Eton Montem 'Floreat Etona!' he unfurls, and thrice waves the consecrated standard." Eton Montem Eton Montem (or "ad Montem" – literally "to the Mountain") was a custom observed by Eton College from at least 1561 until it was finally suppressed in 1847, at the Montem Mound (or Salt Hill) in Chalvey, Slough, Buckinghamshire (later Berkshire). The mound is situated some 2 miles from the college near the London to Bath coach road, now the A4. Montem is first reported in William Malim's "consuetudinarium" (book of customs) of 1561, when it seems to have been an initiation ceremony for new boys, who were
Eton College took the form of being made to copy, by hand, Latin hexameters. Miscreants were frequently set 100 hexameters by Library members, or, for more serious offences, Georgics (more than 500 hexameters) by their House Masters or the Head Master. The giving of a Georgic is now extremely rare, but still occasionally occurs. Eton used to be renowned for its use of corporal punishment, generally known as "beating". In the 16th century, Friday was set aside as "flogging day". Beating was phased out in the 1980s. The film director Sebastian Doggart claims to have been the last boy caned at Eton,