They didn't get rid of wearing gowns in the town until the 1960s.
There's the old story (probably apocryphal) of a student sitting the Tripos (exams in Cantabridgean-speak), demanding a flagon of ale and bread, which as a gentleman he was entitled under the Statutes of the University, and then three weeks later getting fined for not wearing a sword.
Could just be an urban legend (like the story of a cox being impaled by the point of a racing eight). But, if you've ever seen their graduation ceremony, no bizaare medievalism is too far-fetched.
Tom
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