Royal High School (Edinburgh) Totally Explained

Everything about Royal High School Edinburgh totally explained

The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh can trace its roots back to 1128, and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It is a co-educational state comprehensive school, administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. It serves about 1200 pupils, largely from the north-west suburbs of the city, in the EH4 postcode: Barnton, Cramond, Davidson's Mains, Blackhall, Cammo, Silverknowes, some areas of Muirhouse and Clermiston. It was last inspected by Her Majesty's Inspectors in April 2007.
   The Royal High School's national profile has at times given it a flagship role in public education, piloting such experiments as the introduction of the Certificate of Secondary Education, the provision of setting in English and mathematics, and the curricular integration of European studies and, formerly, the International Baccalaureate. It is also unusual in teaching geology as a subject.
   The Latin tradition on which the school was established almost a millennium ago also endures: it's the only state school in Edinburgh to offer classical studies as a course option to those in their third year of secondary study; it's also one of the few in Scotland to provide a classical education.
   The Royal High School was used as a model for the first public high school in the United States, the English High School founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1821.
   The incumbent Rector is George Smuga. He is currently working with the Scottish Government to reform the national curriculum, and in his absence the Senior Depute, Mr David Simpson, is acting Head.

History

Historians of the Royal High School attribute its birth to the flowering of the twelfth-century renaissance. Building on a century or more of schooling by the Augustinian Order at Edinburgh Castle, it began as, and in the continuity of its personnel may predate, the seminary of the Abbey of Holyrood, founded for Alwin and the canons by David I in 1128.
   The Grammar School of the Church of Edinburgh, as it was known by the rectorship of Adam de Camis in 1378, grew into a church-run burgh institution providing a Latin education for the sons of burgess families, many of whom pursued careers in the Church. In 1566, following the Reformation, Mary, Queen of Scots, transferred the High School from the control of the Abbey to the Town Council, and from about 1590 James VI accorded it royal patronage as the Schola Regia Edinensis.
   The egalitarian spirit of the classical tradition exerted a profound influence on the school culture and the Scottish Enlightenment. The school remained a boys-only, selective school until 1973, when it began to admit girls and became a co-educational state comprehensive.
   Through the centuries, the Royal High School has been located at many sites throughout the city, including the Vennel of the Church of St. Mary in the Fields (c. 1503 - c.1516), Kirk o' Field Wynd (c. 1516-1555), Cardinal Beaton’s House in Blackfriars Wynd (1555-1569), the Collegiate Church of St. Giles or St. Mary in the Fields (1569-1578), Blackfriars Monastery (1578-1777), Infirmary Street (1777-1829), the famous building on Calton Hill (1829-1968), Jock's Lodge – now the Royal High Primary School (1931-1972), and its current site at Barnton, which it moved to in 1968. Image:Blackfriars_Wynd.jpg|Cardinal Beaton’s House, Blackfriars Wynd (1555-1569) Image:High School, Blackfriars 1578.jpg|Blackfriars Monastery (1578-1777) Image:High School, Infirmary Street, 1777.jpg|Infirmary Street (1777-1829) Image:High School, Calton Hill, 1829.jpg|Calton Hill (1829-1968) Image:Royal High School, Barnton, Edinburgh.jpg|Barnton (1968-present)

Performance

In their last report on the Royal High School of April 2007, HM Inspectors found ‘very high levels of attainment at all stages’, ‘motivated pupils who took a pride in their school’, and ‘a very positive school ethos’. Pupils scored highly in national examinations, consistently outperforming those in comparator schools as well as the Edinburgh and national averages.
130 university entrants from the Royal High School or 30.1% went to one of the ‘Sutton 13’ top UK universities in the five years between 2002 and 2006, second among Scottish state schools and colleges. In 2006 the Royal High School’s ranking for Higher grades was joint third in the Edinburgh state school league tables (joint seventeenth nationally in the state school rankings).

Uniform

The school uniform is black and white, derived from the municipal colours of Edinburgh.
The school retains the traditional school uniform of a blazer and tie, and students continue to take great pride in the uniform. Boys are required to wear a plain white shirt, official tie, black blazer with school badge, black trousers and black leather school shoes. There is the option of a black pullover. Girls must wear a white blouse, official tie, black pullover or cardigan, black blazer with school badge, black skirt or trousers, black tights and black leather school shoes. A black and white striped tie is standard; a plain black tie denotes a 6th-former.
The school badge features the school motto, Musis Respublica Floret (The State Flourishes with the Muses), and the embattled triple-towered castle from the shield of the city arms. The design is adapted from a carved stone originally set above the principal entrance to the school at Blackfriars in 1578. Prefects are presented with a silver badge (gold for school captain) to pin on their blazer. A select few 5th-formers are also awarded this badge.

Nations

The Royal High School's Annual Games date from the early 1860s. The Nations system was introduced by the Rector, Dr. William J. Watson, in 1912. Pupils are divided into four school houses, known as Nations, named after the gentes or primordial peoples from the infancy of the Scottish state: Angles, Britons, Picts and Scots. Siblings are usually members of the same Nation. Pupils originally competed in rugby union and cricket, the winning Nation being awarded the school shield for the annual session. Conceived as a character-building exercise, the arrangement was intended to foster a team spirit and encourage greater participation in physical activities. The competitive scheme proved popular with pupils and teachers and has since expanded to encompass a wide variety of games, sports, and other extracurricular activities held throughout the year. Nation badges were introduced in 1928, and the Nations now compete for the Crichton Cup.

School song

The Royal High School song is Vivas Schola Regia (1895).

Publications

The official school magazine is Schola Regia. This is a vox discipuli that enables pupils to air their views and showcase their literary and artistic talents. It features news and creative input from all sections of the school community, including regular club reports and interviews with famous former pupils. The journal is produced by an editorial committee of student volunteers, usually with the assistance of a teacher from the English department. It is partly financed by commercial advertising and is published in the autumn. The Malcolm Knox Prize is awarded annually for the best contribution.
The maiden issue of Schola Regia appeared in 1895 and the present series began in 1904. The magazine’s archive is both a repository of irreverent anecdotes about school life and a valuable source for history in a larger sense. The wartime volumes contain many letters from former pupils serving at the front.
The Royal High School also publishes an Annual Report at the end of the school session in July. As the school’s main publication of record, it contains future session dates, a staff list, the Rector’s report, a programme for the Commemoration Day Ceremony, a list of awards, and a roll of pupils.

European partnerships

Since the United Kingdom's accession to the European Union, the Royal High School's historic association with the City of Edinburgh has led it to cultivate international relationships through regular musical exchanges with sister cities on the Continent such as Florence (from 1975) and Munich (from 1979), and with other schools such as the Theodolinden-Gymnasium, Munich (from 1979), the Lycée Antoine-de-Saint Exupéry, Lyon (from 1991), and the Scuola di Musica ‘Giuseppe Verdi’, Prato (from 1993). In 1992 the school was awarded a European Curriculum Award by the British Government in recognition of its contribution to the development of European awareness in education.

Clubs

The Royal High School boasts many venerable sporting clubs. The RHS Cricket Club was formed in 1861. The RHS Rugby Football Club was formed in 1868. The RHS Golf Club was formed in 1876. The RHS Athletic Club was formed in 1920.
The Royal High School also has three flourishing former pupils clubs in the United Kingdom: the Royal High School Club (RHSC) in Edinburgh, founded in 1849 under the presidency of the Earl of Camperdown (1785-1859), the Royal High School Club in London (RHSCL) founded in 1889, and the Royal High School Achievers Society (RHSAS).
The Royal High School (Canada) Club (RHSCC) was formed in Winnipeg in 1914, and after lapsing into inactivity it was revived in British Columbia in 1939. The Royal High School (India) Club (RHSIC) was formed in 1925 to help former pupils in the east; it disbanded in 1959. The Royal High School (Malaya) Club (RHSMC) flourished between the two world wars and was revived in the 1950s.

Rectors

1128 Nominees of the Abbots of Holyrood
1519 David Vocat
1524 Henry Henryson, MA
1530 Adam Mure, MA
1545 Sir John Allan
1546 William Robertoun
1568 Thomas Buchanan, MA
1571 William Robertoun (again)
1584 Hercules Rollock, MA
1596 Alexander Hume, MA
1606 John Ray, MA
1630 Thomas Crawford, MA
1641 William Spence, MA
1650 Hew Wallace, MA
1656 John Muir, MA
1660 John Home, MA
1665 David Ferguson, MA
1669 Alexander Rutherford, MA
1672 Alexander Heriot, MA
1679 Archibald Guillane, MA

1680 William Skene, MA

1717 George Arbuthnot, MA

1735 John Lees, MA

1759 Alexander Matheson, MA

1768 Alexander Adam, LLD

1810 James Pillans, MA

1820 Aglionby-Ross Carson, LLD

1845 Leonhard Schmitz, PhD, LLD

1865 James Donaldson, MA, LLD (later Sir James)

1882 John Marshall, MA, LLD

1909 William J. Watson, MA, LLD

1914 John Strong, CBE, MA, LLD

1919 William King Gillies, MA, LLD

1940 James J. Robertson, MA, BD (later Sir James)

1942 Albert H. R. Ball, MA

1948 David Stuart M. Imrie, MA, PhD

1965 Baillie T. Ruthven, MA

1972 Farquhar Macintosh, MA

1989 Matthew M. MacIver, MA

1998 George M. R. Smuga, MA

Calton Hill building

� : Main article: New Parliament House, Edinburgh

The A-listed Old Royal High School building was erected between 1826 and 1829 on the south face of Calton Hill as part of Edinburgh's Acropolis, at a cost to the Town Council of £34,000. Of this £500 was given by HM The King 'as a token of royal favour towards a School, which, as a royal foundation, had conferred for ages incalculable benefits on the community'. It was designed in a neo-classical Greek Doric style by Thomas Hamilton, who modelled the portico and Great Hall on the Hephaisteion of Athens. Paired with St. George's Hall, Liverpool, as one of the ‘two finest buildings in the kingdom’ by Alexander Thomson in 1866, it has been praised as 'the architect's supreme masterpiece and the finest monument of the Greek revival in Scotland'.
After the school relocated to larger modern premises at Barnton in 1968, the vacated building was considered by the Scottish Office as a home for the Scottish Assembly and renamed New Parliament House.

Alumni and Alumnae

Many Royal High Scholars have upheld the school's ancient motto by making notable contributions to national life.

Anthropology

Daniel Wilson (1816–1892), anthropologist and university administrator

Brian Lang (b. 1945), anthropologist and university administrator Architecture

Robert Adam (1728–1792), architect to George III

Robert Mylne (1733–1811), architect and engineer

Thomas Hamilton (1784–1858), architect

William Burn (1789–1870), architect

David Bryce (1803–1876), architect

James Fergusson (1808–1886), architectural historian Asian Studies

Arthur Keith (1879–1944), Sanskritist and jurist

H. A. R. Gibb (1895–1971), Arabic scholar Chemistry

James Keir (1735–1820), chemist and industrialist

George Wilson (1818–1859), chemist and museum director

James Keir (1735–1820), chemist and industrialist

Thomas Hope (1766–1844), chemist and educationist

James Syme (1799-1870), discoverer of the solvent for rubber

Alexander Crum Brown (1838–1922), chemist Commerce and Industry

Thomas Coutts (1735-1822), London merchant banker

William Forbes (1739–1806), banker and philanthropist

James Matheson (1796–1878), Hong Kong merchant and politician

John Menzies (1808–1879), newsagent

Peter Denny (1821–1895), shipbuilder and shipowner

David Yule (1858–1928), Calcutta merchant and industrialist

William Somerville (1860–1932), agriculturist

Malcolm Stewart (1872–1951), brick and cement manufacturer

Ronald Parker (1909–1996), manager of nationalised industries

Gerry Forsgate (1919-2001), Hong Kong transport entrepreneur Classical Studies

John Burnet (1863–1928), Greek scholar Earth Sciences

Robert Sibbald (1641–1722), physician and geographer

James Hutton (1726–1797), geologist and discoverer of graphite veins

John Macdonald (1759–1831), cartographer

Alexander Rose (1781 – 1860), geologist

John Bartholomew (1860–1920), cartographer and geographer

Charles Normand (1889–1982), meteorologist Economics

John Kay (b. 1948), economist Education

John Watson, (d. 1762), benefactor of John Watson's School

William Fettes (1750-1836), lord provost and benefactor of Fettes College

Leonard Horner (1785-1864), geologist and a founder of the Edinburgh Academy and University College School Engineering and Design

James Short (1710–1768), maker of optical instruments

James Nasmyth (1808-1890), inventor of the steam hammer

Thomas Stevenson (1818-1887), lighthouse designer

Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922), inventor of the telephone Entertainment

William Chippendale (1801–1888), actor

Ronnie Corbett (b. 1930), comedian

David Robb (b. 1947), actor

Ian Charleson (1949–1990), actor

Glenn Chandler (b. 1951), creator of TV series Taggart

John McGlynn (b. 1953), actor Games and Sport

Alexander Petrie (1847/1848–1909), rugby union player

James Aikman Smith (1859–1931), rugby union administrator

Colin Telfer (b. 1947), rugby union player

Iwan Tukalo (b. 1961), rugby union player History and Archaeology

William Erskine (1773–1852), historian of India

Patrick Tytler (1791-1849), historian of Scotland

Cosmo Innes (1798–1874), antiquary of Scotland

William Skene (1809–1892), historian and Celtic scholar

Alexander Murray (1841–1904), museum curator

Gordon Donaldson (1913–1993), historian of Scotland Law

Thomas Craig (1538?–1608), lawyer and jurist

Thomas Hamilton (1563–1637), lawyer and politician

John Bonar (1747–1807), lawyer

Henry, Lord Cockburn (1779–1854), lawyer, Senator of the College of Justice, author, and a founder of the Edinburgh Academy

James Craig (1765–1850), lawyer and politician

Mark Napier (1798–1879), lawyer and historian

Theodore Martin (1816–1909), lawyer and biographer Literature

William Drummond (1585–1649), poet and pamphleteer

William Strahan (1715–1785), printer

William Smellie (1740–1795), encyclopaedist

Henry Mackenzie (1745-1831), writer

Robert Fergusson (1750–1774), poet

Walter Scott (1771–1832), poet and novelist

Francis Jeffrey (1773–1850), writer and judge

Adam Black (1784-1874), publisher, lord provost and Liberal backbencher

George Borrow (1803–1881), writer and traveller

John Merry Ross (1833–1883), literary critic and historian

Findlay Muirhead (1860–1935), Baedeker travel writer

Andrew Young (1885–1971), poet and clergyman

Henry Harvey Wood (1903–1977), writer and a founder of the Edinburgh Festival

Robert Garioch (1909–1981), poet and translator

Norman MacCaig (1910–1996), poet

Karl Miller (b. 1931), literary critic Mathematics

Bill Brass (1921–1999), demographer and statistician Media

William Barnetson (1917–1981), newspaper proprietor and television producer Medicine

Archibald Crichton (1791–1865), physician to the Tsar and Russian councillor of state

Medicine (continued)

Robert Knox (1791–1862), anatomist and ethnologist

Robert Christison (1797–1882), toxicologist

Andrew Combe (1797–1882), honorary physician to Queen Victoria and the King of the Belgians

Robert Dickson (1804–1875), physician

Charles Morehead (1807–1882), physician

Allen Thomson (1809–1884), anatomist and embryologist

James Spence (1812–1882), surgeon

Andrew Barclay (1817–1884), physician

William Lindsay (1829–1880), physician and botanist

Robert Philip (1857–1939), physician and founder of tuberculosis dispensaries

Caleb Saleeby (1878–1940), public health advocate

George Dick (1914–1997), pathologist and virologist Music

Thomas Erskine, Lord Kellie (1731–1781), composer

Learmont Drysdale (1866–1909), composer

Al Fairweather (1927-1993), jazz trumpeter

Sandy Brown (1929–1975), bandleader and acoustic architect Philosophy

Dugald Stewart (1753-1838), philosopher

James Ferrier (1808–1864), philosopher

Henry Calderwood (1830–1897), philosopher

Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison (1856–1931), philosopher

W. D. Ross (1877–1971), philosopher Politics

George Drummond (1687–1766), lord provost and civic improver

Alexander Wedderburn, Lord Rosslyn (1733-1805), Whig lord chancellor and defender of Clive of India

William Brodie, (1741-1788), deacon and thief

Henry Dundas, Lord Melville (1742–1811), Tory politician and political manager

Thomas Erskine, Lord Erskine (1750-1823), Whig lord chancellor

Robert Dundas, Lord Melville (1771–1851), Tory first lord of the Admiralty

James Abercromby, Lord Dunfermline (1776-1858), Whig speaker of the House of Commons

Francis Horner (1778–1817), Whig backbencher

Henry Brougham (1778–1868), Whig lord chancellor

George Clerk (1787–1867), Tory vice-president of the Board of Trade

William Craig (1797–1878), Liberal lord of the Treasury, lord clerk register and keeper of the Signet

James Robertson (1845–1909), Unionist politician and president of the Court of Session

Douglas Henderson (1935-2006), SNP deputy leader

Chris Harvie, MSP (b. 1943), SNP backbencher

Robin Cook (1946-2005), Labour foreign secretary and lord president of the Council

Sarah Boyack, MSP (b. 1961), Labour former transport minister

Kenneth Macintosh, MSP (b. 1962), Labour backbencher Public Service

Cadwallader Colden (1688-1776), lieutenant-governor of New York

James Campbell (1745–1831), army officer

John Campbell (1753–1784), soldier

Lachlan Macquarie (1761–1824), army officer and colonial governor

John Hope, Lord Hopetoun (1765–1823), army officer

George Ramsay, Lord Dalhousie (1770–1838), army officer and governor-in-chief of British North America

George Murray (1772-1846), army officer and lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada

Alexis Greig (1775–1845), naval officer in the Russian service

Frederick Maitland (1777–1839), naval officer, received the surrender of Napoleon

Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779-1859), governor of Bombay

Charles Napier (1786–1860), naval officer and politician

George Hay, Lord Tweeddale (1787–1876), army officer and governor of Madras

William Keith (1873–1937), administrator of Burma

Thomas Gardiner (1883–1964), civil servant Religion

Andrew Symson (c. 1638–1712), Church of Scotland minister and printer

Robert Haldane (1764–1842), theologian

John Campbell (1766–1840), Congregational minister and missionary in Africa

James Haldane (1768–1851), Baptist church leader

David Welsh (1793–1845), Free Church of Scotland minister and author

John Sandford (1801–1873), Church of England clergyman

Robert Cox (1810–1872), anti-sabbatarian

Archibald Tait (1811–1882), archbishop of Canterbury

Peter Lorimer (1812–1879), Presbyterian minister

William Dalrymple Maclagan (1826-1910), archbishop of York

James Stewart (1831–1905), Church of Scotland missionary to Africa

Robert Wallace (1831–1899), Church of Scotland minister and politician

Alexander Gordon (1841–1931), Unitarian minister and historian

George Smith (1856–1942), theologian

William Paterson (1860–1939), Church of Scotland minister and theologian

John Kelman (1864–1929), United Free Church of Scotland minister

Norman McLean (1865–1947), Biblical scholar Visual Arts

Alexander Nasmyth (1758-1840), artist and engineer

George Heriot (1759-1839), painter and deputy postmaster-general for British North America

William Allan (1782-1850), painter and president of the Royal Scottish Academy

John Schetky (1785–1824), watercolour painter

John James Ruskin (1785–1864), art collector

William Lizars (1788–1859), painter and engraver

James Hall (1800–1854), painter

Robert Lauder (1803–1869), painter and art teacher

David Scott (1806–1849), painter and poet

William Marshall (1813–1894), sculptor

James Archer (1822–1904), painter

William Douglas (1822–1891), painter, antiquary, and curator

George Aikman (1830–1905), painter and engraver Zoology

William Baird (1803–1872), zoologist

Graham Kerr (1869–1957), zoologist

Landsborough Thomson (1890–1977), ornithologist

Although the Royal High School long enjoyed a near monopoly on boys’ education among the Edinburgh burgesses and county gentry, attendance by the mathematician John Napier (1550-1617) and the philosopher David Hume (1711-1776) is unconfirmed and may be legend. On occasion the school has also provided a literally royal education. In 1859 HRH The Prince of Wales received lessons in Roman history from the Rector, Dr. Leonhard Schmitz, and presented the Carson medal at the prize-giving. The following year, 1860, HRH Prince Ferdinand d'Orléans, duc d'Alençon (1844-1910), HRH Louis d'Orléans, prince de Condé (1845-1866), and HRH Prince Pierre d'Orléans, duc de Penthièvre (1845-1919), attended classes and were awarded prizes.

Military and civil honours

Former pupils have received many awards for wartime service, among them:
First World War

Two VC The recipients were Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Eric Bent, VC DSO, and Captain Harcus Strachan, VC MC. Second World War

One VC

One GC

One CIE

One CBE

Four DSO

Five OBE

Twelve MBE

One DSC

Ten MC

14 DFC

One AFC

Two DCM

One CGM

Three GM

Two MM

Three DFM

One BEM

27 mentions in dispatches

RHS in popular culture

Of the Royal High School's innumerable appearances in literature, the most celebrated is the ‘Green-Breeks’ episode in Walter Scott’s novel, Waverley (1814), Appendix III. The author, a pupil from 1779 to 1783, reminisces wistfully about the bicker, or traditional mass brawl, humorously likened to a Homeric battle, fought in the streets of Edinburgh between pupils from different social classes.
The school's turbulent history of class conflict continues to inspire new work. Gentlemen’s Bairns is a play by C. S. Lincoln which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2005. It dramatises the fatal shooting of a town official, Bailie Macmoran, by an upper-class pupil during a school siege in 1595.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Royal High School Edinburgh'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://royal_high_school__edinburgh.totallyexplained.com">Royal High School (Edinburgh) Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.