After an opening salvo of Dostoyevsky , Dr Cramer announced to the class that someone had dropped off a pheasant at his house the day before . ‘ Can anyone pluck it ?’
After an opening salvo of Dostoyevsky , Dr Cramer announced to the class that someone had dropped off a pheasant at his house the day before . ‘ Can anyone pluck it ?’
In November 2013 Matthew McCullough had never heard of Winchester College . Living in Belfast , he was frustrated with his school ’ s music department . When asked to describe his education in Northern Ireland , Matthew offers ‘ not meeting my requirements ’ and little else . Noting his frustration and considerable ability , Matthew ’ s director of music at St . Peter ’ s Cathedral mentioned a scholarship for Northern Irish students to study at Winchester . Following some email correspondence with the Registrar , Matthew was invited for interview . He arrived on a Wednesday , stayed in Phil ’ s , and was interviewed in his four subjects – Mathematics , French , Music and Physics . He impressed . In little over a week , Matthew McCullough was a Wykehamist and a Philite . The Northern Ireland Bursary was established to recover Winchester ’ s lost connection with the province . It was funded by James Ferguson ( D , 1961-66 ), whose grandfather followed his time at Winchester with instruction in business at the Belfast Technical College , before enjoying a successful business career . When asked to describe what affected him the most during his first visit to Winchester , Matthew immediately recalls three things : the serene architectural beauty of the school , the impressive commitment to hard work , and the ubiquitous kindness and helpfulness he received from both dons and students . When asked to summarise his experience at Winchester more generally , Matthew returns to these themes . We spend much of the interview talking about the kindness of Wykehamists . Mr Herring ’ s introductory booklet to Toye ’ s life in 2009 started simply with
‘ be kind ’. From what Matthew told me , a similar impulse had been inspired in his cadre of Philites . Despite knowing him for just two weeks , many of his housemates offered to house him over the November Exeat . For the remainder of his time at Winchester , Matthew never once had to worry about organising a trip back to Belfast – Wykehamical camaraderie and kindness made sure that every Leave Out and Exeat was covered . Matthew McCullough ’ s first academic experience at Winchester was as Wykehamical as they come . He was up to Dr Cramer for Div . After an opening salvo of Dostoyevsky , Dr Cramer announced to the class that someone had dropped off a pheasant at his house the day before . ‘ Can anyone pluck it ?’, he enquired . Matthew , by this point already quite unsure about what was going on in his bizarre new school , was surprised further when one of his classmates replied ‘ Of course , sir ’. And so his VIth Book Div retired for the hour to pluck a pheasant at Dr Cramer ’ s house .
Matthew processing as a Choral Scholar through the Cloisters , Durham Cathedral
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