Registered Charity No 1137522

BURGON NOTES - ISSUE No. 25 - AUTUMN, 2013

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SOCIETY GARDEN PARTY22nd July

at Pershore Abbey,Worcestershire

FROM THE CHAIRMAN -

2013 marches inexorably towards a Britishautumn but there is still time to recall an idyllic dayspent in Worcestershire in July as the Society’sGarden Party was hosted by Fr Kenneth Crawfordin the grounds of Pershore Abbey. As hoped, wewere able to welcome several members andFellows who find it difficult or inconvenient totravel to London, and some families too. Inparticular, Dr Jonathan Cooper was resplendent inhis just-conferred University of Central Lancashiredoctoral robes—which robes were ‘coming home’as they had been made by Fr Crawford. The daywas blessed with good weather, which made all thedifference. On behalf of the Society, thank youKenneth for hosting us and making us so verywelcome.

From relaxation to more serious matters: theSociety’s Annual General Meeting andCongregation will be held in the Great Chamber ofthe Charterhouse on Saturday 12 October, 2013.The formal notices are included in this mailing.The AGM is a formal business meeting convenedin accordance with our charitable obligations toreceive the Society’s financial statements, appointTrustees and other Members of Council, etc. TheCongregation follows lunch and should see at leastthree new Fellows admitted. One of our Patrons,Professor Graham Zellick, CBE, QC, will speakafter Congregation. I hope to see as many of you aspossible at both parts of the day.

Colin Fleming

FROM THE ARCHIVIST

Controversial and Oriental

During the Garden Party,The Revd Mark Gretason, amember of the Society,deposited with the Archivetwo hoods: that of a Fellowof the Philosophical Societyof England (left); and of aDoctor of Divinity of theJames Martin TheologicalSeminary and College,Kowloon. Both presentinteresting additions to our

Collection.The hood of the FPhS now in the Collection

is one of several manifestations of this distinction.Nicholas Groves’ Hood Key (2010) lists the hoodas (among others) ‘mid-green, lined light green

[f1]’ (28b) or ‘dark green watered silk lined paleblue [f3] (28a). Haycraft (5th Ed, 1972) has twoalternatives: ‘Mid green silk lined with pale blueshot green silk, Simple; or Mid-green silk linedlight green silk, Full’ (p. 110). When I contactedDr Groves to assist in clarifying whether the hoodwas an example of the FPhS, he noted that inpreparing the forthcoming second volume of ShawIII he had identified no fewer than six differentdesigns, of which our example was established in1948 and lived for an undetermined period of timeuntil replaced with the final iteration of the hoodsometime in the late 20th Century. ThePhilosophical Society of England no longer awardsa Diploma, so the academic dress has ceased to beawarded. The hood we now possess is [f5] darkgreen ribbed silk lined and bound 1cm all edgeswith pale blue shot green silk.

Exploring this hood turned up someentertaining correspondence in The Spectator inMarch and April 1952 from Gilbert Ryle,Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy,Magdalen College, Oxford. He noted that he had“refused the Society’s wholesale invitation” toaccept the FPhS extended to “all holders of Chairsof Philosophy and Readerships in Philosophy inBritish universities.” He went on to say that to“accept a ‘Fellowship’ would be to concede that thetitle was professionally reputable, and so to decoyinnocents into buying bogus academic titles andhoods.” In the later correspondence, Professor Rylenoted with evident satisfaction that “A former WestCountry Bishop forbade an incumbent to wear thesociety's hood in his diocese.” Whatever theopinions of Professor Ryle, the Society’sCollection is pleased to accept such a controversialarticle.

The second hood, thatof the DD of James MartinTheological Seminary andCollege, Kowloon, marks thefirst example of a hood fromChina. This, too, is mentionedin Haycraft (5th Edition). Theentry, co-edited by Rogers andFranklyn, notes that theCollege’s hoods ‘follow theAmerican IntercollegiateCode’, with doctors’ hoodsbeing 42” long. The hood inour Collection is the correctspecification – light purplesilk shell lined throughout per

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pale old gold and white silk. The hood is not theICC doctors’ shape, but is [f1]. James MartinCollege is interesting in that, as with St Andrews,the shell indicates the faculty.

Our thanks go to The Revd Mr Gretason forproviding such interesting additions to the Society’sCollection.

Colin Fleming

A ST ANDREWS WHIMSY

In 2005, as I was researching my FBSdissertation and the use of fur in Scots universities’academic dress, I came across St AndrewsUniversity’s Regulations for Academic Dress andnoted with interest that Doctors of Divinity, Laws,

Letters, Music andScience may line theirhoods with white silk orthe ‘noble fur’ ermine.This idea intrigued meand I began to explorehow such a hood mightlook. When Fr KennethCrawford made aFellow’s ‘winter hood’using synthetic fur, Idiscussed my idea with

him and he agreed to undertake the commission.We agreed that a Doctor of Letters, which uses asaffron silk shell, would look well with an erminelining.

I began tocollect ermine tails oneBay and also found asource of high-qualityrabbit skin (wholeermine is available fromCanada, where thewinter stoat is trapped legally and the skins cured).These were delivered to Fr Kenneth and in March2013 I took possession of the hood.

Making the hood such that the knap of thefur falls appropriately when flourished required

taking the rabbit skinsapart and reassemblingthem so that they fellappropriately. Drawingthe ermine tails into theskin was challenging; FrKenneth noted: “I’m not

completely happy with it. It does all it should do, butthe thickness of the fur means that the saffron hoodshell doesn’t sit as flat as I would want it to!”

Fr Kenneth’s misgivings notwithstanding,the finished product is handsome, but very heavy!I fully understand why a silk lining is preferred, asit is much lighter. Were I to wear it for an academicoccasion, I should want to have hooks on my robeto support the weight.

My thanks to Fr Kenneth for hiscollaboration and the quality and attention to detailthat made the hood a delight to see and wear.

Colin Fleming

ACADEMIC DRESS ON JOHN SPEED’S MAPS

The maps of Oxfordshire andCambridgeshire in John Speed’s celebrated atlas,Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, publishedin 1611/12, each include figures in academic dress.The two on the Oxfordshire map (1605) are in factin Cambridge dress and reappear on theCambridgeshire map (1610) where they properlybelong. They are joined by two other figures.

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Oxfordshire 1605

Cambridgeshire 1610

The colouring of the dress on the maps isarbitrary: the contemporary painters had little ideaof the appropriate colours, which naturally dependin any case on correct identification of the robes;modern colourists of the old maps do no better.

John Baker in his 1984 article ‘The Dress ofthe Cambridge Proctors’ in Costume recognised thatthe figures on the right were a DD and a proctor inCongregation dress. The DD wears an open-sleevedblack gown. Over this he has the scarlet cope, whichis still worn, now open down the front, by theCambridge vice-chancellor when admitting todegrees. The proctor’s black mantle later shrank tobecome the cape-like ruff, still part of theCambridge proctorial dress.

The two figures (top right) may represent aCambridge regent MA and a doctor in a lay faculty(LLD or MD) in Congregation dress. The MA (likethe proctor) is still wearing the open-sleeved gownthat would be replaced a few years later by thebag-sleeved undress gown that we associate withMA dress today. The lay doctor’s gown has coat-style sleeves, one of several acceptable patterns atthis time. Over this he wears a cappa, scarlet likethat of the DD, with armholes above the elbows andredundant sleeves or pendants trimmed with a bar offur hanging behind the arms. This garment went outof use in the early 19th century. It seems likely that Speed intended toillustrate the corporate identity of CambridgeUniversity by four representative senior figures: aregent master, a lay doctor, a DD doubling as vice-chancellor, and a proctor.

The doctors are bearded and wear the neckruff still fashionable for professional gentlemen of

mature years. The MA and the proctor are younger,clean-shaven, and wear the turn-down collar knownas a falling band, preferred by the youngergeneration at this time. All four wear a square cap,which seems to have soft corners, as we wouldexpect at this date. This evolved into the stiffmortar-board only a couple of decades later. Thebunches of hair on the sides of the head lookanachronistic to me and I wonder whether in theoriginal sketches these were meant to be the sidepieces often found on the skull part of the capcovering the upper part of the ear, before wigsbecame fashionable.

All four have hoods lined with fur. Furrather than silk still seems to have been usual at thistime for masters and doctors in full dress and fordoctors in Congregation dress or (at Oxford)Convocation dress. By the later 17th century, silkhad replaced fur for masters and doctors, in practiceif not in the regulations, except - as it happens - onCambridge doctors’ Congregation dress and theOxford proctors’ hood, where fur remains to this day.

There is every reason to think thesedrawings are pretty accurate, even though they aresimple sketches added to the maps as decoration.For our purpose they are in fact valuable evidenceof academic dress in the first decade of the 17thcentury, when there are few portraits, engravings,and other pictorial material to go on.

Alex Kerr

A WELL-DESERVED DOCTORATE!

The Burgon Society’s first (and only!) memberfrom Mexico, Gustavo Adolfo Ornelas-Almaraz,

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DD in Congregation (VC) - Proctor

Regent MA - Lay Doctor in Congregation

has graduated this summer from the University ofEast Anglia with a PhD from the School ofEconomics.

Gus  already has a Bachelor’s  degree inEconomics from the University of Guadalajara,Mexico, a  FilosofieMagisterexamen  from DalarnaUniversity (Sweden) and an MSc in Economicsfrom UEA. For the last year Gus has been workingpart-time at INTO Manchester as a Lecturer inEconomics.

He has returned to Mexico for the autumn,but is due to return to the UK to take up a similarfull-time post at INTO, Manchester, in January2014. Gus is pictured, below, followingCongregation, with his sister and his father whocame to the UK for the occasion. Whilst Gus willnot be with us this October, he looks forward torenewing friendships at events in 2014.

Richard Baker

MEDIAEVAL MACES: POWER & CEREMONY

The biggest collection of Mediaeval macesever seen in the UK will go on display at theMuseum of University of St Andrews (MUSA)from Saturday 7 September – 8 December 2013.

The exhibition, ‘Mediaeval Maces: Power &Ceremony’, brings together ten University maces ofinternational importance as part of the University’s600th Anniversary celebrations. Alongside theUniversity’s three 15th century maces (see below,far right) will be 14th and 15th century maces all theway from Heidelberg, Tübingen, Berlin, and Basel.The University of Glasgow’s Mediaeval mace,depicted on its university’s coat of arms and on itsseals, is also being lent for display.

Dr Helen Rawson, Co-Director of theMuseum Collections Unit (Collections &

Exhibitions), said: “This exciting exhibition willexplore the symbolism and iconography of themaces and connections between mediaevaluniversities, as well as themes of medievalcraftsmanship.”

Also on display will be the crozier of BishopFox, founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford anda range of artefacts and documents relating to thefoundation and early history of the University of StAndrews. The 'Bull of Foundation' of the Universityof St Andrews, issued on 28 August 1413 by PopeBenedict XIII, takes pride of place - its arrival in StAndrews in February 1414 was the occasion ofgreat celebrations in the town, from a solemnthanksgiving in the Cathedral to bonfires in thestreets and much drinking of wine. For conservationreasons, it is rarely on display.

Also featured will be the great mazer, orcommunal drinking cup, of St Leonard's Collegewhich was passed ceremonially round the medievalcollege table at great feasts; mediaeval stained glassfrom St Mary's College; and a beautifully illustratedilluminated Book of Hours from 1450.

The exhibition is free to all and has beentimed to coincide with the University’s 600thAnniversary Academic Celebration being held 13-14 September 2013.

A varied events programme accompaniesthe exhibition including lectures and workshops, aswell as family activities focused on subjects such asheraldry, mediaeval art and weaponry.

The exhibition is supported by theRecognition Fund, administered by MuseumsGalleries Scotland; The Idlewild Trust; and ClickNetherfield. Exhibition opening times are Mondayto Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 12 noon-4pm.

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NECKWEAR

A new silk Burgon Society tie,manufactured by James Morton Ties, will beavailable to members soon. The aim is to have thisavailable in time for Congregation in October. Theprice will be £25 which will include postage to a UKaddress,( for overseas members the price, inclusiveof postage, will be £27.50).

Orders can be placed now with Ian Johnson,The Burgon Society, 9 Pymore Rd , BridportDorset. DT6 3XE.

GARDEN PARTY, PERSHORE ABBEYCandid moments …

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Nicholas, I’m trying tocompliment you on thenew style of Warwickdoctoral undress andyou’ve gone to sleep!

WAKEUP!!

All’s wellthat endswell …

Copy for the next edition of Burgon Notes is dueto the editor by the 15th November.Email to: magnificat@live.co.ukor post to The Abbey Vicarage, Church St,Pershore, Worcestershire, WR10 1DT

CONGREGATION:Charterhouse, Saturday 12th October, 2013