Page:Literary Landmarks of Oxford.djvu/213

 ORIEL

" College of St. Mary the Virgin," which received its charter in 1326, is about half a century older than New. Curious is it to read in the annals, ancient and modern, the reasons given for the name "Oriel," by which now it is universally called; not half its students, perhaps, knowing, or caring, why. Mr. Wade's theory, as being as clear as any, will, perhaps, serve here. "La Oriole, or Le Oriole, as the name is always spelt in contemporary writings [—this was set down in 1817], is merely the French form of Oriolum, a word which frequently occurs in the Monkish writings, and other Latin documents of the Middle Ages, in the sense of a gateway, porch, or portal. This part of every handsome building was usually adorned with a large projecting window over the entrance; and hence all windows of that shape and character by degrees acquired the name of Oriole, or Oriel, windows. The building of which we are speaking seems to have been distinguished by its gateway, and the name of the most remarkable part was, probably, extended to the whole. . . . The name of Oriole became so fixed that it prevailed over the corporate style of the Foundation, 179