A Collection of College Words and Customs, page 159 by Benjamin Homer Hall
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he Sophs, at kicking football and shins.--A Tour through College, 1823-1827, p. 13.
Where are the royal cricket-matches of old, the great games of football, when the obtaining of victory was a point of honor, and crowds assembled on the Delta to witness the all-absorbing contest?--Harvardiana, Vol. I. p. 107.
I must have another pair of pantaloons soon, for I have burst the knees of two, in kicking football on the Delta.--Ibid., Vol. III. p. 77.
The Delta can tell of the deeds we've done, The fierce-fought fields we've lost and won, The shins we've cracked, And noses we've whacked, The eyes we've blacked, and all in fun. Class Poem, 1849, Harv. Coll.
A plat at Bowdoin College, of this shape, and used for similar purposes, is known by the same name.
DEMI, DEMY. The name of a scholar at Magdalene College, Oxford, where there are thirty demies or half-fellows, as it were, who, like scholars in other colleges, succeed to fellowships.--Johnson.
DEN. One of the buildings formerly attached to Harvard College, which was taken down in the year 1846, was for more than a half-century known by the name of the Den. It was occupied by students during the greater part of that period, although it was originally built for private use. In later years, from its appearance, both externally and internally, it fully merited its cognomen; but this is supposed to have originated from the following incident, which occurred within its walls about the year 1770, the time when it was built. The north portion of the house was occupied by Mr. Wiswal (to whom it belonged) and his family. His wife, who was then ill, and, as it afterwards proved, fatally, was attended by a woman who did not bear a very good character, to whom Mr. Wiswal seemed to be more attentive than was consistent with the character of a true and loving husband. About six weeks after Mrs. Wiswal's death, Mr. Wiswal espoused the nurse, which, circ