I never received the fabled six, but in taking four of the very best from my ex-rugby fullback headmaster, I believe that I can safely say that each stroke counted and each one was a serious punishment in itself.
Unlike getting the cane on my fingertips at primary school, where after 2 cuts, the fingers were virtually numbed, probably from shock, the cane applied to my tender little 12 year old bottom, produced the most exquisite, excruciating agony it has ever been my misfortune to experience.
Each stroke took my breath away quite literally and sent a sort of electric shock of pain all the way through me.
Nothing in my life had prepared me for the awful agony which I endured during that caning.