Eton College

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The King's College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a public school (that is, an independent, fee-charging secondary school) for boys. It is located in Eton, Berkshire, near Windsor in England, situated about a mile north of Windsor Castle. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and of the Eton Group of independent schools in the United Kingdom.

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Overview

Eton College Chapel
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Eton College Chapel

Eton College boards approximately 1,290 boys between the ages of 13 and 18 (roughly 250 in each year) at a cost of up to £23,000 (GBP) a year. A small number of the pupils – approximately 14 in each year – attend Eton on scholarships provided for by the original bequest and awarded by examination each year; they are known as King's Scholars and live in the College itself, paying up to 75 per cent of full fees. Of the other pupils, up to a third receive some kind of bursary or scholarship. These scholars live in one of the other Houses, and are known as Oppidan Scholars.

The name King's Scholars derives from the fact that the school was founded by King Henry VI in 1440 and was therefore granted royal favour. The original school consisted only of the 14 Scholars in each year, totalling only 70 students, and all of these boys were educated at the king's expense. As the school grew, more students were allowed to attend provided that they paid their own fees and lived outside the college's original buildings in the town. These students were known as Oppidans, from the Latin word oppidum, meaning town: i.e. those who lived in the town as opposed to the college. The Houses developed over time as a means of organising the Oppidans in a more congenial manner. Most pupils spend a large proportion of their time outside classes in their House. Each House is named after the initials or surname of the House Master, the teacher who lives in the house and manages the pupils in it.

The school is famous for its alumni (known as Old Etonians) and the traditions it maintains, including a uniform of black tailcoat (or morning coat) and waistcoat, false-collar and pinstriped trousers. All students wear a white tie that is effectively a strip of cloth folded over into the collar, apart from those appointed to positions of responsibility, who wear a white bow tie. Their positions are also often indicated by variations in the colour of waistcoat, trousers or waistcoat buttons. Those in Sixth Form Select, who are the most academic students at the top of the school, have silver waistcoat buttons, while those in the Eton Society (known as Pop) are allowed to wear waistcoats of whatever colour or design they wish, with grey "spongebag" trousers. King's Scholars are also required to wear a black gown over the top of their tailcoats.

The present uniform was first worn as mourning for the death of George III, and it is still worn today for classes, referred to as "divisions" or "divs". Members of the teaching staff (known as Beaks) are also required to wear a form of school dress when teaching. Other idiosyncrasies include the Eton Field Game, the Eton Wall Game, and the remnants of a unique Eton slang for almost everything involved with the school.

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History

Quadrangle, Eton College
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Quadrangle, Eton College

Eton College was founded in 1440 by Henry VI as a charity school to provide free education to seventy poor students who would then go on to King's College, Cambridge, a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, which he also founded in 1441. Henry VI took half the scholars and the headmaster from William of Wykeham's Winchester College (founded 1382). Eton is modelled on Winchester College, and became popular in the 17th century.

When Henry VI founded the school he granted it a huge number of endowments, including much valuable land, a plan for formidable buildings and several religious relics, supposedly including a part of the Holy Cross and the Crown of Thorns. He even persuaded the then Pope to grant a privilege unparalleled anywhere in England: the right to grant Indulgences to penitents on the Feast of the Assumption.

However, when Henry was deposed by Edward IV in 1461 the successor annulled all grants to the school and removed most of its assets and treasures to St George's Chapel, Windsor on the other side of the River Thames. Legend has it that Edward's mistress, Jane Shore, intervened on the school's behalf and was able to save much of the school, although the royal bequest and the number of staff were much reduced.

As a result of the reduced income suffered at a stage when much of the school was still under construction, much of the completion and further development of the school ever since has depended on the generosity of wealthy benefactors. Many of these benefactors are honoured with school buildings in their name, such as the Bishop William Waynflete or Roger Lupton, whose name is borne by the central tower which is perhaps the most famous image of the school.

In the 19th century the architect John Shaw Junior (1803–70) became surveyor to Eton and designed new parts of the college which helped provide better accommodation for the pupils. [1]

It is often suggested that the Duke of Wellington claimed that "the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing-fields of Eton". Some believe the authenticity of this dictum to be dubious: Wellington briefly attended Eton – for which he had no great love – in the late 18th century, when the school had no playing fields or organised team sports, and the phrase was first recorded three years after the Duke's death. The Duke was, however, wildly popular at Eton, visiting many times later in his life.

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Terminology and slang

Much of Eton slang is the same as other public school slang (for example, calling the elder brother Major and the younger brother Minor). However, there are numerous Eton-specific phrases, including:

  • Pop: also known as the Eton Society. Members of Pop are, alongside Sixth Form Select, the school prefects. It is the oldest self-electing society at Eton, although the rules were altered in 1987 and modified again in 2005 so that the new intake are not now elected solely by the existing year. Members of Pop are entitled to wear checked spongebag trousers, wing collars ("stick-ups") with bow ties and a waistcoat of their own choosing or design. Historically, only members of Pop are entitled to furl their umbrellas or sit on a special wall. Pop is responsible for maintaining order amongst boys at assemblies and meetings, and enforcing dress codes. They are empowered with limited disciplinary powers. They also perform roles at many of the routine events of the school year including School Plays, Parents' evenings and other official events.
  • Popper: a member of Pop
  • Sixth Form Select: an academically selected prefectorial group consisting, by custom, of the 10 senior King's Scholars and the 10 senior Oppidan Scholars. Members of Sixth Form Select are entitled to wear stick-ups and silver buttons on their waistcoats. They are responsible for Praeposting, or ceremonially summoning boys to the traditional punitive Bill for misdeeds, and also for maintaining dress codes. Members of Sixth Form Select also perform "speeches" a formal event which is held twice a year.
  • Library: members of a house's B Block (upper sixth form), or a special room set aside for their use (often with a kitchen). Formerly House Prefects in B block within each house. After the appointment of the House Captain and Captain of Games by the House Master, the membership of Library followed self-electing principles similar to those of Pop.
  • Debate: members of the lower sixth form in a house, or a special room set aside for their use (sometimes with a kitchen). Formerly Junior Prefects within each House, who were elected when in C block (the lower sixth form) by members of Library, and remained in Debate until elected by their peers into Library when in B block themselves.
  • stick-ups: the winged collars awarded, and worn as part of school uniform, for any boy who holds an office.
  • absence: roll call
  • fixtures: a termly publication which is sent to all boys and masters outlining the main diary items each half
  • Beak: a schoolmaster (teacher)
  • half: one of the three terms that make up the school year (Michaelmas, Lent, Summer)
  • a rip: when work is torn as a mark that it is substandard and has to be submitted for the inspection of the house master and the boy's tutor
  • a show up: the opposite of a rip – work that is commended and to be shown to the student's tutors as evidence of progress
  • sending up for good: an outstanding piece of work from a boy judged by a beak to be of a standard that justifies being lodged permanently in College Library
  • Tap: the school's bar, open to students in their final two years
  • Mespots: "Mesopotamia", one of many school playing fields. Others include Sixpenny/The Field, Lower Sixpenny, Dutchman's, Agar's Plough, Upper Club and Lower Club. The Masters' playing field now provides astroturf facilities for Field Hockey which has become a major sport in the Lent Half
  • Trials: School exams, held in the Michaelmas (Winter) term for all pupils, and in the Summer term for most.
  • Block: A school year-group, 'F' Block being the first year and 'B' block the last year. There used to be an 'A' Block for those who were going on to Oxford or Cambridge universities - when their admissions process began after Christmas - however this system is now obsolete as Oxbridge admissions are now through the UCAS system in pupils' second year of sixth form.
  • Div: (Short for Division) 1. A set (as in a class of pupils) 2. A lesson (equivalent to US English period)
  • Eton Blue appeared no later than the early 19th century to identify Eton sportsmen on the river and the cricket field. The colour was also adopted by the University of Cambridge for the Boat Race against Oxford in 1836, and they have kept it ever since. The traditional colour remained in use at Eton for a hundred years, but various pressures – financial and military – broke the link with the past, and now a pale blue is often used by Eton sportsmen and others. There are moves afoot to re-adopt a distinctive colour, although these will take time to complete.


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Historical terms no longer in use

  • Tug: historically, a King's Scholar (KS) – from the Latin togati, meaning "wearers of gowns". Almost never used nowadays.
  • to cap: historically, to raise a finger as a sign of respect, derived from tipping of a hat. All boys are supposed to cap beaks when passing them in the street, and beaks are supposed to reciprocate. Almost never done today.
  • to soc (someone): This used to refer to giving someone some of your food, and the term is the origin of a celebration at the end of Michaelmas term called the "Soc supper", where the house gives a lavish meal.
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Old Etonians

Past students of Eton College are referred to as Old Etonians. The school is popular with the British Royal Family – Princes William and Harry of Wales are the most recent members to have attended – and has also produced nineteen British Prime Ministers. There are many Old Etonians in the Special Air Service (SAS) and several who went on to become famous scientists, writers or sportsmen. A rising number of students also come to Eton from overseas, including members of royal families from Africa and Asia, some of whom have been sending their sons to Eton for generations. Numerous fictional characters have been described as Old Etonians. These include Ronald Eustace Psmith from the books by P.G.Wodehouse, the pirate who used the pseudonym Captain Hook, and the secret agent James Bond.

The following are more complete lists of well-known Old Etonians:

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See also

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External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eton_College"
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