University of Oxford

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Fifty Reasons Fall Is the Best Season

Kate Maxwell, Because * * * You Can Go Back to School Minus the Homework; An Oxford alum finds her pedigreed university even more inviting sans the angst of exams. Wall Street Journal, Sept 17, 2016.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-tr ... homework-1473794905

Note:
(a) photo caption: "OLD SCHOOL | The Bridge of Sighs at Oxford's Hertford College, which dates back to 1874.  PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES"
(i) In the world, there are many Bridges of Sighes. See Bridge of Sighs (disambiguation)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_of_Sighs_(disambiguation)

The first one, in Venice, was "was built in 1600" whereas the one in Hertford College, Oxford University was "completed 1914."
(ii) Hertford
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertford
(county town of Hertfordshire; section 1 Toponomy)

This town lent its name to the family name. And Hertford's etymology explains why "Elias de Hertford established Hart Hall" (because hert and hart were one and the same). See (iv).
(iii) colleges of the University of Oxford
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co ... niversity_of_Oxford
(A typical college consists of a hall for dining; section 1 History: "The first academic houses were monastic halls. Of the dozens that were established in Oxford during the 12th to 15th centuries, none survived the Reformation. * * * [In ancient times there was] a decree that all undergraduates would have to reside in approved halls")
(iv) History. Hertford College, undated
www.hertford.ox.ac.uk/about/history
("Sometime in the 1280s [1282], Elias de Hertford established Hart Hall * * * Oxford halls were essentially boarding houses for matriculated undergraduates. Although presided over by a Principal, who owned or leased the property, such halls, while developing corporate characteristics- dining halls, kitchens, libraries and in time tutors specifically attached to them- were not incorporated as colleges. In the university’s earliest centuries, most undergraduates belonged to such halls rather than to the then few, more restrictive and elite colleges")

What does "established" mean? Did he build it?  (The answer is no. See next.)
(v) Hertford College. In HE Salter and Mary D Lobel (eds), A History of the County of Oxford: Vol 3, the University of Oxford. London: Victoria County History, 1954, at pages 309-319 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol3/pp309-319
("The first mention of Hart Hall by name occurs in a conveyance dated 1301 by which Elias, son of Elias de Hertford, gives and quitclaims to John de Dokelynton, burgess of Oxford, his messuage called Hert Hall * * * There is a series of earlier deeds dated 1267, 1283, 1269, 1301 dealing with this same piece of land, which Elias de Hertford, his wife and Elias their son purchased in 1283, in which the tenement is defined by measurement but is nameless. It has been assumed, therefore, that Hart Hall is a pun on the owner's name, such as appealed to contemporary wit")
(A) Elias
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elias
(B) messuage (n)
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/messuage
(C) "[H]is messuage called Hert Hall" is the direct object, and "John de Dokelynton" the indirect object, of the verb "gives."

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(b) "It was exam season in Oxford, and cadres of students patrolled the High Street, a few still cramming notes, and consequently dodging lampposts, as they neared the Examination Schools. Their attire was identical: Every student wore full academic dress, or subfusc, as it is known here—black suits and white bow ties on the men; black skirts and velvet bows for women; everyone in gowns, mortarboards and a carnation buttonhole."
(i) High Street, Oxford
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Street,_Oxford
(ii) Examination Schools
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Examination_Schools
(of the University of Oxford are located at 75–81 High Street, Oxford; The main purpose of the Schools is for the organisation and administration of the university examinations)
(iii) academic dress of the University of Oxford
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ac ... niversity_of_Oxford
(section 1 When academic dress is worn: University examinations, among others; section 2.4 Subfusc)
(A) subfusc (adj)
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subfusc

The Collinsdictionary.com defines the word as both an adjective and a noun ("(at Oxford University) formal academic dress").
(B) This Wiki page has a photo of a man in subfusc, but not of a woman. For the latter, search images.google.com with (women subfusc); the images would also show boutonnière. See next.
(C) boutonnière
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boutonni%C3%A8re
("Traditionally, a boutonnière was worn pushed through the lapel buttonhole (on the left, the same side as a pocket handkerchief) and the stem is held in place with a loop at the back of the lapel. The flower's calyx, if pronounced such as those of a carnation, should be fully inserted into the buttonhole which would secure it tightly and flat against the lapel")

What does the quotation mean? See the graphic next.
(D) How to Pin on a Boutonniere. WikiHow, undated
www.wikihow.com/Pin-on-a-Boutonniere
(Four Methods: * * * Method 4 Wearing a Boutonniere in a Buttonhole)

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(c) "I was once an 11th-hour note-crammer, and as I surveyed them through the window of the Old Bank Hotel, between mouthfuls of breakfast kipper, I felt a mixture of deep-seated dread and relief that I'd never have to wear a white carnation again. I'd started at Oxford University in the fall of 1996, when the wisteria [foliage] was turning gold as if determined to match the stone buildings. Twenty years later, I'd returned to take a nostalgic tour"

kipper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kipper

(d) "Oxford, 60 miles northwest of London, is the oldest English-speaking university in the world, a center for teaching since the 11th century whose domes and spires have starred in everything from 'The Italian Job' to the Harry Potter franchise. The university is divided into 39 colleges, all of which are ranked on the Norrington Table system according to the classes of degree their students achieve. My own Oxford history began when, as a high-school student, I visited Norrington-topper Magdalen College, where Oscar Wilde and CS Lewis studied, so it was there that I started my return tour. I remember sprawling, illegally, on Magdalen's cloister-framed striped grass quad and imagining three glorious years of punting and high jinks, with a little studying thrown in, not unlike the pursuits of the characters in Evelyn Waugh's 'Brideshead Revisited.' Two decades after that first visit, Magdalen's 15th-century cloisters, decorated with coats of arms and gargoyles, looked every bit as inspiring as I remembered, though deserted, the scholars no doubt scribing upstairs. Still, I found a boisterous game of croquet unfurling on the lawn in front of the noble New Building (completed in 1740s), while a trio on a punt drifted down Holywell Mill Stream, which runs alongside the college."
(i) University of Oxford
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Oxford
(While having no known date of foundation, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest surviving university" after University of Bologna that was founded in 1088)
(ii) list of films shot in Oxford
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_shot_in_Oxford
(The Italian Job (1969)[, whose 2003 American remake was not filmed at Oxford)
(iii) Norrington Table                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrington_Table
(iv) CS Lewis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis
(v) Magdalen College
(A) Mary Magdalene
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene
(B) Magdalene
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Magdalene
(pronunciation)
(C) Magdalen College, Oxford
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalen_College,_Oxford
(founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor)

View photos only. Two photos (captioned "The cloister and the New Building" and "New Quad and Founders Tower," respectively) in section 2.5 Gallery shows "striped grass."

This Wiki page does not explain name origin.
(D) Why 'Maudlyn'?  Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, undated
www.magd.cam.ac.uk/why-maudlyn/
(" 'Maudleyn,' containing within it the name of Audley himself!")

That is, chop off the first and letter of "Maudleyn."  Dada, you get Audley.

* maudlin (adj; Do You Know?)
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/maudlin
(vi) "I remember sprawling, illegally, on Magdalen's cloister-framed striped grass quad")
(A) See (d)(v)(C) for "striped grass."
(B) Illegally?

Visiting Magdalen. Magdalen College, Oxford, undated
www.magd.ox.ac.uk/discover-magdalen/visiting-magdalen/
("Dogs, except guide dogs, are not allowed in the College. Please do not walk on the grass or picnic in the grounds")
(vii) "imagining three glorious years of punting"
(A) degrees of the University of Oxford
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrees_of_the_University_of_Oxford
("The bachelor's degree is awarded soon after the end of the degree course (three or four years after matriculation). Until recently, all undergraduates studied for the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The BFA [Bachelor of Fine Art] was introduced in 1978. Holders of the degrees of BA and BFA both proceed in time to the degree of Master of Arts (MA). Note that the BA is still awarded even for some science courses, such as the three-year Physics degree * * * Note that biology and physiology undergraduates are still awarded the BA/MA, as these are currently three-year courses. All other undergraduates, whether their degree courses last three years or four years, are awarded the BA/MA. * * * The degree of Master of Arts is awarded to BAs and BFAs seven years after matriculation, without further examination [automatically] ")
(B) Punting in Oxford. Daily Info, undated
https://www.dailyinfo.co.uk/guide/punting
(Where to Get a Punt: Magdalen Bridge Boathouse, Cherwell Boathouse, Oxford River Cruises, nd Salter's Steamers)
(viii) Brideshead Revisited
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brideshead_Revisited
(published in 1945; section 1 Plot: "In 1923, protagonist and narrator Charles Ryder, an undergraduate studying history at a college very like Hertford College, Oxford" which is the alma mater of the author)
(ix) New Building’s photos can be found in (d)(iv)(C).
(x) Holywell Mill Stream
(A) The Isis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Isis
(is the name given to the part of the River Thames which flows through the university city of Oxford)
(B) River Cherwell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Cherwell
(is a major tributary of the River Thames; 40 miles long)
(C) Charles William Boase, Oxford. 3rd ed. London: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1890, at page 56
https://books.google.com/books?i ... 0thames&f=false
("The city [of Oxford] had mills on both sides, the Castle mill on the Thames, and Holywell mill on the Cherwell, both still in existence")

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(e) "In the end, I'd taken the less challenging option, and, rather than Magdalen, applied to read English Literature at St Edmund Hall, which has mostly languished near the foot of the Norrington Table. Best known for its rugby teams and drinking games, 'Teddy Hall' was the alma mater of my Scottish grandfather, Hamish, who studied forestry here in the late 1920s. When I told him, with great pride, that I’d been accepted to his college, he recommended I go to Edinburgh University instead."
(i) St Edmund Hall, Oxford
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Edmund_Hall,_Oxford
(section 1 History)

* Ted
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted
(A shortened form of the following" given names)
(ii) read (vt): "to make a study of <read law>"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/read
(iii) Hamish
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamish

(f) "Soon after arriving this time around, I did something I'd never have dreamed of as a student: I went to the daily Choral Evensong service at Christ Church Cathedral. Our modest congregation was ushered to pews beneath a stone fan-vaulted ceiling. The all-male choir, in red gowns, gave an invigorating performance, as they have most days for the last 500 years. Once they’d bellowed their last note, I went to sniff out more familiar ground, starting on St Giles at the Eagle & Child pub. The literary group The Inklings, who included CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, had dubbed it the 'Bird and Baby' and gathered there to discuss their fantastical tales of wizards, hobbits and talking lions. * * * I walked further north, through Jericho, a fashionable suburb of Victorian terraced cottages bordered by the Oxford Canal. Should the international craft beer and coffee movements and associated hipster industries have made their mark anywhere in Oxford, it would, I thought, be here. Indeed, Walton Street’s shop fronts had been gussied up, but the residents were the same."
(i) For Choral Evensong service, see Evening Prayer (Anglican)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evening_Prayer_(Anglican)
("also commonly known as Evensong, especially (but not exclusively) when the office is rendered chorally (that is, when most of the service is sung)"
(ii) Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Church_Cathedral,_Oxford

The (f) mentions "a stone fan-vaulted ceiling."  
(A) Section 5 Gallery has a photo titled "Ceiling."
(B) fan vault
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_vault
(iii) "St Giles at the Eagle & Child pub"
(A) The Eagle and Child
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eagle_and_Child
(section 1 History: name origin; section 2 Literary connections: The Inklings)
(B) The Eagle and Child, Oxford
https://1pumplane.wordpress.com/ ... e-and-child-oxford/
(image)
(iv) Jericho
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho,_Oxford
(an historic suburb of the English city of Oxford; Oxford Canal)
(v) gussy up (vt; origin unknown): "DRESS UP, EMBELLISH"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gussy%20up

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(g) "My student diet at Oxford had consisted mainly of just-add-water noodles and doner kebabs from Ahmed's van on the High [Street]. * * * My corner table for one in Gee's olive-tree-and-twinkly-light-filled conservatory that evening felt most indulgent, and the food—local asparagus with Hollandaise sauce and chargrilled guinea fowl—tasted even better than I remembered. * * * The next day, I walked back through Jericho, across Port Meadow—the grassy expanse sprinkled with daisies and buttercups, where cows graze and from which you can spy the university church's spire—to the Perch pub. This 17th-century coaching inn across the Isis (the name given to this stretch of River Thames eons before the advent of the terror group) has had a country-casual refurb and its food, as well as its bucolic setting, is now well worth the half-hour walk from the town center."
(i) doner kebab
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doner_kebab(Turkish; equivalent to Greek gyros)
(ii) conservatory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatory
(may refer to "sunroom")
(iii) For buttercups, see Ranunculus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranunculus
(a genus)
(iv) University Church of St Mary the Virgin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un ... _St_Mary_the_Virgin
(Denomination         Church of England)

Owned by University of Oxford. See section 1 History.

(h) "Before I made my way back to London, I visited the gleaming new Weston Library, opened by Prince William, where a copy of the Gutenberg Bible and Oscar Wilde’s court summons are displayed, then took a last nostalgic turn around the Radcliffe Camera, a science library and a strong contender for world's best-looking building for books. As I raised my phone to snap a picture of the amber stone columns radiant in the evening light, a cyclist in subfusc screeched and swerved to avoid me, yelling “Tourist!” Rather than lament my outsider status I decided to celebrate it. Keep your carnation buttonhole and your mortarboard, I thought. The Oxford I left is as well preserved as the Mummies in the Ashmolean Museum (which, incidentally, also has decent food and views at its new rooftop restaurant), but the city has become a much better place to visit."
(i) Weston Library
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weston_Library
(ii) Radcliffe Camera
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radcliffe_Camera
(John Radcliffe (c 1650–1714) attended University College from the age of thirteen, becoming a fellow of Lincoln College at eighteen)
(iii) Ashmolean Museum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashmolean_Museum