R. F. Murray

“ That upon the rocks opposing dashes now the Tuscan sea.
Be thou wise, and strain thy wines, and mindful of life’s brevity
Stint thy hopes. The envious moments, even while we speak, have flown;
Trusting nothing to the future, seize the day that is our own. ”

“ At this point in my reflections, on the left the Links expand,
Many a whin bush full of prickles, many a bunker full of sand.
p. 111And I see distinguished club-men, whom I only know by sight,
Old, obese, and scarlet-coated, playing golf with all their might;
As they were three years ago, when first I travelled by this train,
As they will be three years hence, if I should come this way again.
What to them is train or traveller? what to them the flight of time?
But we draw too near the station to indulge in the sublime. ”

“ Andrews is the abject city’s name.
It is surely quite superfluous to mention,
To a person who has been here half an hour,
That Golf is what engrosses the attention
Of the people, with an all-absorbing power.
Rich and poor alike are smitten with the fever;
Their business and religion is to play;
And a man is scarcely deemed a true believer,
Unless he goes at least a round a day.
p. 16The city boasts an old and learned college,
Where you’d think the leading industry was Greek ”

“ Andrews, it may be well to explain a few terms. A bejant is an undergraduate student of the first year. In his second year he becomes a semi, in his third a tertian, and in his fourth a magistrand. The last would seem to be a gerundive form, implying that a man at the end of his fourth year ought to be made a Master of Arts ”

“ Andrews Bay,
Winter or Spring
Gives not nor takes away
Memories that cling
p. 43All round thy girdling reefs,
That walk thy shore,
Memories of joys and griefs
Ours evermore.
p. 44A COLLEGE CAREER
I
When one is young and eager,
A bejant and a boy,
Though his moustache be meagre,
That cannot mar his joy
When at the Competition
He takes a fair position,
And feels he has a mission,
A talent to employ. ”

“ Moral stands for Moral Philosophy. Prof. is a shortened form of Professor, and certif. of certificate. Plough, pluck, and spin are used indifferently, to signify the action of an examiner in rejecting a candidate for the M.A. or any other degree. It should be mentioned that the degree of B.A. is not now conferred by the Universities of Scotland.
Page 4. Euripides: Hippolytus, 70-87.
Page 22. Odes, i. ii.
Page 52. The Town Water. The state of things described in this ballad, so far as the quality of St. Andrews water is concerned, has long since been remedied. ”

“ The cage is a curious structure of glass, iron, and wood, in which notices and examination lists are posted. The letters S. R. C. denote the Students’ Representative Council. An L.L.A. is a Lady Literate in Arts. Math. (as the discerning reader will not be slow to perceive) is an abbreviation, endearing or otherwise, of the word Mathematics. ”

“ With many a flower and many a golfing swell.
No more the horribly discordant bell
Shall startle slumber; and all men agree
That whatsoever other things may be
A cause of sorrow, this at least is well.
The class-room shall not open wide its doors,
Or if it does, such opening will be vain;
The gown shall hang unused upon a nail;
South Street shall know us not; we’ll wipe the Scores
From our remembrance; as for Mutto’s Lane,
Yea, even the memory of this shall fail.
p. 52A BALLAD OF THE TOWN WATER
It is the Police Commissioners,
All on a winter’s day ”

“ But be extremely good.
When Love and Nobleness shall live
Next door to Truth and Right,
While Reverence shall rent a room,
Upon the second flight.
p. 91And wishes shall be horses then,
And beggars shall be kings;
And all the people shall admire
This pleasant state of things.
But if it seems a mystery,
And you’re inclined to doubt it,
Just ask your local poet. He
Will tell you all about it.
p. 92THE DELIGHTS OF MATHEMATICS
It seems a hundred years or more
Since I, with note-book, ink and pen,
In cap and gown, first trod the floor
Which I have often trod since then ”

“ When I saw my name omitted from the schedule in the cage!
Grief is strong but youth elastic, and I rallied from the blow,
For I felt that there were few things in the world I did not know.
Then my ready-made opinions upon all things under heaven
I declaimed with sound and fury, to an audience of eleven
p. 107Gathered in the Logic class-room, sworn to settle the debate,
Does the Stage upon the whole demoralise or elevate? ”

“ Must undertake the job to-night.
p. 78THIRTY YEARS AFTER
Two old St. Andrews men, after a separation of nearly thirty years, meet by chance at a wayside inn. They interchange experiences; and at length one of them, who is an admirer of Mr. Swinburne’s Poems and Ballads, speaks as follows:
If you were now a bejant,
And I a first year man,
We’d grind and grub together
In every kind of weather,
When Winter’s snows were regent,
Or when the Spring began;
If you were now a bejant,
And I a first year man. ”

“ Join it, thou smooth-cheeked scrub,
Whose years scarce number ten
Join it, divines most grave;
Science, as all men know,
As a friend the Church may save,
But may damage her as a foe.
(And in any case it is well,
If attacking insidious doubt,
Or devoting H--- to H---,
To know what you’re talking about.)
p. 100Hurrah for the lang-nebbit word!
Hurrah for the erudite phrase,
That in Dura Den shall be heard,
That shall echo on Kinkell Braes!
Hurrah for the spoils of the links
(The golf-ball as well as the daisy) !
Hurrah for explosions and stinks
To set half the landladies crazy! ”

“ Andrews, but for its Town Council and its School Board, is a quiet place; and the University, except during the progress of a Rectorial Election, is peaceable and well-conducted. I hope these verses may so far reflect St. Andrews life as to be found pleasant, if not over exciting. ”

“ The St. Andrews Marine Biological Laboratory.
Page 117. This was cast into the Swilcan. The Swilcan Burn is a small stream which flows across the golfing links, and forms one of the hazards of the course. ”

“ Waiting till they take my trunk out, with my hat-box in my hand.
p. 112As the railway train approaches and the train of thought recedes,
I behold Professor --- in a brand new suit of tweeds.
p. 113TO C. C. C.
Oh for the nights when we used to sit
In the firelight’s glow or flicker,
With the gas turned low and our pipes all lit,
And the air fast growing thicker ”