Tales of Wrykyn and Elsewhere is a collection of short stories by British writer P. G. Wodehouse, first published on 1 October 1997 by Porpoise Books, London, with illustrations by T. M. R. Whitwell. It contains previously uncollected work, most of the stories having first appeared in the schoolboy's magazines such as The Captain and Public School Magazine. It was reprinted by Penguin Random House under its Everyman's Library imprint in 2014.
Several of the stories had previously seen publication in the US in the collections The Uncollected Wodehouse (1976) and The Swoop! and Other Stories (1979).
Each of the stories involve students of a fictional public school. In the collection, the stories are grouped by school. The first twelve stories are set at Wrykyn, followed by two stories involving St Asterisk's, three St Austin's, four Locksley, two Beckford, one Eckleton, and one Sedleigh.
Contents
"Jackson's Extra" Royal, June 1904 The story is subtitled, "The story of how Wrykyn beat Ripton at cricket".
Plot An important cricket match is scheduled between the rival schools Wrykyn and Ripton, on the latter's ground. Jackson, of Mr Spence's house, is Wrykyn's best batsman. He gets bored in class and becomes disorderly. The tough schoolmaster Mr Dexter clearly intends to put him "in extra" (which means attending the "extra lesson" and spending two hours doing additional school work in a classroom). This would be on the day of the Ripton match, which Jackson would miss. O'Hara, of Dexter's, an Irish student and also a member of the cricket team, has experience dealing with his House-master and offers to help Jackson. Mr Dexter has not said anything to Jackson about his punishment, since Mr Dexter generally delays doing so to give false hope, and has it posted in a list the day before the extra lesson. O'Hara finds that Mr Dexter has written "Jackson" in the forthcoming list. O'Hara gets a half crown from Jackson for expenses. They go to Ripton, and Wrykyn wins, largely because of Jackson, who scores a century. Mr Dexter later discovers that Jackson missed the extra lesson and reports it, but the Headmaster saw Jackson in the extra lesson, specifically W. P. Jackson, of Dexter's. The young W. P. Jackson, a fourteen-year-old fag, claims O'Hara saw the list and told him he was in extra. The Headmaster decides that Mr Dexter has no case. W. P. Jackson later spends a half crown at the school shop.
"Homœopathic Treatment" Royal, August 1904 Boys' Life (US), April 1931
Plot Liss, of the Upper Fourth form, and Buxton, of the Lower Fifth, share study eight in Appleby's at Wrykyn. One day, Buxton starts wearing a strong scent called Simpkins Idle Moments, in order to annoy his Form-master Mr Day, who had put him "in extra" for throwing paper. Buxton claims it is recommended by doctors, but Mr Day hates scent and orders Buxton not to wear it in the form room again. The next day, Buxton wears a different scent, Riggles's Rose of the Hills. Mr Day protests again, but Buxton continues wearing it with the excuse that it is for his health. Like Mr Day, Liss hates Buxton's scents. Liss visits Vickery, also a member of Appleby's and the Upper Fourth, who is recovering from influenza in the infirmary. Vickery has a small study to himself, and Liss asks him to trade studies, since Vickery will not be able to smell much so soon after his illness and will not be bothered by Buxton's perfume. Vickery agrees, because he will be able to borrow Buxton's valuable Medea translation. Buxton is startled when Vickery comes wearing an even stronger scent, which he says is for his health. Buxton asks Liss to trade places. Liss agrees, and Buxton lets him keep the Medea crib. Vickery assures Liss that he only wore scent because he thought it would be better for them to have the study together than to share with Buxton.
"The Reformation of Study Sixteen" Royal, November 1904 Radio Digest (US), June 1930
Plot Bellwood and Davies, the occupants of study sixteen in Donaldson's, are lazy and have doctor's certificates to excuse them from exercise. This irritates Trevor, the head of Donaldson's and the captain of rugby. Trevor hopes Donaldson's will win the inter-house cup for the house second fifteens (the secondary rugby teams), and wants the heavy Bellwood and Davies to play as forwards. Another member of the house, Clowes, visits the study of the mild, spectacled Dixon, and learns that Davies and Bellwood have been bothering him. Dixon is too polite to do anything about it. Later, Bellwood amuses himself by throwing boots at Dixon's door. The doors open to reveal Trevor, who had heard about Dixon's predicament from Clowes and had traded studies with Dixon. Trevor scolds Bellwood and punishes him by caning him. Shortly afterward, Bellwood sees Davies and, pretending he does not know Trevor is there, tells him Dixon's door won't open. Davies breaks down the door, and is surprised to see Trevor, who then punishes Davies too. Bellwood and Davies decide to harass Dixon in Trevor's former study. They find the door unlocked and start throwing books at Dixon, until they realize Trevor is also there. Bellwood and Davies agree to get into training and play for the house team to escape further punishment. They are subdued after doing strenuous exercise and later play well for Donaldson's second fifteen.
"Ruthless Reginald" The Captain, April 1905 (Tales of Wrykyn No. 1)
Plot Reginald Rankin, of Seymour's, is a vengeful and unpopular student. He is fagging for George Rigby, a prefect in the Sixth Form. Two troublemaking students throw Rankin over a partition wall and he lands on Rigby's table. Rigby mistakenly thinks Rankin did this on purpose and punishes Rankin by caning him. The two students confess to Rigby that they pushed Rankin over. He apologizes to Rankin. Rankin is not satisfied and waits for an opportunity to get his revenge. Some time later, Rigby's uncle and aunt are coming to visit and he tells Rankin to hide a crib (a translation for students) of the Agamemnon in his room, since his uncle would disapprove of Rigby using a crib. Rankin has an alliance with J. Mereweather Cooke, a day-boy (a student who does not live at the school). Cooke lives in the nearby town of Wrykyn. Rankin uses this alliance to acquire even more translations, and leaves them in Rigby's study. Rankin shows Rigby's uncle, Peter Peckham, around the study, and Mr Peckham sees the large collection of these translations. Rankin pretends to act alarmed, saying that Rigby had told him to hide the books and that he would beat Rankin if he did not. Mr Peckham is appalled by this claim. He gives a sovereign (a substantial amount of money in 1905) intended for Rigby to Rankin instead. Rankin's parents come to live in the town and he becomes a day-boy, which means he is no longer a fag.
"The Politeness of Princes" The Captain, May 1905 (Tales of Wrykyn No. 2) The title comes from the saying, "Punctuality is the politeness of princes."
Plot Chapple, a boy in Seymour's house, has trouble dragging himself out of bed in time for breakfast; sleeping in a small room by himself, he generally arrives just as the other boys are leaving, and has to charm the staff into providing him with food and coffee. Eventually, Seymour notices his tardiness, and begins to punish him for arriving late. Chapple, taking advice from his friends, tries leaving the sheets off his bed, so the cold will wake him; he pulls them on again and sleeps on. He tries setting his watch ahead; he forgets to wind it and is later than ever. Finally, he tries leaving his blankets off and setting his watch ahead, but wakes far too early. Taking a stroll round the school to kill time until breakfast, Chapple runs into another boy who is off to do some carpentry; he joins him, but loses track of time in the workshop, and misses breakfast once more. Chapple is moved into the main dormitory, an older boy taking his place in the small room. He no longer arrives late for breakfast, since a prefect in the dormitory makes him get up.
"Shields' and the Cricket Cup" The Captain, June 1905 (Tales of Wrykyn No. 3)
Plot Mr Shields is the most inconspicuous master on the staff, and similarly, Shields' house is extremely unremarkable. Archie Clephane, a day-boy, joins the house after his parents go to India (though he wanted to join Donaldson's). Another day-boy, Mansfield, also goes to Shields', and forms an alliance with Clephane, particularly as they are both members of the second eleven. Shields' has historically failed to raise a team for the inter-house cricket cup. Henfrey, of Day's, tries to talk Clephane, now the cricket captain for Shields', out of playing in the cup, but Clephane defiantly raises a team, with help from Mansfield. Shields' gets a bye in the first round, then defeats Appleby's, a poor team. The final match is between Day's and Shields', and will last multiple days. Henfrey and his team are confident they will win and do not rush the game. After their second innings, they prematurely celebrate their success with a feast, and all but two young players became ill from a bad rabbit pie. Substitutes can play for Day's, but Clephane points out that substitutes are only allowed to field, not to bowl, so only the two young players can bowl for Day's. Clephane scores many runs and Shields' wins the cup.
"An Affair of Boats" The Captain, July 1905 (Tales of Wrykyn No. 4)
Plot The story takes place while the vengeful Rankin is still a member of Seymour's. Some athletic contests are held at the school, and Rankin gets into training for the sports, since there are cash prizes. J. R. Leather-Twigg, also known as Shoeblossom, wants to start trouble and tells Rankin to use Capsicum Vaseline as a muscle rub lotion, but this burns if left on too long. Rankin soon discovers this and quickly washes it off, and decides to get revenge. Wrykyn is on the Severn, and one day, Shoeblossom rows on the river to a small island, though it is out of bounds for students. While Shoeblossom is on the island, Rankin ties Shoeblossom's boat to the stern of his own, and rows to a place out of sight of the island. A young man and a young woman come to the island together and explore. Shoeblossm discovers his own boat is missing and takes theirs, feeling that, unlike him, they can shout out for help without getting in trouble. An hour and a half later, Rankin returns to the island to restore Shoeblossom's boat, but the couple thinks Rankin took their boat. The young man, himself an Old Wrykynian, recognizes that Rankin is in Seymour's and says he will report what Rankin did. Rankin regrets that he cannot take revenge on the young man, since he does not know his name or where he lives.
"The Last Place" The Captain, August 1905 (Tales of Wrykyn No. 5)
Plot