[Prob. an alteration of vulgars: see VULGAR sb. 4.] In some public schools, a short set of Latin verses on a given subject.
1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, II. iii. The three fell to work with Gradus and Dictionary upon the morning’s vulgus.
1870. Mansfield, School Life Winchester, 107. We were always excused … Vulgus when the next day was a Saint’s-day.
1887. T. A. Trollope, What I remember, I. v. 118. This was independent of a weekly ‘verse task’ of greater length, and was called a ‘vulgus.’
attrib. 1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, II. ii. Tom was the upholder of the traditionary method of vulgus doing. He carefully produced two large vulgus-books, and began diving into them.
