History of Sedbergh School in 50 Objects #49: School Motto

As the school approached its 500 year anniversary, Headmaster Dan Harrison considered whether a delicate change was required on matters that some Sedberghians held dear. The motto and the school song, Winder, had both been introduced in the dying days of the 19th century. Generations of Sedberghians had grown up reciting the lyrics to the school song, and repeating the motto, Dura Virum Nutrix, commonly translated as ‘stern nurse of men’. Harrison had spent over three decades of his career at Sedbergh, starting as a young master and rising through the ranks to become Headmaster. During that time he fostered the deep friendships that are built between coach and player, tutor and pupil, master and colleague. His understanding of the Sedbergh zeitgeist was profound and reached across generations of OS, parents and pupils. His suggestion in 2023 that the motto should be reviewed was a considered one, following feedback from many within the Sedbergh community, and Harrison’s own belief that a motto should inherently represent the true ethos of the school.

Dura Virum Nutrix was not the first school motto. For the first three and a half centuries of the school’s existence it had no motto to adorn its buildings or be oft quoted by alumni. The school briefly flirted with using Fronde virere nova, the Lupton family motto, when the Lupton Coat of arms was adopted around 1875, however, Lowther Clark and Weech who wrote the previous school history book suggest that this was never a formal motto for the school, merely an affectation. The earliest officially recognised school motto, instigated by Heppenstall during his significant Headship of the School in 1878, instructed pupils, Sedberghiam nactus es, hanc exorna. This can be translated as ‘You have received the title of Sedberghian, now work to improve what that means’. Former Head of Classics, Jon Lidiard, used a little poetic licence to render the motto ‘You have won your place at Sedbergh. Now play your part in making it great’. Hart replaced this sentiment with Dura Virum Nutrix in 1893. A motto that many Sedberghians came to know and hold dear during the later 19th and first half of the 20th century. In the later decades of the 20th century the motto fell quietly out of use. Baxter, Thornely and Fleck found no use for it and, although it was cherished and upheld by many Sedberghians, for the younger generations it was no longer part of their identity as OS.

Conscious of the gravity of such a change, and the importance of ensuring that any motto was valued, supported and indeed celebrated by the wider Sedbergh community, Harrison began a consultation process to discuss the motto. Having worked at Sedbergh during the early 1990’s when a tagline, Learning and Beyond, made a transient appearance in Sedbergh branded literature Harrison sought to ensure that any change to the motto was desirable by the wider community, and would have longevity. A committee was formed with representatives from the Old Sedberghian Club, the common room and the senior management team. Letters were sent to the parent body and the Old Sedberghian community as part of an open consultation to gather feedback on the current motto and options for the future. As with any major change there were strong views on both sides, but one common phrase appeared repeatedly in the many letters and emails arriving on the headmaster’s desk. The lyrics to ‘The Long Run’ and in particularly the phrase, never shall you strive in vain in the long run were replayed in the discussion and communications to the point that the committee reached a unanimous decision that the new motto should be derived from this lyric. Ultimately a shortened version, ‘never shall you strive in vain’ was chosen to become the new motto.

The words to ‘The Long Run’ are learned by every Sedberghian in their final years at school. It is sung under the breath of boys and girls pushing themselves to complete the epic Wilson Run, it is shouted out to spur on pupils during the lent term epics and heats as they run arm-in-arm with stronger runners supporting them as they seek to qualify for the icon ‘Ten’. After the intensity and drama of the race all finishers climb on to the stage of the Wilson Run Concert to sing out the words in front of their peers:

Strain and struggle, might and main;

Scorn defeat and laugh at pain,

Never shall you strive in vain

In the long run

Old Sedberghians from many walks of life speak of recalling the lyrics in times of hardship, seeking solace and discovering unexpected reserves of strength when things got tough. These lyrics, sung first in adolescence, have sustained many Sedberghians when their need for comfort and personal resolve was great. In short, these lyrics are woven through the very being of Sedberghians young and old, resonating deeply with the values instilled by the school community and ‘the hills that have stood around us’.