A Collection of College Words and Customs Part 31

2. Studying hard, equivalent to _digging, grubbing, &c._

Thrice happy ye, through toil and dangers past, Who rest upon that peaceful sh.o.r.e, Where all your _f.a.gging_ is no more, And gain the long-expected port at last.

_Gent. Mag._, 1795, p. 19.

To _f.a.gging_ I set to, therefore, with as keen a relish as ever alderman sat down to turtle.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. I. p. 123.

See what I pay for liberty to leave school early, and to figure in every ball-room in the country, and see the world, instead of _f.a.gging_ at college.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 307.

FAIR HARVARD. At the celebration of the era of the second century from the origin of Harvard College, which was held at Cambridge, September 8th, 1836, the following Ode, written by the Rev. Samuel Gilman, D.D., of Charleston, S.C., was sung to the air, "Believe me, if all those endearing young charms."

"FAIR HARVARD! thy sons to thy Jubilee throng, And with blessings surrender thee o'er, By these festival-rites, from the Age that is past, To the Age that is waiting before.

O Relic and Type of our ancestors' worth, That hast long kept their memory warm!

First flower of their wilderness! Star of their night, Calm rising through change and through storm!

"To thy bowers we were led in the bloom of our youth, From the home of our free-roving years, When our fathers had warned, and our mothers had prayed, And our sisters had blest, through their tears.

_Thou_ then wert our parent,--the nurse of our souls,-- We were moulded to manhood by thee, Till, freighted with treasure-thoughts, friendships, and hopes, Thou didst launch us on Destiny's sea.

"When, as pilgrims, we come to revisit thy halls, To what kindlings the season gives birth!

Thy shades are more soothing, thy sunlight more dear, Than descend on less privileged earth: For the Good and the Great, in their beautiful prime, Through thy precincts have musingly trod, As they girded their spirits, or deepened the streams That make glad the fair City of G.o.d.

"Farewell! be thy destinies onward and bright!

To thy children the lesson still give, With freedom to think, and with patience to bear, And for right ever bravely to live.

Let not moss-covered Error moor _thee_ at its side, As the world on Truth's current glides by; Be the herald of Light, and the bearer of Love, Till the stock of the Puritans die."

Since the occasion on which this ode was sung, it has been the practice with the odists of Cla.s.s Day at Harvard College to write the farewell cla.s.s song to the tune of "Fair Harvard," the name by which the Irish air "Believe me" has been adopted. The deep pathos of this melody renders it peculiarly appropriate to the circ.u.mstances with which it has been so happily connected, and from which it is to be hoped it may never be severed.

See CLa.s.s DAY.

FAIR LICK. In the game of football, when the ball is fairly caught or kicked beyond the bounds, the cry usually heard, is _Fair lick!

Fair lick!_

"_Fair lick_!" he cried, and raised his dreadful foot, Armed at all points with the ancestral boot.

_Harvardiana_, Vol. IV. p. 22.

See FOOTBALL.

FANTASTICS. At Princeton College, an exhibition on Commencement evening, of a number of students on horseback, fantastically dressed in masks, &c.

FAST. An epithet of one who is showy in dress, expensive or apparently so in his mode of living, and inclined to spree.

Formerly used exclusively among students; now of more general application.

Speaking of the student signification of the word, Bristed remarks: "A _fast man_ is not necessarily (like the London fast man) a _rowing_ man, though the two attributes are often combined in the same person; he is one who dresses flashily, talks big, and spends, or affects to spend, money very freely."--_Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 23.

The _Fast_ Man comes, with reeling tread, Cigar in mouth, and swimming head.

_MS. Poem_, F.E. Felton.

FAT. At Princeton College, a letter with money or a draft is thus denominated.

FATHER or PRaeLECTOR. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., one of the fellows of a college, who attends all the examinations for the Bachelor's degree, to see that justice is done to the candidates from his own college, who are at that time called his _sons_.--_Gradus ad Cantab._

The _Fathers_ of the respective colleges, zealous for the credit of the societies of which they are the guardians, are incessantly employed in examining those students who appear most likely to contest the palm of glory with their _sons_.--_Gent. Mag._, 1773, p. 435.

FEBRUARY TWENTY-SECOND. At Shelby, Centre, and Bacon Colleges, in Kentucky, it is customary to select the best orators and speakers from the different literary societies to deliver addresses on the twenty-second of February, in commemoration of the birthday of Washington. At Bethany College, in Virginia, this day is observed in a similar manner.

FEEZE. Usually spelled PHEEZE, q.v.

Under FLOP, another, but probably a wrong or obsolete, signification is given.

FELLOW. A member of a corporation; a trustee. In the English universities, a residence at the college, engagement in instruction, and receiving therefor a stipend, are essential requisites to the character of a _fellow_. In American colleges, it is not necessary that a _fellow_ should be a resident, a stipendiary, or an instructor. In most cases the greater number of the _Fellows of the Corporation_ are non-residents, and have no part in the instruction at the college.

With reference to the University of Cambridge, Eng., Bristed remarks: "The Fellows, who form the general body from which the other college officers are chosen, consist of those four or five Bachelor Scholars in each year who pa.s.s the best examination in cla.s.sics, mathematics, and metaphysics. This examination being a severe one, and only the last of many trials which they have gone through, the inference is allowable that they are the most learned of the College graduates. They have a handsome income, whether resident or not; but if resident, enjoy the additional advantages of a well-spread table for nothing, and good rooms at a very low price. The only conditions of retaining their Fellowships are, that they take orders after a certain time and remain unmarried.

Of those who do not fill college offices, some occupy themselves with private pupils; others, who have property of their own, prefer to live a life of literary leisure, like some of their predecessors, the monks of old. The eight oldest Fellows at any time in residence, together with the Master, have the government of the college vested in them."--_Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 16.

For some remarks on the word Fellow, see under the t.i.tle COLLEGE.

FELLOW-COMMONER. In the University of Cambridge, England, _Fellow-Commoners_ are generally the younger sons of the n.o.bility, or young men of fortune, and have the privilege of dining at the Fellows' table, whence the appellation originated.

"Fellow-Commoners," says Bristed, "are 'young men of fortune,' as the _Cambridge Calendar_ and _Cambridge Guide_ have it, who, in consideration of their paying twice as much for everything as anybody else, are allowed the privilege of sitting at the Fellows'

table in hall, and in their seats at chapel; of wearing a gown with gold or silver lace, and a velvet cap with a metallic ta.s.sel; of having the first choice of rooms; and as is generally believed, and believed not without reason, of getting off with a less number of chapels per week. Among them are included the Honorables _not_ eldest sons,--only these wear a hat instead of the velvet cap, and are thence popularly known as _Hat_ Fellow-Commoners."--_Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 13.

A _Fellow-Commoner_ at Cambridge is equivalent to an Oxford _Gentleman-Commoner_, and is in all respects similar to what in private schools and seminaries is called a _parlor boarder_. A fuller account of this, the first rank at the University, will be found in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1795, p. 20, and in the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, p. 50.

"Fellow-Commoners have been nicknamed '_Empty Bottles_'! They have been called, likewise, 'Useless Members'! 'The licensed Sons of Ignorance.'"--_Gradus ad Cantab._

The Fellow-Commoners, alias _empty bottles_, (not so called because they've let out anything during the examination,) are then presented.--_Alma Mater_, Vol. II. p. 101.

In the old laws of Harvard College we find the following: "None shall be admitted a _Fellow-Commoner_ unless he first pay thirteen pounds six and eight pence to the college. And every _Fellow-Commoner_ shall pay double tuition money. They shall have the privilege of dining and supping with the Fellows at their table in the hall; they shall be excused from going on errands, and shall have the t.i.tle of Masters, and have the privilege of wearing their hats as the Masters do; but shall attend all duties and exercises with the rest of their cla.s.s, and be alike subject to the laws and government of the College," &c. The Hon. Paine Wingate, a graduate of the cla.s.s of 1759, says in reference to this subject: "I never heard anything about _Fellow-Commoners_ in college excepting in this paragraph. I am satisfied there has been no such description of scholars at Cambridge since I have known anything about the place."--_Peirce's Hist. Harv. Coll._, p. 314.

In the Appendix to "A Sketch of the History of Harvard College,"

by Samuel A. Eliot, is a memorandum, in the list of donations to that inst.i.tution, under the date 1683, to this effect. "Mr. Joseph Brown, Mr. Edward Page, Mr. Francis Wainwright, _fellow-commoners_, gave each a silver goblet." Mr. Wainwright graduated in 1686. The other two do not appear to have received a degree. All things considered, it is probable that this order, although introduced from the University of Cambridge, England, into Harvard College, received but few members, on account of the evil influence which such distinctions usually exert.

FELLOW OF THE HOUSE. See under HOUSE.

FELLOW, RESIDENT. At Harvard College, the tutors were formerly called _resident fellows_.--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._, Vol. I.

p. 278.