Figure 1.--A HBC reader has provided a copy of a book used for recitations, The Boy's Own Reciter: A Popular Book of Recitations for Home, School and Public Platform. I'm not sure when the book was published but imagine somewhere in the 1930s. It looks to be British. It's a charming book packed with poems that allude to boyhood.

Book

A HBC reader has provided a copy of a book of recitations, The Boy's Own Reciter: A Popular Book of Recitations for Home, School and Public Platform edited by A.L. Haydon. I'm not sure when the book was published but imagine somewhere in the 1930s. It looks to be British. It's a charming book packed with poems that allude to boyhood. It has a most fascinating section in the beginning giving instruction on how a boy must give recitations on a public platform, i.e. poetry, debate etc. at school. It has quite a comprehensive content section that's divided into three sections and an index of first lines. There is also an index of authors. Some of the titles are: 'How Tommy tricked the Conjurer' ; 'The Absent Minded Schoolboy' ; 'Our New Master' ; 'A Boy' ; 'Our Dormitory Battle' ; 'The Midnight Feast' and much more. It's really a wonderful book with a humorous and insightful look at boyhood and public school life. Some are poignant and sentimental with a yearning and fond remembrance of youthful days. The opening piece is a poem about boyhood.

Opening Poem

The poem below is the opening to the book. It is attributed only to to F.S. and dedicated to all Boys the World Over.

There's the witty boy, and the pretty boy,
And the boy who oils his hair;
There's the cat-faced boy and the red-faced boy,
And the boy with a bovine stare.

There's the steamy boy, and the dreamy boy
And the boy who is 'up to date' ;
There's the boy who mopes and the boy who jokes,
And the boy who is always late.

There's the tender-boy and the slender-boy
And the boy with limbs like a bear's;
There's the stoutish boy and the loutish boy,
And the boy who slides downstairs.

There's the cheerful boy and 'that fearful boy,'
And the boy who deserves a flogging;
There's the boy with heart, and the boy too 'smart,
And the boy whose brain needs jogging.

There's the grass-green boy, and the bright, keen boy,
And the boy who is always blubbing;
There's the 'climby' boy, and the grimy boy,
And the boy who shirks his tubbing.

There are many others, oh men and brothers,
And none are bad, you bet;
There are boys and boys - yet, through griefs and joys,
They are Somebody's Darlings yet.

Recitations

A popular activity in the 19th and and early 20th century was reciatations, although that is now seldom done. There was no uniform of course for such reciations, but boys often were dressed up in their finest outfits as mother wanted to ensure a good impression. Most children did these reciations. I think that they were more common for boys than girls who might instead play a piece of music. This requires further research. Some reciataions were also done in school classrooms and chosen children might do them at school assemblies or presentations for parents. There were also competitions prganized by schools and civic organizations. Recitations were also an important part of sunday school classes and presentations. Unlike modern sunday schools which teach children about the Bible, many early sunday schools actually taught the Bible in that rge children memorized many passages. Recitations were common for children in most European countries as well as America and Canada. We are not yet aware of country differences here, but presumably there were some.

Created: August 1, 2002
Last updated: August 1, 2002