[lit-ideas] Floreat Etona
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 16:04:51 EDT
A. Ramos asks:
"Why do the English use the name "public school" for private schools? What
is the origin of that?
And what do they call public schools?"
Ah, no. That's sacred territory. The ONLY public school that COUNTS, in
England, is Eton, so unless you are -- as per "Who's Who" -- "e: Eton", it's
best
NOT to mention.
Grice was indeed "e: Clifton", and some people who are "e: Harrow" think
it's witty.
Harrow should possibly _be_ an exception, since Eton does need a team to row
against.
Now, nobody would say Eton is a School. We say, "Harry [Prince Charles's
younger son] _also_ went to Eton". Never "to Eton school" (see Nancy Milford,
"U
and non-U).
This is literally odd but charming, since Eton is new English for older
"East Town", on the banks of the royal Thames.
Provided nobody ever says "school" (and some of these institutions are
'halls' or 'houses' rather than 'schools'), it's even more impossible to add
the
qualifier, 'public'.
But if you _must_ know, it all started when Henry VIII attended _ETON_ and
the place was given a 'royal chart'. Since every royal male subject had a
_right_ to inspect that charter, it was thought as a 'public' charter, hence
Eton
being described as the first (and last) of the English public schools.
Cheers,
JL
J. L. Speranza, Esq.
Town:
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jls@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
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