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Schoolchildren scramble for pennies at Lincoln

Yesterday saw Lincoln College take part in its annual celebration of the Feast of the Ascension. The JCR Committee Executive flung handfuls of pennies down from Lincoln town onto local Oxfordshire schoolchildren in Front Quad, while Brasenose students were treated to free, ivy-flavoured beer.

 

The feast day, which commemorates the Ascension of Christ into heaven, was described by Gregory Platten, the college chaplain, as “one of Lincoln’s most extraordinary days of the year”. 

 

The children were from Combe School, a local primary school connected with the college. Jenni Nice, JCR Vice-President at Lincoln, explained that the committee visited NatWest before the event, and withdrew 3,000 pennies. 

 

She said, “This year conditions were perfect, with low wind and good pennies. I feel the children got more than just monetary value from the experience.”

 

Ascension Day also features a special agreement between Lincoln and its rival college, Brasenose, as compensation for the death of a Brasenose student centuries ago. Some claim that the Brasenose man died at the hands of a local mob after Lincoln’s porters refused to allow him entry; others argue that he was simply defeated in a duel by a Lincoln rival.

 

Brasenose students are permitted to enter Lincoln via a little-used connective passage, and are entitled to a free glass of ale. The beer is tainted with ivy, hand-picked by the Lincoln butler, to prevent over-consumption. 

 

Many students enjoyed the beverage, although Eylon Aslan-Levy, a second-year Brasenose PPEist, described it as “revolting”, and Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamini, a second-year classicist and teetotaller, complained, “This event is disgraceful. Why are there no non-alcoholic drinks?”


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