Chapter II: Part 2

*Binge*, _subs._ (Oxford).—A drinking-bout. [_Binger_ (Linc.) =
tipsy.]

*Birch-broom Race*, _subs. phr._ (Winchester).—_See_ TORCH-RACE.

*Birch-room*, _subs._ (Westminster).—_See_ quot.

1867. COLLINS, _The Public Schools_, p. 178. Behind is the “French
room,” once known as the BIRCH-ROOM (in which those useful implements
were manufactured and used), where a bench is carefully preserved
bearing the name of “John Dryden,” no doubt cut by the poet himself,
as the style of the letters corresponds with his date.

*Bird*, _subs._ (Durham).—A credulous boy; one easily cajoled; a
“soft.”

*Bishop*, _subs._ (Winchester).—The sapling with which a fagot
is bound together.

*Bite*, _intj._ (Charterhouse and Christ’s Hospital).—_Cave!_

*Black*, _subs._ (Rugby).—A nickname.

1856. HUGHES, _Tom Brown’s School-days_, I. vi. “There’s plenty of
youngsters don’t care about it,” said Walker. “Here, here’s Scud
East—you’ll be tossed, won’t you, young un?” Scud was East’s nickname,
or BLACK, as we called it, gained by his fleetness of foot.

*Black Book, The* (Charterhouse).—_See_ EXTRA.

*Black-hole*, _subs._ (Shrewsbury).—_See_ quot.

1867. COLLINS, _The Public Schools_, p. 241. There used to be a small
four-square apartment, not much larger than a Punch-and-Judy box,
lighted by a single narrow loop-hole—a receptacle for the
flogging-block and other like apparatus. This was known as the
BLACK-HOLE, or sometimes more familiarly as “Rome’s Hole,” from a
traditionary culprit who had been a very regular occupant.

*Black-jack*, _subs._ (Winchester).—A large leathern beer jug
used in College. It holds two gallons. In olden times
BLACK-JACKS were in common use for small beer. [_See_ UNTON,
_Inventories_, p. 1; BRAND’S _Pop. Antiq._, ii. 206; _Ord.
and Reg._, p. 392; HEYWOOD’S _Edward IV._, p. 97. Also JACK:
whence (Christ’s Hospital) JACK-BOY = a boy servitor of
beer.]

15—. _Simon the Cellarer._ But oh, oh, oh! his nose doth show, How oft
the BLACK-JACK to his lips doth go.

1592. NASHE, _Summer’s Last Will_ [DODSLEY, _Old Plays_ (1874), viii.
59]. Rise up, Sir Robert Toss-pot. [_Here he dubs Will Summer with
the_ BLACK-JACK.]

1606. _Return from Parnassus_ [DODSLEY, _Old Plays_ (1874), ix. 207].
A BLACK-JACK of beer and a Christmas pie.

1630. TAYLOR, _Works_, i. 113. Nor of BLACK-JACKS at gentle buttery
bars, Whose liquor oftentimes breeds household wars.

1690. B. E., _Dict. Cant. Crew_, s.v. JACK.

18[?]. T. WARTON, “The Happy Junior of Sixth Chamber.” Yet still with
pleasure shall we think on The Junior’s happy life at Winton ...
lozenges and snacks ... dispars, gomers, JACKS.

_c._ 1844. _Reminiscences of Christ’s Hospital_ (_The Blue_, Aug.
1874). By mistake the Cask was found to contain a fine old ale. The
news soon spread from boy to boy and from ward to ward; and there was
an extraordinary call upon the services of the JACK-BOYS, whose utmost
exertions were scarcely equal to the demand. As might be expected,
these latter took care of themselves upon the occasion.

*Black-sheep*, _verb_ (Winchester: obsolete).—To get above (or
“jockey”) a fellow in Middle Part: of men in Junior Part.

*Black Tiger, The* (Rugby).—A nickname given to Dr. Ingles,
head-master from 1793 to 1803.

*Blandyke* (Stonyhurst).—The monthly recreation day. [From the
village of Blandyke (now Blandecques), a league from St.
Omers, where was a country house or villa at which such days
were spent during the summer months.] _See_ Appendix.

*Blazer*, _subs._ (originally Cambridge: now general).—A light
jacket of bright colour. Originally applied to the bright
red uniform of the Lady Margaret Boat Club of St. John’s
College, Cambridge. [Prof. SKEAT (_N. and Q._, 7 S., iii.
436), speaking of the Johnian BLAZER, says it was always of
the most brilliant scarlet, and thinks it not improbable
that the fact suggested the name which subsequently became
general.]

1880. _Times_, June 19. Men in spotless flannel, and club BLAZERS.

1885. _Punch_, June 27, p. 304. Harkaway turns up clad in what he
calls a BLAZER, which makes him look like a nigger minstrel out for a
holiday.

1889. _Daily News_, Aug. 22, p. 6, col. 6. DRESS BY THE SEA. SIR,—In
your article of to-day, under the above heading, you speak of “a
striped red and black BLAZER,” “the BLAZER,” also of “the pale toned”
ones. This is worth noting as a case of the specific becoming the
generic. A BLAZER is the red flannel boating jacket worn by the Lady
Margaret, St. John’s College, Cambridge, Boat Club. When I was at
Cambridge it meant that and nothing else. It seems from your article
that a BLAZER now means a coloured flannel jacket, whether for
cricket, tennis, boating, or seaside wear.—Yours faithfully, WALTER
WREN.

1897. _Felstedian_, June, p. 99. The new football BLAZER is very
handsome.

*Bleed*, _subs._ (Tonbridge).—One who is remarkably good at
anything.

*Bleyis-sylver* (or *Bent-sylver*), _subs._ (Royal High School,
Edin.).—A gratuity given in olden times by pupils to
masters. He who gave most was proclaimed “_victor_” or
“king.” [BLEYIS is derived from _bleis_ = a torch or blaze
(mod. Scot. _bleeze_). BLEYIS-SYLVER = silver given at
Candlemas on the time of the bleeze. Dr. Jamieson (_Dict._)
suggests _bent_ = Fr. _benit_, _i.e._ blessed, because money
was given on a Saint’s day. Dr. STEVENS, the school
historian, suggests _bent_ = coarse grass. In sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries pupils had leave to go and cut this
coarse grass to strew on floor of school. Afterwards annual
holidays were instituted on first Mondays of May, June, and
July, when a money payment was made to the master to
purchase “bent.” (_Cf._ STEVENS’ _Hist. of High School_, p.
678.) This is more probable.]

*Block, The* (Eton).—A wooden step in the library of the Upper
School upon which a boy set down for flogging kneels. He is
“held down” by two junior Collegers, and the Sixth Form
Preposter hands to the head-master the necessary birch or
birches.

*Blockhouse*, _subs._ (Charterhouse).—A sick-house.

*Bloody Porch* (Harrow: obsolete).—_See_ quot.

1867. COLLINS, _The Public Schools_, p. 320. Harrow fagging had no
special reputation for cruelty; yet there are those living who can
remember having been called out of their beds at night to have cold
water poured down their backs—for no special reason, but as a part of
the hardening process considered good for fags generally; or to start
from Leith’s boarding-house in the dark, to go round the church-yard
by the north porch—BLOODY PORCH, as it was called, from some obscure
legend. Once a boy was sent upon this dreaded tour at night, when it
so happened that there were a party concealed in the porch, watching
the grave of a newly-buried relative—for these were the days of
resurrection-men; they mistook the unfortunate fag for a
body-snatcher, and fired at him, wounding him slightly, and
frightening him almost to death.

*Blotch*, _subs._ (Harrow).—Blotting-paper.

*Blow*, _subs._ (old University).—A drunken frolic; a spree.
[_Blowboll_ = a drunkard: _cf._ SKELTON (_Works_, i. 23),
“Thou blynkerd blowboll, thou wakyst too late.”]

_Verb_ (Winchester).—To blush. _Cf._ BLUE = to blush, as in
quot. 1709.

14[?]. _Torrent of Portugal_, 11. His browys began to BLOWE.

1645. HABINGTON, _Works_. Th’enamoured spring by kissing BLOWS soft
blushes on her cheek.

1709. STEELE and SWIFT, _Tatler_, No. 71, p. 8. If a Virgin blushes,
we no longer cry she BLUES.

*Blucher*, _subs._ (Winchester: obsolete: _ch_ hard).—A College
præfect in half power. His jurisdiction did not extend
beyond “Seventh Chamber passage,” though his privileges were
the same as those of other præfects. These were eight in
number.

_c._ 1840. MANSFIELD, _School-Life at Winchester College_, p. 30. The
eight senior præfects were said to have “full power,” and had some
slight privileges not enjoyed by the remaining ten, who were generally
called BLUCHERS.

1864. _Blackwood_, p. 86. The remaining eight college præfects (called
in Winchester tongue, BLUCHERS) have a more limited authority,
confined to Chambers and the Quadrangle.

1867. COLLINS, _The Public Schools_, p. 55. The remaining eight
college prefects (called in Winchester tongue BLUCHERS) have a more
limited authority, confined to chambers and the quadrangle; the form
of making these is—“_Præficio te sociis concameralibus_.” At least two
prefects are located in each of the seven chambers—one from the first
seven in rank, and one from the next seven. The juniors are also
divided into ranks of seven, and out of each rank the prefects,
according to their seniority, chose one each to fill up the numbers in
their own chamber; so that each chamber has, to a certain extent, ties
and associations of its own.

*Blue*, _subs._ 1. (Christ’s Hospital).—A scholar of Christ’s
Hospital; a blue-coat boy. [Derived from the colour of the
clothes—a blue drugget gown or body with ample skirts to it,
a yellow vest underneath in winter time, small-clothes of
Russia duck, worsted yellow stockings, a leathern girdle,
and a little black worsted cap, usually carried in the hand,
being the complete costume. This was the ordinary dress of
children in humble life during the reigns of the Tudors.]
_See_ Appendix.

1834. W. TROLLOPE (_Title_), Christ’s Hospital ... with Memoirs of
Eminent BLUES. _Ibid._ At the Spital did they first earn the title of
BLUE by appearing in raiment of that hue. Hitherto they had worn
russet cotton. The bands are supposed to be a relic of the ruff, as
the girdle was of the hempen cord. The ruff was regal, or reginal, and
the cord monkish, so a BLUE hovers ’twixt palace and monastery (one
picture pourtrays the dresses of the various Orders of Friars).

1877. W. H. BLANCH, _Blue-Coat Boys_, p. 33. To some extent it holds
also with regard to Civil Engineers, amongst whom, however, one
well-known name is that of a BLUE.

1895. _Gleanings from “The Blue”_ Dedication. To all BLUES Past and
Present this Book is dedicated.

2. (University).—A member of the Universities of Oxford or
Cambridge. [The colours for inter-University sports are dark
and light blue respectively.]

TO GET ONE’S BLUE, _verb. phr._ (University).—To be selected
as a competitor in inter-University sports: _cf._ “to get
silk” (of Q.C.’s). [From the University colours.]

1899. _Stonyhurst Mag._, Feb., p. 194. The expression “to get a BLUE”
is a phrase which is universally recognised as applying to the
athletics and games of the sister Universities, Oxford and Cambridge,
and to them only. As an ardent Oxford man I do not appreciate his
compliment; as an old Stonyhurst boy, I cannot but deplore his
servility.

*Blue-book*, _subs._ (Harrow).—A school register (alphabetically
arranged) comprising name, form, house, tutor, age, term of
coming, prizes, and honours.

*Bluer*, _subs._ (Harrow).—A blue flannel coat: worn by all
going to FOOTER (_q.v._) in winter, and cricket in summer.

*B. N. C.*, _subs._ (Oxford).—The popular abbreviation of
Brasenose College.

1885. _Daily News_, March 13, p. 5, col. 1. As when Corpus bumped B.
N. C. years ago, and went head of the river, whereon a spirit of wrath
entered into the B. N. C. men, and next night they bumped Corpus back
again.

*Board.* TO KEEP ONE’S NAME ON THE BOARD, _verb. phr._
(Cambridge).—To remain a member of a College.

*Boat* (The Leys).—A shallow valley, in which football is
played.

PROCESSION OF BOATS (Eton).—_See_ FOURTH OF JUNE.

TO SIT A BOAT, _verb. phr._ (Eton).—_See_ quot., and FOURTH
OF JUNE. [Long since abandoned.]

1865. _Etoniana_, p. 170. The time-honoured custom of SITTING A BOAT
must here claim mention. Some old Etonian, of generous and festive
disposition (generally an old “oar”), signifies to the captain of a
boat his intention of presenting the crew with a certain quantity of
champagne. In return he is entitled to be rowed up to Surly in the
boat to which he presents the wine; he occupies the coxswain’s seat,
who kneels or stands behind him. This giver of good things is called,
from this circumstance, a “sitter”; and the question, “Who SITS YOUR
BOAT?” or, “Have you a sitter?” is one of some interest, which may
often be heard addressed to a captain. The seat of honour in the
ten-oar is usually offered to some distinguished old Etonian. Mr.
Canning occupied it in 1824.

*Bob*, _subs._ (Winchester).—A large white beer-jug, about a
gallon in capacity.

_c._ 1840. MANSFIELD, _School-Life at Winchester College_, p. 85. Each
end and præfect’s mess had their beer served up in a large white jug,
or BOB. The vessel used for the same purpose in Commoners’ was called
a “Joram.”

1888. T. A. TROLLOPE, _What I Remember_. Only those “Juniors” attended
whose office it was to bring away the portions of bread and cheese and
BOBS of beer for consumption in the afternoon.

_See_ DRY-BOB; WET-BOB.

*Bod*, _subs._ (Oxford).—The Bodleian Library; also Bodley.

*Bodeites* (Charterhouse).—_See_ OUT-HOUSES.

*Bodleian, The* (Oxford).—A famous library, popularly known as
the Bodley, founded by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester,
1445-80. Despoiled in 1550 and again in 1556, it was
restored and added to in 1598 by Sir Thomas Bodley. It now
contains some 600,000 volumes, and is especially rich in
manuscripts (some 30,000 volumes) and other literary
treasures. James Russell Lowell, the distinguished American,
says of this famous library: “Directly we enter, we are
struck by the stillness and solemnity that reign around,
helped by the dim light, the windows with painted glass, the
ponderous shelves, the illuminated missals, the graduates or
attendants conversing in low whispers or moving quietly
about. For reading purposes the library is as free and as
good as the library of the British Museum; with the
advantages that you may be seated in front of a window
commanding a beautiful garden prospect, that your arm-chair
is not disturbed, that books are allowed to accumulate
around you, and that you are not obliged to return them to
the care of the custodian on leaving the library. The
visitor will not fail to notice the portraits in the upper
library, and especially to cast a grateful look at the fine
portrait of Bodley. He will see the exercise-books used by
Edward VI. and Elizabeth when children, and, close by, the
autographs of distinguished visitors.”

*Boiler*, _subs._ (Winchester).—A plain coffee-pot used for
heating water—fourpenny and sixpenny boilers, not from their
price, but from the quantity of milk they held. το παν
BOILERS = large tin saucepan-like vessels in which water for
a BIDDY (_q.v._) was heated.

*Bolly*, _subs._ (Marlborough).—Pudding.

*Bom*, _subs._ (The Leys).—A servant; a waiter. [A waiter was
once dubbed “a vile abomination”; whence the contractions
“vile bom” and “BOM.”]

*Bond Street* (Stonyhurst).—A walk along one side of the
playground. Once obsolete but now restored, being applied to
another walk.

*Boner*, _subs._ (general).—A sharp blow on the spine.

*Bonner*, _subs._ (Oxford).—A bonfire.

*Bonnet.* TO HOLD THE BONNETS, _verb. phr._ (Royal High School,
Edin.: obsolete).—To hold the bonnet or handkerchief used to
divide High School boys when fighting.

*Bonnet-fire*, _subs._ (Royal High School, Edin.: obsolete).—The
process otherwise known as “running the gauntlet.”

1812. JAMIESON, _Dict. Scottish Language_, s.v.

*Book*, _verb_ (Westminster).—_See_ PANCAKE, and quot.

1867. COLLINS, _The Public Schools_, p. 172. They also claim a right
to BOOK the performer (_i.e._ hurl a shower of books at him) if he
fails more than once. This right was liberally exercised in 1865, when
the wrath of the school had culminated owing to repeated failures in
that and the previous year. The exasperated cook replied to the attack
with his only available missile—the frying-pan—and a serious row was
the consequence.

*Books*, _subs._ (Winchester).—1. The prizes formerly presented
by Lord Say and Sele, now given by the governing body, to
the “Senior” in each division at the end of “Half.” 2. The
school is thus divided:—SIXTH BOOK—Senior and Junior
Division; the whole of the rest of the School (but _see_
quotations), is in FIFTH BOOK—Senior Part, Middle Part,
Junior Part, each part being divided into so many divisions,
Senior, Middle, and Junior, or Senior, 2nd, 3rd, and Junior,
as the case may require. Formerly there was also “FOURTH
BOOK,” but it ceased to exist about the middle of the
Sixties.

_c._ 1840. MANSFIELD, _School-Life at Winchester College_, p. 104. The
school was divided into three classes, or BOOKS, as they were called.
Of these, the Præfects formed one, SIXTH BOOK; FIFTH BOOK was
subdivided into three parts, called respectively “Senior, Middle, and
Junior part of the Fifth”; in speaking of them, the words “of the
Fifth” were generally omitted. The rest of the boys made up “Fourth
Book.”

1867. COLLINS, _The Public Schools_, p. 24. The tiers of stone seats,
which may still be noticed in the deep recesses of the windows, were
the places in which the prefects sat when the boys were arranged in
their respective BOOKS; the term still used at Winchester for what in
other schools would be called “forms” or “classes.” There were then,
as now, four BOOKS only, though the highest was and is numbered as the
“sixth.” Then followed the fifth, fourth, and second fourth. The work
of the sixth BOOK comprised Homer, Hesiod, Virgil, Cicero, Martial,
and “Robinson’s Rhetoric.” _Ibid._, 36. Ninety feet long and
thirty-six in breadth, it is sufficiently spacious to allow all the
BOOKS to be assembled there without more confusion than is inseparable
from the system of teaching so many distinct classes in a single
room—an arrangement peculiar to Winchester alone amongst our large
Public Schools.

1891. WRENCH, _Winchester Word-Book_, s.v. BOOKS. The name of the
Classes into which the School is divided. The VI^{th}, V^{th}, and
II^{nd} only remain. From _Liber_ in the sense of _Roll_ probably.

UP TO BOOKS.—In class; repeating lessons; formerly UP AT
BOOKS.

_c._ 1840. MANSFIELD, _School-Life at Winchester College_, p. 101. At
each end of school are three tiers of benches rising gradually one
above the other,—that on the ground being called “Senior Row,” and the
others “Middle” and “Junior Row” respectively. On these the Classes
sit when UP AT BOOKS, _i.e._ when repeating lessons.

1847. HALLIWELL, _Archaic Words_, s.v. BOOK. This word was formerly
used for any composition, from a volume to a single sheet,
particularly where a list is spoken of. See the _State Papers_, i.
402.

1867. COLLINS, _The Public Schools_, p. 37. Three tiers of fixed seats
rise against the wainscotted walls on the east and west, where the
boys are arranged when UP TO BOOKS, the chairs of the different
masters being in front of each.

1872. WALCOTT, _Traditions and Customs of Cathedrals_, “Statutes of
Chichester Cathedral.” Four wax candles are always distributed at the
end of Lauds, at the four uppermost BOOKS, to the Senior set of the
BOOKS, to find the lights to the same BOOKS for that time. [Note to
foregoing:—At Winchester College the Forms are still called BOOKS.]

1878. ADAMS, _Wykehamica_, 417, _s.v._

1891. WRENCH, _Winchester Word-Book_, s.v. BOOKS. It has been
suggested that this phrase arose from the school having originally to
go up to the Donatus—the one book which College boasted; and an entry
is extant of a three days’ remedy being entailed by the book going to
be bound. The pluralization would be no more than an ordinary
Wykehamical inflection.... The following mysterious use of _Libri_,
however, suggests a much more probable origin. CHRIS. JOHNSON says:
“_Seu Chandlerus erat, seu Custos ordine primus, Durus ab inductis
dicitur esse LIBRIS!_” To which a contemporaneous note is appended:
“_Lectionum a cæna repetitiones instituisse creditur, quas Wiccamici
materna lingua Libros dicunt._” What these “repetitiones” were is not
clear; but they were some form of lesson which præ-Elizabethan
Wykehamists had christened BOOKS in their _materna lingua_, and
Johnson’s annotator thought the word strange enough to deserve a note.
We may, therefore, very possibly be only perpetuating this word in our
use of UP TO BOOKS.

BOOKS CHAMBERS.—Explained by quotations.

_c._ 1840. MANSFIELD, _School-Life at Winchester College_, p. 103. On
Remedies (a kind of whole holiday) we also went into school in the
morning and afternoon for an hour or two without masters; this was
called BOOKS CHAMBERS; and on Sundays, from four till a quarter to
five.

1891. WRENCH, _Winchester Word-Book_, s.v. BOOKS-CHAMBERS. Hours of
preparation in College: in the evening called Toy-time.

TO GET (or MAKE) BOOKS.—To get the first place, or to make
the highest score at anything. _Cf._ BOOKS, sense 1.

*Bookwork*, _subs._ (University).—Mathematics that can be
learned _verbatim_ from books—anything not a problem.

*Boots-and-Leathers*, _intj._ (Winchester).—_See_ PEAL.

*Bostruchyzer*, _subs._ (Oxford: obsolete).—A small comb for
curling the whiskers.—HOTTEN.

*Botany-bay*, _subs._ (University).—(1) Worcester College,
Oxford; and (2) part of Trinity College, Dublin. [On account
of their remote situations.]

1841. LEVER, _Charles O’Malley_, xx. note. BOTANY BAY was the slang
name given by college men to a new square rather remotely situated
from the remainder of the college [_i.e._ Trinity, Dublin].

1853. Rev. E. BRADLEY (“Cuthbert Bede”), _Adventures of Verdant
Green_, i. p. 63. BOTANY-BAY, a name given to Worcester College, from
its being the most distant college.

1886. GRAVES, _Way about Oxfordshire_, 19. At the end is Worcester
College (1714), from its remote position dubbed ... BOTANY-BAY, but
called by those who wish to speak endearingly of it “Wuggins.”

1900. _Athenæum_, 17th Feb., 208. BOTANY-BAY is often found as
strangely misapplied as the “Paradise” of so many rows. For instance,
the “Quad” of Trinity College, Dublin, which has been so called for
generations, can hardly have ever been remarkable for its flora. The
probable explanation is that its buildings were old and uncomfortable,
and it was the favourite abode of the youngest and noisiest members of
the University.

*Botolph’s*, _subs._ (The Leys).—A “Run” to St. Botolph’s
Church.

*Bottle*, _verb_ (Durham: obsolete).—To make hot: _e.g._ I got
regularly BOTTLED in that room; specifically, “to roast” a
boy before a fire. _See_ Appendix.

*Bottled.* TO BE BOTTLED, _verb. phr._ (Sherborne).—To be turned
in work.

*Bottom-side*, _subs._ (Harrow).—A wing: at football. The lower
wing (if one be lower than the other); as a rule the one
farthest from the hill.

*Boule*, _subs._ (Charterhouse).—A general confab or
conversation. _See_ PRIVEE.

1900. TOD, _Charterhouse_, 82. There was a BOULE (βουλή) once in the
Sixth Form of 1872 as to what a monitor should do if he were thus
insulted [by a visit of a master to Banco].

*Bounce.* FIRST BOUNCE, _subs._ (Stonyhurst).—A goal (which is
never allowed) taken by a “drop-kick” at football.

SECOND BOUNCE, _subs._ (Stonyhurst: obsolete).—A kind of
HANDBALL (_q.v._) once very popular.

1887. _Stonyhurst Mag._, July, p. 18, “Stonyhurst in the Fifties.”
SECOND BOUNCE, a variety of handball played with small balls most
artistically made of strips of indiarubber, and covered with the best
kid-leather. These balls had to be taken to pieces and remade after
every match, and they had to be quite freshly made when used. Their
seams required to be frequently rubbed over with wax, some of which
was always smeared on the handball wall for the purpose. For a game of
SECOND BOUNCE a whole side of one of the big handballs was required,
and it was played by eight players, four a side. The “over-all” of
ordinary handball was the “over line,” and the bulk of the players
stood out yards beyond it. He whose “hand” it was bounced the ball,
and with a long strong swing of his arm hit it up against the wall,
whence with a sharp smack it rebounded high in the air and far out
into the ground. As it descended one of the opposite party stopped it
with his hand and let it BOUNCE twice on the ground, the FIRST BOUNCE
being, as a rule, too high to let him strike it, and then with a
similar swing hit it up again. The rules, except as to permitting the
ball to be taken up at the SECOND BOUNCE, were similar to those of
handball. Balls perished quickly in such a game, nearly a dozen being
required for one. SECOND BOUNCE used chiefly to be played on Sunday
afternoon, after Vespers, and almost all not engaged in the game would
range themselves on the flanks to watch.

*Bounder*, _subs._ (University).—A dog-cart.

*Bounds*, _subs._ (general).—The limit or the boundaries beyond
which it is not permissible to go.

ON BOUNDS (Stonyhurst).—A punishment to which a boy who has
been flagrantly “out of bounds” (the term as in other Public
Schools) is subjected. He is confined during ordinary
recreations to a very limited portion of the playground.
Such a boy is said to be “put ON BOUNDS.”

*Bowing-round Sunday*, _subs. phr._ (Christ’s Hospital).—_See_
PUBLIC-SUPPING.

1854. “Our Rebellion” [_The Blue_ (1871) July]. Next day was
BOWING-ROUND SUNDAY. “Hand down, don’t bow,” was the signal that
passed down our ranks as we stood in the Hall Cloisters, and many were
the black looks, but few the nods of reverence, our Treasurer and his
two attendant governors got that morning.

*Bowl*, _verb._ 1. (general).—To master; to succeed: as in a
paper, a lesson, an examination, &c.; to overcome: as a
difficulty, an examiner, &c. _See_ FLOOR and THROW.

1891. _Harry Fludyer at Cambridge_, 55. My Coach says he thinks I
shall BOWL over the Examiners next term in the General.

2. (Winchester).—To “pluck” or “plough” up to books; TO
CROPPLE (_q.v._).

*Box*, _verb._ 1. (Westminster).—To take possession of; “to
bag.”

2. (Stonyhurst).—To strike a ball with the closed hand when
in the air. _See_ STONYHURST-FOOTBALL.

3. (Charterhouse).—Of books: if a member of a House Library
Committee finds a library book lying about, he calls out the
name of the book three times at the top of his voice, and
adds, “BOXED!” The boy who has taken out the book thus BOXED
is fined sixpence, saving the fine if he shouts “Mine!”
before the word of confiscation is uttered.

*Box-buildings*, _subs._ (Sherborne: obsolete).—The Sanatorium:
in the seventeenth century called SICK-HOUSE (_q.v._), and
subsequently BOX-BUILDINGS. These buildings were pulled down
in 1850 and the name disappeared.

*Boy*, _subs._ (Harrow).—A grade of fag. The Lower School are
put ON BOY, in turns, to go messages, &c., for the Sixth
Form. _See_ Appendix.

*Brasenose* (or *B. N. C.*), _subs._ (Oxford).—Brasenose
College. [Founded in 1509 on the site of four ancient
Halls—Little University Hall was one, another being
Brasenose Hall (thirteenth century). Authorities differ as
to the origin of the curious name. _See_ quots.]

1512. _Charter of Henry VIII._ The King’s Hall and College of
BRASENOSE.

1800. CHURTON, _Life of Bishop Smith_, 227. Brazen Nose Hall, as the
Oxford antiquary has shown, may be traced as far back as the time of
Henry III., about the middle of the thirteenth century; and early in
the succeeding reign, 6 Edward I., 1278, it was known by the name of
Brasen Nose Hall, which peculiar name was undoubtedly owing, as the
same author observes, to the circumstance of a nose of brass affixed
to the gate. It is presumed, however, that this conspicuous appendage
of the portal was not formed of the mixed metal which the word now
denotes, but the genuine produce of the mine; as is the nose, or
rather face, of a lion or leopard still remaining at Stamford, which
also gave name to the edifice it adorned. And hence, when Henry VIII.
debased the coin by an alloy of _copper_, it was a common remark or
proverb, that “Testons were gone to Oxford, to study in _Brasen_
Nose.”

1837. INGRAM, _Memorials of Oxford_. BRASENOSE.... This curious
appellation, which, whatever was the origin of it, has been
perpetuated by the symbol of a brazen nose here and at Stamford,
occurs with the modern orthography, but in one undivided word, so
early as 1278, in an inquisition now printed in _The Hundred Rolls_,
though quoted by Wood from the manuscript record.

1837. _British Critic_, xxiv. 139. There is a spot in the centre of
the city where Alfred is said to have lived. BRASENOSE claims his
palace, Oriel his church, and University his school or academy. Of
these BRASENOSE is still called “the King’s Hall,” which is the name
by which Alfred himself, in his laws, calls his palace; and it has its
present singular name from a corruption of _brasinium_, or
_brasin-huse_, as having been originally located in that part of the
royal mansion which was devoted to the then important accommodation of
a brew-house.

1898. ALDEN, _Oxford Guide_, 52. Brasenose Hall (thirteenth century)
is said to have derived the name from its occupying the site of a
_brasen-hus_ or brewhouse. Over the old entrance-gate is the
representation of a _brazen nose_, probably added at a much later
date, when punning rebuses of this kind were in fashion.

*Brasser*, _subs._ (Christ’s Hospital: obsolete).—A bully.

*Bread-and-beer*, _subs. phr._ (Stonyhurst).—The name given to
the snack which boys may take at five o’clock.

*Bread-boy*, _subs._ (Christ’s Hospital).—_See_ quot.

1798. Narrative “Christ’s Hospital, Three quarters of a Century ago”
[_Chelmsford Chronicle_ (1875), Ap. 16]. The breakfast-bell rang about
seven, when we all went into the hall, the nurses following, with boys
from each ward (called BREAD-BOYS) carrying large baskets on their
shoulders containing bread, which were taken to the head of each
table, where stood the nurse, who, after “grace,” went down the table,
serving out to each boy half of a twopenny loaf of bread. “Well,”
you’ll say, “but where’s the butter?” None was allowed—nothing but
bare bread. Those who had been sparing over night to save a portion of
the small piece of cheese they had for their supper, pulled it out of
their pockets. Sometimes a great fellow would make a little boy always
supply him with cheese of mornings, out of the piece the poor fellow
had had for his supper the night previous. Beer we had certainly,
served out in wooden vessels of an extraordinary shape, called
“piggins”; about six of them for four boys to drink out of, but such
beer! The piggins were seldom replenished, for we could not drink it.
We used to call it “the washings of the brewers’ aprons.”

1900. _Pall Mall Gazette_, 20th March, 3. 2. “A Lenten Supper.” Last
of all the BREAD-BOY hoists the tall bread-basket shoulder high and
bows round with it, never failing to raise a laugh as well as a
basket.

*Bread-picker*, _subs._ (Winchester: obsolete).—A Junior
appointed by the four senior Præfects in Commoners: at one
time to put candles in outhouses; but formerly the word is
supposed to relate to the duty of securing bread when served
out. The office exempted from fagging at meal times.

*Brekker*, _subs._ (Harrow).—Breakfast.

1898. _Stonyhurst Mag._, Dec., p. 149, “Life at Oxford.” Each
undergraduate has two rooms, a bedroom and a sitting-room. In these he
lives, studies, and, with the exception of evening dinner in the Hall,
has his meals. He is thus able to entertain. The fashionable meal to
which to invite a friend is breakfast, or vernacularly BREKKER.

*Brew*, _verb._ 1. (Marlborough).—To make afternoon tea.

2. (Harrow).—To knock about; to damage.

3. (Harrow).—To cook. Hence, as _subs._ = a mess, or
self-cooked meal.

*Brick*, _verb_ (Charterhouse).—To hustle; TO MOB UP (_q.v._);
TO BARGE (_q.v._).

*Bricks*, _subs._ (Wellington).—A kind of pudding. [Also (var.
dial.) = a kind of loaf.]

*Bridge of Grunts* (Cambridge).—_See_ ISTHMUS OF SUEZ.

*Bring-on*, _subs._ (The Leys).—A SIZING (_q.v._), or extra in
the way of food (as jam, tinned meat, &c.). [That is, what a
boy “BRINGS ON” to his table, chiefly at tea.]

*Broad* (The), _subs._ (Oxford).—Broad Street.

*Broad-sheet*, _subs._ (Harrow).—The printed school list: issued
after the TRIALS (_q.v._).

*Brock*, _subs._ (Winchester).—To bully; to tease; to badger.
[BROCK, provincial in North and Hants = a badger, and
baiting these animals was a school sport till 1870.] Hence
BROCKSTER = a bully.

*Brogues*, _subs._ (Christ’s Hospital).—Breeches. [An old
English survival: still dial. in Suffolk.]

*Broker*, _subs._ (Oxford).—A member of Pembroke College.

*Brooke Hall* (Charterhouse).—At Old Charterhouse the officers’
common room; at New Charterhouse the masters’ common room:
it is the place to which impositions must be taken.

1900. TOD, _Charterhouse_, p. 94. In the seventeenth century
schoolmasters had to be careful of their politics. Thus Master Robert
Brooke, the fourth of the “schoolmasters,” is said to have refused to
sign the Solemn League and Covenant, and to have flogged some of his
boys for Parliamentary proclivities. He was ejected from his office in
1643. At the Restoration, though not fully restored, he was given “two
chambers in cloisters and a pension of £30 a year.” After his death
these two chambers were knocked into one and it became BROOKE HALL.

*Brook-jumping*, _subs._ (Rugby).—_See_ HOUSE-WASHING.

*Brosier* (or *Brozier*). TO BROZIER MY DAME, _verb. phr._
(Eton).—To “eat out of house and home.” When a DAME (_q.v._)
keeps an unusually bad table, the boys agree on a certain
day to eat him literally “out of house and home.” Hence
BROZIERED = cleaned out. [_Brozier_ (Cheshire) = bankrupt.]

1796. MERTON, _Way to get Married_ (INCHBALD, _British Theatre_, vol.
xxvi.). [The term is so used here.]

*Browse*, _subs._ (Marlborough).—A pleasant or easy time; a
treat; anything enjoyable: _e.g._ MORNING BROWSE = leave off
early school; French is a BROWSE. Hence, CAPTAIN’S BROWSE =
an expedition to which a master takes his House Captains.
[From _browse_ = to eat lazily.]

_Adj._ Pleasant; enjoyable. Also (more frequently) BROWSY:
_e.g._ a BROWSY morning = a morning in which little work is
done; an awfully BROWSY day, or time = an enjoyable time.

_Verb._ To enjoy; to like: generally with _on_: _e.g._ “I
BROWSE ON old Smith,” or, “ON Science hour.”

*Brum*, _adj._ (Winchester).—(1) Poor; (2) mean, stingy. DEAD
BRUM = penniless.

*Brush*, _subs._ 1. (common).—A schoolmaster.

2. (Christ’s Hospital).—A flogging.

1844. _Reminis. of Christ’s Hospital_ [_The Blue_, Aug. 1874]. The
punishment ... next in severity was flogging with the birch (called
BRUSHING).

_Verb_ (Christ’s Hospital).—To flog.

*Brute*, _subs._ (Cambridge).—_See_ quot. Also BEAST.

1868. BREWER, _Phrase and Fable_, s.v. BRUTE, in Cambridge University
slang, is a man who has not yet matriculated. The play is evident. A
“man” in college phrase is a collegian; and as matriculation is the
sign and seal of acceptance, a scholar before that ceremony is not a
“man,” and therefore only a “BIPED BRUTE.”

*Buck*, _adj._ 1. (Winchester: obsolete).—Handsome.

2. (Felsted).—Fine; jolly.

1897. _Felstedian_, July, p. 129. What’s the good of a Præfect? he
never gets anybody up, and has never been known to be in time himself.
He’s a BUCK lot of use.

TO BE BUCKED, _verb. phr._ (Uppingham).—To be tired.

TO BUCK DOWN, _verb. phr._ (Winchester).—To grieve; to be
unhappy.

TO BUCK UP, _verb. phr._ 1. (Winchester).—To cheer; to be
pleased.

2. (Westminster).—To exert oneself.

3. (Harrow).—To play hard; to hurry.

*Bucksome* (or *Buxom*), _adj._ (Winchester).—Happy; cheerful.

*Budder*, _subs._ (Felsted: obsolete).—A hard worker; a SWOTTER.
[From a proper name.]

*Bug and Tick*, _subs. phr._ (The Leys).—The Natural History
Society. _See_ BUG AND SNAIL (Appendix).

*Buissonites*, _subs._ (Charterhouse).—Now called BODEITES
(_q.v._).

*Bulky*, _adj._ (Winchester).—(1) Rich; (2) generous.

*Bull-dog*, _subs._ 1. (University).—A proctor’s assistant or
marshal.

1823. LOCKHART, _Reg. Dalton_, I., x. (1842), 59. Long forgotten
stories about proctors bit and BULL-DOGS baffled.

1841. LYTTON, _Night and Morning_, bk. iii. chap. iii. The proctor and
his BULL-DOGS came up ... and gave chase to the delinquents; ... the
night was dark, and they reached the College in safety.

1847. TENNYSON, _Princess_, Prologue. We unworthier told Of college;
he had climb’d across the spikes, And he had squeezed himself betwixt
the bars, And he had breath’d the Proctor’s DOGS.

1880. BREWER, _Reader’s Handbook_. BULL-DOGS, the two servants of a
university proctor, who follow him in his rounds, to assist him in
apprehending students who are violating the university statutes, such
as appearing in the streets after dinner without cap and gown, &c.

2. (Cambridge: obsolete).—A Fellow of Trinity College.

*Bully*, _subs._ (Eton).—A mellay at football: the equivalent of
the Rugby SCRUMMAGE (_q.v._), and the Winchester HOT
(_q.v._).

*Bunker’s Hill* (Stonyhurst).—A row of cottages outside Hodder
grounds. Originally called Bankhurst, but after a battle
here between the inhabitants and the new-comers a century
ago, its present name was given to it. (See _Stonyhurst
Mag._, ii. 92.)

*Bum-brusher*, _subs._ (general).—A schoolmaster; also an usher.

1704. T. BROWN, _Works_ (1760), ii. 86. [Dionysius] was forced to turn
BUM-BRUSHER.

1788. _New London Magazine_, p. 137. A successor was immediately
called from that great nursery of BUM-BRUSHERS, Appleby School.

1832. _Blackwood’s Mag._, Oct., p. 426. To protract existence ... in
the shape of BUM-BRUSHERS, and so forth, after the fashion of the
exalted emigrés of 1792.

1838. _Comic Almanac_, Dec. [Schoolmaster’s Letter signed] Barnabas
BOM-BRUSH.

*Bum-curtain*, _subs._ (Cambridge).—An academical gown—scant and
short; especially applied to the short black gown worn till
1835 by members of Caius College.

1835. (Quoted in WHIBLEY’S _Three Centuries of Cambridge Wit_ [1889].)
’Tis the College of Caius—’tis the land where the “BUM-CURTAIN” lately
was sported by each jolly chum, But now black and blue are the gowns
that they wear Like the eye of a drunkard returned from a fair.

*Bumf*, _subs._ (general).—Paper. _See_ Appendix.

*Bumf-hunt*, _subs._ (Wellington).—A paper-chase.

*Bumming*, _subs._ (Wellington).—A thrashing.

*Bump*, _subs._ and _verb_ (University).—_See_ BUMPING-RACE.

*Bumping-race*, _subs._ (University).—Eight-oared
inter-Collegiate races, rowed in two divisions of fifteen
and sixteen boats respectively, including a SANDWICH BOAT
(_q.v._), _i.e._ the top boat of the second division, which
rows bottom of the first. The boats in each division start
at a distance apart of 175 feet from stern to stern in the
order at which they left off at the last preceding race, and
any boat which overtakes and BUMPS another (_i.e._ touches
it in any part) before the winning post is reached, changes
places with it for the next race. Hence BUMP-SUPPER = a
supper to commemorate the event.

1849. THACKERAY, _Pendennis_, iii. He listened, and with respect too,
to Mr. Foker’s accounts of what the men did at the University of which
Mr. F. was an ornament, and encountered a long series of stories about
boat-racing, BUMPING, College grass-plats, and milk-punch.

1853. BRADLEY, _Verdant Green_, x. A BUMP-SUPPER—that is, O ye
uninitiated! a supper to commemorate the fact of the boat of one
College having, in the annual races, BUMPED, or touched the boat of
another College immediately in its front, thereby gaining a place
towards the head of the river,—a BUMP-SUPPER was a famous opportunity
for discovering both the rowing and paying capabilities of Freshmen,
who, in the enthusiasm of the moment, would put down their two or
three guineas, and at once propose their names to be enrolled as
members at the next meeting of the club.

1860. _Macmillan’s Magazine_, March, p. 331. The chances of St.
Ambrose’s making a BUMP the first night were weighed.

1865. _Sketches from Cambridge_, p. 7. I can still condescend to give
our boat a stout when it makes a BUMP.

1886-7. DICKENS, _Dictionary of Cambridge_, p. 11. Any boat which
overtakes and BUMPS another ... before the winning post is reached,
changes place with it for the next race.

1891. _Harry Fludyer at Cambridge_, 2. I’m rowing in our first Lent
boat. We ought to make some BUMPS. _Ibid._, 51. We had a grand
BUMP-SUPPER, with lots of speeches.

1900. _Westminster Gaz._, 21st Feb., 8. 3. In the Second Division,
Worcester BUMPED Christ Church II. at the Ferry. Hertford left off at
the head of the division.

*Bunk*, _verb_ (Wellington and Sherborne).—To expel from school.

*Bunky*, _adj._ (Christ’s Hospital).—Awkward; ill-finished.

*Bunny-grub*, _subs._ (Cheltenham).—Green vegetables; GRASS
(_q.v._).

*Burr*, _verb_ (Marlborough).—To tussle or fight in a noisy, but
friendly manner. Also as _subs._

*Butcher.* TO BUTCHER ABOUT, _verb. phr._ (Wellington).—To make
a great noise; to humbug.

*Buttery*, _subs._ (University).—A college kitchen. [See
_Twelfth Night_, i. 3; TAYLOR, _Works_, i. 113.]

1853. BRADLEY, _Verdant Green_, iv. He was bearing a jug of BUTTERY
ale (they are renowned for their ale at Brazenface).

*Buying*, _subs._ (Stonyhurst).—An opportunity which is
given for the purchase of pastry in the refectory at
“BREAD-AND-BEER” (_q.v._) time.

*Cab*, _subs._ (general).—An adventitious aid to study; a CRIB
(_q.v._); a PONY (_q.v._). [From CABBAGE (_q.v._) =
pilferings.]

1853. BRADLEY (“Cuthbert Bede”), _Adventures of Verdant Green_. Those
who can’t afford a coach get a CAB, _alias_ a crib, _alias_ a
translation.

1876. _Academy_, 4th Nov., p. 448, col. 2. The use of translations,
“cribs,” or CABS as boys call them, must at some time or other engage
the serious attention of schoolmasters.

*Cabbage*, _subs._ (general).—A translation; a CAB (_q.v._).
Also as _verb_ = to use a translation or other adventitious
aid in preparing exercises; to “crib.”

1837. GEN. P. THOMPSON, _Exerc._ (1842), iv. 234. A speech, which ...
had been what schoolboys call CABBAGED, from some of the forms of
oration ... published by way of caricature.

1862. H. MARRYAT, _Year in Sweden_, ii. 387. Steelyards ... sent by
Gustaf Wasa as checks upon country dealers, who CABBAGED, giving short
weight.

*Cacus* (Stonyhurst).—The Library lumber-room.

1888. _Stonyhurst Mag._, July, p. 185. The dust and darkness of CACUS
is destined to give place to the (comparatively) gilded splendour of a
Philosopher’s room. Two new windows are being opened in the wall of
the Elizabethan front over the old Bailey window.... Hitherto CACUS
has been shrouded in utter darkness, ... a receptacle for ... all the
literature, which ... had not been assigned a place in the Library.

*Cad*, _subs._ (general).—A non-school or non-University man: in
contempt. At Cambridge SNOB, the word Thackeray used, has
long been a common term for a townsman; now the undergrad.
says TOWNEE or TOWNER (_q.v._). The German analogue is
PHILISTER.

1831. HONE, _Year-Book_, 670. Preceded by one or two bands of music in
two boats, rowed by CADS.

1856. BRADLEY (“Cuthbert Bede”), _Adventures of Verdant Green_, i. p.
117. And I can chaff a CAD.

1860. _Macmillan’s Mag._, March, p. 327. You don’t think a gentleman
can lick a CAD, unless he is the biggest and strongest of the two.

1873. _Saturday Review_, September, p. 305. At Oxford the population
of the University and city is divided into “Dons, men, and CADS.”

*Café, The* (The Leys).—Head’s House Hall for meals.

*Cake*, _subs._ (Christ’s Hospital).—A stroke with a cane. Also
as _verb_.

1844. _Reminis. of Christ’s Hospital_ [_The Blue_, Aug. 1874]. The
mildest punishment consisted of caning on the open hand (ironically
termed CAKES).

*Caker*, _subs._ (The Leys).—A bicycle. [Originally
“boneshaker”; whence “shaker” and “CAKER.”]

*Calk*, _verb_ (Eton).—To throw. _See_ Appendix, _s.v._ CORK.

*Call*, _subs._ (Eton).—A remission of ABSENCE (_q.v._). “It is
a CALL,” _i.e._ “There is no ABSENCE.”

*Calling-out*, _subs._ (Charterhouse: obsolete).—_See_
PULLING-OUT.

*Calling-over*, _subs._ (Rugby).—Names-calling.

1856. HUGHES, _Tom Brown’s School-days_, v. The master of the week
came down in cap and gown to CALLING-OVER, and the whole school of
three hundred boys swept into the big school to answer to their names.

*Calton.* SEE YOU ON THE CALTON, _phr._ (Royal High School,
Edin.).—A challenge to fight. [The Calton Hill lies at the
back of the school; it and THE DUNGEONS (_q.v._) are the two
fighting grounds.]

*Calves*, _subs._ (Winchester).—Pronounced _Caves_. _See_
HALVES.

*Calx*, _subs._ (Eton).—The goal line at football. [From a Latin
sense of CALX = a goal, anciently marked with lime or
chalk.] At Eton CALX is a space so marked off at each end of
WALL; GOOD CALX is the end at which there is a door for a
goal; BAD CALX the end where part of an elm-tree serves the
purpose.

1864. _Daily Telegraph_, Dec. 1. The Collegers were over-weighted ...
and the Oppidans managed to get the ball down into their CALX several
times.

*Campus Martius*, _subs._ (Royal High School, Edin.).—Until
recently the name by which the battle-ground in THE DUNGEONS
(_q.v._) was known; now dying out. Formerly the scene of
encounters between different classes.

*Canals, The* (Stonyhurst: obsolete).—The two ponds in front of
the College.

*Candle-keepers*, _subs._ (Winchester).—The seven seniors in
College by election who are not Præfects. They enjoy most of
the privileges of Præfects without their powers.

_c._ 1840. MANSFIELD, _School-Life at Winchester College_, p. 30. The
Seven CANDLE-KEEPERS (why so called I have no idea, nor have I ever
heard any interpretation of the appellation). These were the seven
inferiors who had been longest in the school, quite independently of
their position in it; they were generally old and tough. Of these, the
senior had almost as much power as a Præfect; he had a “valet” in
chambers, one or two “breakfast fags,” and the power of fagging the
twenty juniors when in school or in meads. The junior CANDLE-KEEPER
was called the “Deputy,” and had also some slight privileges besides
that of having a valet and breakfast fag, which was common to all of
them.

1878. ADAMS, _Wykehamica_, p. 418. _See_ Appendix.

1881. _Felstedian_, Nov., p. 75, “A Day’s Fagging at Winchester.” The
CANDLE-KEEPERS are the next in chambers to the præfects; generally
fellows who have not much brains, but from having been a long time in
the school, having a certain number of “juniors,” and are excused
fagging and have certain minor privileges approaching those of a
præfect.

*Candlestick*, _subs._ (Winchester).—A humorous corruption of
the word “candidate.”

_c._ 1840. MANSFIELD, _School-Life at Winchester College_, p. 175.
Each of these [the Electors] had in turn the privilege of nominating a
boy for admission into Winchester till all vacancies were filled, of
which there were generally about twelve, but always many more
“Candidates” (or CANDLESTICKS, as they were often called).

1878. H. C. ADAMS, _Wykehamica_, p. 418. CANDLESTICK, merely a
facetious version of “candidate.”

*Cannager-canoodle*, _subs._ (Oxford).—A Canadian canoe.

1893. _Felstedian_, June, p. 718, “Oxford Correspondence.” The Char
has been daily gay with bright yellow “CANAGGER-CANOODLES,” and
pink-and-green Japanese parasols and wobbling punts with their
sleeping occupants.

*Cannibal*, _subs._ (Cambridge).—In a BUMPING-RACE (_q.v._) a
College may be represented by more than one boat. The best
talent is put into the first, but it has sometimes happened
that the crew of the second have got so well together that
it has disappointed the prophets and bumped the first of its
own College. In this case it is termed A CANNIBAL, it having
eaten up its own kind, and a fine is exacted from it by the
University Boat Club.

*Canoodle*, _verb_ (Oxford).—To paddle or propel a canoe.

1879. E. H. MARSHALL, in _Notes and Queries_, 5 S., xi. 375. When I
was an undergraduate at Oxford, to CANOODLE was the slang expression
for paddling one’s own canoe on the bosom of the Cherwell or the Isis.

*Cantab*, _subs._ (Cambridge).—A student at Cambridge
University. [An abbreviation of “CANTABRIGIAN.”]

1750. COVENTRY, _Pompey Litt._, II. x. (1785), p. 18, col. 1. The
young CANTAB ... had come up to London.

1803. _Gradus ad_ CANTAB. (Title.)

1821. BYRON, _Don Juan_, c. iii., st. 126. And I grown out of many
“wooden spoons” Of verse (the name with which we CANTABS please To dub
the last of honours in degrees).

*Canvas*, _subs._ (Winchester).—_See_ quot.

1867. COLLINS, _The Public Schools_, p. 66. The Winchester football
game is peculiar. It is played in CANVAS, as it is called. A portion
of Meads, some 80 feet by 25, is marked off by screens of canvas on
each side, within which the game is played, the two open ends forming
the lines of goal, across which the ball is to be kicked. It is placed
in the middle of the ground to begin with, and a “hot” formed round it
by the players stooping down all close together, with their heads
down, and at a given signal trying to force the ball or each other
away. The canvas screens answer to the Rugby “line of touch”; when the
ball escapes over these it is returned into play by juniors stationed
for the purpose, and a hot is formed afresh.

TO GO ON THE CANVAS, _verb. phr._ (Manchester Grammar).—To
finish drill (dumb-bells, clubs, &c.), and do gymnastic
exercises on the ladder, bars, rings, and ropes. [The floor
beneath the latter was once covered with stuffed canvas; the
phrase is retained, though the canvas has given way to
mats.]

*Cap*, _subs._ 1. (Westminster).—The collection at Play and
Election dinners. [The College cap was passed round on the
last night of Play for contributions. _Cf._ “to send round
the cap.”]

1867. COLLINS, _The Public Schools_, p. 157. Queen Elizabeth seems to
have been present on at least one occasion, and to have contributed
liberally to the CAP, for she is recorded to have paid, in January
1564, the sum of £8, 6s. 8d. for certain plays by the grammar school
at Westminster and the children at Powle’s. A shout of “CAP, CAP!”
arises, and all available trenchers having been pressed into the
service, the captain distributes them amongst the Old Westminster
portion of the audience, who present substantial proofs of their
satisfaction. The sum collected in the CAP has frequently amounted to
above £200. After discharging all expenses of the play the surplus is
divided among the performers. But as these expenses have a natural
tendency to increase rather than diminish, while the number of old
Westminsters present is necessarily fewer than in the more prosperous
days of the school, the balance has of late been now and then on the
wrong side.

2. (Harrow).—A cap of House Colours, given by Captains of
House Cricket elevens to the House eleven, or to some of
them. The gift confers permanent membership. Hence, the
recipient of such a distinction. _See_ FEZ.

1890. _Great Public Schools_, 94. Second Eleven matches are played
between the various Houses, and a challenge cup is presented at the
end of the term to the best house. No CAP may play in these matches.

3. (Rugby).—Each House had [1871] two CAPS, one the football
cap and the other the house-cap. The former was a sign of
distinction, and worn only by the few boys in the school to
whom it had been given.... If a boy distinguished himself in
cricket, he was allowed to wear a red band; or, as a higher
distinction, a blue band.... Distinctions might be varied in
all manner of ways according as a boy had won his red or his
blue band, his flannels, or his cap.... CAPS are now (1890)
given by the head of the School Fifteen. After the CAPS come
the FLANNELS (_q.v._), and then come the players without
distinction. The CAPS and FLANNELS in each House go to make
up the House Fifteen; the FLANNELS, without the CAPS, go to
make up the second fifteen in each House, which is called
BELOW CAPS, or for brevity, BELOW. The next fifteen in each
House are called TWO BELOWS, and so on, though it rarely
happens that a House has more BELOWS than two.—LEES KNOWLES.

_Verb_ (general).—To take off or touch one’s hat in
salutation: also TO CAP TO and TO CAP IT.

1593. H. SMITH, _Scrm._ (1871), i. 203. How would they CAP me were I
in velvets.

1803. _Gradus ad Cantabrigiam_, p. 23, _s.v._ BORE. Other bores are to
attend a sermon at St. Mary’s on Sunday ... TO CAP a fellow.

*Captain of Election*, _subs._ (Westminster).—_See_ quot.

1867. COLLINS, _The Public Schools_, p. 183. The CAPTAIN OF
ELECTION—the boy who gains first place—has the privilege of being
almost entirely exempted from the fagging incidental to his junior
year, and has his name painted on the election board in gold letters.
These tablets, fixed up in the dormitory, go back as far as 1629; and
among the names of the CAPTAINS, besides Lord Mansfield, as already
mentioned, may be read those of Markman, Warren Hastings, Cyril
Jackson and his brother the bishop, Randolph (Bishop), Abbot
(Speaker), Longley, &c.

*Captain of the Boats*, _subs. phr._ (Eton).—_See_ quot.

1865. _Etoniana_, p. 164. The CAPTAIN OF THE BOATS is perhaps the
greatest person in the school next to the head-master—if, indeed, he
does not rival that great authority in the estimation of the boys. The
whole regulation of the boats, both as to the selection of the crew of
the racing “eight,” and of the CAPTAINS of the several boats which
form the Fourth of June procession, rests entirely with him; and as he
has a great deal of this kind of patronage at his disposal, his
influence is very considerable. The boat crews are in some sort looked
upon as the aristocracy of the school, and for this reason the
position is an object of social ambition amongst the boys.

*Cargo*, _subs._ (Winchester).—A hamper from home. The word is
still in use.

_c._ 1840. MANSFIELD, _School-Life at Winchester College_, p. 77. The
boys, eager for breakfast, tumultuously rushed out from school-court
... to see if Poole, the porter, had letters, or, what was even more
delightful, a CARGO (a hamper of game or eatables from home).

1881. PASCOE, _Every-day Life in our Public Schools_. Scholars may
supplement their fare with jam, potted meats, ... or, better still,
from the contents of CARGOES, _i.e._ hampers from home.

*Cart*, _verb_ (University).—To defeat: in a match, a fight, an
examination, a race, &c. “We CARTED them home” = we gave
them an awful licking.

*Case*, _subs._ (Westminster).—The discussion by Seniors and
Upper Election preceding a TANNING (_q.v._), and the tanning
itself.

*Cathedral*, _subs._ (Winchester).—A silk hat. [Because worn
when going to Cathedral.]

*Cat-and-cartridge*, _subs._ (The Leys).—Rabbit (or chicken)
with sausage.

*Cat’s*, _subs._ (University).—St. Catharine’s Hall. Hence
CAT’S-MEN = members of St. Catharine’s Hall.

_Intj._ (Royal High School, Edin.: obsolete).—The II^{nd}
Class. [Formerly it used to be a custom for the II^{nd}
class to pursue the I^{st} shouting “Gaits! Gaits!
Gai-ai-aits,” to which they replied, “CATS! CATS! Caa-ats!”]
_See_ DOGS.

*Cat’s Head*, _subs._ (Winchester: obsolete).—The end of a
shoulder of mutton.

_c._ 1840. MANSFIELD, _School-Life at Winchester College_, p. 84. His
meal [dinner] took place at six o’clock P.M. in College (in Commoners’
it was at _one_); it was ample in quantity, and excellent in quality.
That of the Præfects was nicely served in joints, that of the
Inferiors was divided into portions (Dispars); there were, if I
remember rightly, six of these to a shoulder, and eight to a leg of
mutton, the other joints being divided in like proportion. All these
“Dispars” had different names; the thick slice out of the centre was
called “a Middle Cut,” that out of the shoulder a “Fleshy,” the ribs
“Racks,” the loin “Long Dispars”; these were the best, the more
indifferent were the end of the shoulder, or CAT’S HEAD, the breast,
or “Fat Flab,” &c. &c.

*Cat’s-skin*, _subs._ (Rugby).—1. _See_ quot.