atic character of the University; it implies that
every qualified M.A. has a right to be consulted as to the admission of
others to the position which he himself has attained.

But popular imagination has invented a meaning for it, which certainly
was not contemplated in its institution; it is currently believed that
the Proctors walk in order to give any Oxford tradesman the opportunity
of 'plucking' their gown and protesting against the degree of a
defaulting candidate. 'Verdant Green'[4] was told that this was the
origin of the ominous 'pluck', which for centuries was a word of terror
in Oxford; in the last half-century, it has been superseded by the more
familiar 'plough'. There is a tradition that such a protest has actually
been made within living memory and certainly it was threatened quite
recently; a well-known Oxford coach (now dead) informed the Proctors
that he intended in this way to prevent the degree of a pupil who had
passed his examinations, but had not paid his coach's fee. The
defaulter, in this case, failed to present himself for the degree, and
so the 'plucking' did not take place.

[Sidenote: (2) The Presentation.]

The second part of the ceremony is the presentation of the candidates to
the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors; this is done in the case of the higher
degrees, Divinity, Medicine, &c., by the Professor at the head of the
faculty[5], in the case of the M.A.s and B.A.s by the representative of
the college.

The candidates are placed on the right hand of the presenter, who with
'a proper bow' ('debita reverentia') to the Vice-Chancellor and the
Proctors, presents them with the form appropriate to the degree they are
seeking; that for the M.A. is as follows:--

'Insignissime Vice-Cancellarie, vosque egregii Procuratores,
praesento vobis hunc Baccalaureum in facultate Artium, ut admittatur
ad incipiendum in eadem facultate.'

('Most eminent Vice-Chancellor, and excellent Proctors, I present
this B.A. to you for admission to incept in the faculty of Arts.')

The old custom was that the presenter should grasp the hand of each
candidate and present him separately; some senior members of the
University still hold the hand of one of their candidates, though the
custom of separate presentation has been abolished; there was an
intermediate stage fifty years ago, when the number of those who could
be presented at once was limited to five; each of them held a finger or
a thumb of th