Conspiring in the library!

Over the Christmas holidays I had the pleasure of spending time with Casey Morgan. If you haven't met her let me tell she is even more wonderful in person than her writing and tweeting promises. We had a lovely time in the UK, staying together at both Abel and Haron's, at Elaine's and dancing at the Fawcett Hall ball. But the real icing on her trip was managing to convince her to come to Dublin for a few days.

It was an easy sell, given that I could dangle Master Retep, Bandree and Caroline Grey as my bait! In the end she arrived in Dublin before me and we all caught up on my return over a fantastic dinner (thanks Caroline) and a very funny board game.

The next day we took Casey around our favourite places in Dublin, including a nice long drink at the Library Bar! But it was in the Trinity College 'Long Room' that Casey and I had the most fun. If you've never heard of it this is the old library in Trinity College and is just the most fantastic room. I bring all visitors to this place and love that they feel its magic just as I do.

The picture really doesn't do it justice, it's a very long narrow room with very high ceilings, divided into two floors, with the upper floor a mezzanine over-looking the main floor. From floor to ceiling each aisle is stacked with books, the smell of which assaults you as you enter. It makes me dizzy with longing to flick through the books, to choose one to read, and to sit there cross legged on the floor getting lost in its contents.

Along each side of the main floor is a line of white busts, paying homage to many famous learned men and women, from Descartes to Shakespeare to Milton to Swift. As you walk by them you feel their eyes on you, challenging you with the weight of their knowledge.

It's a room that inspires me with awe. It's also a room that feeds my kinky imagination; I'd give anything to be caned in it ! To my delight Casey found it just as inspiring and we spent the much of our visit developing a detailed fantasy around the room.

Casey is going to write up an actual story about it, which I can't wait to read!  But our premise was that the Long Room was the library in a boys' public school. Each evening the boys would complete prep on the mezzanine floor. The main floor was reserved for the prefects of the school. And it was here that boys would be summoned to be dealt with for various infractions. The boys were all familiar with the procedure. When he entered the duty prefect would call out his name 'Shaw', and pronounce his fate. But he wouldn't be told the number of strokes, it was crueler than that.

Instead they told him the name of a bust. The position of the bust in the line determined the number of strokes. A Shakespeare would only be two, a Socrates six and a Swift was twelve, depending on how far up the line the bust came. We imagined the boy slowly walking though the library, fearfully reading the names on the busts as he went, praying his wasn't too far up the line.

And when he'd get to it, he'd bend over and wait. Until the prefect would take his run up (the further up the room, the longer the run up for the poor boy) and deliver his stroke. It'd ring out loudly and the boy would try to not make any sound, knowing his classmates were above, listening intently to his shame.

Feel free to share other ways you think the room could be put to good and kinky use!