CHAPTER VII
A School Eisteddfod
After the founding of the United Alliance, the six schools composing theleague had been allowed a certain amount of time in which to organizetheir separate departments, but now that the various societies weregoing concerns it was judged expedient to hold a central meeting ofdelegates, so that arrangements might be made for the contests andcompetitions which were to form the principal feature of the movement.The conference was to take place at the High School on a Wednesdayafternoon, and due notice of the event had been sent to the branchsecretaries. The ten delegates from St. Cyprian's were naturally muchelated at the prospect, and anxious to do their best on behalf of theirCollege. They were armed with full authority from Miss Cartwright, andprepared with a list of vacant dates when matches could be played.Wearing their school hats, ties, and badges, they started off together,under the leadership of Phillis Garnett, the head girl, and presentedthemselves at the High School at the time named on the generalsecretary's post card.
Wednesday was a half-holiday at the High School, so the delegates hadthe place to themselves. Ten smiling hostesses were waiting to receivethe representatives of the other schools, and gave them a heartywelcome. When the first introductions were over, Ethel Edwards, the headgirl of the High School, was voted to the chair, and, having made a fewgeneral remarks upon the object of the Alliance, proposed that eachbranch should withdraw to a separate classroom to discuss details forhalf an hour, after which they would all meet again in the lecture hall.So the schools split up their forces, and marched away in groups oftwelve, representing the Musical, Literary, Dramatic, Arts, andAthletics subdivisions of the league. The delegates had all comeprepared to be courteous, businesslike, and accommodating, so the thirtyminutes passed in good-tempered discussion, and by the time they tooktheir places once more in the big hall they seemed on excellent termswith one another. The results of their consultations, with probabledates, were handed to Ethel Edwards, who rapidly compared them, and drewup a final table which she put to the general vote.
"I am glad we have been able to make our arrangements fit in so well,"she said, "and I hope we shall have many competitions and matches as theresult of this afternoon's work. I am sure we all agree that theAlliance is an excellent movement, and that a spirit of co-operationamong the principal Kirkton schools is highly desirable. Though eachdelegate represents her own school, all are united in representing thecity, and some time in the future we may, as a body, enter intocompetition with similar Alliances in other towns. It certainly opens upa vista of very interesting work on our part, and should prevent thoseevils of narrowness and cliquishness which a too-exclusive policy is aptto develop in a school. Let us determine that our _entente cordiale_ isfor the general good, and each try our utmost to make the Alliance ahuge success. I need hardly say with what pleasure the High School hasto-day welcomed the other delegates, and am glad to note that our firstEisteddfod of the season is to be held here shortly. Our generalsecretary will forward copies of the programme to each branch secretaryas speedily as possible, and due notice will of course be given of thenext committee meeting."
The delegates dispersed, feeling that they had had a very satisfactoryconference. Each department was pledged to something definite. The"Games" had arranged a list of cricket matches and tennis tournaments,and had even discussed plans for next autumn's hockey; the "Dramatic"had undertaken to produce a united performance in aid of the KirktonChildren's Hospital; the "Literary" was to publish a joint magazinethree times a year, under the title of _The Alliance Journal_; the "Artsand Handicrafts" was to hold a grand exhibition in the forthcomingNovember, charging a small admission so as to be able to send a donationto the "Guild of Play", an organization for the children of the slums;while the "Musical", to test its capabilities, was to have an immediategeneral festival. In addition, the schools had promised to form a Guildof Needlework, to make garments for charities; a Christmas Santa ClausClub, to distribute toys among various Ragged Schools in the city; and aScrap Book League, the results of which were to be sent to theChildren's Ward at the Royal Infirmary.
It was part of the scheme of the Alliance that the mistresses, whilereviewing and sanctioning the arrangements, should keep in thebackground and allow affairs to be managed as far as possible by thegirls themselves. Miss Cartwright, therefore, after hearing the reportof the St. Cyprian's delegates, gave full permission to the MusicalSociety to prepare its own programme for the forthcoming concert, whichwas to be in no way a public affair, but merely a friendly trial ofskill amongst the six schools. Thirty members from each were to meet andcompete at the High School, which possessed the largest hall. Owing tolimited space it was impossible to accommodate a very big audience, butfifty guests were to be invited from each school, so as to make a fairlyrepresentative body of listeners.
The St. Cyprian's Musical Committee assembled at once under theleadership of its delegates to arrange for the important event.
"Please tell us, first of all, why the thing's to be called anEisteddfod," begged Nora Whitehead.
Ella Martin laughed.
"You've evidently not been in Wales. Have you never heard of the greatWelsh Eisteddfods, where all the famous choirs go and sing against eachother for prizes?"
"Oh, a choral festival!"
"No, not quite that, because there are solos besides. In a real genuinebig national Eisteddfod there are departments for painting and forpoetry. They make bards, you know, and give them Bardic chairs. Well,we can't do all that in one afternoon; we have to take each branchseparately, so the music's to come first. We decided that each school isto learn the part song, 'Now Cheerful Spring Returns', and to sing itone after another. Mr. Jordan, from the Freiburg College of Music, is tobe asked to judge; he will give so many marks to each choir, forcorrectness, tone, general expression, &c. Then each school is to give aten-minutes' concert, consisting of a few pieces by its brightest stars.These will also be judged and marked, so much for each performer. Thetotals will be added to the choir scores, and then we shall have theexcitement of seeing which school comes out top."
"St. Cyprian's will! It must!"
"We'd better not make too sure. There are some clever girls at theAnglo-German, I hear, and the Templeton 'Choral' is good."
"What we've got to do," said Lottie Lowman, "is to learn our part song,and practise it for all we're worth. Hadn't we better decide first who'sto be choir-mistress? Shall we put it to the vote?"
There was little hesitation amongst the girls. They voted almost solidlyfor Lottie. Since her election as delegate for the Alliance she hadtaken such a principal part in the musical society that everybody wasready to follow her lead. There were a few dissenting voices, whoventured to suggest that her style was not of the best, nor trulyrepresentative of the musical standard of St. Cyprian's, but these werecompletely overwhelmed by the majority. Lottie, who had already on herown initiative organized a choir, was surely the most fitted to lookafter the laurels of the school, and might be trusted to undertake theteaching of the part song. There now remained the programme of theten-minutes' concert to be discussed.
"It's such a fearfully short time!" growled Elizabeth Chalmers.
"Of course it is," returned Lottie, "but you see six schools with tenminutes each make an hour. The part songs will take half an hour, andallowing another half-hour for judging and intervals between pieces, weget two hours, and that's the limit. No, each school has promised on itshonour not to exceed the ten minutes. Indeed, we arranged that to do sowould mean to be disqualified from the competition. It seemed the onlyfair way."
"Then we must cram all the best talent of the school into those preciousten minutes."
"That's the real state of affairs," said Ella Martin, "and we've got tomake up our minds which is the best talent. I myself propose a violinsolo from Mildred Lancaster."
"And I beg to object strongly!" returned Lottie Lowman. "Mildred may bea good player--I don't say she isn't--but everyone at the Coll. knowsshe's not to
be depended upon. If she gets a nervous fit, ten to oneshe'll break down altogether, like she did last speech day, and then St.Cyprian's would look silly! Unless she's exactly in the right mood shedoesn't do herself justice, and is the honour of the Coll. to depend onher whim of the moment? No, most emphatically, I beg you to choose asteadier, more reliable player. Who could be more suitable than Ella,who is already your musical delegate, and ought surely to representyou?"
Lottie's arguments swayed the committee so entirely that Ella wasimmediately chosen for the violin solo, and her name placed first on theprogramme.
"I shall only play a very short Prelude," she announced, "so we ought tohave a piano solo and a song to make up our ten minutes. That would givea good all-round idea of the musical work at St. Cyprian's, quite asall-round as the other schools will have the opportunity for, at anyrate."
After a short discussion upon the relative merits of several names whichwere submitted, the committee decided upon Elizabeth Chalmers for thepiano solo and Lottie Lowman for the song. There was not much time to belost, as the Eisteddfod had been fixed for a date only ten days ahead.The choir must be carefully selected and trained, and special practicesarranged for. Miss Cartwright had promised to allow a short time dailyduring school hours for this purpose, and extra work could be doneduring the midday interval by those girls who stayed for dinner at theCollege.
"Who are your soloists?" asked Kitty Fletcher as, the meeting over, thecommittee sought the playground.
"Ella, Elizabeth, and your humble servant," replied Lottie.
"Do you mean to tell me Mildred Lancaster's not to play for St.Cyprian's?"
"No, Mildred's out of it altogether."
"Then all I can say is, I'm heartily sorry for the credit of the oldColl. I think you're a set of duffers!"
"Thanks! Perhaps you'll allow us to arrange your teams in the Gamesdepartment, as you're so anxious to meddle in ours? We'll choose yourcaptains and champions if you choose our soloists. It would be anadmirably suitable division of labour."
Kitty turned away, for there was justice in Lottie's sarcasm. She wouldnot have been prepared to admit any interference in the cricket ortennis programme, and she knew that she had no right to criticize thedecisions of the other committees. And yet her whole sense of justicerebelled against Mildred's exclusion.
"It's monstrous!" she confided to Bess Harrison. "Here they're actuallydiscarding their trump card! And it's nothing but Lottie's jealousy!She's green with envy because Mildred's to play at Herr Hoffmann'sStudents' Concert. I thought we were urged to put aside all pettyfeelings and spites in the interests of the Coll., and just aim to bringSt. Cyprian's out top!"
"That was rubbed into us as our motto."
"We keep to it in Games, thank goodness! For some reasons I wish MissCartwright hadn't left the Alliance so entirely in our own hands."
"It's the same as the other schools. Neither principals nor mistressesare to regulate matters. Remember, it's a self-governing institution."
"Well, this branch of it hasn't the wit to know its own best asset,"grumbled Kitty.
Mildred felt decidedly hurt to be so entirely left out of theEisteddfod. She was not even asked to join in the part song, for Lottie,as choir-mistress, had the selection of the chorus. There was perhapsreason in this, for Mildred, though she always sang in tune, did notpossess a very strong voice. All the same, it was a marked omission, andan intentional slight.
Lottie, as grand vizier of the proceedings, was now in her element. Sheassumed such complete direction of everything that she even tookprecedence of Ella Martin. Ella, though a monitress, never pushed herauthority, and indeed was sometimes hardly self-assertive enough for herpost. On the present occasion she allowed Lottie to seize the reinsrather too easily. The matter was discussed by her fellow monitresses.
"A Fifth Form girl ought not to be allowed to run the whole show," saidHilda Smith. "Ella ought to put her foot down!"
"Lottie's getting swollen head!" agreed Gertie Raeburn.
If Lottie's motives were mixed, to do her justice she certainly workedvery hard in her new capacity as choir-mistress. She was as zealous as aParliamentary whip in making her chorus attend practices, and drillingthem while they were there. Most of the girls found her a hardertaskmaster than Mr. Hiller, the singing teacher, and she indulged in arunning fire of comments on their performance completely at variancewith his suave suggestions.
"Now then, heads up!" she would say. "You all stand with your noses inyour books like a set of dolls that have lost their saw-dust! We'll takethat verse again, and put a little more spirit into it. Can't you singlouder? I suppose you've learnt that _cres._ stands for crescendo? Thenplease remember that the signs mean something, and don't drone awaylike a set of Buddhist lamas intoning a chant!"
And the girls would laugh, for they rather enjoyed her racy remarks,even though they were delivered at their expense. Lottie, in the flushof her popularity, could not resist pressing her triumph over Mildred.She invited her to a practice one day, and enjoyed showing her authorityover her pupils before her rival. Having exhibited their docility to herutmost satisfaction, she dismissed them, and turned carelessly toMildred.
"Not such a bad little business for a beginning!" she remarked. "TheColl. will take its right place at the Eisteddfod, I fancy."
"I hope so, I'm sure," returned Mildred, without enthusiasm.
"Oh, you'll see it'll come out top side! Now tell me candidly what youthink of this part song."
"Do you really want my candid opinion?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then I think everything's wrong with it. In the first place, the secondsopranos are out of tune continually. You hurry the time too much in themiddle, and drag it towards the end, and when you urge the girls to singcrescendo, you let them shout in the most atrocious fashion--likestreet-singers! There's nothing artistic about it at all."
"I might have known you'd be sure to find fault!" sneered Lottie. "It'svery easy to pick holes in other folk's work. No doubt the high andmighty Mildred Lancaster would have made a most superior business of it!People always think if they'd had the reins they could have driven thekicking horse!"
"You asked for my candid opinion!" retorted Mildred.
"I didn't say I'd follow it, though. Fortunately I'm the choir-mistress,and not you."
It happened that Ella Martin and a few more Sixth Form girls had comeinto the room during this colloquy, and Ella now put in her oar.
"There's a good deal in what Mildred says, Lottie," she observed. "Inoticed yesterday that the second sopranos were out of tune; and youcertainly let them shout too loud. They're not using their voicesproperly. It's dreadfully second-rate style. I was going to speak to youabout it. It doesn't do credit to the Coll."
"We've all noticed it," urged Dorrie Barlow.
"The quality of the voices will be a point before the judge," saidKathleen Hodson. "Mr. Hiller is so particular on that score."
"Well, if this is all the thanks I get for my trouble, I wish I'd keptout of the musical society," responded Lottie, with a red patch in eachcheek and a gleam of temper in her hazel eyes. "No doubt you'd all havedone it better yourselves."
"No, don't say that," replied Ella. "You must allow that I, at any rate,have the right to criticize. We all appreciate your hard work, only wewant it to be in the right direction, and not thrown away. St. Cyprian'shas a big reputation to keep up. Suppose you just think over what we'vesuggested."
Lottie turned away rather huffily. She could not help acknowledgingElla's right to interfere, but she was annoyed that the rebuke should begiven in Mildred's presence. She was at first inclined to stick to herguns, then apparently she thought better of it, took her chorus inhand, and remedied their very palpable shortcomings. Ella, realizing herresponsibilities, made opportunity to drop in during rehearsals, so asto keep a check upon things, and thanks to her influence the part songsoon began to show marked improvement, and to be more worthy of St.Cyprian's musical reputation.
Though Mildred was not included among the performers, she at leastreceived an invitation to the Eisteddfod. The guests were to start alltogether from the College, and they looked forward to the event withconsiderable keenness. On the day of the festival those who stayed todinner at school spent the interval discussing the occasion. Olwen andMegan Roberts, who boasted Welsh ancestry, and had been present at areal Eisteddfod in the Principality, scored by their superior knowledge.
"Of course it can't be anything like what we had atLlanfairdisiliogoch!" they bragged.
"Oh, no! Nothing's right out of Welsh Wales!" laughed Maggie Orton."You've often told us that!"
"I know a lovely song about an Eisteddfod," chirruped Bess Harrison, andto the tune of "The Ash Grove" she began:
"I wass go to Pwlleli, Where I mingled in the dreadful melee, And was very nearly squashed to a jelly With the peoples treading on my toes: The Welshies they wass there by millions, All sitting in the big pavilions To listen to the sweet cantilions As you wass suppose!"
At that point she wisely dodged away; and Olwen and Megan, giving chase,pursued her round the playground, where she ran, still chantingtauntingly:
"There wass Owenses and Hugheses, And Robertses and Joneses, All singing in their native toneses All over the ground!"
till the twins at length caught her up, and administered summary justicein revenge for the slight on their nationality.
Punctually at two o'clock those who had been chosen to attend theEisteddfod set out for the High School. The performers were ushered intospecial rooms reserved for them, and the others were given seats withthe rest of the audience in the large hall. Miss Stewart, theHead-mistress, took her place on the platform, together with thePrincipals of the other five schools and Mr. Jordan, from the FreiburgCollege of Music, who was to act as judge. No time was to be lost if thewhole of the programme was to be carried through, so the choralcompetition began at once. Lots had to be drawn as to the order in whichthe schools should sing, and the Anglo-German had secured the firstinnings. Their chorus accordingly took its place on the platform andcommenced the test piece. They did well, and as they retired to makeroom for Newington Green, the second on the list, the St. Cyprian'scontingent acknowledged to themselves that the Alliance containedformidable rivals. To anybody unaccustomed to festival singing it wasextremely confusing to hear one choir after another render the same partsong, but Mr. Jordan was no novice at his task, and well knew how toappraise their merits. He sat with paper and pencil, jotting down theirrespective points as to time, tune, tone and quality of voice,expression and general spirit, so many marks to each, and appeared ascalm and collected and unmoved as if he were valuing goods for anauction.
"He doesn't show the least enthusiasm," whispered Mildred to Kitty, whosat next to her. "If it had been the Professor who was judging, he'dhave been hopping about the platform."
"I suppose it's Mr. Jordan's role to look quite disinterested andimpartial," returned Kitty.
St. Cyprian's was last on the list, and perhaps even Lottiecongratulated herself that she had taken Ella's advice and improved thestandard of her chorus, for the other schools had sung so well that theCollege would have to look to its laurels. She hastily whispered a fewlast directions as they took their places, and perhaps for the firsttime in her life felt a tremor of nervousness as they broke into theopening bars of "Now Cheerful Spring Returns". Fortunately the girls hadremembered their instructions; the second sopranos kept well up topitch, the time did not drag, and the crescendo passage was renderedwith due regard to tone. Lottie breathed more freely when it was over.She cast an enquiring look at Mr. Jordan, but his expression wasinscrutable. He merely jotted down some figures, and gave the signal ofdismissal.
After this followed the series of ten-minutes' concerts, in which eachschool exhibited its best stars. It was of course an extremely shortlimit, but it was wonderful how much was accomplished in the time. TheAnglo-German had concentrated all its energies on two brilliantpianoforte pieces, Marston Grove High School boasted a girl with aremarkably rich and strong contralto voice, Templeton had quite a fairviolin solo, the High School scored at a piano duet, and Newington GreenSchool had for champion a girl of about fourteen who played thevioloncello. St. Cyprian's, with its piano, violin, and vocal solos, wasfelt to have given a very all-sided performance. Ella playedbrilliantly, if coldly; Elizabeth Chalmers's nocturne was correct to anote; and Lottie sang the rather sentimental ballad she had chosen withmuch expression and display of feeling. Her confidence stood her in goodstead, for the Marston Grove contralto had been palpably nervous, andhad almost broken down at one point.
Mr. Jordan rapidly added up the marks gained by each school, puttingchorus and concert scores both together. Then, rising, he announced theresults:
Out of a maximum of 280 marks:
St. Cyprian's College, 230 marks The Anglo-German School, 220 " The Templeton School, 195 " The Kirkton High School, 195 " The Newington Green School, 180 " The Marston Grove High School, 165 "
The St. Cyprian's girls felt just a little crest-fallen. They had won,to be sure, but it was by a very narrow majority. They had not scoredquite the signal success which, considering the amount of time that theCollege devoted to music study, might reasonably have been anticipated.There were no prizes given for the competition, so as it was now longpast four o'clock, the Eisteddfod broke up, and the audience wasdismissed. As the girls filed from the hall, the various schools mingledin the corridor. Kitty Fletcher and Bess Harrison happened to be walkingbehind two Newington Green girls, and overheard an interesting scrap ofconversation.
"Well, what did you think of the famous St. Cyprian's?"
"Nothing up to what I'd expected. I'd heard they were so A1."
"So had I, but after all they weren't much better than the rest of us.That fair girl played the piano like a pianola! She put no expressioninto it."
"And the one who sang was vibrato all the time. I thought her ratherclaptrap!"
"As for the violin, it was brilliant, and good bowing, but it didn'tappeal to me like Althea's 'cello."
"I thought they were supposed to have such a crack violin player at St.Cyprian's--Herr Hoffmann's pet pupil at present, so they say."
"Well, if this was the girl, I don't admire her. I should say she's verymuch overrated."
Kitty clutched Bess Harrison's arm close in her indignation. As soon asthey were outside the school she exploded.
"Oh, to think they never heard Mildred! And they actually imagine EllaMartin's our crack player! It's wicked! It was suicidal for St.Cyprian's not to put Mildred on. I can't imagine what the committee wasdoing."
"The committee was swayed by Lottie," returned Bess, "and I don't thinkit has altogether good reason to congratulate itself on the results.Undoubtedly St. Cyprian's ought to have done better, and it will have tolook hard after its reputation in future."
"I shall play up at the cricket match, or I'll never touch a bat again!"vowed Kitty. "Nulli secundus--second to none! We've got to live up toour school motto."
The Girls of St. Cyprian's: A Tale of School Life Page 7
