THE EAGLE Articles
Sometime during student years in Cambridge, attendance at a May Ball was a must. For me, June 1953 was the perfect time, now that I had Judy to invite. Judy and I went to the St John’s Ball with several of our friends and enjoyed what can only be described as the dance of a lifetime. The setting was perfect for a romantic evening, in the classic surroundings of the Great Hall where the College community normally gathered for meals and other solemn events. The usual refectory tables had been removed and the true size of the Hall was revealed in all its glory, with its marble floor and remarkable stained glass windows. Floodlights had been placed outside the windows so that coloured beams of light streamed down on the celebrating throng of magnificently gowned women and their black-tied escorts. Over all this merriment presided the Master of the College, with a host of Fellows in his entourage. ARTICLES
The highlight of the Ball was the dinner, when we were ushered into the Combination Room to our appointed sitting. This room has always been carefully preserved in its original state as built in 1600, and completely fills the second floor of the north side of Second Court. The exterior is a rich and mellowed red brick of Elizabethan days. The interior walls are thick ornate dark oak panels, and it was illuminated only by candles in beautiful silver sconces portraying the College coat-of-arms. The dining tables stretched the whole length of the room. On the floor was an enormous Persian carpet which still did not show any noticeable wear. Mind you the normal use of the room was a retreat for the Senior Fellows, who don’t have a reputation for rushing around! Into this ancient setting came the meal, roast swan, served only at St John’s on very special occasions. The centrepieces of the tables were huge silver platters, on which were arranged some carved slices of the birds and adorned with a swan’s neck and wings. In 2004, I e-mailed the College to see if I could find any history of the tradition of serving swan at the May Ball dinner. The reply contained a great deal of detailed information, including the fact that swan rearing had been practised as early as 1637. There is also direct reference in the College Archives to swan being on the Christmas dinner menu during much of the nineteenth century. However, there is no record of any consumption in the twentieth century. ‘By the 1950s it is clear that chicken or goose or perhaps another fowl was being eaten at the May Ball’, with a dummy swan neck and wings being added to the platter. ‘There are photos of these extras in the Archives.’ It therefore would appear that, rather than eating swan then, I have to eat crow now! The weekend before the end of the Lent term of 1953, Judy and I decided to get engaged at New Year and so thought that it would be a good idea to go to her home in Leicester, to let her parents know. As part of the exercise I knew of ‘Freck’s’ [Judy’s father’s] love for port, so I purchased a bottle from the College Buttery. This was a rare 1934 vintage, laid on its side, dusty and encrusted inside
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