Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Some of the nubile wenches from 'Up Pompei', spring to mind !!

J.R. wrote:Some of the nubile wenches from 'Up Pompei', spring to mind !!

Definitely a thread to LURKio on!

Would he have rushed in for your consultation a bit bloodstained in battledress - armour, cloak, plumed head dressy thing on helmet? Or suavely awaiting you; bathed, scented and oiled by a slave-with-a-strigil, in toga virilis and olive wreath?

My word that was a very well thought out, and decsribed, scenario! Something we should know Angela? If so, is it roman orgies, r-o with JR, mayhap a liddle Liz Taylor/Richard Burton episode raising it's head?

And what the hell is a strigil???? To busy laughing to google it!!

No, no, Gerrie; it's you who have had the inspired thought of JR as Julius Caesar. It had never occurred to me before I must say. And a Caesar who offers therapy too! Roll on next Old Blues Day!

A strigil, AFAIK, is a curved bronze implement which a Roman bath attendant used to cleanse the oiled grime from the anatomy of their client. I expect you are far too young to remember the plastic scrapey thing that came in the box of hair-removing cream (oh, yuk, yuk, yuk!)? That sort of thing.

"A strigil was a small, curved, metal tool used in ancient Greece and Rome to scrape dirt and sweat from the body before effective soaps became available. First perfumed oil was applied to the skin, and then it would be scraped off, along with the dirt. For wealthier people, this process was often done by slaves. Strigils were often used in Roman baths."

Courtesy of 'Ask'.

I am open for consultations.

I think you can buy something similar nowadays to clean your tongue. Yuk! yuk!yuk! to paraphrase Munch

gma wrote:And what the hell is a strigil???? To busy laughing to google it!!

Had Queenie Blench (Latin teacher) left by the time you were there? She described it in great detail and I can still remember the shrieks in the bathroom that night as we tried it out on each other. I think we had pinched a knife or two from the kitchen to act as strigils.

Had Queenie Blench (Latin teacher) left by the time you were there?

Have seen her name and initials popup all over this forum and although I remember the sense of fear that that name induced, I have no idea why and I don't remember taking Latin - weird beacuse I do remember being one of the drooling 12 year olds when the Housey Latin Club visited - so either I was gatecrashing or I took latin - could be either really!

Queenie left at the end of the summer term 1973, just after I did my 'O' Levels. But in any case I think Miss Morrison usually took 2nd year Latin, so no-one would have had Queenie before their third year, if they did Latin at all.



In the course of looking for something else, I just came across my old CH end-of-term reports. I remembered them as being generally quite good, with the occasional accusation of laziness, but in fact it was the other way round - good from time to time, but generally criticising me for inertia and lethargy, and for not participating enough in class discussions. How sobering

Best have another drink, Jo!

You're so right, Phil