Corpus Christi College the Pelican Record
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CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE THE PELICAN RECORD Vol. XLV December 2010 i CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE THE PELICAN RECORD Vol. XLV December 2010 i The Pelican Record Bakis Orac[ula] : An Annotated Translation Bakis was a poorly‐attested prophet of the ancient Greek world, to whom many oracles were hopefully ascribed. This poem in Greek elegiacs is cast as a prophecy of the foundation of Corpus and of its rule by a succession of Presidents, in the poetic, punning and obscure manner of the Sibylline Oracles from the Roman imperial period. The poem was originally composed under President Fowler (1881‐1904), and has been supplemented for successive Presidents by various hands. A briefly annotated translation follows: ‘Apollo spoke : a munificent fox (Bishop Fox, the Founder) will found a house, and a bird‐hunting man (i.e. FOWLER, Thomas Fowler, President 1881‐1904) will mightily wield its sceptre; then a formidable bat (Case was a cricket Blue) will renew the house, an all‐ wise historian and a brother (kasis, i.e. CASE, Thomas Case, President 1904‐24) known to all. And then a perch (perce ) will leave a myrtle (murton) and come to another (allen), (i.e. PERCY ALLEN; P.S.Allen, President 1924‐33, who came to Corpus from the librarianship of Merton [murton]), so that the lovely (erasmion) work may be available for all (Allen edited the standard text of the letters of Erasmus). Then a living rock (Sir Richard LIVINGSTONE, President 1933‐50) will return and cross the wave (from the Vice‐Chancellorship of Queen’s, Belfast), after bringing the education of Greece (author of several books on Greek culture) to the Padioi (‘Paddies’, I’m afraid). Then, so that he may water (arde, W.F.R.HARDIE, President 1950‐69) the Platonic garden with droplets (Hardie was a ancient philosopher), a Caledonian polymath will direct the young men. Coming from outside (exothen, from Exeter College), a south‐shielded man will lay down wise laws, a crane from the court having a hall name (crane>derrick: Derek Hall, President 1969‐75, distinguished academic lawyer, born in South Shields). Then another man concerned with Greece might have the house and the task (KEN‐ETH, DO‐FERGA, Sir Kenneth Dover, President 1975‐86) of leader, skilled in the speeches, characters and love of the Athenians (author of books on the orator Lysias, Athenian popular morality, and Greek homosexuality). At some point a remarkable (THOMAStos) man will tell of how nature lay (eKEITH) in all its connections with humans, and of the gods and declining magic (Sir Keith Thomas, President 1986‐2001, author of Man and the Natural World and Religion and the Decline of Magic). A younger man fair things (kaL’ AN KESTER) might ii The Pelican Record then bring, a leader of things African and Oriental, who once was secretary to our politicians with sagacity and in a way that brought him honours (Sir Tim Lankester, President 2001‐2009). Mono‐mouth Celts will nurture an outstanding historian of a President of western peoples, and shall, it seems, send him to high places (KAR W’ ARDEN – Prof Richard Carwardine, President 2010‐). The small owl will inform in its wisdom amid dark night; the pelican will feed with abundance of blood; the bees will swarm over the flowery meadows, producing honey for all mortals.’ (These last lines allude to the College arms and statutes; the owls and pelican appear on the College arms, the bees as models for the work of the College in the statutes). The first and last pair of couplets are by Arthur Sidgwick (Fellow 1882‐1920), the lines on President Allen by J.B.Poynton (Fellow 1924‐ 8), those on Presidents Livingstone and Hardie by F.C.Geary (Fellow 1928‐52), and those on Presidents Hall, Dover, Thomas, Lankester and Carwardine by E.L.Bowie (Fellow 1965‐2007). For more extended discussion and commentary cf. F.C.Geary, Pelican Record 30, p.95, P.R.Hall, Pelican Record 37, pp.56‐7, 81‐3 and 131‐3, D.Bitel, Pelican Record (new series) 38.1, pp.30‐32. iii The Pelican Record Editors: Neil McLynn and Paul Eros Junior Editors: Sara Gordon, Nakul Krishna and James Pontifex Design and Printing: Lynx DPM Limited Published by Corpus Christi College, Oxford 2010 Website: http://www.ccc.ox.ac.uk Email: [email protected] The editors would like to thank Sarah Foot, Brian Harrison, Tim Lankester, David Leake, Rachel Pearson, Julian Reid and Lorna Swadling. Front cover: Illustration of King David playing his harp at the start of a Book of Psalms from CCC MS 17 f7v. Back cover: Detail from CCC MS 17 f7v. iv The Pelican Record CONTENTS President’s Report ............................................................................... 3 College Servants in Corpus Forty Years Ago Brian Harrison .................................................................................... 7 Chaplain’s Report Judith Maltby ......................................................................................... 37 A sermon preached in Corpus Christi College for the Commemoration of Benefactors Sarah Foot ...................................................................................................... 41 Reviews Reflexive Action by D R Evans Paul Eros ....................................................................................................... 47 The Last Banana – Dancing with the Watu by Shelby Tucker Tim Lankester ....................................................................................................... 49 Obituaries Sir Kenneth Dover ............................................................................................ 53 John Ramsden ......................................................................................................... 56 Paddy Griffith ................................................................................................... 59 The Record The Library .............................................................................................. 63 Gifts to the Library 1 August 2009 – 31 July 2010 ........................... 68 Junior Common Room Report .................................................................. 79 Middle Common Room Report ......................................................... 81 Chapel Choir ........................................................................................... 83 Clubs and Societies ............................................................................... 86 Rowing ................................................................................................ 86 Pool ............................................................................................................... 92 Football ............................................................................................................. 94 Netball ................................................................................................... 96 1 The Pelican Record Badminton ............................................................................................ 97 Cricket ..................................................................................................... 97 Hockey ................................................................................................. 99 Rounders ...................................................................................... 100 Table Tennis .............................................................................................. 100 The Fellows ................................................................................................... 102 Deaths ..................................................................................................... 112 Scholarships and Prizes 2009‐2010 ................................................. 113 Graduate Examination Results ....................................................... 115 Undergraduate Examination Results ............................................ 118 New Members of the College ................................................................... 127 Personal Information Form .....................................................................131 2 The Pelican Record PRESIDENT’S REPORT Last year, in his final Report before retiring, Sir Tim Lankester thanked the College for its support and friendship during his nine years as President. Since then, at two special events, his colleagues have in turn paid tribute to his fine and lasting contribution to Oxford, and affectionately wished him well in what, knowing Sir Tim, is likely to be an energetic retirement. The College has also elected him to an Honorary Fellowship. I am pleased to have this opportunity to express my own thanks to Tim for smoothing my way into office and handing over a College so evidently flourishing and in such good spirits. It is an extraordinary privilege to return to one’s old College as President. Naturally, much has changed since my time as an undergraduate in the 1960s. The Fellowship has grown; student numbers have doubled; co‐education has arrived; a paved – no longer gravelled – front quad leads the way to a unique botanic adventure; the MBI Al Jaber Building, winner of an RIBA regional award, provides a stunning space for lectures and performing arts; a fine choir and orchestra enrich our music; students’ formal halls are a protected species; conferees crowd the vacations; mobile phones have replaced transistor radios as the enemy of scholarly reflection; fountain pens have given way to computers; locked doors confound ease of access. Yet the College is recognisably the Corpus of old: a strong and supportive community,