Maritzburg College School Magazine Maritzburg College Magazine 2016 electronic | Page 6

D AY S O F Y O R E
DAYS OF YORE
From the College Archives
100 Years Ago
Extract from the College Magazine #42 dated July 1916
The 42nd edition of the school magazine was published at a time when the
school was beginning to count its losses from the Battle of the Somme, which
had started on 1 July. The tragic events of the ‘Great War’ loomed large at
the school – but, thankfully, the following extract from the magazine of that
year would have brought some cheer to the College community, amidst the
casualty rolls and service lists.
“The Officers’ Training Corps at Sandhurst had a cross-country run a little
while ago, of seven miles each way. The first to arrive home was Selous,
the son of the famous South African hunter. The third was Gordon, who left
Maritzburg College a little while back.”
“In a certain bungalow ‘somewhere in England’, there are 26 occupants.
Twenty-one of these are Old Boys of the College and of the Durban High
School. The other five are Old Boys of the Transvaal High Schools.”
“The main thesis of Mr Mitchell’s speech, however, was a defence of the
tradition of the ‘old school tie’. He thought that there had been too great
a tendency in recent years to belittle the tradition. Despite such adverse
criticism, he was still a great supporter of the system. The spirit of the school
tie was more than an idea to which lip service should be paid. The feelings,
engendered by the tradition, should rather be esteemed and supported.”
40 Years Ago
Extract from the College Magazine #111 dated March 1977
At the end of 1976, the school’s legendary groundsman, Zablon Kwela,
retired, after 28 years of faithful service. The following was composed in
his honour:
Farewell to Zablon Kwela
Kwela Indoda enkhulu! Insimbi endala!
Zinqunywamakhanda ziyekwe
Akuhko sibonda saguga namagxolaso
90 Years Ago
Extract from the College Magazine #51 dated December 1926
By the end of 1926, the school had spent a calendar year under the firm
grip of the fifth Headmaster, the famously fiery Mr SW Pape (memorably
described in the 1988 school history as ‘resembling a midget Mussolini with
spectacles’) and his even more combustible deputy, Mr Charles Carpenter.
The following extract from the 1926 magazine somewhat disguises the
turmoil at the school in the wake of the dismissal, or transfer, a year earlier
of the long-serving Mr EW ‘Pixie’ Barns and his ‘old guard’ of senior staff.
“For at the beginning of 1926 not only did we lose a Headmaster who had
presided over the destinies of the College for twenty-three years, dating
back even to the Homeric days of the late RD Clarke, but with him went
several members of the staff who had been so long associated with the
place as to become the natural custodians of its traditions. Men, however,
may come and men may go, but the Spirit, the essential part of the school,
remains. Maritzburg College has too long a history, too distinguished a
past, traditions too deep-seated to be impaired by ephemeral changes in
the staff or the boys. Those who come to us, new masters or new boys,
soon become imbued with the spirit of the place, and in their brief turn
become the servants of the tradition. They are during their sojourn here
the guardians of the lamp, and to quote the words which so fittingly stand
inscribed at the foot of our War Memorial, Lampada Secuturis Tradunt.”
Siyakuhlnipa namhlangje
Siyahlupeka
Igudu lishasamanzi
Kufegula linamasi
Amathe abuyele kwasifuba
Asha Amazambana
Lekona ifindo liyinkinga lenkilikiqi
Eseli zamazamisa wonke
amagumbe emhlaba
Ilipo lelo findo
Nali, sadalelwani, ukuba siguge singafuni?
Asesiliqaqe lelo findo
Aliqaqeki
Uiko seyahlukana nomganeto Ukwela
Uyena babawetu,
Siya mfisela impilo
Nembuso omkhulu nemyaka ephambili
Wena wakhula silibele Kwela
Imanjalo Kwela. Hamba Kahle.
Mr SW Pape’s ferocious deputy,
Mr Charles Carpenter (staff 1926-
1934): “A wintry smile would
very occasionally appear on his
enigmatically severe countenance”
(Haw & Frame, For Hearth and
Home, 1988, p252
70 Years Ago
Extract from the College Magazine #81 dated December 1946
In his address delivered to the school at Speech Day, the then Administrator
of Natal, Mr DE Mitchell, touch