Oxford (England) -- History; University of Oxford -- History
Robert D'Oigli died childless. He was succeeded by his nephew, the
second Robert, who had wedded Edith, a concubine of Henry I. She,
dwelling in the Castle, was wont to walk in the direction of what is now
the Great Western Railway Station and the cemetery, being attracted
thither by the "chinking rivulets and shady groves."
[Illustration: Entrance Front
Pembroke College]
And it is said that there one evening, "she saw a great company of
pyes gathered together on a tree, making a hideous noise with their
chattering, and seeming, as 'twere, to direct their chatterings to
her." The experience was repeated, and the Lady sent for her
confessor, one Radulphus, a canon of S. Frideswide's, and asked him
what the reason of their chattering might be. Radulphus, "the
wiliest pye of all," Wood calls him, explained that "these were no
pyes, but so many poor souls in purgatory that do beg and make all
this complaint for succour and relief; and they do direct their
clamours to you, hoping that by your charity you would bestow
something both worthy of their relief, as also for the welfare of
yours and your posterity's souls, as your husband's uncle did in
founding the College and Church of S. George." These words being
finisht, she replied, "And is it so indeed? now de pardieux, if old
Robin my husband will concede to my request, I shall do my best
endeavour to be a means to bring these wretched souls to rest." And
her husband, as the result of her importunities, "founded the
monastery of Osney, near or upon the place where these pyes
chattered (1129), dedicating it to S. Mary, allotting it to be a
receptacle of Canon Regulars of S. Augustine, and made Radulphus
the first Prior thereof."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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