THE IMPROVEMENT IN RAGGING.
OXFORD' and Cambridge; and probably other Univer-, sities as- well, have lately been more prolific in rags; hoaxes, practical jokes—whatever one chooses to call- them—than ever before-. These, things may be a reaction. from the sternness and discipline-of war. Disenchantment' with the new' order of life-, which haenot come up to the promises' freely made. immediately after the war, is one kind of reaction ; another kind is an ebullition of high spirits which had been for- some time held in. check by preoccupation, or unhappiness'. A closer view of the' Universitiee, however,- would prove, we think, that organ- ized rags were becoming more frequent, more studiously contrived and more imaginative before the War. If the War has had any effect upon the latest developments it has been only to supply a special impetus:, At Cambridge during the past year rags have come so thick and fast that we may expect either the ceseatiorethat results from surfeit or the wholesome application- of a public criticism that will require a very high standard,for jekes that are' to be regarded as tolerable: We are -not quite sure, by, the way, whether we are coned in using the' word "rag" of practical' jokes or hoaxes that are- intellectual in quality. The Oxford Dictionary has not got further than to describe a " rag " as moaning "in University slang "a noise or disorderly disturbance directed against • discipline. Probebly,' however,- the - word has expanded rapidly and it- is- apparently used now to embrace every. kind of practical joke. Anyhow, let 'us use the word in its- widest possibleSenseand use it; if ;unfairly, to describe incidents-which seem to-us to show a considerable-improve- =tent upon what our fathers' or- grandfathers/ called a practical joke. The best kind of modern rag has some educational value ; it is-a parody- of a movement, a satire on a mistaken exercise of authority, or a reduction to the ridiculous of- some fashionable mood: There was a famous rag at Cambridge before the War when the Mayor received a. telegram- from the Foreign Office asking him to prepare at short' notice a- reception for the Sultan of Zanzibar. The undergradates who played- the part of the Sultan and his -suite carried the joke. through with tremendous aplomb and success. " Borunga, borungw! " was, the common, exclamation of the-- distinguished- East-- African; visitors. The- word " borungsz" was surely' chosen- and sounds -at least to us. who de not know' Zanzibari- very Zanribarish; It is true-there was a critical -moment-when the, Sultan tripped over hie flowing' robes- and barked his, shin' against the step of the AVIiiyor'ie --carriage: Unfortimatelye in: the agony of the moment he-said " damn-! " but the- undergraduate who' played. the, part of interpreter Irene the Foreign Offibeewith magnificent- presence of mince expressed the hope that- his--Worship -had not been-offended by the-word, and went en-to. explain' that though His- Highness -of Zanzi- bar had been-in the-country-only a fee/days; that common expletive was one of. the- very few 'English ,words' he had acquired.. That rag was-probably directed. against nothing in particular,- unless-it' was against-the Foreige Office or against municipal self-importance. It was, just' a rag, though a goode one: There 'mese, however,- a satirical comment in" the- rag organized' by' some, of, the- same Cambridge -undergraduates. They appeared: as'-'labourers, with' pickaxes- and shovels, in re crowded London street,' not forgetting to? bring -with them' the. -familiar brazier with burning coke. They, -set -up' a 'barrier;--past which-the-police' carefully diverted- the traffic; andthen left their tools 'and, brazier -in position until many. hours. after- wards (or was-it a day' or two ?), inquiries were made' and the obstruction- was removed.
The present Pavement Chib at Cambridge, whose prin- cipataction; if may beso called-, is -to sit still in hundreds in the street- is-perhaps entitled to the, creditof employing irony, for the protest is supposed to be aimed against a too strenuous life. The recent performance in the streets at Cambridge of a tremendously heroic fibn story was- quite a critical commentary upon the cinema.
All' this kind of thing, as we have suggested, is better than it used to be. It is a striving onwards or even up- wards That very able man, Theodore Hook, was an inveterate practical joker, but it is a. satisfaction to be able to think that .the present. generation. would regard many of his jokes as dull and others as inhuman. The practical jokes of Toole, though he was- a great comedian and. genuinely a- humorist, would seem nowadays- to be a little heavy in touch. He was subtle enough; how- ever,, on occasion. The, present writer remembers being told by the late Mr. H. ,E Irving that Vole once stepped out of a train which had stopped. at- a wayside station and approaching itire porter said to him, "'Could you take a message for me.up to the house.? "Tools waved his hand towards an impressive mansion which was built on the hillside.. The porter said that he could: Thole' slipped half-a-crown into his-hand and went on, " TeltMe. — Mr. — Mr. —," " Everard," suggested the porter. "Of course, of course," said Toole—" Tell Mr:. EVerard, with Sir George's compliments, that. the birds will arrive in the morning." The train then proceeded on. its way. That was all It-was suffibient. for Toole-that he could-meditate during the rest of a tiresome journey upon what Mr. Everard would -make of that inscrutable message. The old-fashioned practical jeke, however,.which is now merci- fully extinct, was generally distressing alike in its over- elaboration and in its- personal applications. Let us quote an example which was recorded by Sir William Russell, the famous correspondent of the Tintes J'. M. Langford, commonly known as Joe, was, among other things, the theatrical critic of the Obaerver—a, kinOly,
dullish man, full of affections and aspirations; which- he
somewise-faltilled ; certainly happy in -the attachment of his own set. He was.sonactimes 'haughty.' To him in the Garrick comes Albert _Smith one afternoon. Hallo, Joe, who has cut your hair ? ' Joe was in a dignified mood ; there was an Honourable anti-Reverend-Fitzroy Stanhope -reading -the paper
near at hand ; rd Terrterden was airing his handkerchief
at the window. gford -replied, 'I really don't see. how it can interest you who cut my hair.' Albert went downstairs and stood in'the hall. The next member who came up to the morning-room sauntered up- to Langford with : How do you do ? Lase -you've been having your.hair. cut! Who did .it ? ' Joe -very sternly replied, 'I really can't imagine why you ask me.' Then he ordered a glass of -sherry and bitters. The waiter brought it and gave a little start of surprise as he pre- sented it with a 'Beg pardon, sir 1 'which provoked Joe to ask, 'What do you mean ? " It's :along of your 'air, sir. It looks unusual.' Joe went to the glass and could see nothing remarkable, but as he was considering his face Charles Taylor burst upon him with `Where on earth did you get your hair cut, my dear Langford ? ' Joe could stand it no longer. He wont off to his chambers in Raymond Buildings, Gray's Inn. Next morning he saw an advertisement in the Times : 'J. M. L. Say-who cut it. Was it your own hand or the deed of another'? Confess ere it be too late.' It was only the first of a series of similar announcements, and the ingenuity of his tormentors :devised continual -surprises for him. On the -day he went down to Chertsey Races he saw the walls placarded with 'enormous posters, yellow and black : J. M. L. Once more, who cut it ? You must speak 1 ' A band of Ethiopian minstrels-was furnished with a melody to sing outside Raymond Buildings. to -the air, of What are the wild- waves saying ? ' then very ,popular. And the refrain was :- 'What are, de wild waives saying-as day lap de Waterloo stair ? What are dens. wild waves saying ?----Dey say who .cut Joe's hair?'
He was persecuted with diabolical persistence, and as the time of his annual .Continental tour came near he sullenly retired from the club -and- was seen no -more.
Just before -he left a' friend, of whose name I am not sure, called on him-and asked him to take charge of a small parcel for Jean Tairraz, the guide at Chamounix, where he had an- nounced .his intention of going. Joe .agreed willingly, and on arriving at the Hotel de Londres sent for Tairraz and gave him the parcel. Next day be set out on one: of the usual excursions and toiled up to the Cascade des Pelerins. As he reached the little plateau he &INV an enormous yellow poster with black letters plastered on the rock in front of him. J. M. L. Con- fess 1 Reveal 1 Or be for ever lost 1 VVho cut it I' ' He was furious. But wherever he turned day after day the legend was before-him. The parcel-he had taken consisted of posters, with a note from Albert Smith to Tairraz requesting him to have them -put at every Schauplatz around Chamounix. Joe's spirit was broken. He sat down and wrote a humble letter to Albert Smith. .` I yield. Spare me. My hair -was cut in St. Martin's Court, at the barber's on the left-hand tside. His charge was 3d. I am quite beaten.'" The same joke is described a little differently in Sir J. Crowe's reminiscences. It was evidently famous at the time. -If that kind of joke was the pure metal of fun we are much -better off -with our debased coins.
The highest. marks for a University rag must be .given to 'the' bogus lecture -which was 'recently delivered at Oxford by amythical Profossorof psycho-analysis, Professor Emil Busch. Pdssibly the joke-was suggested by an earlier one at Cambridge. At Cambridge some months ago posters announced -that a lecture on Spiritualism would be delivered by- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Ainong the subjects with which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was to deal was, so ler as we remember, the promising one of "-Sex Equality in the -Next World." 'Having attracted a -pretty large Audience the Cambridge jokers allowed them to- sit in expectation for about twenty minutes and then pulled down a semen in front of the platform on which was written, "Sir A. Conan 'Doyle has failed to materialize." The raggers then ran for safety. The Oxford rag was much more ingenious and much bolder. The lecture to be delivered by Professor Emil Busch was composed by a committee of undergraduates in Balliol. Our .facts are derived from the Oxford paper called The Cherwell. -Balliol, it .will be seen, is quite capable of administering the antidote to what some of its critics in former days might have calledits bane of intellectual solemnity. Over a hundred persons, 'including some distinguished Dons, assembled to hear 'Dr. Busch,. of the University of Frankfort —a University -which does not exist. It was announced that the lecture was given under the auspices of "The Home Counties Psychological Association." The ,chair was taken by "Dr. Heythrop," who was made up with greyish hair to resemble what a chairman of a 'Home Counties Psychological Association ought to be. Dr. Busch looked slightly older and had a typical German .xaonstache. such AS is vouched for hy any ,English .comic papers. The Chairman gave a few details of Dr. Busch's career, expLaining--quite rightly—that _his works had not been -translated into English. Dr. Busch had, of course, studied at Vienna and practised at Cologne. What German psychologist has not ? Unfortunately the Chairman, in talking about Dr. Busch's experiences in the Russo- Japanese War, mentioned that his services had been given to the Russians, whereas the Balliol Committee had decided that they had been given to the -Japanese. This unfor- tunate slip compelled the 4 fairer to omit an attractive passage about "the impassive Oriental." Dr. Busch (to quote only two or three gems from the lecture) remarked that the earlier psychologists had regarded the mind " as of one dimension, hut Freud had shown that it had two dimensions—depth and surface." "After all," he said of- the mind, "it is merely a chunk of -space-time happenings." These happenings, the audience were told, "alone form the basic fundament= of everything." The highest peak of the exposition was reached when Dr. Busch said that "every effect must be followed by its cause." Herr Einstein's theory of relativity is evidently responsible for much. An Oxford audience that had not recently digested that theory might have objected to the new sequence of cause and effect. But not a soul stirred. DT. Busch writes in The Cherwell :—" It was a perfectly appalling ordeal, especially as my moustache was nearly always dropping off. Fortunately it never did. quite. . . . My examples were chosen to see exactly how much people would swallow. . . . The rag went without a hitch. One man only, the correspondent of -an undergraduate literary paper, saw through it, shadowed us home and. discovered the truth." It had been agreed that iL the lecturer noticed from the conduct of the audience that the plot was dis- covered he was to mention "Dr. Ludwig .lionigsberger." That name was to be the. ' al for -turning-tout the lights and for a rush to safety. ut Dr. Kinigsberger's name never fell -upon the ears of the'unsuspecting audience. Never were moral -satire and lesson better conveyed -by pupil to teacher,
Previous page
