The Eagle and Child

The Eagle and Child is a pub in St Giles', Oxford, England which is owned by St John's College, Oxford. It has associations with the Inklings writers' group which included J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.

History

A small, narrow building, the pub reputedly served as the lodgings of the Chancellor of the Exchequer during the English Civil War (1642–49), when Oxford was the Royalist capital. The landmark served as a pay house for the Royalist army, and pony auctions were held in the rear courtyard. These claims are inconsistent with the earliest date usually given for construction of the pub, 1650, and the fact that the pub lies outside the city walls may also give some cause for doubt.

The pub had been part of an endowment belonging to University College since the seventeenth century. The college placed it on the market for £1.2 million in December 2003, saying that it needed to rebalance its property portfolio. It was bought by the nearby St John's College, who also own the Lamb and Flag pub opposite. [cite web
url=http://www.headington.org.uk/oxon/stgiles/tour/west/48_49_eagle.htm
title=Eagle & Child Inn, 49 St Giles, Oxford
publisher=www.headington.org.uk
accessdate=2008-07-15
last=
first=]

The Inklings

The Inklings was an Oxford writers' group which included J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. From 1939 to 1962 they met at the Eagle and Child Friday before lunch, to drink and talk, usually in an area at the back of the pub, which was then a private sitting room and is now known as the Rabbit Room. Contrary to popular impression (and also contrary to the plaque posted in the pub), the Inklings did not read their manuscripts to each other in the pub: these readings took place at evening meetings usually in Lewis's college rooms. The Inklings changed allegiance in 1962 by moving across St Giles' to the Lamb & Flag pub, but it is the Eagle and Child's Rabbit Room that attracts visitors.

More recently, the pub became the regular watering hole of Colin Dexter, who created Inspector Morse.

ign

The pub's sign shows an eagle carrying a small child in a fold of cloth suspended from a claw, which was derived from the crest of the Earl of Derby. The image is said to refer to a story of a noble-born baby having been found in an eagle's nest. [cite web|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ourpage/stanleycrest.htm|title=Stanley crest history|accessdate=2006-05-14] It is said to bear a resemblance to artistic representations of the abduction of Ganymede by Zeus in the guise of an eagle in Greek Mythology.Fact|date=February 2007

Alternative names

It is also known as the Bird and Baby. Other less common nicknames have included the "Bird and Brat",Martin Middlebrook, "The Somme Battlefields: A Comprehensive Guide from Crecy to the Two World Wars", Viking, 1991, p. 149. ISBN 0670830836] the "Bird and Bastard", [David Abram, "Gran Bretana", Ediciones B, 1999, p. 2. ISBN 8440692021] the "Bustard and Bastard"ibid.] and the "Fowl and Foetus". [Adam Edwards, " [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml?xml=/wine/2005/12/31/edpint31.xml Pint to Pint: The Eagle and Child] ", The Daily Telegraph, December 31, 2005.]

References

Notes

External links

* [http://www.headington.org.uk/oxon/stgiles/tour/west/48_49_eagle.htm Eagle and Child]
* [http://users.ox.ac.uk/~tolksoc/TolkiensOxford/bird_and_baby.html Tolkien's Oxford: The Bird and Baby]
* [http://www.cslewis.org/resources/chronocsl.html The C. S. Lewis Foundation website]
* [http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/oxford-eagle-and-child.htm Eagle and Child Pub: Oxford, England]
* [http://www.theonering.net/scrapbook/source/Ringer_Spy_Glaurung/view/4046 The Eagle and Child Pub]
*IoE|245844