The Captain of the Boats
Sydney P. Hall
1870
4 x 3 inches
Wood-engraving
Recollections of Eton, p. 96
See commentary below
Scanned image and text by George P. Landow
When we say then that the Captain of the Boats held the first in the Eton world, and that he did so merely perhaps from his public position, and not at all from his private qualities, it may fairly be supposed that the pursuit to which he had devoted himself, and to which he owed much of his preeminence, was the most popular of those at Eton. He had enrolled himself as one of the highest class on his entry into the boats, and he had risen to the top of that highest class. The Captain of the School, the head of the Sixth Form, the highest as he was supposed to be in general learning, was nobody; none scarcely regarded him, and I am sure none felt any curiosity to make him out by sight. The Captain of the Eleve, who might perhaps be thought to rival the Chief of the Boats, fell infinitely below him in popular estimation. Higher undoubtedly he was than the Head of the School, but still he could never command more than moderate share of attention. In his own circle he was great, but that circle after all was a narrow one, and beyond it he never found that wild admiration which was so universally met with by his rival. The fact was that school-work was evidently at a discount; cricket favoured only by a minority; while the general interests of the school were centred on the river and on the triumphs to be gained upon it." Ñ Recollections of Eton, p. 97.
References
An Etonian [Charles Frederick, d. 1892]. Recollections of Eton. London: Chapman and Hall, 1870.
Last modified 26 July 2006