Helmsdale Old School
Until the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act of 1833 the education of the young was still very much a matter for the Established Church and was governed by the definitive Act of 1696. In each parish the heritor (the local landowner) was required by law to provide at least one school, the meagre salary of the schoolmaster and a house where he could live. By 1832 there was at least one such school in every parish, supplemented in many cases by a school provided by the Society in Scotland for the propagation of Christian Knowledge - otherwise the SSPCK.
Beginning in 1825, General Assembly schools were also set up and by 1865 there were 200 such schools for which the General Assembly provided £5 to £25 per annum as a salary whilst the heritors provided a building for the school and a croft for the teacher (or its equivalent in money).
With these less-than-formal arrangements, it was inevitable that, from time, such relatively large covered areas should be used for purposes which might not be looked on as strictly educational. One such purpose for which such schools were used, was the annual cockfight, Whilst there is no trace of such an event happening in the Helmsdale school, it was very defiantly held in Dornoch. For the report of this we are indebted to Donald Sage who was at school there in 1801. His experience, incidentally, was very similar to (if slightly more formal than) a happening in which Mr James Campbell, the future Helmsdale "dominie", was involved when he was teaching in Benbecula, in 1848.
Usually held in the parochial school, on Shrove Tuesday (of "Fastern's E'en") - but, for some reason, in Dornoch these were held instead in the Sheriff Court - proceedings commenced with the children arriving with cocks begged or borrowed for the "flight", to determine whose was to be "king" i.e. whose bird got the most victories, and the "queen", i.e. whose bird was runner up. Any bird who would not fight when placed on the stage was described as a "fugie", and became the property of the schoolmaster.
"Coronation Day" followed, usually on Candlemas Old Style, (about 13th February). This was held in the school premises, and after their crowning, the king and queen chose their lifeguards. A suitable exhortation from the dominie (in Latin!) followed, and then the procession went through the town behind the drum and fyfe. The proceedings terminated with a ball and supper in the evening.
If we ignore the SSPCK school at Caen in the late 18th century, its classes apparently held at one time in the former Kildonan church, and the possible "chant" school at Kiliain Church in pre-Reformation times, it seems likely the first one room school was in a store just over the river from the church of Kiliain in 1835. The next would be beside the schoolhouse in Dunrobin Street, and would be followed by the new building known to have been put up near the new St. John's Kirk around 1840. A girls school, known to exist somewhere about the same date, may have moved into the recently vacated premises in Dunrobin Street.
With the opening of the new church of St. John in 1841, it seems more than probable that this new building would form what was to become the base unit of the school that was to last till 1955. this would mean it would be available, shortly before Mr Jams cambell came to the village, first in 1851 as a General Assembly teacher, and then as the teacher in the Parish school.
Today the building has been converted to flats
Must have been a sale in villageof the
checked "jerkin”.
This was the old school!
Spot the famous faces? 1947
Old school probably 52
L-R/ Teacher Miss Mackay,
D Beaton, Mac Sutherland, Alistair Cowie (Ted), David Cowie (Steven), James Sutherland, D Munro,
Peter Sutherland, W G Jappy, David Cowie, Sandra Dodds, Helen Mackay,
Marlene Rapson, Jean Jappy, Catherine Mackay, Glayds Findlayson, Marjorie Fulton, Alistair Cowie, Ray Sutherland, Thomas Mackay, Beryl Cowie, Margaret Cowie, Janet Smith, Nettie Mackenzie, Isobel Gordon, Elma Nicolson, Nan McDougal, Kenneth Sutherland
Old School
L-R/ Thomas Mackay, David Cowie, George McGowan, Donald Beaton, Mac Sutherland, George Cowie, David Cowie(Steven), James Mackay, Kenneth Sutherland, Alistair Cowie, Peter Sutherland, Alistair Cowie, Jim Millar, ?, James Sutherland, James Cowie, Margaret Cowie, Vina Mackay, Betty Macleod, Catherine Mackay, Helen Mackay, Janet Smith, Marlene Rapson,Christine Macleod Mackay, Hilda Clarke, Beryl Cowie? Nan McDougal, Isobel Mackay, Gladys Findlayson, ?
.
Old school
L-R/ Teacher Anora Polson
Ray Sutherland, David Cowie, Donald Munro, William George Jappy, Peter Sutherland, Alistair
Cowie, Hilda Clark, Nan McDougal, Catherin Mackay, Vina Mackay, Gladys Finlayson, Elma Nicolson, Helen Mackay, Jean Jappy, Margaret Cowie, Isobel Gordon, Janet Smith
Old School Mayday Celebration About 1910
Esther McAngus is 2nd on left (No other names known)
My late grandmother Mary Bruce McLeod (1906-1992) ( later Mrs Taylor ) attended Helmsdale Higher Grade Public School and was the Girls Dux in 1919-20.
I have the copy of "The Poetical Works of Tennyson" which she received as a prize.
Girls Dux in 1919-20
The headmaster was William "Warty" Munro.
Gran went to Moray House Teacher Training College after School, and became a primary school teacher - a career she loved. She gave up teaching when she married in 1932 but went back after the war.
Gran loved reading, but one of the conditions for borrowing books
was that you finished any book you borrowed from the school library.
This meant that Gran tended to stick with authors she already knew and was confident she'd like.
Gran often spoke of her schooldays
I have a poem which I think Gran wrote at school, as part of her Higher English, but I couldn't swear to it.
Ben Ullie
I've walked the roads o' London and the bonny banks o' Clyde. The streets o' Edinburgh And its fertile countryside But I think about a village where it's pleasanter to be- It is known as fair Ben Ullie Ben Ullie by the sea.
The Helmsdale rock is bonny Standing sentinel o'er the town The silver winding river From the hill land wimples down. The graceful War Memorial By its clock's melodious chimes Tells the lone and ruined Castle That it's quite behind the times.
The houses cluster warmly from the hillfoot to the shore. And roads lead off to Marrel and Portgower and Gartymore. To eastward pretty Navidale Presents a lure to me, that would draw me to Ben Ullie Ben Ullie by the sea.
The Strath of fair Kildonan where The rippling river twines Midst woods of birch and hazel With the picture well combines Where the boats lie in the harbour, And the storm blows I would be In the haven of Ben Ullie Ben Ullie by the sea.
Alison T. McCall.
B/Row,L/R
Andrew Rutherford,
Alistair Sutherland,
Billy Forbes,
Ian Simpson,
Geordie Sutherland,
Tommy Rosie,
Donnie Etheridge,
John Ross,
2nd Row L/R
Renie MacDonald,
Nan Traill,
Nancy Jappy,
Polly Sutherland,
Helen Mackenzie,
Bessie Armstrong,
Lulu Innes,
Isobel Fraser,
Madge Jappy
3rd Row L/R
Nancy Sutherland,
Betty Sutherland,
Mamie Sutherland,
June Jappy,
Shamus Sutherland,
Mary Rapson,
Isabel Sutherland,
Sheena Mackay,
4th Row L/R
George Sinclair,
George Cowie,
Cameron Mackintosh,
Willie Mackay,
Front Row L/R
Dennis Farquhar,
John Mackay,
W.G. Innes,
Johnny Sutherland,
Peter Cowie.
Old school probably 1936
School play about 1938
From left to right
Back: Shena Mackay, Nacy Jappy, June Jappy,John Sutherlans,
W S Mackay (me)
Front, Denis Fafquar, Robert Rapson, Muriel Rutherford.
We Played to a full house in the drill hall about 1938
Helmsdale old school 1940
This photo, taken around 1940, is of a group of dancers outside the Drill Hall in Helmsdale who are about to take part in a concert. The teacher in full Highland Dress is the late Mrs Sutherland, Golf Road, Helmsdale.
Back (L -R): Chrissie Sutherland, Renee Sinclair, Phoebe Traill, Annie Cowie, Nettie Forbes, Isobel Macleod. Middle - Janet Mackenzie, Ishbel Sutherland, June Jappy, Kathleen Taylor, Mary Rapson, Madge Jappy, Lorna MacLaren. Front - Betty Finlay, Sheena Mackay, Cath Gordon, Margaret Macpherson, Shames Sutherland, Jean Sinclair, Nancy Innes, Jan Rapson, Janet Graham, Margaret Larnach, Alex Macleod, Nan Cowie.
The population was continually growing, so it is no surprise to find that in 1871 another room was added. Two classrooms and a bell tower were added in 1883, two more rooms in 1892, a playground shelter in 1898, a science room in 1904,two classrooms in 1921, a gymnasium in 1930, a dining hall and kitchen in 1949, and a woodwork room in 1950.
It seems incredible that with the curriculum extended to include Latin in 1871, in the same year as the scheme for piped water in the village was completed, and with a house on the opposite side of the road connected with with running water in 1881, practical hygiene was unknown in the school. So bad was it that, in 1894, something like fifty years after the school opened, a report by an inspector publicised for the first time that "there is no water within a hundred yards of school, and children are filthy in extreme"- surely a very sad reflection on the management capabilities of the School Board. As an attempt to remedy this, drinking water was provided in buckets and basins, which in turn resulted in the following logbook entry " Ten pails of water are now available...two boys amused themselves spitting and otherwise despoiling this. The punishment will probably prevent a repetition". At this time most children went barefoot in the summer.
In 1886, fees were reduced to 1/- per quarter, and "the tawse had been confirmed as official instrument of correction".
There was great excitement in 1904 when the science apparatus arrived, just in time for pupils (and staff!) to see the partial eclipse of the sun in the next year.
The old buildings became a Higher Grade School in 1908, and then a Senior Secondary School in 1938. When the new school was completed in 1955 it housed 134 primary, and 61 secondary pupils. In 1962 third year "academics" were removed to Golspie, to be followed in 1973 by all remaining third year pupils.
Up to this time the ten headmasters who had worked there were as follows:-
James Campbell
1854 - 1881
J. Matheson
1881 - 1891
John Munro
1891 - 1997
H. G. Robertson
1897 - 1910
W. Munro
1910 - 1935
A. W. MacKay
1935 - 1945
John Cook
1945 - 1953
Jas. S. Cunningham
1953 - 1959
David J. Bates
1960 - 1968
Alex I. Blance
1968 - 1986
In the early part of the 19th century, Government grants paid to schools were made up of three main elements. The first of these was the number on the school roll, the second was the achievement of satisfactory results in the eyes of the inspectors, and thirdly the level of average attendance. The scales varied over the years but the following is one example of the basis adopted:-
Primary School
Average attendance 6/6d
Infants 8/-
Passes in reading,
writing and arithmetic
per subjec 3/-
Advanced Division
Passes in Mathes, English,
Latin and French
(per subject) 4/-
Domestic Science 2/-
Pupil Teacher grant (each) £2 - £3
Use of pupil teachers followed from the 1846 legislation which authorised pupils over 13 to assist primary teachers until they the age of 17. Not that they were only there to teach, they also had to be taught. This was accomplished by such means as the following example of a timetable adopted by the Dominie:-
(A ) Weekdays
8 a.m. to 9 a.m. instruct the P.T.s and senior pupils;
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the main school;
4 p.m. to 5 p.m. seniors and pupil teachers;
(b) Saturdays Seniors and P.T.s from 9.am till midday.
Use of pupil teachers ceased in Helmsdale in 1871.
With attendance levels an overriding factor, absences due to epidemics, attending/helping with the herring fishing, gathering whelks, or being at week-long Sacraments must have created difficulties for the head teacher. Some instances of these are given in Table M.
Day to day aspects of running the school were bound by the fact that the heritors and the Church of Scotland were responsible for meeting the cost of providing the parish school and furnishings, the salary of the teacher and such other incidentals as the cleaning of the school.
They kept all their expenditure to the minimum and in the 1850s the teacher's salary was £35 per year. Of course, in addition to this, the teacher was entitled to his teaching fees (when he could collect them). These started at 1d per week and then advanced by a half penny to 3d for the senior textbooks and slates, which were ordered and paid for by the school master in the first instance, Somewhat unusually, as in most cases the Kirk Session was also involved, in Helmsdale the heritor seems to have been solely responsible for paying the school fees for orphans and for widows' children.
Pupils were supposed to bring a peat, a lump of coal or a log to supply the heating for the school. Those who forgot or omitted to bring their share, were placed at the back of the room, and probably also had a little external heating applied. The best quills of local geese were handed to the Dominie to provide the pens. To help him do this he kept his penknife constantly whetted, so it became automatic that when he entered a joiner's shop, and oil stone would be pushed over to him.
Most of the schoolwork was done on slates. The headings on the copy books had to be written in by the Dominie, and woe betide anyone who disfigured them. In addition to the usual primary subjects, Latin, French, Greek, Euclid (geometry). Algebra and Advanced Mathematics were taught -all on a salary of under £50 p.a.! With large numbers under the control of one teacher, discipline was strict, but did not depend solely on the belt.
If you attended Helmsdale old school. You are invited to submit information and images to us and we will include it in this page. Please e-mail me at webmaster@helmsdale.org