Page:Samuel F. Batchelder - Bits of Harvard History (1924).pdf/382

 campus) it is peculiar to Harvard. The preservation of such racy old turns of the mother tongue not only adds to the local color, but gives indirect evidence of the antiquity, of the institution.

Moreover, as the College grew and the number of goodies increased, an embellishment of the original term appeared, this time in true schoolmen’s Latin. The leading (scrub) lady of the troupe was dubbed, with equal elegance and gallantry, Regina Bonarum, or Queen of the Goodies. Sophomoric wit delighted to play about this august personage. A halo of mystery enveloped her location and orbit. Like the morning star, she was declared to be visible only in that chill hour when the rising-bell proclaims the truth of the dark saying—many are called, but few get up. As a matter of unromantic fact, she had her official headquarters for many years in the abandoned railway station (on the site of Austin Hall), finally taken over in 1865 for the popular eating club known as “Thayer Commons,” from which developed “Memorial.” Naturally having much experience in domestic management through her regular duties, she was appointed superintendent of the new enterprise, and contributed not a little to its phenomenal success.

In our chronological advance we have now reached a