Arthur Bartlett Maurice, a Princeton graduate, once contradicted my statement that Harvard played the first game of intercollegiate football in America, claiming that honor for his own college. As Mr. Maurice is a much younger man than I, and must have it on hearsay, I am going to doubt his knowledge. Besides, I like my own story better. It was in my sophomore year, in 1872. Previous to this time, my class had started what later developed into the modern college yell. Each class had a cheer, generally ending with the usual, “Hip, hip, hurrah!” But, we being very personal, decided to give ours in a different way. So we would begin the following slowly, gradually increasing the speed and making it staccato at the end:
Whoop her up for ’74
Whoop her up, whoop her up,
Whoop her up for ’74
Whoop her up, whoop her up,
Whoop her up for ’74
Whoop her up, whoop her up,
Whoop her up for ’74—
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Hurrah became “rah,” and in order that the men should keep together, one of us would beat time, which I believe was the origin of the “yell leader.”