The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-05-24
AN ANCIENT TAG DAY"
Prototype of Time-honored Custom at
 Eton School.

From the Youths Companion
 Nothing is new. Even the "tag day" which has swept through the land gath
 ering in it's hosts of contributions, bears
 many of the marks of the old "montem"
 of Eton fame This time -honored custom
 of the great English public school died
 out or was suppressed some 60 ouu years
 ago, yet the modern "hold-up' has it's
 prototype in the method of getting money
 practiced by the "eollegers' and "oppi-
 dians" of Eton. Arthur Duke Coleridge
 gives an account of montem in his "Eton
 in the Forties"
 The origin of montem is buried in ob- livion The first accounts of it's practice date back to the time of Henry VIII.
 It's object was to gather contributions to
 aid the lucky "colleger' who led his class and who was called "captain of montem. "
 The "collegers' of Eton are the students preparing for Kings college, on the foun- daton established by the royal endower of the school.
 On Whitsun Tuesday the boys of the school, dressed in picturesque costumes, formed a procession to escort the heroes
 of the day The chief hero was of
 course, the montem captain, whose cleo ton had taken place 12 days before, in the evening of 'Montem Sure Night" To him all the funds collected through
 montem day were given.
 It was in the gathering of these funds that we can see the trace of resemblance to the modern tag day. Certain boys were chosen as collectors; two of these were called salt bearers" and command ed force of 12 boys called 'runners. |" All were dressed in gay, and often beau tiful costumes. Each boy carried a painted staff and a satin money bag,
 and was stationed on some point of the road, with orders to demand of every passerby a toll of money.
 In olden times a pinch of salt was given as a receipt for every tax thus levied; in later years a ticket was given instead, and the money itself was called salt" The cry of the tax gatherers was Salt Saltv
 The two salt bearers had the more dig | nified duty of collecting from the college authorities and guests. Each of the F runners was accompanied to his post by a hired attendant, who was armed Such precaution was necessary. especially for the boys stationed at any distance from the college, for such runner might | be in possession of several hundred | pounds before the day was over An average days collection amounted | to G1000 or-more. This was all turned l over to the captain of montem. Out Of ] this the favored one had to pay for a breakfast for the first 100 boys, and a din ner for the whole school If the captain 1 did not happen to be entirely popular 1 these meals were made as expensive as l possible by the boys, through wilfu
 breakage of dishes and recklessness of i waste. Besides these expenses the cap l tains had to pay the salt bearers and 1 runners and their attendants. Often il
 was anything but large portion of the 1 sum which finally found it's way to the | captains pocket
 l Montem is now forgotten save by tn, l oldest Etonian. The spirit of the ad | vanced age called more and more loudly ! that it involved a great waste of time i and money. One of the strokes whicf I killed the custom was the opening of 2
 railway that brought a promiscuous crowd of speetators-a gathering impos. | sible to control