The Public School Word-book / A conribution to to a historical glossary of words phrases and turns of expression obsolete and in current use peculiar to our great public schools together with some that have been or are modish at the universities

by John Stephen Farmer

1900. Daily Mail, 10th Mar., 2. 4. There was keen excitement at Cambridge yesterday when the magistrates proceeded to deal with the last two prosecutions of students arising out of the notorious RAG in celebration of the relief of Ladysmith.

Ragged-soph. See Soph.

Ramrod (or Raymonder), subs. (Winchester).—A ball bowled all along the ground.—Mansfield (c. 1840).

Range, verb (The Leys).—To play football in the small walled playground.

Rattle, subs. (Stonyhurst).—The hour of rising: e.g. “I got up at the RATTLE.” [From the instrument by which the boys are called.]

Rawcliffe’s, subs. (Stonyhurst).—An old tuck-shop: recently obsolete.

Rawk. See Rorke.

Reader, subs. (Winchester).—See quot.

c. 1840. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester (1886), 228. Reader—An office in the gift of every Præfect in Senior Fardel (q.v.), which excused the recipient from watching out at Cricket. His business was to read out aloud the translation of any book his Master was cramming for Election examination.

Reading-shelf, subs. (Winchester).—A shelf with a drawer fixed inside the head of a boy’s bed, on which to place a candle for nocturnal studies.—Mansfield (c. 1840).