They had a
dinner dressed of woodcock, "whose heads they cut off, in contempt of
the memory of the blessed martyr." These men were "low Churchmen,
more shame to them." The All Souls men had already given up the
custom of wandering about the College on the night of January 14th,
with sticks and poles, in quest of the mallard. That "swopping"
bird, still justly respected, was thought, for many ages, to linger
in the college of which he is the protector. But now all hope of
recovering him alive is lost, and it is reserved for the excavator of
the future to marvel over the fossil bones of the "swopping, swopping
mallard."
As an example of the paganism of Queen Anne's reign--quite a
different thing from the "Neo-paganism" which now causes so much
anxiety to the moral press-man--let us note the affecting instance of
Geffery Ammon. "He was a merry companion, and his conversation was
much courted." Geffery had but little sense of religion. He is now
buried on the west side of Binsey churchyard, near St. Margaret's
well. Geffery selected Binsey for the place of his sepulchre,
because he was partial to the spot, having often shot snipe there.
In order to moisten his clay, he desired his friend Will Gardner, a
boatman of Oxford, who was accustomed to row him down the river, to
put now and then a bottle of ale by his grave when he came that way;
an injunction which was punctually complied with.
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