Edinburgh University, Rectorial Battle Day, 1963

Rectorial Battle Day

1963

Thank you to Neil Scott for sending me the photos below that he took at the Rectorial Battle at Edinburgh University in 1963.

Neil wrote the notes below, giving the background to his photos, and added:

"I'm sure there will be many ex-students who will have similar memories."

It will be interesting to see if any of them email their memories to me to add to the EdinPhoto web site.

Neil wrote:

Rectorial Battles at Edinburgh University

The Rector

"Every three years students at Edinburgh University elect a Rector who chairs the University Court, the governing body of the University, and represents the interests of students and staff. In addition the Rector chairs meetings of the General Council in the absence of the Chancellor.

The Rector can exert considerable influence in Court and in the body politic of the University. He/she can be well-informed about student and staff issues and concerns, can champion their causes, and can make sure that these issues are fully aired in Court. Traditionally the rector is a well-known public figure, and although the role is seen as being that of a figurehead, the fact is that legally the Rector has considerable influence. Some have been 'Rectors in absentia' and barely, if ever, attend Court Meetings. Others, however, have played a more active role."

LEFT: James Robertson Justice (Re-elected as Rector, 1963)
RIGHT: Prof Michael Swann.

Both men are at the door of the Men’s Union (as it used to be called)

Election Day Battle

"On election day tradition has it that a battle took place between supporters of the principal candidates in the Old College Quadrangle, fighting for possession of the steps at the end of the quad. (The university authorities took the precaution of boarding up windows!)

The side which did so claimed victory. Fighting was restricted to male students, although women were allowed to assist as camp followers, providing ammunition for the fray.

Traditionally the ammunition was flour and peas, but other, less wholesome materials were regularly used. Students would beg for fish heads and guts from local fishmongers, but, as I remember it, the biggest threat of the day came when the students from the Dick Vet – (aka the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies) arrived, armed with the remains of post mortems from the department. It took days of bathing and washing of clothes to remove the odours! Indeed many students wore their oldest clothes for the fray and burned them at the end!"

Fighting in the Old Quad

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Battle for the Steps

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Duke of Edinburgh

"These pictures were taken at great personal risk to camera and self in 1963 when James Robertson Justice won his second Rectorship. The Rectorial Address was given in the McEwan Hall in the presence of the Duke of Edinburgh who was Chancellor.

Again, tradition demanded that the dignitaries were shown scant, if any, respect, and 'perforated paper' as a BBC commentator delicately put it, was thrown in streams over the head of the processing party. Usually Rectors had little chance of being heard over the clamour of noise from the audience, but Robertson Justice’s opening remarks shut most of them up. Referring to the masses of toilet roll paper, he declared that there must have been 'an outburst of catharsis amongst students!'"

The Duke of Edinburgh applauds someone

The Duke of Edinburgh gets into his car

Neil Scott BSc (1963) PhD (1967) Edin. May 30, 2013

Neil Scott FRPS DPAGB EFIAP is Members' Exhibition Secretary for Edinburgh Photographic Society

Reply

Allan Dodds

Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England

Thank you to Allan Dodds who wrote:

Rectorial Battle Day Photos

"Those pictures by Neill Scott are brilliant, both from their technical and sociological aspects.

I did not attend Edinburgh Uni until 1969, although I should have gone up in 1960 had my obsessional childhood interest in photography not distracted me from the more important matters in life."

1969

"By 1969, the world had changed. Gone were the stuffy suits. In was pot smoking and the expansion of the mind. Drinking companions such as Sandy Moffat and John Bellany were changing the face of stuffy old Edinburgh visually, and the Milne's Bar crowd too were changing it intellectually and poetically.

It was truly a second Scottish Renaissance and I feel privileged to have been part of that. By the time I graduated in 1974, I couldn't get out of the place fast enough because things weren't happening quickly enough for me.

Returning now from my self-imposed exile, I am gratified to see that the dead hand of religion has at last lost its grip over such a creative nation."

Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: May 31, 2013

Reply

Douglas Beath

Tasmania, Australia

Thank you to Douglas Beith who wrote:

Rectorial Battles

"Edinburgh University and Heriot-Watt College students of the 1950s will remember the Chambers Street eccentric mentioned by Alan Grieve in Reply 2 above.

In heavy coat & cap, he would stamp in all directions, muttering oaths while nipping a fag-end between fingertips (never a full cigarette)!

An entertaining event was when (I think) one nomination for Varsity Rector was rejected late, so the students cast about for an instant alternative. They fetched in the eccentric off the street.

A photo in the Evening Dispatch showed him beaming with delight, but that’s as far as it went.

The EdinPhoto 'Recollections - High Street' page describes a character who could be the same person."

Douglas Beath, Tasmania, Australia: June 26, 2013