My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org

—MY SCHOOL LIFE AT HERTFORD 271617, when the school was founded. It consisted ofone large room, with a large square window at eachend and two on each side. In the centre of one sidewas a roomy porch, and opposite to it a projectingportion, with a staircase leading to two rooms abovethe schoolroom and partly in the roof. The schoolroomwas fairly lofty. Along the sides were whatwere termed porches—desks and seats against thewall with very solid, roughly carved ends of blackoak, much cut with the initials or names of manygenerations of schoolboys. In the central space weretwo rows of desks with forms on each side. Therewas a master's desk at each end, and two others onthe sides, and two open fireplaces equidistant fromthe ends. Every boy had a desk the sloping lid ofwhich opened, to keep his school-books and anythingelse he liked, and between each pair of desks at thetop was a leaden ink-pot, sunk in a hole in the middlerail of the desks. As we went to school even inwinter at seven in the morning, and three days aweek remained till five in the afternoon, some artificiallighting was necessary, and this was effected by theprimitive method of every boy bringing his owncandles or candle-ends with any kind of candlestickhe liked. An empty ink-bottle was often used, or thecandle was even stuck on to the desk with a little ofits own grease. So that it enabled us to learn ourlessons or do our sums, no one seemed to troubleabout how we provided the light.The school was reached by a path along thebottom of All Saints' Churchyard, and entered by adoor in the wall which entirely surrounded the schoolplayground and master's garden. Over this door wasa Latin motto" Inter umbras Academi studere delectat."