Concordia

Concordia Winter 2021

distinction instead of for the victory of the side; in most cases nobody cared, very few knew which side had won at the end of the afternoon.”

and paper copies of the badges can be had from House Captains. A black badge on white jersey or a white badge on black jersey are allowed to everyone for football. Coloured badges are not allowed, as when the need arises they may be use for a system of House colours.”

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The Taylorian , February 1921

It was initially an experiment that would need “esprit de corps” to help it succeed and there was a nervousness which Mulcaster would have recognised, that boarding school house systems had the advantage of boys working and living together under the same masters whilst Merchant Taylors’ would “have to make it succeed without these aids”. The first competition was won by Spenser and it was such a success that the leadership of cricket, athletics, gymnastics and shooting all asked to join the scheme so that in October 1921 all boys were allocated to a House, each led by a House Captain and a committee. By the autumn of 1921 Inter-House boxing had also been introduced. It seems remarkable that this even included a Flyweight division for those under 5 stone 4lbs! Similar to Richard Mulcaster, Dr Nairn was a strong supporter of competitive games and amongst the many tributes paid on his retirement in 1927, the role of the Houses in invigorating sport at the school was pre-eminent. Before its introduction, the Taylorian records that around 60 boys played sport, but by his retirement this had risen to over 250. Nevertheless, it was the boys who initially drove the House system on and who reflected on its introduction. An early innovation, in February 1922, was the introduction of badges for each House, based on the coat of arms of each of the individuals after which they were named. So for Hilles this was a Heraldic bird, for Clive the Wyvern, Spenser a Griffin’s Head and White the Lion Rampant. Official metal badges were made as standards and only precise copies could be made. “Squares of black and white cloth can be bought at School for cutting out the badges,

The Taylorian , February 1922