High Table...at Hogwarts?

Massey College - a Canadian institution founded to provide a congenial intellectual environment for the exchange of opinions and ideas. Home to the Canadian intellectual elite, including Adrienne Clarkson and Margaret Atwood. And I got to take part in one of their 'high table' dinners last night :) It was a very theatrical and somewhat surreal experience. The picture to the left is of the main gate, where the porter (they have a full-time porter) lets you in and gives you a long black gown which you must wear to dinner or you don't eat. Then you enter the 'quad', which is essentially a courtyard in the middle of the college. This picture doesn't show it, but there are 2 big ponds with fountains, goldfish and lilypads in them - very pretty!

The evening began in the common room, shown to the left, where we were served our choice of beverage and then mingled with the other Masseyites. There were several distinguished guests there, including the British High Commissioner, the Swedish ambassador, and a Nobel-laureate, though I didn't actually meet any of them. Imagine about 60-70 people crammed in this room, all dressed in long black robes, trying to carry on a conversation. After a little while, the St. Catherine's bell rang and the Master (yes, that's how the head guy is actually addressed) made a little speech, then ushered the honoured guests into a little antechamber while the rest of us made our way up to the stairs pictured on the right into Ondaatje Hall, which is their dining room, shown below. Once everyone was in the hall and standing behind their respective chairs, the guests who were sitting at the head table proceeded into the room, and someone (I don't know who) read a Latin grace, following which we all got to sit down.

Things then proceeded pretty much like any other formal-ish dinner that I've ever been to. The appetizer was a lovely soup, which must have been some kind of squash or pumpkin affair. This was followed by a long speech from the Master, introducing all of the people at the head table and listing their accomplishments. The Main course was lamb, and dessert was some sort of custard-filled cake - all very, very good. Afterward, the St. Catherine's bell was rung again, and everyone stood behind their chairs as another Latin grace was read and the head table retired to the library for port and snuff (I'm not making this up). The rest of us went back to the common room for port, coffee, tea and truffles. Maybe it's because Halloween is almost here, but the whole experience felt very Hogwartian.

(Sidenote: I didn't actually take these pictures, as you have probably already figured out. They're part of the promotional material presented on the official website.)