Every year undergraduates take part in Raisin Weekend, where student "parents" inflict tasks on the unfortunate first-years they have adopted as "children" as part of a mentoring scheme.
The annual Raisin experience, which took place over the weekend, came to an end on Monday with a foam fight in the normally tranquil setting of St Salvator's Quad.The tradition dates back to the early days of the university when new students would give senior students one pound of raisins in gratitude for their help in adapting to university life, in exchange for a receipt written in Latin.
Failure to produce such a receipt could result in a dousing in the local fountain and today this dousing takes place in the form of a foam fight.
However, the origin of the ritual remains a mystery to this year's intake of students.
Jack, 17, a classics student, said: "This is Raisin Monday, and it's a supposed tradition every year that you get academic parents, and on the Sunday you have a good time with them, get drunk, and then on Monday you have a foam fight.
"It's just an excuse to have fun, really. I don't know much of the history behind it but it's a good day.
"The foam feels pretty weird. Some people are using top-quality stuff like Gillette, which isn't quite as sore on the eyes, but the Sainsburys stuff is a bit sore.
"It's weird, it's fun, everybody is having a good time. It's bizarre but I'm enjoying it.Shona, 19, an English and history student who is studying to be a teacher, said: "On Raisin our academic mum dresses us up and our dad gives us something to carry into town in a procession, and we all have big foam fight.
"It is traditional. I know that they have done it for a long time, but I'm not totally sure where it came from originally."
