I recently had lunch with Peter, a business associate whom I have known for some time. Over lunch we got round to discussing the times of our childhood in the UK in the 1950s. We discovered we'd both been in the Cubs and Scouts, but in different parts of the country. We swapped anecdotes and there was one of his I found particularly interesting which I thought readers of these pages would like to share.
When he was eight years old, Peter had been a keen member of his Cub Scout Pack. The experience he told me about was the time he became a sixer.
The pack to which he belonged had been a large one and there was a lot of competition to be chosen as a sixer. One evening, after Peter had been a member for a couple of years the cub leader announced there was a vacancy for a new sixer and anyone who was ten was invited to come to the scout hut on the following Saturday to take part in a competition to see who would be appointed.
Peter of course went along and took part in all the tests for knot-tying, tracking and other cub-scouting activities. At the end of the competition all the boys went home except Peter who was asked to remain. Much to his delight Peter was told he had scored the highest marks and would get first chance at taking on the job.
Peter didn't need to be asked twice and said he was really keen to be a sixer. The cub leader then told him that there was one more test for him to do - a secret test. First of all Peter had to raise his right hand and make a solemn promise that he would keep every detail of the test absolutely secret. He wasn't to talk to his parents or other cubs about it. As Peter said, all this cloak and dagger stuff made it all seem even more exciting and he willingly took a solemn oath of secrecy.
Then the cub leader explained that it was important that a sixer should be able to obey orders without question, even if it was something he didn't really want to do. He said as the first part of the test he was going to give Peter an order which he must obey immediately - Peter said he made it sound really exciting and he felt really eager to show that he could do this. After some more talk Peter was given his order - he was strip naked. Peter said he felt hesitant about doing this because he wasn't used to people seeing him with nothing on and was rather shy about undressing but he said his eagerness to pass the test overcame his shyness and a few moments later he was standing there with nothing on.
The cub leader congratulated him on passing the first part of the test and he told him that the reason for the order was that he needed to see if his body was grown up enough for him to be a sixer. Peter said that all the time he managed to put things in a way that made it seem normal and reasonable and was not perturbed when the cub leader carefully examined all the nooks and crannys of his body.
Explaining the last part of the test the cub leader said that at the next cub meeting there would be a special ceremony in front of all the other cubs and his parents when he would be awarded his sixer stripes - a badge with two gold stripes he would wear on his arm. But then said that before that he would have to wear some secret stripes that would prove that Peter could put up with being hurt without blubbing. Not gold stripes to wear on his arm but red ones to wear on his bottom. As he said this he picked up a short whippy cane. He then asked Peter if he thought he was brave enough to pass this last part of the test. Peter said he'd felt a bit frightened and he'd never been caned before but he was really keen to show the cub leader he was up to being a sixer and so he nodded his assent.
He was told to bend over and touch his toes and was given two strokes, quite hard ones but he managed not to cry. He was then allowed to get dressed and after he was reminded about his oath of secrecy, went home. Peter said by the time he got home the stinging had subsided and an inspection of his bottom revealed two parallel scarlet stripes. I felt quite proud of them, he told me.
I asked him if he'd ever told anyone what had happened. He said he hadn't at the time but when he was about 16 and still in the Scouts he did tell one of the scout leaders how he'd been caned.
The scout leaders response was it shouldn't have happened but it was all along time ago and it would be best now if you just forgot about it. Nothing more was said and the cub leader continued to run the Pack for several more years.
Peter reckoned that no ten year old would fall for it nowadays and I guess he's probably right. I couldn't help thinking how different it was in those days - you can imagine the hue and cry it would cause now.
Although in the scout group to which I belonged new boys were subject to various unpleasantnesses, particularly at weekend camps, it was always at the hands of older boys, not the adults. I wondered how common experiences similar to Peter's were in earlier times - I'd be interested to hear from anyone who's had some experience in this area.
tjw29@lycos dot com