Reveille

Miss Reveille

Now, having read the title of this post, you're probably thinking…wake up call.  Pronounced 're-valley' in the UK, 're-vayee' in France where it comes from and 'revel-ee' in the US.  And Reveille (revel-ee) is the name given to the collie dogs who are the mascots of Texas A&M.  Just one dog at a time and the death of a mascot is a serious business.  See the web page for a recent memorial service.  The dog is often respectfully referred to as Miss Reveille, Miss being a curtesy title in Texas and used in conjunction with someone's first name.  So at swimming I am sometimes referred to as 'Miss Ruth' and sometimes as….well, never mind.

Apparently (and I heard this at a dinner party, so…) when the dogs die they are buried within sight and sound of the vast football stadium, Kyle Field,  and with a view of the score board through an archway.   At some point it was decided to move the mascot cemetery for some reason and they (still talking about the doggie remains) no longer had a view of the scoreboard, so during the games someone stood in front of the graves writing the scores on a chalk board and holding it up for the dogs to 'see'.

Kyle Field 

Now an electronic score board has been installed opposite the burial place…

Other traditions are that if the dog barks in class (they go where the handler goes) the class is dismissed and if the dog goes to sleep on the handler's bed, the handler has to sleep on the floor.    This place is full of traditions…you couldn't make them up!