At Fettes College, being caned was referred to pretty much universally by the boys (and indeed by several of the teachers) as ‘getting cracked’. Prior to arriving there I had enquired of a former prep school friend (who had by then done a year’s service at Fettes) as to the school’s stance on corporal punishment. I recall his response, in typical public school jargon… ‘Oh yes’, he said,’you can get cracked for a lot of things. Six down from the Head Man.. it hurts, I think’.
I could work out ‘getting cracked’ fairly easily, though the significance of ‘six down’ escaped me. I suppose the thought never occurred to me that in those relatively modern times (this was 1978) caning could possibly still take place with trousers (and, apparently, with underwear) lowered… Only when I subsequently heard fourth formers discussing having received ‘four up’ did that penny finally drop.