The Quadrangle from St. Salvator's Tower.

Quad is known best for two items ... the posting of exam results in the cloisters along the chapel wall and Raisin Monday celebrations.

In days gone by, senior students would take incoming students under their wing and help them adjust to university life. After several weeks the new students were expected to show their gratitude to the senior student with the gift of a nutritious bag (at least a pound in weight) of raisins. Allegedly some students neglected to say thank you in this way and so a system of "raisin receipts" was established, whereby the senior student would acknowledge in writing and in Latin, receipt of the raisins. A student failing to produce such a receipt could be asked to sing the university song (Gaudeamus Igitur) or face being deposited in the Market Street fountain.

Students outside Quad transporting their "Raisin Receipts" which in this case are written on an old car and baby clothing.

Well as time has gone on the pound of raisins has been replaced by a bottle of wine, and the receipt tends to be written (still in Latin) on anything ... and I do mean anything. The more outrageous the receipt the better.

On Raisin Monday students gather in the quadrangle area to show off the receipt they have been given. It is a time of revelry and high spirits which has all too often degraded into a virtual mob scene, and prompted the university authorities to restrict access to Quad on occassions.

The quadrangle is bounded by St. Salvator's chapel and tower to the north, Lower College Hall ...