The Dummy Club

It was one of those things that “was a good idea at the time”.

Probably, one night in the bar, somebody resurrected the idea of The Dummy Club.

Each member of the house was obliged to purchase a baby’s dummy. They needed to carry it with them at all times.

At any time of day and in any place a member of the house could be challenged to produce their dummy by any other member of they house. The challenge was made by the challenger standing in front of the challenged and placing his own dummy in his mouth and then clasping his hands behind his back. The challenged person was obliged to get their own dummy out and return he salute in the same manner.

In the bar, or in the common room at Luke’s this could be quite amusing.

In the Exeter High Street or in a pub anywhere in the city this could be mildly embarrassing for the challenged.

Several of the lecture rooms and windows were overlooked by a pathway so this is quite a common for someone in the room to be challenged by someone outside on the pathway. This was especially entertaining if the class were facing the windows and the lecturer had his or her back to the windows!

Sir Richard would take part in this activity. Initially it was mischievous to try to catch Sir Richard out in Killerton or in a quiet corridor, but it was soon obvious that he was a little more forthright than we gave him credit for and he was equally likely to challenge students anywhere in the college and, indeed, in the lecture rooms.