@Pecan_nutjob --- You know, I think you're right. The English 'public' school being what we call a 'private' school --- one of those times I think the Mother Tongue has got it wrong. (No thoughts on tyre Vs tire, but given its location on a car I give them two thumbs up on boot Vs trunk.)
But, back to pretty bottoms seared by a cane in the Old Country. I wonder if the cane in 'public' schools survived longer in girls schools, likely those with boarding, than in boys schools.
I know, but haven't seen for several years a lady, Judy, who attended a girls boarding school in England and was no stranger to both the strap, mostly on her hands, and the cane, mostly bare bottom when at school. Her parents, English, were in India for a number of years and she was sent each fall to England to school. She last had her bottom caned just before the end of her senior year. Must have been around 17. I've always had the impression of the English being quiet, private, reserved, but not Judy. She has an ever present smile and laugh and is 'terribly' (as the Brits might say) open about being caned both at school and at home.
Turning back to the theme of the thread she has mentioned the headmistress would sometimes give students a choice of bare, fewer whacks, or underpants, a few more whacks. Generally though it was decided by the headmistress, or the teacher, or the lady in charge of the residence, or one of her staff, and bare was traditional.