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A Collection of College Words and Customs written by Benjamin Homer Hall

B >> Benjamin Homer Hall >> A Collection of College Words and Customs




He thinks it very hard that the faculty write "_letters
home_."--_Yale Tomahawk_, May, 1852.

And threats of "_Letters home_, young man,"
Now cause us no alarm.
_Presentation Day Song_, June 14, 1854.


LIBERTY TREE. At Harvard College, a tree which formerly stood
between Massachusetts and Harvard Halls received, about the year
1760, the name of the Liberty Tree, on an occasion which is
mentioned in Hutchinson's posthumous volume of the History of
Massachusetts Bay. "The spirit of liberty," says he, "spread where
it was not intended. The Undergraduates of Harvard College had
been long used to make excuses for absence from prayers and
college exercises; pretending detention at their chambers by their
parents, or friends, who come to visit them. The tutors came into
an agreement not to admit such excuses, unless the scholar came to
the tutor, before prayers or college exercises, and obtained leave
to be absent. This gave such offence, that the scholars met in a
body, under and about a great tree, to which they gave the name of
the _tree of liberty_! There they came into several resolves in
favor of liberty; one of them, that the rule or order of the
tutors was _unconstitutional_. The windows of some of the tutors
were broken soon after, by persons unknown. Several of the
scholars were suspected, and examined. One of them falsely
reported that he had been confined without victuals or drink, in
order to compel him to a confession; and another declared, that he
had seen him under this confinement. This caused an attack upon
the tutors, and brickbats were thrown into the room, where they
had met together in the evening, through the windows. Three or
four of the rioters were discovered and expelled. The three junior
classes went to the President, and desired to give up their
chambers, and to leave the college. The fourth class, which was to
remain but about three months, and then to be admitted to their
degrees, applied to the President for a recommendation to the
college in Connecticut, that they might be admitted there. The
Overseers of the College met on the occasion, and, by a vigorous
exertion of the powers with which they were intrusted,
strengthened the hands of the President and tutors, by confirming
the expulsions, and declaring their resolution to support the
subordinate government of the College; and the scholars were
brought to a sense and acknowledgment of their fault, and a stop
was put to the revolt."--Vol. III. p. 187.

Some years after, this tree was either blown or cut down, and the
name was transferred to another. A few of the old inhabitants of
Cambridge remember the stump of the former Liberty Tree, but all
traces of it seem to have been removed before the year 1800. The
present Liberty Tree stands between Holden Chapel and Harvard
Hall, to the west of Hollis. As early as the year 1815 there were
gatherings under its branches on Class Day, and it is probable
that this was the case even at an earlier date. At present it is
customary for the members of the Senior Class, at the close of the
exercises incident to Class Day, (the day on which the members of
that class finish their collegiate studies, and retire to make
preparations for the ensuing Commencement,) after cheering the
buildings, to encircle this tree, and, with hands joined, to sing
their favorite ballad, "Auld Lang Syne." They then run and dance
around it, and afterwards cheer their own class, the other
classes, and many of the College professors. At parting, each
takes a sprig or a flower from the beautiful wreath which is hung
around the tree, and this is sacredly preserved as a last memento
of the scenes and enjoyments of college life.

In the poem delivered before the Class of 1849, on their Class
Day, occur the following beautiful stanzas in memory of departed
classmates, in which reference is made to some of the customs
mentioned above:--

"They are listening now to our parting prayers;
And the farewell song that we pour
Their distant voices will echo
From the far-off spirit shore;

"And the wreath that we break with our scattered band,
As it twines round the aged elm,--
Its fragments we'll keep with a sacred hand,
But the fragrance shall rise to them.

"So to-day we will dance right merrily,
An unbroken band, round the old elm-tree;
And they shall not ask for a greener shrine
Than the hearts of the class of '49."

Its grateful shade has in later times been used for purposes
similar to those which Hutchinson records, as the accompanying
lines will show, written in commemoration of the Rebellion of
1819.

"Wreaths to the chiefs who our rights have defended;
Hallowed and blessed be the Liberty Tree:
Where Lenox[44] his pies 'neath its shelter hath vended,
We Sophs have assembled, and sworn to be free."
_The Rebelliad_, p. 54.

The poet imagines the spirits of the different trees in the
College yard assembled under the Liberty Tree to utter their
sorrows.

"It was not many centuries since,
When, gathered on the moonlit green,
Beneath the Tree of Liberty,
A ring of weeping sprites was seen."
_Meeting of the Dryads,[45] Holmes's Poems_, p. 102.

It is sometimes called "the Farewell Tree," for obvious reasons.

"Just fifty years ago, good friends,
a young and gallant band
Were dancing round the Farewell Tree,
--each hand in comrade's hand."
_Song, at Semi-centennial Anniversary of the Class of 1798_.

See CLASS DAY.


LICEAT MIGRARE. Latin; literally, _let it be permitted him to
remove_.

At Oxford, a form of modified dismissal from College. This
punishment "is usually the consequence of mental inefficiency
rather than moral obliquity, and does not hinder the student so
dismissed from entering at another college or at
Cambridge."--_Lit. World_, Vol. XII. p. 224.

Same as LICET MIGRARI.


LICET MIGRARI. Latin; literally, _it is permitted him to be
removed_. In the University of Cambridge, England, a permission to
leave one's college. This differs from the Bene Discessit, for
although you may leave with consent, it by no means follows in
this case that you have the approbation of the Master and Fellows
so to do.--_Gradus ad Cantab._


LIKE A BRICK OR A BEAN, LIKE A HOUSE ON FIRE, LIKE BRICKS. Among
the students at the University of Cambridge, Eng., intensive
phrases, to express the most energetic way of doing anything.
"These phrases," observes Bristed, "are sometimes in very odd
contexts. You hear men talk of a balloon going up _like bricks_,
and rain coming down _like a house on fire_."--_Five Years in an
Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 24.

Still it was not in human nature for a classical man, living among
classical men, and knowing that there were a dozen and more close
to him reading away "_like bricks_," to be long entirely separated
from his Greek and Latin books.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng.
Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 218.

"_Like bricks_," is the commonest of their expressions, or used to
be. There was an old landlady at Huntingdon who said she always
charged Cambridge men twice as much as any one else. Then, "How do
you know them?" asked somebody. "O sir, they always tell us to get
the beer _like bricks_."--_Westminster Rev._, Am. ed., Vol. XXXV.
p. 231.


LITERAE HUMANIORES. Latin; freely, _the humanities; classical
literature_. At Oxford "the _Literae Humaniores_ now include Latin
and Greek Translation and Composition, Ancient History and
Rhetoric, Political and Moral Philosophy, and Logic."--_Lit.
World_, Vol. XII. p. 245.

See HUMANITY.


LITERARY CONTESTS. At Jefferson College, in Pennsylvania, "there
is," says a correspondent, "an unusual interest taken in the two
literary societies, and once a year a challenge is passed between
them, to meet in an open literary contest upon an appointed
evening, usually that preceding the close of the second session.
The _contestors_ are a Debater, an Orator, an Essayist, and a
Declaimer, elected from each society by the majority, some time
previous to their public appearance. An umpire and two associate
judges, selected either by the societies or by the _contestors_
themselves, preside over the performances, and award the honors to
those whom they deem most worthy of them. The greatest excitement
prevails upon this occasion, and an honor thus conferred is
preferable to any given in the institution."

At Washington College, in Pennsylvania, the contest performances
are conducted upon the same principle as at Jefferson.


LITTLE-GO. In the English universities, a cant name for a public
examination about the middle of the course, which, being less
strict and less important in its consequences than the final one,
has received this appellation.--_Lyell_.

Whether a regular attendance on the lecture of the college would
secure me a qualification against my first public examination;
which is here called _the Little-go_.--_The Etonian_, Vol. II. p.
283.

Also called at Oxford _Smalls_, or _Small-go_.

You must be prepared with your list of books, your testamur for
Responsions (by Undergraduates called "_Little-go_" or
"_Smalls_"), and also your certificate of
matriculation.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 241.

See RESPONSION.


LL.B. An abbreviation for _Legum Baccalaureus_, Bachelor of Laws.
In American colleges, this degree is conferred on students who
fulfil the conditions of the statutes of the law school to which
they belong. The law schools in the different colleges are
regulated on this point by different rules, but in many the degree
of LL.B. is given to a B.A. who has been a member of a law school
for a year and a half.

See B.C.L.


LL.D. An abbreviation for _Legum Doctor_, Doctor of Laws.

In American colleges, an honorary degree, conferred _pro meritis_
on those who are distinguished as lawyers, statesmen, &c.

See D.C.L.


L.M. An abbreviation for the words _Licentiate in Medicine_. At
the University of Cambridge, Eng., an L.M. must be an M.A. or M.B.
of two years' standing. No exercise, but examination by the
Professor and another Doctor in the Faculty.


LOAF. At Princeton College, to borrow anything, whether returning
it or not; usually in the latter sense.


LODGE. At the University of Cambridge, England, the technical name
given to the house occupied by the master of a
college.--_Bristed_.

When Undergraduates were invited to the _conversaziones_ at the
_Lodge_, they were expected never to sit down in the Master's
presence.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 90.


LONG. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., the long vacation, or,
as it is more familiarly called, "The Long," commences according
to statute in July, at the close of the Easter term, but
practically early in June, and ends October 20th, at the beginning
of the Michaelmas term.

For a month or six weeks in the "_Long_," they rambled off to see
the sights of Paris.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed.
2d, p. 37.

In the vacations, particularly the _Long_, there is every facility
for reading.--_Ibid._, p. 78.

So attractive is the Vacation-College-life that the great trouble
of the Dons is to keep the men from staying up during the _Long_.
--_Ibid._, p. 79.

Some were going on reading parties, some taking a holiday before
settling down to their work in the "_Long_."--_Ibid._, p. 104.

See VACATION.


LONG-EAR. At Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, a student of a sober
or religious character is denominated a _long-ear_. The opposite
is _short-ear_.


LOTTERY. The method of obtaining money by lottery has at different
times been adopted in several of our American colleges. In 1747, a
new building being wanted at Yale College, the "Liberty of a
Lottery" was obtained from the General Assembly, "by which," says
Clap, "Five Hundred Pounds Sterling was raised, clear of all
Charge and Deductions."--_Hist. of Yale Coll._, p. 55.

This sum defrayed one third of the expense of building what was
then called Connecticut Hall, and is known now by the name of "the
South Middle College."

In 1772, Harvard College being in an embarrassed condition, the
Legislature granted it the benefit of a lottery; in 1794 this
grant was renewed, and for the purpose of enabling the College to
erect an additional building. The proceeds of the lottery amounted
to $18,400, which, with $5,300 from the general funds of the
College, were applied to the erection of Stoughton Hall, which was
completed in 1805. In 1806 the Legislature again authorized a
lottery, which enabled the Corporation in 1813 to erect a new
building, called Holworthy Hall, at an expense of about $24,500,
the lottery having produced about $29,000.--_Quincy's Hist. of
Harv. Univ._, Vol. II. pp. 162, 273, 292.


LOUNGE. A treat, a comfort. A word introduced into the vocabulary
of the English Cantabs, from Eton.--_Bristed_.


LOW. The term applied to the questions, subjects, papers, &c.,
pertaining to a LOW MAN.

The "_low_" questions were chiefly confined to the first day's
papers.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 205.

The "_low_ subjects," as got up to pass men among the Junior
Optimes, comprise, etc.--_Ibid._, p. 205.

The _low_ papers were longer.--_Ibid._, p. 206.


LOWER HOUSE. See SENATE.


LOW MAN. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., the name given to a
Junior Optime as compared with a Senior Optime or with a Wrangler.

I was fortunate enough to find a place in the team of a capital
tutor,... who had but six pupils, all going out this time, and
five of them "_low men_."--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng.
Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 204.



_M_.


M.A. An abbreviation of _Magister Artium_, Master of Arts. The
second degree given by universities and colleges. Sometimes
written A.M., which, is in accordance with the proper Latin
arrangement.

In the English universities, every B.A. of three years' standing
may proceed to this degree on payment of certain fees. In America,
this degree is conferred, without examination, on Bachelors of
three years' standing. At Harvard, this degree was formerly
conferred only upon examination, as will be seen by the following
extract. "Every schollar that giveth up in writing a System, or
Synopsis, or summe of Logick, naturall and morall Philosophy,
Arithmetick, Geometry and Astronomy: And is ready to defend his
Theses or positions: Withall skilled in the originalls as
above-said; And of godly life and conversation; And so approved by
the Overseers and Master of the Colledge, at any publique Act, is
fit to be dignified with his 2d degree."--_New England's First
Fruits_, in _Mass. Hist. Coll._, Vol. I. p. 246.

Until the year 1792, it was customary for those who applied for
the degree of M.A. to defend what were called _Master's
questions_; after this time an oration was substituted in place of
these, which continued until 1844, when for the first time there
were no Master's exercises. The degree is now given to any
graduate of three or more years' standing, on the payment of a
certain sum of money.

The degree is also presented by special vote to individuals wholly
unconnected with any college, but who are distinguished for their
literary attainments. In this case, where the honor is given, no
fee is required.


MAKE UP. To recite a lesson which was not recited with the class
at the regular recitation. It is properly used as a transitive
verb, but in conversation is very often used intransitively. The
following passage explains the meaning of the phrase more fully.

A student may be permitted, on petition to the Faculty, to _make
up_ a recitation or other exercise from which he was absent and
has been excused, provided his application to this effect be made
within the term in-which the absence occurred.--_Laws of Univ. at
Cam., Mass._, 1848, p. 16.

... sleeping,--a luxury, however, which is sadly diminished by the
anticipated necessity of _making up_ back lessons.--_Harv. Reg._,
p. 202.


MAN. An undergraduate in a university or college.

At Cambridge and eke at Oxford, every stripling is accounted a
_Man_ from the moment of his putting on the gown and cap.--_Gradus
ad Cantab._, p. 75.

Sweet are the slumbers, indeed, of a Freshman, who, just escaped
the trammels of "home, sweet home," and the pedagogue's tyrannical
birch, for the first time in his life, with the academical gown,
assumes the _toga virilis_, and feels himself a _Man_.--_Alma
Mater_, Vol. I. p. 30.

In College all are "_men_" from the hirsute Senior to the tender
Freshman who carries off a pound of candy and paper of raisins
from the maternal domicile weekly.--_Harv. Mag._, Vol. I. p. 264.


MANCIPLE. Latin, _manceps_; _manu capio_, to take with the hand.

In the English universities, the person who purchases the
provisions; the college victualler. The office is now obsolete.

Our _Manciple_ I lately met,
Of visage wise and prudent.
_The Student_, Oxf. and Cam., Vol. I. p. 115.


MANDAMUS. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., a special mandate
under the great seal, which enables a candidate to proceed to his
degree before the regular period.--_Grad. ad Cantab._


MANNERS. The outward observances of respect which were formerly
required of the students by college officers seem very strange to
us of the present time, and we cannot but notice the omissions
which have been made in college laws during the present century in
reference to this subject. Among the laws of Harvard College,
passed in 1734, is one declaring, that "all scholars shall show
due respect and honor in speech and behavior, as to their natural
parents, so to magistrates, elders, the President and Fellows of
the Corporation, and to all others concerned in the instruction or
government of the College, and to all superiors, keeping due
silence in their presence, and not disorderly gainsaying them; but
showing all laudable expressions of honor and reverence that are
in use; such as uncovering the head, rising up in their presence,
and the like. And particularly undergraduates shall be uncovered
in the College yard when any of the Overseers, the President or
Fellows of the Corporation, or any other concerned in the
government or instruction of the College, are therein, and
Bachelors of Arts shall be uncovered when the President is there."
This law was still further enforced by some of the regulations
contained in a list of "The Ancient Customs of Harvard College."
Those which refer particularly to this point are the following:--

"No Freshman shall wear his hat in the College yard, unless it
rains, hails, or snows, provided he be on foot, and have not both
hands full.

"No Undergraduate shall wear his hat in the College yard, when any
of the Governors of the College are there; and no Bachelor shall
wear his hat when the President is there.

"No Freshman shall speak to a Senior with his hat on; or have it
on in a Senior's chamber, or in his own, if a Senior be there.

"All the Undergraduates shall treat those in the government of the
College with respect and deference; particularly, they shall not
be seated without leave in their presence; they shall be uncovered
when they speak to them, or are spoken to by them."

Such were the laws of the last century, and their observance was
enforced with the greatest strictness. After the Revolution, the
spirit of the people had become more republican, and about the
year 1796, "considering the spirit of the times and the extreme
difficulty the executive must encounter in attempting to enforce
the law prohibiting students from wearing hats in the College
yard," a vote passed repealing it.--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._,
Vol. II. p. 278.

On this subject, Professor Sidney Willard, with reference to the
time of the presidency of Joseph Willard at Harvard College,
during the latter part of the last century, remarks: "Outward
tokens of respect required to be paid to the immediate government,
and particularly to the President, were attended with formalities
that seemed to be somewhat excessive; such, for instance, as made
it an offence for a student to wear his hat in the College yard,
or enclosure, when the President was within it. This, indeed, in
the fulness of the letter, gradually died out, and was compromised
by the observance only when the student was so near, or in such a
position, that he was likely to be recognized. Still, when the
students assembled for morning and evening prayer, which was
performed with great constancy by the President, they were careful
to avoid a close proximity to the outer steps of the Chapel, until
the President had reached and passed within the threshold. This
was a point of decorum which it was pleasing to witness, and I
never saw it violated."--_Memories of Youth and Manhood_, 1855,
Vol. I. p. 132.

"In connection with the subject of discipline," says President
Woolsey, in his Historical Discourse before the Graduates of Yale
College, "we may aptly introduce that of the respect required by
the officers of the College, and of the subordination which
younger classes were to observe towards older. The germ, and
perhaps the details, of this system of college manners, are to be
referred back to the English universities. Thus the Oxford laws
require that juniors shall show all due and befitting reverence to
seniors, that is, Undergraduates to Bachelors, they to Masters,
Masters to Doctors, as well in private as in public, by giving
them the better place when they are together, by withdrawing out
of their way when they meet, by uncovering the head at the proper
distance, and by reverently saluting and addressing them."

After citing the law of Harvard College passed in 1734, which is
given above, he remarks as follows. "Our laws of 1745 contain the
same identical provisions. These regulations were not a dead
letter, nor do they seem to have been more irksome than many other
college restraints. They presupposed originally that the college
rank of the individual towards whom respect is to be shown could
be discovered at a distance by peculiarities of dress; the gown
and the wig of the President could be seen far beyond the point
where features and gait would cease to mark the person."--pp. 52,
53.

As an illustration of the severity with which the laws on this
subject were enforced, it may not be inappropriate to insert the
annexed account from the Sketches of Yale College:--"The servile
requisition of making obeisance to the officers of College within
a prescribed distance was common, not only to Yale, but to all
kindred institutions throughout the United States. Some young men
were found whose high spirit would not brook the degrading law
imposed upon them without some opposition, which, however, was
always ineffectual. The following anecdote, related by Hon.
Ezekiel Bacon, in his Recollections of Fifty Years Since, although
the scene of its occurrence was in another college, yet is thought
proper to be inserted here, as a fair sample of the
insubordination caused in every institution by an enactment so
absurd and degrading. In order to escape from the requirements of
striking his colors and doffing his chapeau when within the
prescribed striking distance from the venerable President or the
dignified tutors, young Ellsworth, who afterwards rose to the
honorable rank of Chief Justice of the United States, and to many
other elevated stations in this country, and who was then a
student there, cut off entirely the brim portion of his hat,
leaving of it nothing but the crown, which he wore in the form of
a skull-cap on his head, putting it under his arm when he
approached their reverences. Being reproved for his perversity,
and told that this was not a hat within the meaning and intent of
the law, which he was required to do his obeisance with by
removing it from his head, he then made bold to wear his skull-cap
into the Chapel and recitation-room, in presence of the authority.
Being also then again reproved for wearing his hat in those
forbidden and sacred places, he replied that he had once supposed
that it was in truth a veritable hat, but having been informed by
his superiors that it was _no hat_ at all, he had ventured to come
into their presence as he supposed with his head uncovered by that
proscribed garment. But the dilemma was, as in his former
position, decided against him; and no other alternative remained
to him but to resume his full-brimmed beaver, and to comply
literally with the enactments of the collegiate pandect."--pp.
179, 180.


MAN WHO IS JUST GOING OUT. At the University of Cambridge, Eng.,
the popular name of a student who is in the last term of his
collegiate course.


MARK. The figure given to denote the quality of a recitation. In
most colleges, the merit of each performance is expressed by some
number of a series, in which a certain fixed number indicates the
highest value.

In Harvard College the highest mark is eight. Four is considered
as the average, and a student not receiving this average in all
the studies of a term is not allowed to remain as a member of
college. At Yale the marks range from zero to four. Two is the
average, and a student not receiving this is obliged to leave
college, not to return until he can pass an examination in all the
branches which his class has pursued.