Kenya "SchoolSpeak"

This list is a light-hearted attempt to remember and categorise the unique blend of language that constituted Kenya SchoolSpeak in the forties, fifties and sixties. Christopher Collier-Wright (Nairobi Primary, Pembroke House and Prince of Wales) and Brian McIntosh (Parklands Primary, Nakuru Primary and Prince of Wales) compiled the first draft.

Since it was first posted on the Web Site in September 2004, Kenya “SchoolSpeak” has received contributions from Roy Ashworth, Jitze Couperus, Antony Williamson, Colin McCulloch, John Albrecht, John Davis, Joan (nee) Williamson, Dave Burn, Chris Harrison, John Heppes, and Ron Bullock. More recently, contributions have been received from John Welford, Brod Purdy, James Storrar, Charles Milner-Williams, Stan Bleazard, Dicky Tomasyan, Martin Langley, Thomas "Haggis" Hughes, John Garside and Mati Glassborow.

Other additions or comments are needed. They should be sent to the Webmaster for inclusion and acknowledgement.

Group One: non-English words

Word/Expression	Language of origin	English equivalent	Typical Usage
kali sana	Swahili Swahili	fierce, sharp very	Ma Murderson is kali sana. Careful, this knife is kali.
taka-taka	Swahili	rubbish	Throw all that taka-taka away!
shenzi	Swahili	rotten, useless mixed breed	What a shenzi old car! Our dog’s a shenzi.
fundi	Swahili	craftsman (mechanic, carpenter, etc)	These tables were made by a local fundi.
duka	Swahili	shop	I’m going to the duka.
duka-wallah	Swahili/Hindi	shop-keeper	The duka-wallah lets us put things on the account.
dawa	Swahili	medicine	You must take your dawa twice a day.
dudu	Swahili	insect	There’s a dudu in my soup.
fisi	Swahili	hyena	(Used to indicate greed at table.) Harries is a fisi.
chunga	Swahili	check on	You’d better chunga the kids.
debbie cho (choo)	Swahili Swahili	large metal can (4 gallon kerosene tin) latrine	Carry that debbie of water to the outside cho.
shamba	Swahili	garden	Put on your shamba hat!
mahindi	Swahili	maize cob	We’re having mahindi for supper.
tinga-tinga (onomatopoeic)	Swahili	pump or generator	They switch off the tinga-tinga at half past ten.
piki-piki (onomatopoeic)	Swahili	motor cycle	Some of the 6^th form daybugs ride their piki-pikis to school.
simuni	Swahili	50 cent coin	Two simunis make a shilling.
kikapu	Swahili	straw basket	Put your toys in that kikapu.
jembi	Swahili	right-angled shovel, possibly convertible into spade (mattock)	These jembis are used for digging the foundations of the chapel.
panga	Swahili	long broad knife	Use your panga to hack down that bamboo.
siafu	Swahili	safari ants	These siafu get everywhere.
nini-hi	Swahili	what’s its name	Could you bring me the nini-hi from that table, please?
boma (literal meaning) (sub-meaning) (sub-meaning)	Swahili	1. cattle/sheep enclosure 2. D.C.’s (District Commissioner’s) compound 3. Kenya High School	The cows are kept in the boma at night. The boma is at the top of the hill. The girls from the heifer boma come to the house dances.
maridadi	Swahili	smart, beautiful	We’ll decorate the common room with bougainvillea to make it all maridadi for the house dance.
kuku	Swahili	chicken	That kuku looks pretty scrawny.
shauri	Swahili	enquiry/witch hunt; problem	There was a big shauri over who was responsible for making the pineapple pombe that exploded under the dorm floor.
pombe	Swahili	beer/illicit liquor	Some boys tried to make pombe from fermented pineapples.
kibs (from kiberiti)	Swahili	matches	Have you got any kibs?
punda	Swahili	(literally) donkey, used to mean heavy bicycle	You’ll never manage to ride up the hill to school on that punda.
bombafu (mpumbavu)	Swahili	idiot	You’re a bombafu!
ngombi (Anglicised plural ngombis) mtu (Anglicised as mutu)	Swahili Swahili	hump-backed local cattle a person	We have a mutu at school who keeps the grass short with four ngombis hitched to a gang mower.
bundu	Swahili	bush country	Boys are not allowed to go into the bundu beyond the games field.
fitina	Swahili	feud, dust-up	Johnny Riddell’s way of settling a fitina between two boys was to make them put on boxing gloves in PT class.
Hoteli ya Kingi Georgi rukhsa (ruhusa)	“Swahili-icised English” Swahili	H.M. Prison leave, holiday	The thieves were sentenced to six months’ rukhsa in Hoteli ya Kingi Georgi.
nyama (mnyama)	Swahili	meat	Nyamaaaaa! (exclamation on spying a particularly peach girl.)
kelele	Swahili	noise	Who’s making all that kelele outside?
wacha matata	Swahili Swahili	stop trouble, argument	Wacha all this matata!
dudu	Swahili	insect	Can you kill that dudu?
sufuria (anglicized plural sufurias)	Swahili	saucepan/cooking pot	Ma J makes sure that all the sufurias are kept clean.
chura chura hop	Swahili	frog	Did your pre make you do chura hops down the dorm for not cleaning your shoes today?
kufa, sometimes anglicized to kufa’d	Swahili	kill or die	The night watchman’s dog kufa’d two rabbits near the murram pitch last week.
funja, sometimes anglicized to funja’d	Swahili	to break	You’ve funja’d my dinky. Now you’ll have to get me a new one.
bundu cheroots	Swahili/Hindi	ersatz cigarettes made from a type of gum tree root	Hey, let’s go into the forest at Government House to get some bundu cheroots!
shauri ya mungu	Swahili	The will of God: fate	I don’t know how your pushie got frekked. Just shauri ya mungu, I think.
chockered	Swahili	exhausted	I'm too chockered to go to the tuck shop.
nusu nusu	Swahili	half and half	Let's share our tuck nusu nusu

pukka	Hindi	posh, smart	He’s got a pukka accent.
dhobi	Hindi	laundry	My white shirt is at the dhobi.
sais/syce	Hindi	stable-boy	The sais will hold the reins.
ayah	Hindi	nanny	I walked to school with the ayah.
topi	Hindi	pith helmet	You must wear your topi when you go riding.
gymkhana	Hindi	horse-show or sports club	Vanessa is going to ride her pony at the gymkhana.
gharri	Hindi	cart	I’ll give you a ride in the gharri.
dak bungalow	Hindi	postal service/railway rest-house	The Kisumu train stops at Lumbwa station long enough for us to have dinner at the dak bungalow.
jandha (pronounced jundy)	Hindi	literally flag but used to mean Indian (jandha wallah = red flag fellow i.e. nationalist)	You can buy whatever you need at the jundy duka. The jundy bus is usually very crowded. Those jundy buns cost twenty cents each.
dekho (pronounced decko)	Hindi	see, look	Can I have a dekho at how you parsed that paragraph for English prep?
tekkies (pronounced tackies)	Afrikaans	gym shoes	Your tekkies are dirty.
voetsek (pronounced footsak)	Afrikaans	Go away! Get lost!	Voetsek! (shouted)
stompie	Afrikaans	cigarette butt or short man	Give me a stompie! Who’s that stompie?
Rooinek (pronounced royneck)	Afrikaans	literally “red –neck”; used to mean person of British origin	There aren’t many rooineks around Eldoret.
plaas japie (abbreviated and pronounced yarpie)	Afrikaans	literally farm boy; used to mean Afrikaaner	Rhodes House is full of japies. The japies here include Engelbrecht and Kleynhans.
apie	Afrikaans	monkey	You’re an apie!
naartjie	Afrikaans	tangerine	I like naartjies!
mielie (pronounced mealie) braai	Afrikaans Afrikaans	maize cob barbecue	You can cook that mielie on the braai.
bok-bok	Afrikaans	literally, leapfrog; but see note at end by J. Storrar	Let’s play bok-bok at break
ag sies ag siestog	Afrikaans	expression of disgust / of endearment	Ag sies, man, that’s horrible. Ag siestog, what lovely puppies!
donner	Afrikaans	Lit. thunder hurt, assault	My shins get really donnered in the scrum.
vrek, pronounced frek	Afrikaans	to die or be killed	Brown vrekked the gears on my pushie, but we won the Coronation Safari anyway.
Herre jong, pronounced yarre yong	Afrikaans	Sacreligious expression	Herre jong, man, did you see Visser donner that new rooinek?
lekker	Afrikaans	sweet or nice	Durban’s a lekker place for a holiday!
broek (anglicised to broeks)	Afrikaans	short shorts or trousers	You can have broeks made at Haria Cash Stores in Stewart Street.
soutie (pronounced sote at PoW)	Afrikaans	Literally salty. Used to mean a South African Briton maintaining excessive contact with his country of origin: one leg in Africa, the other in Britain, and the appendage in between dangling into the salt sea. Used at the PoW to refer to guys with a provincial English accent.	Soutie Dine's a helluva good runner and rugger player.
cave (pronounced as 1 syllable, as in English) cus	Latin Latin (custos)	beware watch out teacher	Cave! Cus!
quis (pronounced quiz) ego! (or, more emphatically, ego done!)	Latin Latin	who I / me	Quis? ( Called out when you want to get rid of something.)Ego! (Response from person who wants to take up the above offer.)
pa	Latin (pater)	Mr	Pa Barton is our headmaster.
ma	Latin (mater)	Mrs/Miss	I’m scared of Ma Farrant.
satis (used in satis card, a form of mobile detention) non vix	Latin Latin Latin	enough, satisfactory not barely enough	Your satis card has to be signed by all your teachers every week. Amoeba gave me an N.S. (non satis) You won’t get off satis if you only get vix.
vamos (pronounced vamoos)	Spanish (we go)	Go away!	Shove off! Vamoos!

Group Two: Mostly slang words, mostly English

n.b. We have listed here the more esoteric words; we have not included common slang words like grub (food) or chuck (throw).

Word/Expression	Explanation	Typical Usage
scoff	(n) food (v) to eat	The scoff at school is awful. I scoffed my lunch in a hurry.
dame	a girlfriend or sweetheart Or derogatory, meaning wet Or just meaning a girl	Keep your hands off her, she’s my dame! Welford’s a dame Let’s go and talk to that dame over there!
peach	pretty girl	Janet’s really peach.
pre	a prefect at school	Davis is a pre in Grigg house.
trades rabble	dining hall duty (a Dartmouth Naval College term introduced in the Princeo by Captain Nicholson R.N.) new pupils in form 1	I’ll get a rabble to do my trades for me.
bedbug	boarder	Bedbugs are allowed to go down to town twice a term on the shopping lorry.
daybug	a day pupil (as opposed to a boarder)	Loudon’s just a daybug.
newbug	new kid at school	Fletcher tells the newbugs about the birds and the bees.
stinker	a day pupil	This common room is for the stinkers.
pom pommy (adj)	Someone recently arrived from UK, with a provincial accent	Man, what a pommy accent!
cuts	Strokes with a bamboo cane on the backside	I got six cuts for smoking.
waga-paga	waste paper basket	Put the waga-paga in the corner.
jerry or chinky	chamber pot	There’s a jerry under each bed in the dorm.
porky	triangular indentation in a felt hat	Only the sixth formers are allowed to have porkies.
man (or man alive)	expression of exasperation, etc	Man! I’ve got so much prep to do.
swot	(n) studious pupil (v) study hard	Worthy is a swot. You’d better swot this up for the exam.
bags (v)	to reserve	Bags I this seat. (The subject and verb could apparently be inverted.)
Nick he/it	I don’t want The person in the game of ‘tip’ etc who has to catch the others.	Nick be he.
goo	glutinous substance added to soil to form bricks	Quelsh told us to add more goo.
swap nyabs	exchange marbles (see below)	I’ll swap my nyabs for your dinky car.
butty	butterfly	Where’s my butty net?
kicker	baby or young child	My kicker brother’s a pain in the neck.
pushie	bicycle	You are not allowed to ride your pushie across the quad.
landy	Land Rover	I’d like to try driving a landy.
cozzy	bathing costume	I’ve forgotten my cozzy.
mozzy	mosquito	My arms are covered with mozzy bites.
titch (n) titchy (adj)	small	O.K. All you titches line up on that side.
shortarse	small/short guy	These trousers would fit a shortarse.
Stick pongo bags (n)	teasing/bullying English shorts (or trousers)	You’ll get a lot of stick if your wear those long Pongo bags at the Princeo.
ten-centis four arses smokers’ union	lung-wrenching cigarettes Four Aces – another brand; also the name of a pop group illicit gathering of smokers at morning break time	The gum tree thicket beyond Grigg house is a favourite haunt of ten-centi smokers. The smokers’ union meets behind the hedge on the far side of the murram hockey pitch
Patch, Cabbage Patch (princeo) Duck Pond (duko)	Prince of Wales School, term derived from Prince of Wales feathers on school badge Duke of York School, term derived from the sound of the name	After you pass the Kenya Prelim (Kenya Preliminary Examination, taken at the end of primary school), you can go on to the Cabbage Patch or the Duck Pond.
logs	a claim	You can borrow my crystal set but I’ve got logs on it.
sheathie	sheath knife	You’ll need a sheathie at the scout camp.
frenchie or johnny	french letter/condom	(Young innocent) The barber asked me if I required anything for the weekend. What did he mean? (Know-all) A frenchie, of course!
reg	Kenya Regiment	Are you looking forward to the reg?
bunk (over) (v)	go without permission	Dare we bunk over to the boma on Sunday?
frogs’ eggs	Tapioca pudding	Ag sies, we’re having frogs’ eggs today.
Tanganyika mud	Chocolate blancmange (speciality of Hawke/Grigg dining hall)	Ma Jessop’s Tanganyika mud is a real treat.
slash	have a pee	I can’t wait to have a slash.
spare	feel awkward/embarrassed	I felt spare when I realized my bags were torn.
grease out of be gated	avoid be confined to school	I greased out of working party but WillieMac gated me for the rest of term
crus	Crusaders	You’ll get a fantastic tea if you go to crus on Sunday afternoon.
carrot	term used to indicate someone is an idiot (a donkey)	Give him a carrot!
scratch	term used at the boma to indicate idiocy	Scratch, scratch! (accompanied by scratching motion at the arm-pit)
foofie-sliding	sliding down a hill, preferably on a tray	Ma Jessop is fed up with Grigg boys using the metal trays to foofie-slide down the valley.
scavenging	picking up paper and other rubbish	Saturday’s working party will go scavenging around the Oval.
shindy (derived from shindig)	loud noise, disturbance, trouble	Quit that shindy!
compound (derived from Malay kampong)	school grounds, campus	Boys are not allowed to leave the compound without a leave pass.
godown (derived from Malay godong)	warehouse, store	The new beds for the dormitory are still in the godown.
jankers	military punishment (CCF)	Those on jankers will tidy up the armoury.
catty	catapult	I fired my catty at the monkeys in the trees and they started pelting me with nuts!
bog-brush	short haircut, leaving the hair erect in eponymous fashion	Jake was extremely angry when he saw that those boys had bog-brushes.
quad	abbreviated form of quadrangle	Only school pres can walk on the grass in the quad.
nyabs	marbles, sub-meaning testicles	Warren got hit in the nyabs when Scott was playing Rhodes.
standards	Minimum requirements in athletics and swimming	Have we got standards this arvo?
leave-out	exeat from school	I’m going on leave-out with Tor Allan next weekend.
arvo	Corruption of afternoon	I’ve got a detention this arvo, so I can’t go foofie-sliding in the Valley.
dinkies or dinks	diecast toy cars/trucks made by Meccano or Corgi	Let’s go and play dinks over there!
San	abbreviated form of sanatorium (sickbay)	Ma Welford is the new San Matron – I hear she’s pretty kali.
Weh! (prounounced way but breathlessly)	Expression of awe or amazement	Weh! That was a good shot, man.
pull finger	get a move on	We need to pull finger if we’re going to win this match.
heng - derived from heck/hell	incredible/fantastic	Englebrecht did a heng of a tackle in the last house match.
swank (n and v)	show off, boast	O.K. – we all know you got your colours last week. Stop swanking about it.
swogger	To hit a ball really well, hard and accurately	Man you really swoggered that one!
grog	a fairly unpleasant linctus that was served up to malingerers visiting the "San" ....... (see more below)	The grog they just gave me at the San was kali sana

NyabSpeak Supplement

Term	Meaning
faunch	a foul shot
steelie	ball bearing used as a nyab
bulls eye	direct hit
keepies	no whining if you lose
Bags nick-ennings	I don’t want any exclusions or reservations
nick-faunchies	no foul shots
bombies	firing the nyab from above
halfcasts
jundy flick	powerful middle finger flick (Indian style)
allie	mega nyab
japs	glass marbles with a coloured twisted insert
spiders, blood-shots, clayees, cats’ eyes, clearies	varieties of nyabs designated in accordance with their appearance
bulls eye (2)	a large nyab
banana, banana bender	A curving shot played by imparting lots of spin to a nyab with a particular type of jundi flick.
keepers	Game where you got to keep the nyabs you knocked out of the ring. The converse of a friendly game where each player got to keep their own nyabs after the game was over.

Nyabs
A note by Jim Storrar (Intermediate/Hawke, 1961-65)

Let's talk Nyabs. ( Gololi in Swahili,) Playing Marbles, ..... Tufe ndogo ya jiwe.

Marbles,..... or some of them, were made of Marble.
Aggies (Nyabs) were made of Agate;
Alleys (" " ") were made of Alabaster;
Immies, ... were imitations of all of the above,made of glass.
Chinas ..... you've got my drift.
clayees, .... ...... ;
Glassies Puries or Clearies were single colour clear glass and often highly prized.
Sodies, .... (Afrikaans) were the clear glass stoppers, removed from Soda bottles, by breaking the pinched neks.
Milkies, .... Opaque or milky white nyabs.
Commoneys or Commies, were your everyday nyabs.

A note on Steelies, ..... I can remember playing nyabs, on a regular but fairly daunting basis with a chap called - "Grosse", by name and nature, whose Dad ,who worked for East African Airways as a mechanic , had furnished his favourite son with a ballbearing the size of a tennis ball, that came out of an aircraft propeller. This relatively unpleasant fellow, would unveil this monster, from his nyab bag, when occasion allowed, in order to drop a "Bombie" on any unfortunate player's nyab, who had failed to say ..... "Nick faunchies, nick Bombies, nick ennings ," The inevitable result was, a powdered nyab, depending on the playing surface or a sure hit. Needless to say, he never missed and he would never hazard his prized possession on a chancy shot. As you can rightly surmise, he was despised, yet everyone hoped to wrest this worthy trophy from him, at great cost.

"Fudging, Histing and Hunching," were all Pongo words for ... "Faunching".
Lagging", ..... Apart from flipping a coin, or going through the Eenie -Meenie -Mo ,routine, or winner goes first. One of the main methods of establishing who shoots first, was to chalk or draw in the dirt, a line, known as the "Pitch Line". A nyab was pitched or flicked towards a parallel line, ( The "Lag Line" ,) about fifteen feet away. The player whose nyab is closest to the "Lag Line," on either side of it , goes first.
Mibs, ... The target marble.
Taw, ... the marble you are shooting with.
"Fairsies," .... The opposite of "Keepsies,'" Playing for fun, in other words, no permanent exchange of nyabs.

That's all I can remember at the moment, as the facility of total recall has been compromised by the ravages of time and a fairly dissolute adulthood.

I do hope this triggers some pleasant memories for some old "Kenya Cowboys," who I know would still knuckle down for a game of nyabs, if the opportunity presented itself.

Salaams, Jim Storrar

Racy References

Word/Expression	Explanation	Typical Usage
spoof	Semen, or ejaculation of semen	Can you spoof yet?
jock, or on jock	Erection	I went on jock in Ma Broomfield’s class today – it was really embarrassing.
roundhead	Word to denote a circumcised penis or a person with one.	Moffat’s a roundhead
cavalier	Word to denote an uncircumcised penis or a person with one.	(To a newbug:) Hey, are you a roundhead or a cavalier?
kufanya jiggy-jig Swahili/Hindustani	To make the two-backed beast	Some boys got expelled for having jiggy-jig at a station hoteli on the train ride back to school.

Bok-Bok
A note by Jim Storrar (Intermediate/Hawke, 1961-65)

I noticed with some amusement, the entry in your school speak section, of the words "Bok-Bok" the explanation for which is.... Leap frog. Whilst the opening sequence of play superficially resembles leapfrog, all other similarities end there.

The rather endearing term.... "Leap Frog" implies some sort of benign children's' game, free from violence and not of a highly competitive nature. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Bok-Bok is a very ancient game, played in Roman times. The cry at the opening of the game was; ... Bucca Bucca quot sunt hic? The game is similar to the English Public School game called ... High (Hey) Coackalorum. They shout "Stand rigid, how many fingers on your body"? In Kenya, the opening cry was.... "Bok-Bok, staan styf. Hoeveel vingers op jou lyf?”

There is a painting by Breughel of children's games in which the game is illustrated. Anyway, enough of all that pedantry, as it was only a game, much enjoyed by South Africans, Boeties, young Sikh men and Rugby players.

There are rules, the most important of which was that all rules were there to be broken. If there was a referee and they were usually Hors de Combat or on the blind side of play; they were supposed to adjudge:- that misdemeanours such as .. eye gouging, kidney punching, rib breaking, hair pulling and rearranging of the cosmatokkers with the skilful back heel kick as .... foul play. The penalty suffered by the offending team was to endure the gruelling mauling that was the automatic consequence of being the bucking (notice care in spelling) or Bokking team. It sure as hell wasn't a game for the faint hearted and I believe it was proscribed by the authorities in most of the girly houses at Prinso, nevertheless it was played with great enthusiasm by the okes in Rrrhodes and Hawke and people whose surname began with "van".

I dread to think what would have happened to anyone with the temerity to say, in a well-honed English accent, "Anyone for a game of leapfrog"? Then having to explain how they sustained a faceful of multiple injuries down at the San.

Years ago, I tried to explain how the game was played, to the blokes in our Pub Tug o' War team, as I felt it might make our training sessions more interesting. The general consensus afterwards, ... never again, far too rough. I hasten to add that it would be tedious if not incomprehensible to even begin to explain the intricacies of the game through this medium.

This is not meant to be a criticism of your team of lexicographers but merely an addendum. I reckon that later on I might be able to fill in a few more gaps in your dictionary.

Salaams, Jim Storrar

Postscript by Jim Storrar

Further to all this stuff about Bok-Bok, I can add a little bit more about scoring and strategy, which may not have been universal but were fairly consistent.

Scoring
Once a member of the running team was committed to and had started his run, he was not allowed to stop, restart or miss the target ,any of these was counted as falling off and therefore the running team were "out".

If any part of any runners' body touched the ground once aboard the Bokking team, that was counted as falling off.
Sometimes, by agreement, the runners would defer from landing fists first on the down team.
The Bokking team had to remain connected otherwise a break was counted as a collapse.
The rearmost chap of the down team had to remain motionless until the first runner was actually on the move.
There was no limit on the number of runners that could be sent in one go, however, teamwork and some pretty fancy footwork was needed to get more than one bloke up in the air at once, as any confusion could stop the run and make your team "out".

Strategy
Normally, in the Bokking team, the end guy would be the toughest and tallest in the team, as he took the brunt of the attack and his height would disadvantage the smaller and less athletic runners. The heaviest and most sturdy guys would be in the middle, as inevitably this was were most of the runners concentrated their forces and the smaller guys would be up at the front out of harm's way.
The Bokking and swerving was extremely tiring and increased the risk of becoming disconnected, instructions came from the guy at the front and the chap at the back who were the only guys who could see what was going on, as to the most opportune moments to move and thus conserve energy.
The runners would usually send their heaviest guy first, as part of a shock and awe tactic, provided he was athletic and nimble enough to be able to change direction on the run and make that initial big leap and then scramble down the backs to make room for his team mates.

Without the weight of any runners on board, the Bokkers were at their most mobile at this time. As long as they could jump high enough, the alternative strategy was to get all the smaller guys on first as they were agile enough to make their way up to the front and most vulnerable part of the Bokking team
Naturally, none of the above mattered a damn, if the game degenerated into a no rules, no holds barred affair, which was the norm. Great fun was had by all. Occasionally, the shout of "Bok- Bok" would ring out and every chap in the vicinity would turn up for a mass game which was organized chaos but a helluva lota laughs.

Grog
A note by Jim Storrar (Intermediate/Hawke, 1961-65)

I noticed that the word "Grog" doesn't appear in your dictionary. Whatever else it might mean in the outside world, it had it's own connotation as far as Prinso was concerned.

Grog was a fairly unpleasant linctus that was served up to malingerers visiting the "San". It was administered in a little shot glass by Matron or one of her unsympathetic and cynical helpers. The medicament came in two colours, ... Brown , which tasted of Victory "V"s dissolved in white spirit and was a cure-all for all ailments that could be categorized as Flu.

The second potion was White, .. It tasted of chalky disinfectant and was the primary cure for all alimentary complaints.

These panaceas were kept in two huge flagons on a shelf in the dispensary which you could view with some trepidation as you sucked on the thermometer while you tried to figure out how to get your temperature to "go off the clock."

It was necessary to endure the consumption of either of these foul potions, as part of a wider strategy to acquire a small slip of paper with matron's signature that enabled the bearer to be late for or avoid Flag Parade, Chapel, Detention or some other irksome activity or even Games. However the end game was to put on an acting performance that would hopefully get you a berth in the "San" without preventing you from missing an exeat.

The "San" was a marvellous institution. It was a quite sequestered building, all set about with Poinsettias , Frangipanis, Grevillea and Jacaranda trees. A respite from trades, rabble calls, fagging, satis cards, working party and Latin. A patient could slowly recover from a terminal illness, moping about in a nicely decorated ward with cool breezes blowing in from the veranda and access to an eclectic selection of reading matter and of course, better food. Needless to say, engineering a stay in the "San" was well nigh impossible, unless of course you were ill, an uncommon state of affairs for most Kenya boys.

Yours aye, Jim Storrar.

Rabble Calls

Charles Milner Williams (Hawke 1958-63) defines these unwelcome intrusions on the liberty of junior boys in the following terms:

Rabble calls: these were the prerogative of prefects, and I think until about 1959, sixth formers. A bellow would resound through the house "RABBLE" and all the junior dorm had to leap from bath, bed, cho or wherever to do
the great one's bidding. These calls seem to happen most often after games and before supper, although I do remember the odd early-morning call. The last one to arrive had to go to the tuck-shop, clean kit - CCF kit was not
to be done, I recall. I don't know how long they went on after I had left.

Stan Bleazard (Grigg/Rhodes/Scott, 1945-8) provides an example of a Rabble call in an unusual setting:

Scene: Maji Mazuri Station, between Eldoret and Nakuru, at 3 a.m. one morning in 1945.

Faint at first, then strongly from just beyond station limits, the Garratt's siren blasted warning of its imminent arrival. The mist that way began to visibly brighten. Turning into the final straight, the loco's beam suddenly exposed the three of us in brilliant light. Blinking, we turned away in response. Underfoot, I distinctly felt the ground shake as the juggernaut approached and rushed passed. The moment darkness resumed a blast of heat from the loco's firebox hit us. The screech of iron shoes grinding against steel wheels jarred my teeth as the driver applied brakes to every carriage. Finally the train stopped with a shudder. The Ticket Examiner flashed his torch at us to show me to my reservation. As usual, at 0300 hours I was the only person to board.

Struggling to shove my trunk through the entrance doorway, I twisted my thumb on its beastly metal handle. Most compartments were still lit, so it was easy to find mine. Entering, I greeted two glum looking young fellows who only grunted a response. The Garratt's siren sounded and we were soon moving. I was hardly settled when shouts of 'Rabble' emanated from somewhere at the end of the corridor. Such address was of course unusual and, ignorant of its meaning I at first ignored it. I felt people were rude making such a lot of noise at this hour. Not many seconds elapsed, however, before I was forcibly seized by a couple of ruffians, manhandled to the far compartment and persuaded to introduce myself to several other aspiring thugs. The air inside was full of smoke and it stank of beer. From their intense questioning, I was soon aware that they wished to find grounds for unfair criticism, or any reason at all to mindlessly berate me. Much of this was demeaning, especially aspersions about my heredity. Having exhausted their verbal assault on me, they then demanded I sing for their entertainment. Not well gifted with this facility, my various attempts brought only displeasure, which brought on physical abuse to encourage me to perform better. What followed need not be recorded in detail. Fortunately my vilification did not last because more pupils boarded at Sabatia, the next station. With my tormentors' attention momentarily diverted, I escaped and made as fast as I could to the furthest end of the train. I spent the next hours until daybreak squatting with difficulty in an oriental style toilet. That was how the journey for my secondary education began, which turned out by comparison to have been typical experience for most of us.

Sixies/Safeties
(as recalled by Antony Williamson (Grigg 1956-9)

In case of flatulence (which was frequent with all that cabbage in our diet!) one had to call out 'safeties' as soon as possible after the act. Failure to do so would result in someone calling out 'sixies', whereupon the offender would receive six punches on the upper arm.

A variant was to call out 'six stations', whereupon the offender would continue to be punched on the arm until he named six railway stations.
Sometimes the six had to be named in their order on the Uganda, Mombasa or Nanyuki lines.

Typical Usage

Explanation

Typical Usage

Explanation

Typical Usage