A Toast

[Kate Kennedy is the Patron Saint of St. Leonard's and St. Salvator. Her history is quite unknown.]

The learned are all 'in a swither,'
(They don't very often agree,)
They know not her 'whence' nor her 'whither,'
The Maiden we drink to together,
The College's Kate Kennedie!
Did she shine in days early or later?
Did she ever achieve a degree?
Was she pretty or plain?  Did she mate, or
Live lonely?  And who was the pater
Of mystical Kate Kennedie?
The learned may scorn her and scout her,
But true to her colours are we,
The learned may mock her and flout her,
But surely we'll rally about her,
In the College that stands by the Sea!
So here's to her memory! here to
The mystical Maiden drink we,
We pledge her, and we'll persevere too,
Though the reason is not very clear to
The critical mind, nor to me.
Here's to Kate! she's our own, and she's dear to
The College that stands by the Sea.*

* One of the college bells Of St. Salvator, mentioned by Ferguson, is called 'Kate Kennedy'; the heroine is unknown, but Bishop Kennedy founded the College. 'Kate Kennedy's Day' was a kind of carnival, probably a survival from that festivity.