The Royal High School (RHS) of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

is a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

administered by the

City of Edinburgh Council The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland. In its current form, the counci ...

. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primaries in the north-west of the city: Blackhall primary school, Clermiston primary school,

Cramond Cramond Village (; gd, Cathair Amain) is a village and suburb in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland, at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth. The Cramond area has evidence of Mesolithic, Bronze Age and Roman ac ...

and

Davidson's Mains Davidson's Mains is a former village and now a district in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is adjacent to the districts of Barnton, Cramond, Silverknowes, Blackhall and Corbiehill/House O'Hill. It was absorbed into Edinburgh as part ...

. The school's profile has given it a flagship role in

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

, piloting such experiments as the introduction of the

Certificate of Secondary Education The Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) was a subject-specific qualification family awarded in both academic and vocational fields in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. CSE examinations were held in the years 1965 to 1987. This qualificati ...

, the provision of

setting Setting may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

, and the curricular integration of

European Studies European studies is a field of study offered by many academic colleges and universities that focuses on current developments in European integration. Some programmes offer a social science or public administration curriculum focusing on develop ...

and the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

. The Royal High School was last inspected by

HMIE Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIe) was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for the inspection of public and independent, primary and secondary schools, as well as further education colleges, community learning ...

in April 2007. The

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

is Pauline Walker who replaced Jane Frith, the first woman to head the school.

History

The Royal High School is, by one reckoning, the 18th- oldest school in the world, with a history of almost 900 years. Historians associate its birth with the flowering of the

12th century renaissance 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

. It first enters the historical record as the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

of Holyrood Abbey, founded for Alwin and the

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

canons by

David I David I may refer to: * David I, Caucasian Albanian Catholicos c. 399 * David I of Armenia, Catholicos of Armenia (728–741) * David I Kuropalates of Georgia (died 881) * David I Anhoghin, king of Lori (ruled 989–1048) * David I of Scotland (di ...

in 1128. The Grammar School of the Church of

, as it was known by the time Adam de Camis was rector in 1378, grew into a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

-run

burgh A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...

institution providing a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

education for the sons of landed and

burgess __NOTOC__ Burgess may refer to: People and fictional characters * Burgess (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Burgess (given name), a list of people Places * Burgess, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Burgess, Missouri, U ...

families, many of whom pursued careers in the church. In 1505 the school was described as a "

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

", the first recorded use of this term in either Scotland or

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In 1566, following the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

, transferred the school from the control of Holyrood Abbey to the

Town Council of Edinburgh The politics of Edinburgh are expressed in the deliberations and decisions of the City of Edinburgh Council, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament. Also, as Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh is host to th ...

. James Lawson was a big influence in building work for the school in 1578 and from about 1590

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

accorded it royal patronage as the ''Schola Regia Edimburgensis'', or King's School of Edinburgh. In 1584 the Town Council informed the rector,

Hercules Rollock Hercules Rollock ( fl. 1577–1599), Edinburgh schoolmaster and writer of Latin verse. He was born in Dundee, and an elder brother of Robert Rollock. He graduated at the University of St Andrews, was regent at King's College, Aberdeen, and then sp ...

, that his aim should be "to instruct the youth in pietie, guid maneris, doctrine and letteris". As far as possible, instruction was carried out in Latin. The study of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

began in 1614, and

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

in 1742. The egalitarian spirit of Scotland and the

classical tradition The Western classical tradition is the reception of classical Greco-Roman antiquity by later cultures, especially the post-classical West, involving texts, imagery, objects, ideas, institutions, monuments, architecture, cultural artifacts, ritua ...

exerted a profound influence on the school culture and the

Scottish Enlightenment The Scottish Enlightenment ( sco, Scots Enlichtenment, gd, Soillseachadh na h-Alba) was the period in 18th- and early-19th-century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By the eighteenth century ...

. The

Romantic era Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

at the turn of the 19th century was for Scotland a golden age of literature, winning the Royal High School an international reputation and an influx of foreign students, among them French princes. The historian William Ross notes: "

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

stood head and shoulders above his literary contemporaries; the rector,

Alexander Adam Alexander Adam (24 June 174118 December 1809) was a Scottish teacher and writer on Roman antiquities. Life Alexander Adam was born near Forres, in Moray, the son of a farmer. From his earliest years he showed uncommon diligence and persevera ...

, held a similar position in his own profession." By the end of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, an old scholar remembered, 'there were boys from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Barbadoes Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

Demerara Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state fro ...

, the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...

, besides England and Ireland.' The Royal High School was used as a model for the first public high school in the United States, the

English High School of Boston The English High School of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, is one of the first public high schools in America, founded in 1821. Originally called The English Classical School, it was renamed The English High School upon its first relocation ...

, in 1821. Learning Greek ceased to be compulsory in 1836, and the time allotted to its study was reduced in 1839 as

became recognised. The curriculum was gradually broadened to include French (1834),Trotter, ''Royal High School'', p. 190. after-hours

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

and

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

(1843),Ross, ''Royal High School'', pp. 59, 145.

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

(1845),

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

(1848),

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

(1853),Trotter, ''Royal High School'', p. 191. military drill (1865),

(1866), gymnastics as a formal subject and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

(1885),

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

(1908), and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

(1909). In 1866 classical masters were confined to teaching Latin and Greek. A modern and commercial course was introduced in 1873.Barclay, ''Tounis Scule'', p. 140. A school

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

was instituted in 1895. Through the centuries, the 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); High School Yards (1777–1829); the famous Regent Road building on

Calton Hill Calton Hill () is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the cit ...

(1829–1968); and

Jock's Lodge Jock's Lodge is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It centres on the junction of London Road and Willowbrae Road (part of the A1 trunk route to London), Portobello Road and Restalrig Road South (Smokey Brae) and is an alternative name for the M ...

(1931–1972). The Jock's Lodge site is now the Royal High Primary, and is no longer associated with the secondary school. For many years the school maintained a boarding facility for pupils from outside Edinburgh. The boarders ranged in age from six to eighteen. The House, as it was known, was located at 24 Royal Terrace and in later years moved to 13 Royal Terrace. When the boarding house was closed the records of all boarders, the artefacts such as the board with the names of head boys, and the memorial to boarders killed in the 1939–1945 war, were lost. The Royal High School moved to its current site at Barnton in 1968, vacating the

Old Royal High School The Old Royal High School, also known as New Parliament House, is a 19th-century neoclassical building on Calton Hill in the city of Edinburgh. The building was constructed for the use of the city's Royal High School, and gained its alternativ ...

buildings. In 1973 it became a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

comprehensive. The school's premises underwent extensive refurbishment between 2001 and 2003, funded by a £10 million public-private partnership project with Amey plc. File:Blackfriars_Wynd.jpg, Cardinal Beaton's House, Blackfriars Wynd (1555–1569) File:High School, Blackfriars 1578.jpg, Blackfriars Monastery (1578–1777) File:High School, Infirmary Street, 1777.jpg, High School Yards (1777–1829) File:High School, Calton Hill, 1829.jpg, Regent Road, Calton Hill (1829–1968) File:Royal High School, Barnton, Edinburgh.jpg, Barnton (1968–present)

Academics

The most recent report was 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

and national averages. 130

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

entrants from the Royal High School or 30.1% went to one of the ‘

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * ...

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 State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary educational institution, schools that educate all students without charge. They are ...

league tables (joint seventeenth nationally in the state school rankings). The school has dropped down 11 places, out of the top 20, in the Scottish schools rankings since 2009 since the new rector took over.

Traditions

The school uniform is black and white, derived from the municipal colours of Edinburgh. Girls wear a plain white blouse, school tie, black blazer with crest, black skirt or trousers, black tights and black polished shoes. The boys' uniform consists of a plain white shirt, school tie, black blazer with crest, black trousers and black polished shoes. The school blazer is a compulsory part of the uniform and children are allowed to wear other jackets as long as they are not worn inside the building. A black and white striped tie is standard for the lower years; a plain black tie denotes a Sixth Year. The school badge features the school motto and the embattled triple-towered castle of the school arms. When full colours are awarded to a pupil a new pocket is attached to the blazer with the school emblem embroidered in silver wire with the dates of the present academic year either side of the badge. Pupils wear uniform within school and at official functions where they represent the school. Blackfriars Pediment 1578

The prefect system was established in 1915. The Royal High School

armorial bearings A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its wh ...

derive from the shield of the city arms, and antedate the Act of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

on the subject in 1672. Their simple early form can be seen on a carved stone formerly set above the principal entrance to the school at Blackfriars in 1578. The pediment from the 1578 building was incorporated into the Regent Road building in 1897. The present design was matriculated by the

Lord Lyon The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grant ...

in 1920. The description reads: 'Sable, a castle triple towered and embattled argent, masoned of the first, windows and doors open gules set upon a rock proper. Above the shield is placed a helmet befitting its degree with a mantling sable doubled argent and in a scroll over the same this motto ''Musis Respublica Floret'' (The State Flourishes with the Muses).' The W.C.A. Ross memorial crest displaying the school arms was unveiled at the main entrance at Barnton in 1973. The Royal High

School song A school song, alma mater, school hymn or school anthem is the patronal song of a school. In England, this tradition is particularly strong in public schools and grammar schools. Australia *The Glennie School – ''Now Thank We All Our God'' ...

is '' Vivas Schola Regia'', written in 1895.

Sports and games

The Royal High School had many

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

ing

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

s which have mainly been disbanded. The RHS

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

Club was formed in 1861. The RHS

Rugby Football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

Club was formed in 1868. The RHS

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

Club was formed in 1876. The RHS Athletic Club was formed in 1920. The RHS Bike Club was formed in 2011. These clubs were pioneered by former and attending pupils, who originally played their games together. Among the student founders of cricket and football at the school were Taverner Knott and Nat Watt, who undertook their labours with the encouragement of Thomson Whyte, reportedly the first master to take a serious interest in sport at the school. The sporting clubs were formally integrated into the school body when, in 1900, at the request of the club captains, two masters undertook the management of cricket and rugby. The school's annual games date from the early 1860s, following

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

's grant of Holyrood Field to the school for use as a cricket field in 1860.Ross, ''Royal High School'', p. 145. At first the organisation of the games was undertaken by the masters, but at the request of the rector, James Donaldson, the burden was assumed by the cricket club, which carried it until the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The nations system was introduced in 1912 by a later rector,

William J. Watson William John Watson FRSE LLD (1865 – 9 March 1948) was a toponymist, one of the greatest Scottish scholars of the 20th century, and was the first scholar to place the study of Scottish place names on a firm linguistic basis. Life Watson ...

. This has continued to the present day. On joining the school every pupil is allotted membership in one of four school houses, known as nations, named after the ''gentes'' or primordial peoples from the infancy of the Scottish state:

Angles The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ' ...

Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...

and Scots. Siblings are members of the same nation. The nations originally competed against each other in athletics, cricket and rugby, the champion nation being awarded the school shield for the annual session. This system has evolved over time to include other extracurricular interests, such as

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

and

. Conceived as a character-building exercise, the annual games and nations system were intended to foster a team spirit and encourage physical activity among all pupils. Within each nation, masters were appointed to committees to develop Under 15 and Under 13 cricket and rugby teams, and to broaden participation beyond the First XI and XV by training pupils of every level of ability. The competitive scheme proved popular with pupils and teachers and has since been expanded to encompass a wide variety of

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

and other extracurricular activities, held throughout the year. Nation badges were introduced in 1928. Today the nations compete for the Crichton Cup. This was first presented as a trophy for the inter-nation squadron swimming race in 1914 by J. D. Crichton, whose sons were at the school. In 1920 it was transferred to the nation championship in scholarship and athletics combined. Earlier generations of Royal High Scholars had played their own schoolyard game, known as clacken from the wooden bat used by players, and as late as the 1880s 'no High School boy considered his equipment complete unless the wooden clacken hung to his wrist as he went and came',Trotter, ''Royal High School'', p. 66. but the rise of national games, especially rugby, the grant of Holyrood Field for cricket in 1860, and the construction of a gymnasium and swimming bath in 1885, meant the ancient Royal High Schoolyard game was extinct by 1911.

Notable alumni

Former pupils have made countless contributions to national life; amongst these names are: *

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...

(1728-1792), architect *

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Te ...

(1847-1922), inventor *

Henry Peter Brougham Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, (; 19 September 1778 – 7 May 1868) was a British statesman who became Lord High Chancellor and played a prominent role in passing the 1832 Reform Act and 1833 Slavery Abolition Act. ...

(1778–1868), British statesman and Lord Chancellor. *

Eric Brown (pilot) Captain Eric Melrose "Winkle" Brown, CBE, DSC, AFC, Hon FRAeS, RN (21 January 1919 – 21 February 2016) was a British Royal Navy officer and test pilot who flew 487 types of aircraft, more than anyone else in history. Brown holds the worl ...

(1919-2016), former Royal Navy officer and test pilot; first pilot to land on an Aircraft carrier. *

Ian Charleson Ian Charleson (11 August 1949 – 6 January 1990) was a Scottish stage and film actor. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in the Oscar-winning 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''. ...

(1949-1990). stage, TV and film actor

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell ...

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

Robin Cook Robert Finlayson "Robin" Cook (28 February 19466 August 2005) was a British Labour politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 until his death in 2005 and served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 until 2001 wh ...

(1946-2005), politician *

Thomas Coutts Thomas Coutts (7 September 1735 – 24 February 1822) was a British banker. He was a founder of the banking house Coutts, Coutts & Co. Early life Coutts was the fourth son of Jean (née Steuart) Coutts and John Coutts (merchant), John Coutts (1 ...

(1735-1822), banker *

Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...

(1930-2016), comedian *

John Cruickshank John Alexander Cruickshank VC (born 20 May 1920) is a Scottish former banker, former Royal Air Force officer, and a Second World War recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awa ...

V. C., Royal Air Force officer * Thomas Doherty, actor *

Henry Dundas Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Prime Minister William Pitt and the most powerful politician in Scotland in the late 18t ...

, Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer *

Robert Fergusson Robert Fergusson (5 September 1750 – 16 October 1774) was a Scottish poet. After formal education at the University of St Andrews, Fergusson led a bohemian life in Edinburgh, the city of his birth, then at the height of intellectual and c ...

(1750-1774), poet *

Eric Lomax Eric Sutherland Lomax (30 May 1919 – 8 October 2012) was a British Army officer who was sent to a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in 1942. He is most notable for his book, '' The Railway Man'', about his experiences before, during, and after Wor ...

, military officer and author of ''The Railway Man'' *

John Menzies John Menzies plc ( , ) is the holding company of Menzies Aviation plc, an aviation services business providing ground handling, cargo handling, cargo forwarding and into-plane (ITP) fuelling, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History The compa ...

, businessman * Eleanor Morton, comedian *

Robert Nasmyth Robert Nasmyth FRCSEd, FRSE (7 November 1791 – 12 May 1870) was a Scottish dental surgeon from Edinburgh who was Surgeon-Dentist to Queen Victoria in Scotland. He was President of the Odonto-Chirurgical Society of Scotland and was one of th ...

, inventor of the steam hammer, dentist to Queen Victoria in Scotland. * David Olive, physicist *

David Robb David Robb (born 23 August 1947) is a Scottish actor. Early life Born in London, the son of David Robb and Elsie Tilley, Robb grew up in Edinburgh and was educated there at the Royal High School, where he played Henry II in a school product ...

(1947- ), stage, TV and film actor *

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

Bt. (1771-1832), author *

Archibald Campbell Tait Archibald Campbell Tait (21 December 18113 December 1882) was an Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England and theologian. He was the first Scottish Archbishop of Canterbury and thus, head of the Church of England. Life Tait was bo ...

(1881-1881), Archbishop of Canterbury. * Anthony Todd Thomson (1778-1849), Scottish doctor and pioneer of dermatology.

Wartime service

Many former pupils won naval, military or air force awards. Schoolfellows who died in battle are commemorated by the memorial porch and brass tablets in the school hall. The upper

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

of the marble

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

is inscribed with a phrase from

Simonides Simonides of Ceos (; grc-gre, Σιμωνίδης ὁ Κεῖος; c. 556–468 BC) was a Greek lyric poet, born in Ioulis on Ceos. The scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria included him in the canonical list of the nine lyric poets esteemed ...

: ΟΥΔΕ ΤΕΘΝΑΣΙ ΘΑΝΟΝΤΕΣ. ''They died but are not dead.''

Class clubs

The Royal High School clubs of the 18th and early 19th centuries were class clubs, formed by cohorts of old boys who had studied for four years under one master before being taken under the rector's wing in their fifth. The names of some of the last class clubs are immortalised in the school prizes they endowed, such as the Boyd Prize (1857) now awarded to the Dux of Form I,Ross, ''Royal High School'', p. 106. the Macmillan Club Prize (1865), a gold watch now awarded to the Dux in English, and the Carmichael Club Medal (1878), now given to the Dux of Form III. However, because the traditional cohort system was governed by independent masters with separate student followings, the club classes did little to foster a common school spirit. Thus, even after 1808, when fourteen former pupils of Dr. Alexander Adam banded together as the first High School Club and commissioned

Henry Raeburn Sir Henry Raeburn (; 4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland. Biography Raeburn was born the son of a manufacturer in Stockbridge, on the Water of Leith: a fo ...

to paint a portrait of their master as a gift to the school, the old independence resurfaced again, in 1859, when the five surviving members handed over the priceless masterpiece to the

Scottish National Gallery The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by W ...

. The school instituted legal proceedings against the club,Barclay, ''Tounis Scule'', p. 139. but in the end had to make do with a Cruickshank copy of the original, presented in 1864.

School clubs

Today the Royal High School has three flourishing former pupils' clubs in the United Kingdom. The present Royal High School Club was founded in 1849 under the presidency of Robert Dundas Haldane-Duncan, 1st Earl of Camperdown. The first annual report, dated July 1850, contains the original constitution,Ross, ''Royal High School'', p. 77. clause IV of which states: 'The objects of the Club shall be generally to promote the interests of the High School, maintain a good understanding, and form a bond of union among the former Pupils of that institution.' Known in the beginning, like its predecessor, simply as the High School Club, it adopted its full name in 1907. Since 1863 the club has given an annual prize at the school games. It also pays for the framings of engravings of former pupils and other art works which decorate the walls of the school. The Royal High School Club in London was founded in 1889. On the occasion of its 70th anniversary dinner (1959) the ''

Scotsman The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...

'' reported: 'We believe the London Club is indeed the oldest Scottish School Club in existence in London – among the members are No. 111

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places * Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia * Sandringham, Queensland, Australia * Sandringham, Victoria, Australia **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station **Electoral district of Sandringham * Sand ...

.'Barclay, ''Tounis Scule'', p. 77. The third former pupils club in the UK is the Royal High School Achievers Society. The Royal High School (Canada) Club was formed in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

in 1914, and after lapsing into inactivity because of the war it was revived in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

in 1939. The Royal High School (

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

) Club was formed in 1925 to help former pupils in the east; it disbanded in 1959. The Royal High School ( Malaya) Club flourished between the two world wars and was revived in the 1950s.

European partnerships

The Royal High School has international relationships through regular musical exchanges with

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

on the

Continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

such as

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

(from 1975) and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

(from 1979), and with other schools such as the Theodolinden-Gymnasium, Munich (from 1979), the Lycée Antoine-de-Saint Exupéry,

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

(from 1991) and the Scuola di Musica ‘

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

’,

Prato Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 i ...

(from 1993). In 1992 the school was awarded a European Curriculum Award by the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

in recognition of its contribution to the development of European awareness in education, in part due to the

Baccalaureate Baccalaureate may refer to: * ''Baccalauréat'', a French national academic qualification * Bachelor's degree, or baccalaureate, an undergraduate academic degree * English Baccalaureate, a performance measure to assess secondary schools in England ...

Publications

The official school

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

is ''Schola Regia''. This is a ''vox discipuli'' that enables

pupils The pupil is a black hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina.Cassin, B. and Solomon, S. (1990) ''Dictionary of Eye Terminology''. Gainesville, Florida: Triad Publishing Company. It appears black ...

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

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 A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

from the

department. It is partly financed by commercial

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

and is published in the autumn. The Malcolm Knox Prize is awarded annually for the best contribution. The first, short-lived, school magazine was published in 1886. Like its successor, it was subsidised by the school club. 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

in a larger sense. The wartime volumes contain many letters from former pupils serving at the

front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...

. The Royal High School also publishes an ''Annual Report'' at the end of the school session in June/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 report from each subject detailing staffing, academic achievement and general events that went on in that subject in the past academic year. The rector's report was first published in 1846.

Rectors

Popular culture

Among the Royal High School's appearances in literature are the stories related in the ''

Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term '' magazine'' (from the French ''magazine' ...

'',

's ''Autobiography'', Lord Cockburn's ''Memorials'', Captain Basil Hall's ''Log Book of a Midshipman'',

George Borrow George Henry Borrow (5 July 1803 – 26 July 1881) was an English writer of novels and of travel based on personal experiences in Europe. His travels gave him a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure strongly in his work. Hi ...

's ''

Lavengro ''Lavengro: The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest'' (1851) is a work by George Borrow, falling somewhere between the genres of memoir and novel, which has long been considered a classic of 19th-century English literature. According to the author, i ...

'', George M'Crie's 1866 poem, ''The Old High School'' and William Boyd's ''

The New Confessions ''The New Confessions'' is the fourth novel by the Scottish writer William Boyd published in 1987. The theme and narrative structure of the novel is modelled on Jean-Jacques Rousseau's '' Les Confessions'', the reading of which has a huge impact o ...

''. The most celebrated of all is the 'Green-Breeks' episode in Scott's novel, ''

Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...

'', Appendix III (1814). The author, a pupil from 1779 to 1783, reminisces wistfully about the bicker, or traditional mass brawl, humorously likened to a

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

ic battle, fought in the streets of

between pupils from different social classes. A school ballad, ''The Woeful Slaying of Bailie Macmoran'', was founded on a school siege of 1595 known as the great barring-out. This turbulent history continues to inspire new work. ''Gentlemen’s Bairns'' is a play by C. S. Lincoln which premiered at the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

in 2006. It dramatises the fatal shooting during the siege of a

chief magistrate Chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class. Historically, the two different meanings of magistrate have often overlapped and refer to, as the case may be, to a major political and admini ...

, John Macmoran, by a pupil, William Sinclair, a grandson of the

Earl of Caithness Earl of Caithness is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland, and it has a very complex history. Its first grant, in the modern sense as to have been counted in strict lists of peerages, is now generally held to have ...

.Philip Fisher
Review: ''Close Encounters'', ‘Fringe 2005 Reviews’ (43), ''British Theatre Guide''
Retrieved on 27 October 2007. This incident is also taught as part of first year History curriculum.

References

External links

* an
School history

The Royal High School's page on Scottish Schools Online

The Royal High School Club

The Royal High School Club in London
{{Authority control Educational institutions established in the 12th century Organisations based in Edinburgh with royal patronage Secondary schools in Edinburgh 1128 establishments in Scotland