Qnd §, No 24, June 14. °56.] 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
475 
84., edit. Bonn.). The attempt of the Gauls to 
enter the Capitol by mines is likewise mentioned 
by Cicero and Servius. 
(To be concluded in our nest.) 
“TRIAL OF A STUDENT.” 
(277 §. i. 392.) 
From a complete copy in my possession, I can 
supply J. D. with the title of this curious produc- 
tion, viz. : 
“ The Trial of a Student at the College of Clutha, in 
the Kingdom of Oceana. —‘A quoi bon tant d’Ecoles et 
dUniversités pour ne leur apprendre rien de ce qui leur 
importe a Savoir. Quel est donc l’Objet de vos Colleges? 
Professeurs de Mensonge, c’est pour abuser que vous 
feignez de l’instruire, et comme ces brigands qui mettent 
des Fanaux sur des ecueils, vous l’eclairez pour le perdre.’ 
—RousseAvu. ‘Histories make men wise.’ — Bacon. 
Glasgow: printed by James Duncan, and sold at his 
Shop, opposite the Main Guard, Irongate, 1768.” 
Followed by an editorial note on p. 2. 
I am unable (in the meantime) to say who the 
student was, but the College of Clutha refers to 
that of Glasgow. In the course of the Trial will 
be found a number of names given only in initials ; 
among whom are, Principal Leechman, Mr. An- 
derson, Dr. Williamson, Dr. Reid, Professor 
Traill, Dr. Wilson, Professor Clow, Dr. Steven- 
son, Dr. Thomas Hamilton, Professor Moor. 
These all held offices in the College at that date, 
some of them very distinguished men. 
The author of this satirical piece was the Rey. 
William Thom, M.A., minister of Govan (near 
Glasgow). Other effusions of a similar quality 
are from his pen, such as — 
“ The Happiness of Dead Clergymen, provided they die 
in the Lord; a Funeral Sermon, preached in the Laigh 
Kirk of Glasgow on the Death of the Committee which 
sat there, by the Reverend Doctor Tail (Traill the Col- 
lege Divinity Professor), Glasgow. (Text) Rev. chap. xiv. 
aa: Typis Academicis (the Press of R. & A. Foulis), 
769. 
Concluding with a humorous poem. Also the 
same subject continued in a very ludicrous 
“ Vindication of Dr. Tail from the charge of Heresy, 
by the Reverend Dr, Tail, 1770,” &c. (pp. 108.) 
The Rey. Mr. Thom was an ardent reformer in 
endeavouring to purge the Church and schools of 
learning from many abuses which had apparently 
crept into them. Though usually spoken of as an 
“original character,” he was without doubt a 
man of good taste and superior qualifications ; 
and handled his quill with a dashing unsparing 
severity which must have been anything but 
pleasant to his clerical brethren. His wit, jokes, 
and repartée, were always at hand; and in face- 
tious companies of the present day, there continue 
to be related the clever sayings of “Tam 0’ 
Givan.” G. N. 
In answer to J. D., “ the College of Clutha, in 
the kingdom of Oceana,” is of course Glasgow 
College. One of the “nations” at Glasgow is 
called ‘“ Oceana,” I think, but I am not sure 
about this. The piece, a college squib, is by the 
late Rey. William Thom, minister of Govan, near 
Glasgow. It is published along with Sermons, 
Tracts, &e., in his Works, “‘ Glasgow, James Dy- 
mock, 1799” (which I have now open before me), 
at pp. 874428. The “student,” I have heard 
say, was himself; but your Glasgow correspondent 
G. N. will know more about it than I can tell 
you. The date of the piece before the “trial,” in 
the Works, is “ Glasgow, March 1763” (at p. 371.); 
so that if the pieces are in the Works in the order 
in which they were written, the “trial” neces- 
sarily dates after March 1763. Thom was a very 
talented man; his wit and humour, most of it 
sarcastic, is yet a proverb in and about Glasgow 
and here: his jokes are still in the mouths of our 
old raconteurs; some of them, even though age 
has dulled their point, are unrivalled in the Scot- 
tish Clerical Joe Miller, whose yet uncollected 
and unrecorded treasures pass freely from mouth 
to mouth in jovial after-dinner circles. He was a 
fierce radical or reformer, and admirer of America, 
among fierce old tories, and at a very dangerous 
time. His works contain many more slaps at St. 
Mungo’s University—some very bitter. 
C. D. Lamont. 
Greenock, 
PLOUGH MONDAY CUSTOM, 
(2™ S. i. 386.) 
1° §. vi. 339. a Query occurs also as to the 
origin of Plough Monday. 
In a curious tract printed by Pynson, 1493, 
with the title of A Compendiouse Treetise Dya- 
logue of Dives and Pauper, among the supersti- 
tions censured at the beginning of the year, is 
that of “ledyng the ploughe aboute the fire, as 
for gode begynnyng of the yere that they sholde 
fare the better alle the yere follewyng.” 
Tt seems also once, to have been customary to 
perfume the ploughs with incense, or to bless 
them, for Bale in his Yet a Course at the Romyshe 
Foze, printed at Zurich, 1542, amongst the “aun- 
cyent rytes and laudable ceremonyes of Holy 
Churche” says, “‘ Then ought my lorde (Bonner) 
to suffre the same selfe ponnyshment for not sens- 
ing the plowhess upon Plowgh Mondaye.” 
Dr. Pegge, speaking of the Derbyshire custom, 
says: 
“ Plough Monday, the Monday after Twelfth Day, is 
when the labours of the Plough and other rustic tools 
