1890. _Felstedian_, Feb., p. 2. Johnson _ma_ happened to be in PREP in
good time, so he managed to get in a moment’s conversation with Jones.
*Preparatory*, _subs._ (Stonyhurst).—The preparatory Form at
Hodder: originally ABECEDARII.
*Pricking Æger.* _See_ ÆGER.
*Private-business*, _subs._ (Eton).—Extra work with the tutor.
*Privee*, _subs._ (Charterhouse).—A private conversation. _See_
BOULE.
*Privs*, _subs._ (Harrow).—Special privileges in the House:
granted to either Sixth Form or THREE-YEARERS (_q.v._).
These take different forms in different houses. TO FIND
(_q.v._) and to TOLLY-UP are PRIVS: so is the right to wear
a coat that is not regulation school dress after LOCK-UP
(_q.v._).
*Pro*, _subs._ (Oxford).—A proproctor, or second in command in
the proctorial police. The two proctors appoint a certain
number of proproctors each.
1823. _Hints for Oxford_, 10. They (Freshmen) cap the PRO’S too in the
street, speak to people without being introduced, and are guilty of a
thousand _gaucheries_.
1869. W. BRADWOOD, _The O.V.H._, x. The proctor (more strictly a PRO)
backed out of the room with wholesale apologies.
*Proctorized*, _adj._ and _adv._ (University).—Stopped by a
proctor and told to call on him.
1861. HUGHES, _Tom Brown at Oxford_, i. 12. So gets PROCTORIZED in his
old age.
1885. _Punch_, May 16, p. 233. PROCTORISED again last night! Coming
home from jolly wine-party at John’s.
*Progger*, _subs._ (University).—A proctor.
1898. _Stonyhurst Mag._, Dec., p. 149, “Life at Oxford.” But a
Proctor, or—by the common practice—“PROGGER,” soon teaches the unwary
that the wisest course is to wear it at the stated times, however
objectionable it may be.
*Progging*, _subs._ (University).—_See_ PROCTORIZED.
1898. _Stonyhurst Mag._, Dec., p. 149, “Life at Oxford.” A “PROGGING”
may form part of another article. At present I have passed all due
bounds.
*Proggins*, _subs._ (University).—A proctor.
*Promo*, _subs._ (Charterhouse).—Promotion.
*Prompter*, _subs._ (Merchant Taylors’).—A member of the Second
Form.
*Proof*, _subs._ (Oxford).—The best ale at Magdalen College.
*Pros*, _subs._ (Cambridge).—A W.C.
*Prose*, _subs._ (Winchester).—A lecture. Also as _verb_.
*Prose-task*, _subs._ (Winchester).—A piece of Latin prose
composition, which all the boys had to do once a
week.—MANSFIELD (_c._ 1840).
*Provincial’s-day.* _See_ DAY.
*Pruff*, _adj._ (Winchester).—Sturdy; insensible to pain.
1610. SHAKSPEARE, _Cor._, i. 4. Now put your shields before your
hearts, and fight With hearts more PROOF than shields.
1881. PASCOE, _Public Schools_.... But deprive a Wykehamist of words
in constant use, such as “quill,” meaning to curry favour with; PRUFF,
signifying sturdy, or proof against pain; “spree,” upstart, impudent;
“cud,” pretty, and many more, and his vocabulary becomes limited.
*Public-supping*, _subs._ (Christ’s Hospital).—_See_ quots.
1870. _The Blue_, Mar. It is, we believe, certain that T.R.H. the
Prince and Princess Teck will grace one of the Lent PUBLIC SUPPERS
with their distinguished presence.
1900. _Daily Telegraph_, Mar. 16, “London Day by Day.” That quaint and
historic old custom known as the “public supping” of the children was
celebrated last evening at Christ’s Hospital, Newgate Street, in the
presence of the Lord Mayor, Alderman Vaughan Morgan (treasurer of the
school), and other civic and educational dignitaries.
1900. _Pall Mall Gazette_, 20th Mar., 3. 2, “A Lenten Supper.”
Attention is directed to this festival this year for two reasons—one,
that it is a very ancient custom; the other, that this is nearly the
last year in which it will be held; for it is clear that when the
school has changed its site, its dress, and certain of its officers
and masters, it will not care to carry on this quaint old ceremony.
And indeed, were the Hospital to hold such revelry at Horsham there
would be few to come as guests, if the name of guest can be assigned
to one who plays a part so passive as that of seeing other people
eat.... The scene of the supping is the Great Hall.... Six hundred
boys and more appear as nothing; they are all seated.... At each table
sits a matron, according to their wards (of which there are fifteen),
and attached to each ward is a matron, who used to be called nurse.
Beside the tables are the monitors, responsible for order—biggish
boys—not “Grecians,” for Grecians do not appear at the Lent suppers,
except to read or pray or sing, having already eaten in their wards.
The first performance, probably, is to light the candles on the
tables; each ward has four candles, and all are lighted at almost the
same moment. The hall is lighted from the roof by gas, so the
candlesticks are little more than ornaments. They are of oak, old, and
well-weighted at the base, and can count their age by centuries....
Their quaintness is concealed by artificial flowers, which the boys
pay for and the matrons arrange, the result more suggestive of
suburban bonnets than antiquity and quaintness. Ask a boy Why? he will
probably reply that “it always has been done.” Change has come; it
used to be held on Sundays during Lent instead of Thursday as to-day,
and up to absolutely recent years there were six suppers instead of
four. These festivals interfere somewhat with school work, and those
who are officially compelled to attend find sameness, even in a public
supper, in the course of thirty years or so. As the clock strikes
seven there is a rap, the boys stand up, the organ bursts into “God
save the Queen,” and up the hall marches the Lord Mayor, preceded by
the chief beadle of the Hospital, clad in gorgeous raiment and a mace
suggestive of a fish-slice. Behind comes the treasurer of the
Hospital, another alderman, and various governors, each bearing a
green stick to mark his office. These sit in reserved seats at the far
end of the hall, the Lord Mayor in _the_ chair, while on his right
hand by the wall are masters and on his left some “officers.” The
ceremony—a strange mixture of a religious service, a meal, and a
feudal relic—begun with the reading of a passage from the Sermon on
the Mount by a Grecian standing in a pulpit, whence he proceeded to
read special prayers written for the school by Bishop Compton, ending
with the Lord’s Prayer, after which a hymn and “grace” and then the
supper, during which the Lord Mayor, with a select few, made the grand
tour of the hall. Such a supper was soon over, and it was not long
before the boys had gathered up the plates and bowls and cloths and
knives, and then came grace and an anthem well sung by a well-trained
choir. This was followed by the feudal feature in the evening: the
whole school, with the exception of the Grecians, “bows round,” i.e.
the boys walk up two and two, marshalled by two beadles, who stand
near, and drawing near the chair, then bow the head in reverence to an
Authority. Most boys have a “trade,” and in this procession each one
carries a symbol of that “trade.” The matron’s special boy carries a
bonnet-candle in each hand, the knife-boy carries his knife-basket,
and the cloth-boy takes his cloth neatly rolled beneath his wing,
while, 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. When all have bowed, the boy-marshalling beadles
bow also, and the revels are ended. It is believed that the original
purpose of these suppers was to rouse interest in the outside public
and possibly raise money from their pockets; at all events, collection
boxes used to be placed about the hall on those occasions.
*Puddex.* _See_ DEX.
*Puke*, _verb_ (Winchester).—To vomit. [A survival.]
*Puker*, _subs._ (Shrewsbury).—A good-for-nothing.
*Pulling-out*, _subs._ (Charterhouse: obsolete).—PULLING-OUT
took place on Good Fridays. A line was marked from a corner
of green to cloisters. On one side of this line stood the
first and second forms, _i.e._ the Uppers, on the other side
of it the Unders. The Unders had the right of calling on any
unpopular Upper to run the gauntlet between two rows of
Unders from cloister doors to a point near the chapel. They
armed themselves with implements of all kinds, such as
sticks, or stones fastened into stockings, with which to
inflict punishment upon the Uppers. The latter naturally
resisted; hence there were fierce fights and dangerous
rushes. During the PULLING-OUT of 1824, a little fellow
called Howard, a younger son of the Earl of Suffolk, was
entangled in one of these rushes, dragged along the ground
for some distance, with a mass of boys upon him, and
received injuries from which he died soon after. This was
the end of PULLING-OUT, but the custom was as old as the
school.—MOZLEY. Also CALLING-OUT.
*Pulpiteers*, _subs._ (Winchester).—_See_ quot.
1891. WRENCH, _Word-Book_, s.v. _Pulpiteers_. An arrangement during
Cloister-time of Sixth Book and Senior Part V. going up to books
together.... Middle and Junior Part taken together were called
Cloisters.
*Pun*, _subs._ (Harrow).—Punishment. Also as _verb_. Hence
PUN-PAPER = specially ruled paper for PUNS and impositions.
TO PUN OUT, _verb. phr._ (Christ’s Hospital).—To inform
against. _Ex._ “I’ll PUN OUT”; “I’ll PUN you OUT.”
Exclusively a London term: at Hertford the word is simply TO
PUN, or TO PUN OF.
*Punny*, _subs._ (Manchester Grammar).—Punishment School or
Drill: also known as P.S. and P.D.: both cause detention for
three-quarters of an hour after school.
*Punt*, _verb_ (Rugby).—To kick the ball (at football) before it
touches the ground.
*Punt-about*, _subs._ (Rugby).—The practice-ball: at football.
Also a practice game.
1856. HUGHES, _Tom Brown’s School-days_, I. v. He hadn’t long to
wonder, however, for next minute East cried out, “Hurra! here’s the
PUNT-ABOUT,—come along and try your hand at a kick.” The PUNT-ABOUT is
the practice-ball, which is just brought out and kicked about anyhow
from one boy to another before callings-over and dinner, and at other
odd times.
*Puny*, _subs._ (old Oxford).—A Freshman: also a student at the
Inns of Court.
15 [?]. _Christmas Prince at St. John’s College_, i. Others to make
sporte withall, of this last sorte were they whom they call freshmenn,
PUNIES of the first yeare.
15 [?]. _Ulysses upon Ajax_, B. 8. A very worme of wit, a PUNEY of
Oxford, shall make you more hatefull than Battalus the hungrye fidler.
1593. NASHE, _Christ’s Teares_ [WORKS (_Grosart_), iv. 228]. Sharing
halfe with the Baudes their Hostesses, and laughing at the PUNIES they
have lurched [robbed].
1634. MARSTON, in _Lectores_, &c. [NARES]. Shall each odd PUISNE of
the lawyer’s inne, Each barmy-froth, that last day did beginne, To
read his little, or his nere a whit.
_c._ 1640 [SHIRLEY], _Captain Underwit_ [BULLEN, _Old Plays_, ii.
340]. Preach to the PUISNES of the Inne sobrietie. [PUISNE (_i.e._
PUNY) was the term applied to students at the Inns of Court; also to
Freshmen at Oxford.—BULLEN.]
1847. HALLIWELL, _Arch. and Prov. Words_, s.v. PUNIES. Freshmen at
Oxford were called PUNIES for the first year.
*Pupe*, _subs._ (Harrow).—A pupil-room. [ROOM = class or form:
each tutor is assigned a ROOM, for the members of which he
is generally responsible, and for whom he signs orders.]
*Puseum* (The), _subs._ (Oxford).—The Pusey House in St. Giles’s
Street.
*Put.* TO BE PUT ON, _verb. phr._ (Dulwich).—To be told to
construe.
*Pux*, _verb_ (Royal High School, Edin.).—To punish with the
tawse: _e.g._ “Did you get PUXED?”
*Quad* (or *Quod*), _subs._ (general).—A quadrangle.
1840. _Collegian’s Guide_, 144. His mother ... had been seen crossing
the QUAD in tears.
1884. _Daily News_, Oct. 14, p. 5, col. 1. His undignified nickname is
carved in the turf of the college QUAD.
_Verb_ (Rugby).—To promenade round Cloisters at calling over
before a football-match.
*Quarter* (The), _subs._ (Charterhouse).—The quarter bell.
*Quarter-marks*, _subs._ (Harrow).—The aggregate of marks for
work during the term, as opposed to marks gained in TRIALS
(_q.v._).
*Quarter of Paper*, _subs. phr._ (Winchester).—A quarter of a
sheet of foolscap, on which the Prose and Verse Tasks were
always written.—MANSFIELD (_c._ 1840). _Cf._ VESSEL. Also
used at Westminster.
1867. COLLINS, _The Public Schools_, p. 165. Besides this, he had to
carry with him into school a portfolio containing a sufficiency of
QUARTERNS of paper. All or any of these articles he was supposed to
supply, upon requisition, to any boy of the “upper election.”
*Quill*, _verb_ (Winchester).—To curry favour; to flatter: _see_
QUILSTER. Hence (latterly) TO BE QUILLED = to be pleased.
_Cf._ QUILLER = a parasite.
*Quiller*, _subs._ (Winchester).—A parasite.
*Quilster*, _subs._ (Winchester).—A toady; a lickspittle.
*Quod*, _subs._ (Felsted).—_See_ D. (Appendix).
*Rabbiter*, _subs._ (Winchester).—A blow, delivered by the side
of the hand, on the back of the neck: as in killing a
rabbit.
*Rabbit-Skin*, _subs._ (University).—The academical hood. Hence
TO GET ONE’S RABBIT-SKIN = to obtain the B.A. degree.
[Because trimmed with rabbit fur. Also CAT’S-SKIN.]
*Rack*, _subs._ (Winchester).—A DISPAR (_q.v._), or portion
consisting of a joint (or chop) from a neck or loin of
mutton. [_Rack_ (HALLIWELL) = the neck of mutton or pork;
also (JOHNSON) = a neck of mutton cut for the table.]
1594. LYLY, _Mother Bombie_, iii. 4. _Lu._ And me thought there came
in a leg of mutton. _Dro._ What, all grosse meat? a RACKE had beene
dainty.
1706. COLES, _Eng. Dict._, s.v. RACK.... Probably from _hracca_,
Saxon, the back of the head.
... MAY, _Accomplished Cook_, 57. Then again, put in the crag end of
the RACK OF MUTTON to make the broth good. _Ibid._, p. 25. Take two
joynts of mutton, RACK and loin.
*Rag*, _subs._ (University).—1. An undergraduate’s gown.
1899. _Answers_, 14th Jan., 1. 1. This matter of the RAG is hedged
about with many unwritten laws. One who has mastered these will never
go to breakfast in another man’s rooms in cap and gown.... Nor will he
wear the RAG in the theatre, which is strictly barred.