St Andrews University students celebrate 'Raisin Monday'

The “raisin weekend” stems from a gift — originally it was raisins, now it’s flour and shaving foam — traditionally given by first year students to their academic “parents” in gratitude for their guidance. Hundreds of students gathered to throw clumps of foam at each other, and it was all in the name of university tradition.

The practice dates back around 600 years, and the name derives from when new students would offer a handful of raisins to older students in exchange for showing them around the university. A more typical present these days might be a bottle of wine.

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