nationality who stayed only for a few years, but an exception was Pat McCarthy who was an excellent cricketer and stayed on to be in the First Eleven and play in the Royal-Thomian encounter. He also captained Royal in 1938.
Let me digress a little into the field of cricket. The Royal-Thomian match, which was a two-day match at that time, was played at the former S.S.C. Grounds, adjoining the Colombo Museum and at the N.C.C. Grounds. Later, it was played at the P. Sara Stadium in Borella. F.W.E. Porrit captained Royal in 1934. He was a fine all-rounder and could bowl with either arm. At the Royal-Thomian Match that year, towards the middle of the Thomian innings, he changed from right-arm to left-arm bowling after informing the umpire and got a wicket in the first over after the change.In 1935, our Centenary year, the Principal, Mr L.H.W. Sampson, took the bold step of taking the cricket team for a tour of Australia to play against some Australian schools in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne.
The Head Master of the Melbourne High School, Mr. W. M. Woodfull, umpired the match against his school. He was also the Test Captain of Australia. Keith Miller who later became Australia’s finest all-rounder played for his team at Melbourne against the Royal College team, which also included Pat McCarthy. I am indebted to Mr. D.L. Seneviratne for this information of the Australian tour which is included in his book ‘Royal College – School of our Fathers’ – a brief history and the essence of its spirit, published in 2006. This book is very readable and contains valuable information about our beloved Alma Mater. It is still available for sale at the Royal College Union Office at Royal College. I feel every Old Royalist should buy a copy to show our loyalty and gratitude to our Alma Mater.
Apart from cricket, rugger was another sport played with other schools. In the early thirties, only Royal College, Trinity College, Zahira College and St. Peter’s College played rugger, but it was the Royal-Trinity encounter which drew the most spectators. When Mr. E.L. Bradby assumed duties as Principal in 1939, he donated a shield for this encounter and this match is played at both Colombo and Kandy every year in June. It is called the Bradby Shield which is now telecast worldwide via the Internet for rugger fans, mostly in Australia, the U.S.A., Canada and the U.K. Mr Bradby retired as Principal in 1945 but re-visited Sri Lanka in 1982. A reception for students during his stewardship as Principal was held at the residence of the late Dr. Tony Gabriel, Senior Surgeon of the Cancer Hospital. There were about 60 of Mr. Bradby’s old students present and we were divided into seven groups (1939 to 1945). He spoke individually to each of us and inquired about careers after leaving school. He was both pleased and proud to learn of so many of his students reaching the pinnacles of their careers.
On the human side of our student life, I would like to recall some incidents. School was from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with a short interval at 10:30 a.m. and lunch interval from noon to 1 p.m. During the short morning break, many of the younger students would rush outside through the front gates to buy ice palam at five cents, a Dolca chocolate at five cents, small packets of boiled or spiced gram from one to three cents and masala vadai at four cents from the vendors outside. There was also a vendor who came with a fairly big suitcase containing trinkets such as pencils, pens, Cobra files, small magnifying glasses, small pop-pop boats for sale at very low prices. He was commonly known as ‘Cobra’ and the gram seller as ‘kadalai.’ Kadalai was a vociferous supporter of Royal College at our cricket and rugby matches, even though he was not an Old Royalist. The tuck shop was open only at lunch time and after 3:30 p.m. and located behind the old cricket pavilion and had only a limited number of short eats – cutlets, patties, meat and fish bread rolls as well as ice cream and soft drinks. Chinese rolls were available after about 1935.
As students of the lower forms, we wore a shirt and shorts but when we were about 16 years of age and decided to wear long trousers, it was mandatory to wear a full suit including coat and tie. This was so even when we entered the University for higher studies but was changed about 1942 due to shortage of imported textiles resulting from World War II and students were allowed to wear a shirt and long trousers without a tie.
The New Olympia Theatre in Maradana was owned by the Cader family and since the two younger Cader brothers were still at Royal, the Management of the Theatre gave a generous discount for the 3 p.m. show on Saturdays by only charging 25 cents from the Royalists and allowed them to sit in the last three rows of the Balcony. The normal charge for a balcony seat was three rupees. Most of the films were in black and white since technicolour films came in the late thirties.
During our school days in the 1930s, strict discipline was maintained by the school authorities, both during school hours and even at school matches. The school motto, Disce Aut Discede, was strictly enforced and the students had to maintain good marks in all subjects. We truly learned of books and men and learnt to play the game. In later life, one comes across fellow Royalists and instantly a rapport is reached. Since I am now over 93 years of age, most of my friends are now no more, but the Royal spirit lives on and I am in touch with Royalists 10 to 20 years younger than I am. I was a Life Member of the over 70 group of Old Royalists since its inception and regularly attended our yearly get-together till about eight years as I am now physically weak, though mentally alert. This prompted me to reminisce about student life over 80 years ago, an era now long forgotten.
I recall the saying “The mighty oak tree doth from a little acorn grow” and so it has been with our school. The student roll which was only about 550 during my time in the 1930s has now grown to over 7500 students, with a large number of new buildings being put up. It is our duty to always remember the words of “The Loyalty Pledge” inaugurated in 2002 and live up to it. May the spirit of our beloved Alma Mater live on – ad multos annos.
(Ian D.T.de Mel B.Sc(Lond.),D.I.C.(UK), MSc (Lond) is a retired Director/Head of the Department of Meteorology and was the former Regional President of the World Meteorological Organisation, Geneva in 1982).