I HAVE become a little weary of contributors to this newspaper (inter alia) using "Oxbridge" as a pejorative term.
The implication seems to be that graduates of the two universities are privileged elitists, completely out of touch with ordinary people. To be sure, there are some such, but, look a little deeper, and it will be seen that the other common factor among such people is education at expensive public boarding schools.
Maybe such a background has allowed some element of privilege into their acceptance by these universities, but the great majority of alumni got there by way of competitive examinations and searching interviews.
I shall ’fess up’: as the son of parents who ran a small shop in Riddrie (not Glasgow’s most affluent area), I managed to gain entrance to Cambridge without being at all "privileged". It took years of hard work at school, followed by three days of examinations and interviews in Cambridge, before I got the grant which paid me, meagrely, through three years there.
Once there, it was easy to spot the toffs, but they were a minority; of my circle of friends, only one (an unpretentious lad who subsequently won a First) was public school, the rest were, like me, from grammar schools.
The truth is that most Oxbridge undergraduates are there on academic merit, not "privilege". Critics of Oxbridge seem to overlook that, by any appropriate standards, these are two of the finest academic institutions in the world – Cambridge’s list of Nobel prizewinners, for example, is unmatched anywhere. "Oxbridge" is properly a term of respect, not obloquy.
That said, would there be any support for a new law to make former pupils of Eton College ineligible for public office? I only ask.
Donald R Buchanan, Glasgow G2.
Gaelic proof?
IF as John Hutchison (Letters, June 14) suggests, “there is no obligation” to have Gaelic road signs, surely that proves Mr Brown’s point that it is indeed a political decision? So far there is no record of the number of Gaels flocking to South Ayrshire on their holidays. But I guess if they still managed to get lost they will recognise the police cars.
John Dunlop, Ayr.
REGARDING your correspondence (Letters, June 12,13,14) on the promotion of Gaelic (which I thoroughly endorse), the reason for it has its roots in the following fairy tale:
In the early 1980s, Kirsty Wark interviewed Mrs Thatcher, during which Kirsty asked: “Prime Minister, why are you so disliked in Scotland?”.
Back in Downing Street, the PM asked the same question of her policy wonks.
“Because you don’t speak their language,” came the reply.
“What is the language of Scotland?” queried the Prime Minister.
“Gaelic,” came the confident response.
So a dollop of wonga was made available to promote Gaelic.
And we’ve all lived happily ever after.
Gordon Casely, Crathes, Kincardineshire.
Name game
RE your correspondence on shop slogans: a trattoria – in Glasgow's Miller Street, I think it was – combined classic Russian literature, the product and the proprietor's name in one go ... WarrenPizza.
There was also the plumber whose van was emblazoned with The Lone Drainer and Pronto. The Chinese restaurant in Maryhill Road quite near the police station: the Orange Wok. A change of title was advised and acted upon.
Donald Macaskill, Glasgow G12.
CONTINUING the correspondence on shop slogans, Ian Tough of The Krankies belonged to a Clydebank family of butchers whose slogan was “If it’s good meat, it’ll be Tough”.
Norman Christie, Glasgow G12.
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