In the faculty of Grammar--the
Cinderella of the faculties, which apparently did not of necessity
involve any previous academical training--the Master was presented with
a palmer and a rod. In Arts a cap was placed on his head, and in the
higher faculties the Master or Doctor was installed in a chair and
received the hat, together with the book, the ring, and the kiss of
peace--the three last, perhaps, in theology alone.
Inception properly signified the commencement of an active career as a
teacher; and thus the new master would have taken precautions to secure
a school as well as the articles of attire appertaining to his degree,
including "pynsons," a kind of boot or shoe. He was also obliged to
visit all the schools, invite the masters to be present on the day of
inception, and provide them, one and all, with a suit of clothes. This
was such a serious incubus that statutes were passed limiting such
perquisites to kinsmen or members of the same hall; and it probably
explains the custom of incepting for others--the rich acting for the
poor. From every inceptor the bedels were entitled to a gratuity of
twenty shillings and a pair of buckskin gloves, or an equivalent sum of
money; and inceptors whose income amounted to forty pounds a year were
compelled to feast all the Regent Masters or forfeit twenty marks to the
University. The main distinction between Regent and Non-Regent Masters
seems to have been that the former were perforce teachers, in which
condition they were obliged to remain during the remainder of the year
in which they incepted and for a twelvemonth afterwards.
Pages:
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138