February 10

When I think of Oxford, England, I picture a bunch of guys dressed in tweed sport coats that have leather patches on the elbows, smoking pipes and busily engaged in scholastic pursuits. I imagine Oxford resident Lewis Carroll sitting at a desk in a wood-paneled study interrupting his work only to share his thoughts with Colin Dexter, writer of the Inspector Morse mysteries. On occasions, they would break away from their labors to swap interesting anecdotes with T. E. Lawrence, C. S. Lewis and J.R. R. Tolkien. The concentration of writing and scholarly talent so identified with Oxford, England must reach critical mass at times however, and the pressure of being simply brilliant must be released. On the 10th in 1355, which just happens to be St. Scholastica’s Day, following a dispute at Oxford’s Swindlestock Tavern, townspeople and two students from the University of Oxford got embroiled in a dispute over the beer served at the Swindlestock and over the next two days 63 scholars and perhaps 30 townspeople were killed in what is today known as The St. Scholastica Day Riot. The scholars were soundly defeated. This is clearly a 14th century version of East Hampton’s Artist and Writers Softball Game.