A Collection of College Words and Customs Part 57

The operations of the Navy were usually closed with an excursion down the harbor. A vessel well stocked with certain kinds of provisions afforded, with some a.s.sistance from the stores of old Ocean, the requisites for a grand clam-bake or a mammoth chowder.

The spot usually selected for this entertainment was the sh.o.r.es of Cape Cod. On the third day the party usually returned from their voyage, and their entry into Cambridge was generally accompanied with no little noise and disorder. The Admiral then appointed privately his successor, and the Navy was disbanded for the year.

The exercises of the a.s.sociation varied from year to year. Many of the old customs gradually went out of fashion, until finally but little of the original Navy remained. The officers were, as usual, appointed yearly, but the power of appointing them was transferred to the cla.s.s, and a public parade was subst.i.tuted for the forms and ceremonies once peculiar to the society. The excursion down the harbor was omitted for the first time the present year,[57]

and the last procession made its appearance in the year 1846.

At present the Navy Club is organized after the parts for the last Senior Exhibition have been a.s.signed. It is composed of three cla.s.ses of persons; namely, the true NAVY, which consists of those who have _never_ had parts; the MARINES, those who have had a _major_ or _second_ part in the Senior year, but no _minor_ or _first_ part in the Junior; and the HORSE-MARINES, those who have had a _minor_ or _first_ part in the Junior year, but have subsequently fallen off, so as not to get a _major_ or _second_ part in the Senior. Of the Navy officers, the Lord High Admiral is usually he who has been sent from College the greatest number of times; the Vice-Admiral is the poorest scholar in the cla.s.s; the Rear-Admiral the laziest fellow in the cla.s.s; the Commodore, one addicted to boating; the Captain, a jolly blade; the Lieutenant and Midshipman, fellows of the same description; the Chaplain, the most profane; the Surgeon, a dabbler in surgery, or in medicine, or anything else; the Ensign, the tallest member of the cla.s.s; the Boatswain, one most inclined to obscenity; the Drum Major, the most aristocratic, and his a.s.sistants, fellows of the same character. These const.i.tute the Band. Such are the general rules of choice, but they are not always followed. The remainder of the cla.s.s who have had no parts and are not officers of the Navy Club are members, under the name of Privates. On the morning when the parts for Commencement are a.s.signed, the members who receive appointments resign the stations which they have held in the Navy Club. This resignation takes place immediately after the parts have been read to the cla.s.s. The door-way of the middle entry of Holworthy Hall is the place usually chosen for this affecting scene. The performance is carried on in the mock-oratorical style, a person concealed under a white sheet being placed behind the speaker to make the gestures for him. The names of those members who, having received Commencement appointments, have refused to resign their trusts in the Navy Club, are then read by the Lord High Admiral, and by his authority they are expelled from the society. This closes the exercises of the Club.

The following entertaining account of the last procession, in 1846, has been furnished by a graduate of that year:--

"The cla.s.s had nearly all a.s.sembled, and the procession, which extended through the rooms of the Natural History Society, began to move. The princ.i.p.al officers, as also the whole band, were dressed in full uniform. The Rear-Admiral brought up the rear, as was fitting. He was borne in a sort of triumphal car, composed of something like a couch, elevated upon wheels, and drawn by a white horse. On this his excellency, dressed in uniform, and enveloped in his cloak, reclined at full length. One of the Marines played the part of driver. Behind the car walked a colored man, with a most fantastic head-dress, whose duty it was to carry his Honor the Rear-Admiral's pipe. Immediately before the car walked the other two Marines, with guns on their shoulders. The 'Digs'[58]

came immediately before the Marines, preceded by the tallest of their number, carrying a white satin banner, bearing on it, in gold letters, the word 'HARVARD,' with a _spade_ of gold paper fastened beneath. The Digs were all dressed in black, with Oxford caps on their heads, and small iron spades over their shoulders.

They walked two and two, except in one instance, namely, that of the first three scholars, who walked together, the last of their brethren, immediately preceding the Marines. The second and third scholars did not carry spades, but pointed shovels, much larger and heavier; while the first scholar, who walked between the other two, carried an enormously great square shovel,--such as is often seen hung out at hardware-stores for a sign,--with 'SPADES AND SHOVELS,' or some such thing, painted on one side, and 'ALL SIZES'

on the other. This shovel was about two feet square. The idea of carrying real, _bona fide_ spades and shovels originated wholly in our cla.s.s. It has always been the custom before to wear a spade, cut out of white paper, on the lapel of the coat. The Navy Privates were dressed in blue shirts, monkey-jackets, &c., and presented a very sailor-like appearance. Two of them carried small kedges over their shoulders. The Ensign bore an old and tattered flag, the same which was originally presented by Miss Mellen of Cambridge to the Harvard Washington Corps. The Chaplain was dressed in a black gown, with an old-fashioned curly white wig on his head, which, with a powdered face, gave him a very sanctimonious look. He carried a large French Bible, which by much use had lost its covers. The Surgeon rode a beast which might well have been taken for the Rosinante of the world-renowned Don Quixote. This worthy aesculapius had an infinite number of brown-paper bags attached to his person. He was enveloped in an old plaid cloak, with a huge sign for _pills_ fastened upon his shoulders, and carried before him a skull on a staff. His nag was very spirited, so much so as to leap over the chains, posts, &c., and put to flight the crowd a.s.sembled to see the fun. The procession, after having cheered all the College buildings, and the houses of the Professors, separated about seven o'clock, P.M."

At first like a badger the Freshman dug, Fed on Latin and Greek, in his room kept snug; And he fondly hoped that on _Navy Club_ day The highest spade he might bear away.

_MS. Poem_, F.E. Felton, Harv. Coll.

NECK. To _run one's neck_, at Williams College, to trust to luck for the success of any undertaking.

NESCIO. Latin; literally, _I do not know_. At the University of Cambridge, England, _to sport a nescio_, to shake the head, a signal that one does not understand or is ignorant of the subject.

"After the Senate-House examination for degrees," says Grose, in his Cla.s.sical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, "the students proceed to the schools, to be questioned by the proctor. According to custom immemorial, the answers _must_ be _Nescio_. The following is a translated specimen:--

"_Ques._ What is your, name? _Ans._ I do not know.

"_Ques._ What is the name of this University? _Ans._ I do not know.

"_Ques._ Who was your father? _Ans._ I do not know.

"The last is probably the only true answer of the three!"

NEWLING. In the German universities, a Freshman; one in his first half-year.

NEWY. At Princeton College, a fresh arrival.

NIGHTGOWN. A dressing-gown; a _deshabille_.

No student shall appear within the limits of the College, or town of Cambridge, in any other dress than in the uniform belonging to his respective cla.s.s, unless he shall have on a _nightgown_, or such an outside garment as may be necessary over a coat.--_Laws Harv. Coll._, 1790.

n.o.bLEMAN. In the English universities, among the Undergraduates, the n.o.bleman enjoys privileges and exemptions not accorded to others. At Oxford he wears a black-silk gown with full sleeves "couped" at the elbows, and a velvet cap with gold ta.s.sel, except on full-dress occasions, when his habit is of violet-figured damask silk, richly bedight with gold lace. At Cambridge he wears the plain black-silk gown and the hat of an M.A., except on feast days and state occasions, when he appears in a gown still more gorgeous than that of a Fellow-Commoner.--_Oxford Guide. Bristed_.

NO END OF. Bristed records this phrase as an intensive peculiar to the English Cantabs. Its import is obvious "They have _no end of_ tin; i.e. a great deal of money. He is _no end of_ a fool; i.e.

the greatest fool possible."--_Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed.

2d, p. 24.

The use of this expression, with a similar signification, is common in some portions of the United States.

NON ENS. Latin; literally _not being_. At the University of Cambridge, Eng., one who has not been matriculated, though he has resided some time at the University; consequently is not considered as having any being. A Freshman in embryo.--_Grad. ad Cantab._

NON PARAVI. Latin; literally, _I have not prepared_. When Latin was spoken in the American colleges, this excuse was commonly given by scholars not prepared for recitation.

With sleepy eyes and countenance heavy, With much excuse of _non paravi_.

_Trumbull's Progress of Dullness_, 1794, p. 8.

The same excuse is now frequently given in English.

The same individuals were also observed to be "_not prepared_" for the morning's recitation.--_Harvardiana_, Vol. II. p. 261.

I hear you whispering, with white lips, "_Not prepared_, sir."--_Burial of Euclid_, 1850, p. 9.

NON PLACET. Latin; literally, _It is not pleasing_. In the University of Cambridge, Eng., the term in which a _negative_ vote is given in the Senate-House.

To _non-placet_, with the meaning of the verb _to reject_, is sometimes used in familiar language.

A cla.s.sical examiner, having marked two candidates belonging to his own College much higher than the other three examiners did, was suspected of partiality to them, and _non-placeted_ (rejected) next year when he came up for approval.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 231.

NON-READING MAN. See READING MAN.

The result of the May decides whether he will go out in honors or not,--that is, whether he will be a reading or a _non-reading man_.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 85.

NON-REGENT. In the English universities, a term applied to those Masters of Arts whose regency has ceased.--_Webster_.

See REGENT. SENATE.

NON-TERM. "When any member of the Senate," says the Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, "dies within the University during term, on application to the Vice-Chancellor, the University bell rings an hour; from which period _Non-Term_, as to public lectures and disputations, commences for three days."

NON VALUI. Latin; literally, _I was sick_. At Harvard College, when the students were obliged to speak Latin, it was usual for them to give the excuse _non valui_ for almost every absence or omission. The President called upon delinquents for their excuses in the chapel, after morning prayers, and these words were often p.r.o.nounced so broadly as to sound like _non volui_, I did not wish [to go]. The quibble was not perceived for a long time, and was heartily enjoyed, as may be well supposed, by those who made use of it.

[Greek: Nous]. Greek; _sense_. A word adopted by, and in use among, students.

He is a lad of more [Greek: nous], and keeps better company.--_Pref. to Grad. ad Cantab._

Getting the better of them in anything which required the smallest exertion of [Greek: nous], was like being first in a donkey-race.

--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 30.