The Oxbridge Pursuivant: July 2020

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

OXFORD | In the History of the United States

1767. Two Oxonians created the Mason-Dixon Line. Mason and Dixon were surveyors (like George Washington himself). They were hired by Cecil Calvert (a Trinity man) in Maryland and William Penn (Christ Church) in Pennsylvania to define the border between the two states. This line would become the border between the Confederate States and the Union during the Civil War. (Maryland, like Virginia, was part of the Confederacy.) https://theoxbridgepursuivant.blogspot.com/2015/10/october-18-two-oxford-alumni-create.html

1776. Why the Southern Colonies rebelled. The southern colonies were settled by many Oxonians including George Washington's great-grandfather, whose father Lawrence Washington was a don at Brasenose College, Oxford. They were largely orthodox Church of England members (Oxford was a path to the ministry), who were given grants of land from the Crown, whereas the Cambridge dissenters settled New England. https://theoxbridgepursuivant.blogspot.com/2015/07/july-4-oxford-cambridge-ties-to.html.

1814. Treaty of Ghent. Oxford and Cambridge alumni were on both sides of the negotiations over a peace treaty between the United States and Britain, after the War of 1812. A major issue was how to draw the border with Canada after Britain's conquests of some U.S. lands. The U.S. negotiators seem to have gotten the best of the negotiations since Britain agreed to go back to the lines prior to the war. The weakness of the British negotiators was that they had to get approval for anything from London, whereas the U.S. team, given the long time it took for ocean travel, was given authority to make decisions for their country. https://theoxbridgepursuivant.blogspot.com/2019/12/treaty-of-ghent-205th-anniversary-and.html.

Monday, July 27, 2020

OXFORD COLLEGE ARMS | Zoom Talk, August 20

In 2019, the Oxford University Society of Washington, DC sponsored a talk on Oxford College Arms by the Oxbridge Pursuivant.

This will be repeated via Zoom on August 20, 2020. The event is sponsored by a joint North American team of the three capital-city branches of the Oxford University Society—Washington, D.C.; Ottawa, Canada; and Mexico City.

To get a copy, ahead of the talk, of the 4th Edition of the 112-page full-color printed book, go to Amazon or your favorite bookstore.

Amazon offers the book for $20, with free delivery. It also offers the Kindle version for $5.99. There is even a used-book market. Type "Oxford College Arms" in Google and you should get transported to the Amazon page for the book.

Or use this link to get to the same place: https://www.amazon.com/Oxford-College-Arms-Intriguing-Stories/dp/0984523235.

Meanwhile, here is a review of the book, by Kirkus Reviews: https://theoxbridgepursuivant.blogspot.com/2020/05/oxford-college-arms-kirkus-reviews.html.

You can get a flavor of the book by checking out the free pages posted on the Amazon site, or the Index to the 4th Edition here: https://theoxbridgepursuivant.blogspot.com/2020/05/oxford-college-arms-index-to-4th-ed.html.

Another way to fill your day as you hunker down to elude the Covid-19 disease is to look at the Oxonian Birthday List posted by the Oxford Pursuivant here: https://theoxbridgepursuivant.blogspot.com/2020/07/birthdays-oxonians-july-2020.html.

BIRTHDAYS | Oxonians, July 2020

Oxford College Arms—Zoom Lecture Scheduled August 20 (2020)
Oxford Alumni Weekend (2018)
Oxford Black Alumni (2017)
Famed Oxford Alumni by College (2015)

September
07 | Peter Darrow (Trinity) 1950
14 | Oxford Open Day, for potential applicants to Oxford
15-16 | Oxford Alumni Weekend
October
02 | Graham Greene, 1904
23 | Denis Woodfield (Lincoln) 1933
November
09 | Noel Godfrey Chavasse (Trinity) 1884
09 | Francis Chavasse (Trinity and St. Peter's) 1884
15 | William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham* (Trinity) 1708
21 | Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, "Q" (Trinity) 1863
29 | C. S. Lewis* (Univ.) 1898
December
18 | Charles Wesley (Ch.Ch.) 1707
22 | James Oglethorpe* (Corpus), 1st Gov. of Georgia 1696
January
03 | J.R.R. Tolkien, CBE (Exeter) 1892
27 | Charles Dodgson, "Lewis Carroll" (Ch.Ch.) 1832
February
13 | Anna Watkins (rower for Cambridge against Oxford), 1983
21 | John Henry Cardinal Newman (Trinity) 1801
21 | W. H. Auden
March
01 The Oxbridge Pursuivant (Trinity) 1942 😏

02 Dr Seuss (Lincoln), 1904

11 Rupert Murdoch, 1931
14 Stephen Hawking (Univ), death, 2018 (born in April)
24 William Morris (Exeter), 1834

26 Robert Frost, 1926
26 A. E. Housman, 1859

April
01 Rachel Maddow (Lincoln), 1973
03 Jane Goodall, 1934
05 NYC Boat Race Dinner, University Club
13 Frederick Lord North (Trinity), 1732
13 Christopher Hitchens, 1949
14 Michael Maclagan (Ch.Ch. and Trinity), 1914
15 Emma Watson, 1990
15 Joseph Lister, 1827
19 Dudley Moore, 1935
23 St George's Day
28 Harper Lee, 1926
28 Elena Kagan, 1960
May
10 | James Viscount Bryce (Trinity) 1838
20 | Melvin "Dinghy" Young (Trinity), DFC & Bar 1915
29 | Sir Basil "Gaffer" Blackwell (Merton) 1889
June
04 | Dan Topolski (New) 1945
05 | James Smithson (Pembroke) 1765
16 | Adam Smith (Balliol) 1723
17 | John Wesley (Ch.Ch.) 1703
*Clerihews for Oxonians

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

BIRTH | William A. Spooner, July 22

Rev. William A. Spooner

July 22, 2020—On this day in 1844, Rev. William Archibald Spooner was born, in Grosvenor Place, London.

He was the first non-Wykehamist to attend New College, Oxford since it was founded in 1379.

Spooner found a good home. He remained at New College for 60 years, lecturing on ancient history, philosophy (especially Aristotle’s Ethics) and divinity. He served as Warden from 1903 to 1924.

Today, he is mostly remembered because of his unwanted fame as someone who frequently got his words mixed up.

The official Brief History of New College considers Spooner’s reputation to be unfair but not baseless.

Evidence is sparse that Spooner ever said the many Spoonerisms attributed to him. Roy Harrod said that Spooner exceeded all the heads of Oxford and Cambridge he had known "having regard to his scholarship, devotion to duty, and wisdom." However, Warden Spooner was indeed sometimes absent-minded.

Among famous “Spoonerisms”:

He is said to have toasted “our queer dean” instead of “our dear Queen.”
At the pulpit, he was said to have called upon Jesus as a “shoving leopard” instead of a “loving shepherd.”

Spooner, while not taking kindly to his reputation, did admit to one Spoonerism. He was referring to the hymn “Conquering Kings Their Titles Take,” but said: “The Kinkering Congs Their Titles Take.”

Another Spoonerism is authenticated. Discussing the impact of “the rate of wages,” Spooner is quoted as saying: “The weight of rages will press hard upon the employer.”

Other quotations have been attributed to Spooner in his obituaries and in collections of his sayings:

“It’s roaring with pain” for “it’s pouring with rain.”
“That’s just a lack of pies” for “pack of lies.”
They have a “plaster man” to overcome the problem, for “master plan.”
"It is kisstomary to cuss the bride" (...customary to kiss the bride)^.
”I am tired of addressing beery wenches" (weary benches)
"Mardon me padam, this pie is occupewed. Can I sew you to another sheet?" (Pardon me, madam, this pew is occupied. Can I show you to another seat?)
"You have hissed all my mystery lectures, and were caught fighting a liar in the quad. Having tasted two worms, you will leave by the next town drain" (You have missed all my history lectures, and were caught lighting a fire in the quad. Having wasted two terms, you will leave by the next down train).

Other absent-minded behavior has been authenticated. He was said to have invited a don to tea, "to welcome Stanley Casson, our new archaeology Fellow". "But, sir," the man replied, "I am Stanley Casson". "Never mind," Spooner said, "Come all the same.”

He also said:

"Was it you or your brother who was killed in the Great War?"
"He came to a sad end—eaten by missionaries!"

Democrat presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson used a Spoonerism in 1952. Rev. Norman Vincent Peale objected to Stevenson’s having divorced his wife several years earlier. Stevenson responded: “I find the Apostle Paul appealing and the Apostle Peale appalling.”

Sources

"From the archive, 1 September 1930: Obituary: Dr WA Spooner". The Guardian. September 1, 1930.

Fun with Words. "Spoonerisms – History of spoonerisms". fun-with-words.com.

Hayter, William. Spooner: A Biography. London: W.H. Allen, 1977.

Marlin, John Tepper. "New College," Oxford College Arms. Boissevain Books, 2020, 4th ed., p. 58.

New College, Oxford. The 'Brief History of The College. Says Dr. Spooner "almost certainly never uttered a 'Spoonerism,' but equally certainly had a number of curious verbal traits."

Setterfield, Ray. “Spoonerism? Or just a lack of pies?” On This Day, July 1, 2016. https://www.onthisday.com/articles/spoonerism-or-just-a-lack-of-pies.

"Spooner, William Archibald (1844–1930), college head | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". www.oxforddnb.com. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36219.

"The Best Spoonerisms," The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/spoonerisms-best-spooner-lines/.

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (3rd edition, 1979).

Who was Dr. Spooner of "spoonerism" fame? From The Straight Dope website.

The Oxbridge Pursuivant