Myrmidon Club

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The Myrmidon Club is a dining club elected from the male undergraduate members of Merton College, Oxford. Founded in 1865, it is one of the handful of such clubs with an almost continuous existence from the second half of the 19th century. It is thought to be the model for the Junta, the fictional club in Max Beerbohm's Zuleika Dobson, of which the Duke of Dorset was for some time the sole member.

For the origin of its name, see Myrmidons.

The Club, which formerly had rooms in the High Street but whose territorial ambitions are now confined to a cupboard in College, is intermittently out of favour with the authorities. Its colours are purple, gold and silver.

Notable members include:

• Max Beerbohm
• Brigadier Lorne Campbell VC
• Lord Randolph Churchill
• Andrew Irvine
• Reginald Maudling
• Airey Neave
• Edward Vaizey
• Angus Wilson

References

• Merton College Register (1891-1989) (printed for private circulation, 1990)
• David Cecil, Max (London, Constable, 1964)

External links

• A short account of the history of the Myrmidon Club (PDF 74k bytes)

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Last updated on Saturday December 08, 2007 at 04:51:14 PST (GMT -0800)
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