Bryn Mawr College - Bryn Mawr Yearbook (Bryn Mawr, PA)

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It was not until the sixth of November that the Freshmen ' s caps and gowns came, and we could give them their lanterns. Of that time-honored ceremony, I confess my recollections are sketchy. I remem- ber that the words of the Greek hymn were almost impossible to learn, and the tune quite so, for myself at any rate ; that the lanterns were uncommonly pretty, with dull green shades set in heavy iron frame- work ; and that the night was very cold, and so dark we nearly lost the Freshmen who were waiting for us somewhere between Denbigh and Taylor. When we finally discovered them, we thrust our lanterns upon them as quickly as possible and scurried back to Pembroke Arch, where the upper classes had already assembled ; and there, our proteges quite forgotten as they stumbled through the halls with their lights, we sang, Here ' s to everything in the college world, beginning, of course, with, Here ' s to the Dean, Is it bin or is it been? We had not yet exhausted the innumerable variations which can be wrought upon that couplet whose infinite variety time can never wither nor custom stale, when the Freshmen reappeared, and we nudged them into parting with their dear caps, while we sang, Gracious Inspiration ; and then we all dispersed to our rooms. But not, let me hasten to add, to study or to sleep. Far from it ; for then followed the last of the cap and gown nights. It was, I remember, in a spirit of lofty altruism that the boldest of us started out on the night ' s campaign, undaunted by the warning cry of No personal violence. Not for our own amusement did we relinquish sleep and study, but because the Freshmen would never sufficiently value their academic costume if they did not have to guard it first, because a little hazing of this sort did more to promote good-fellowship than a dozen teas, and because we had never ceased to regret the neglect we suffered in this respect in our Freshman days. I am afraid 1903 never appreciated the favors we showered upon them that night. They were such guileless creatures in those early days. They did not know that the key of every bureau drawer in Merion was cast in the same mould ; or that even a drawer with an individual lock may be easily rifled by pulling out the drawer above ; or that the trick of hiding a gown in a couch pillow is as old as the corner-stone of Taylor. And with the rediscovery of each old trick, the pile of loot in the room which served as citadel grew, so that when morning came we marched out with arms laden. Then other Sophomores from Denbigh and Pembroke added their plunder to ours, and we strung them about the campus in front of Taylor with triumphant glee. And I know not which added most to our final hilarity, the disdainful airs of the Juniors, who even in Sophomore days had scorned such pranks, as they entered Taylor all gownless, or the aggrieved looks of the Freshmen as they filed by in gowns whose rents and tatters bore witness to three years ' servitude. 28