The Fettesian

A Chronicle of Life at Fettes

The Fettesian was first published in 1878, with five ‘issues’ in quick succession: April; June; July; October, and December.

Issue 1 of The Fettesian begins:

A SCHOOL MAGAZINE needs but few introductory words from the Editors. It must speak for itself in its first and future numbers.

The Fettesian has been called into existence mainly for the following reasons :—

To chronicle all events connected, directly or indirectly, with the School.

To encourage literary productions among present and past members.

With regard to the first, we shall ourselves record all events as they occur in the School. These, of course, come under our own notice. But we wish to take this opportunity of asking all old Fettesians to forward to us for publication any achievements of old members of the School that seem worthy of being handed down to posterity.

This first issue contains a fascinating first hand ‘Retrospect’ written by one of the patriarchs, detail of debating, the football season 1877–1878, occasional notes and letters to the editors.

The Fettesian quickly found its style and within the first year of publication became a chronicle of life at Fettes with details of concerts, athletics, cricket, awarded prizes and proud writing of the achievements of young OFs making their way at University, Sandhurst and in reputable teams and listings of the time.

Original poetry and essays were soon forthcoming from pupils, Masters and Old Fettesians. The letters pages are insightful, noting wishes to play tennis on the Green Walk, complaining about the quality of the Fives Courts, providing us today with insights into the needs and wants of pupils of the time.

Images were first included in The Fettesian from August 1883 when there was an etching from Windermere, showing former Windermere College. This was where all 200 members of Fettes relocated to during the outbreak of Diphtheria which so sadly took the lives of one student as well as the son and wife of first Headmaster Dr Potts (Staff 1870–1889) (Deceased).

The size of The Fettesian publication remained close to the modern equivalent A5. The Archival copies that we hold are bound and stored for posterity.

It wasn’t until 1984 that The Fettesian changed to an A4 publication with the impactful and often iconic front covers that we know today. The Fettesian is still produced in print and, even during the pandemic, editions were produced for posterity noting the extraordinary circumstances in which we found ourselves. The powerful front cover image of the Fettesian of 2020 showing an empty Chapel being particularly poignant.

To browse and search these wonderful publications, visit our Digital Archive on fettescommunity.org where scanned and searchable copies of all The Fettesian magazines are available. There are also copies of the Old Fettesian Newsletter and over 1,300 House and Team photographs.