Page 97 - Culture Media Language Working Papers in Cultural Studies

86 GREEN FARM SCOUT CAMP

inspection is the most drastic concession of space made to the leadership by the
boys. Not only is the patrol tent open to their eyes but all personal kit is laid out
in open view, while the lads stand in a row before it. The whole of this inspection
was organized on a patrol basis, so that the performance of individuals, whether
good, bad or indifferent was significant only in so far as it affected the
differential positions of the patrols in the competition. There was, in general, less
emphasis on smart uniform, clean shoes and so on in the military manner than on
the labour-oriented signs of good camping properly brailed tents, clean utensils,
a litter-free site. However, on the occasion of full kit inspection the leaders
singled out for praise those lads who had conscientiously arranged their kit in a
precise, meaningful order—for example, hat at the top, clothes in the middle,
shoes at the bottom of the groundsheet. In my own view, the standard was, as
usual, very punctilious, with very few differences between patrols that the
evaluation could highlight. It indicated that the inexperience and youth of the
boys did not detract from their assimilation of the standards of cleanliness and so
on of the milieu. The results of the inspections were the main visible subject of
evaluation by the leaders. But this did not rule out evaluation of other things,
notably the ‘effort’ put in by individuals when participating in certain activities.
It was customary for Pat to award marks to the patrol who got all its members to
the flagpole before any other when the troop was called together. Thus
evaluation and competition were harnessed by Pat to the norms both of labour
and of social discipline operative in the special context of Scouting.
The Scouter who here most visibly embodied disciplinary and organizational
authority was Pat. In short, he decided what should be done next; he was the one
who addressed the boys as a body; he took the main responsibility for the camp’s
arrangements. The predominance of this aspect of the Scouter’s role in the case
of Pat can be contrasted with the different emphases of Bruce’s approach. This
difference corresponds to the difference between traditionalist and fraternalist
styles respectively.
Bruce emphasized, in effect, the creative and productive side of his role. It
was, for instance, seen as his responsibility to adjust the calor gas stoves when
they became temperamental. One afternoon he casually built a temporary chair
by lashing together a few left-over spars and poles. On the other hand, he kept
more in the background when the troop was gathered together for some purpose
and minimized his public visibility in this way. Bruce displayed his ability to exert
practical mastery when we had need of firewood on one occasion. The best kind
of firewood is dead wood found on the tree rather than on the ground, since the
wood needs to be dry. As we were cooking on calor gas stoves for the most part,
there was only one occasion when firewood had to be obtained, and the
technique for doing so was revealed to me by Bruce. First, one makes a ‘monkey-
knot’ at the end of a length of rope; one then has a rounded knot of rope which,
when it is thrown up towards the tree branches, will catch in the interstices of the
branches. By levering on the knot it is possible to break off dead branches,
having assessed likely candidates by their absence of leaves. This technique