In Pictures: St Andrews students let loose on Raisin Day

Hundreds of first-year students at the University of St Andrews took part in a messy annual tradition known as Raisin Monday.

Students took to St Salvator’s Quad to take part in the messy ceremony, where they threw shaving foam at each other.

Raisin Monday is a tradition where older students adopt first-year students as “children” and help guide them through mentoring.

The mentoring originally started in Raisin Weekend, when “children” are entertained by their “parents” and are encouraged to play pranks and silly games.

On Raisin Monday, the “children” usually dress in embarrassing costumes and were traditionally given “raisin receipts” by their “parents”, usually consisting of strange objects with a traditional Latin inscription.

However, over time this tradition has evolved and students are now encouraged to donate items for the local food bank instead, before being let loose on Lower College lawn for an enormous shaving foam fight.

The unusual tradition is believed to date back to the university’s founding in 1413.

On Monday, third-year students lined the foaming arena to cheer on their “children”, often dressed up the same to signify their “family” ties.

Third-year student Eliza attended the foaming event for the first time dressed as a bumblebee.

She said: “You can expect a lot of foam everywhere, fighting, chaos, screaming, costumes falling apart.”

Students donned costumes from gnomes, to bumblebees and sheep, and were kept stocked up on shaving foam by the “parents” who would throw full cans onto the pitch when their “children’s” cans ran out.

First-year student Amy said the foaming bonded her with her peers, adding: “It was really fun, no complaints! Better than I expected. It was a great bonding experience.”