Dead appointee?

[Pottoka]

Thank you, Arthurk, for that very useful link - and the specific pages, without which I don't think I would ever have found the dear chap!

To think that I sweated for four years for a measly B.A. and he got an M.A. in what seems to be twelve months! At least I didn't have to speak Latin.

They were rather partisan in those days, weren't they, and very precise about it. He was English, he was Scoto-Irish; if he was Scottish, nothing was said; I wonder if they let in any Welshmen? Imagine them all turning in their graves at the idea of women in the church, John Knox to the fore with his "The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women" in his hand. I prefer Terry Pratchett's version, not that I've read John Knox's.

The other information in your post was also very helpful.

[arthurk]

To think that I sweated for four years for a measly B.A. and he got an M.A. in what seems to be twelve months! At least I didn't have to speak Latin.

That occurred to me too. Though actually in the four ancient universities of Scotland, of which Glasgow is one, the ordinary first degree in an arts or humanities subject is an M.A., but if it only took a year, either it was a rather intensive course or things were different then.

[Pottoka]

That occurred to me too. Though actually in the four ancient universities of Scotland, of which Glasgow is one, the ordinary first degree in an arts or humanities subject is an M.A., but if it only took a year, either it was a rather intensive course or things were different then.

Those four would be St Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow and ?

My sister did the pre-clinical part of her medical training at St Andrews (then the clinical part in Cardiff!), and, I remember, had a day off half way through the year which was traditionally when the Scottish students would go home and fetch a bag of oats to see them through the next half-year. So, logically, they didn't get holidays.

Intensive seems quite a mild word for us in the pampered 20th century, when I did my degree.

[arthurk]

Those four would be St Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow and ?

Aberdeen. I got most of what I wrote about degrees from Wikipedia:

https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Arts_(Scotland)

Intensive or not, it seems the course must have been shorter than they are now if he was able to graduate after not much more than a year.

[Pottoka]

Humm, I forgot about the Granite City - I had Stirling in my head and couldn't get rid of it. When in doubt, turn to Google! (which is what my children tell me every time I ask them to put something right with my computer)

Wherever you got your information, Arthurk, it was to the point and interesting. Thank you.

[helachau]

The mention of Aberdeen triggered a memory of my next door neighbour, a Leith, Edinburgh man - driving us into a totally deserted car park of a well known local D.I.Y company and exclaiming "Looks just like Aberdeen on a Flag day" and adding "There's a photo to prove it". This was it, I think

https://www.ebay.com/itm/116131377812

Years later this was refuted absolutely when I was treated right royally when popping along to watch Aberdeen at Pittodrie - didn't cost me a penny.

Apologies for straying from the subject!

[Pottoka]

No apologies required, helachu. I'm always up for a laugh or a smile at something amusing, which that was.

After years of living in France and having my blood thinned by the warm (if humid) climate, now unbearable in the summer, it makes me shiver just to think about places like Aberdeen, so far north and cold and snowy! Bbbrrrrr!!

[Pottoka]

My sister did the pre-clinical part of her medical training at St Andrews (then the clinical part in Cardiff!), and, I remember, had a day off half way through the year which was traditionally when the Scottish students would go home and fetch a bag of oats to see them through the next half-year. So, logically, they didn't get holidays.

I asked her about it on the phone yesterday, but she couldn't remember the name - it was a long time ago as she is now retired! She came up with a suitable suggestion and I asked Google; she was nearly right: Meal Monday, making a long weekend so that students could go home to fetch oatmeal to make their porridge.

According to Wikipedia, it once existed in all the ancient Scottish universities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal_Monday

The page mentions students drinking beer which reminds me that undergraduates at St Andrews wore red gowns, rather than the traditional black, which was supposed to be something to do with making them stand out more when they went into taverns, and thus to put a check on such a shameful activity.