Boar's Head Dinner

Right: Pete Fortier plays the part of a Wise Man bringing gifts to the feast. Members of the st::nior class traditionally take part in the pageantry of the Boar's Head Feast.

Right: The part of the Court Jester is played by Junior High cadet XX. The Court Jc ter entertained and amused guests at the feast.

Below: Members of the choir make the musical entertainment of the evening a memorable event. Both the choir and concert band performed for the guests.

Above: A group of cadets enjoy the holiday atmosphere present in the Major Merritt Dining ball which was the location of the annual event.

Right: Paul Vogel performed the part of the crusader in the pageantry of the Boar's Head Feast.

42NDANNUAL

This ceremony is based on a legend from the early 16th century. The story is that one day a student of Queen's College, Oxford, was studying his Aristotle in the nearby forest of Shotover. In the midst of his meditations he was suddenly attacked by a wild boar, which came furiously charging at him with open mouth. Weaponless, but resourceful, the young student thrust his Greek textbook into the open throat of the beast and choked him to death. The student then returned to the college and persuaded some ofhis friends to help him. They brought the boar to the college kitchen where the head, which was regarded as a special delicacy, was cut off and prepared for roasting. It is supposed that the student also retrieved his textbook at this time! Queen's College still celebrates this event. The Boar's Head Carol which is sung there, and which you will hear presently, is the oldest known carol printed in English. It was published by Winkyn de Warde in 1521. A page of that early book with this carol is still preserved in the Bodlein Library at Oxford. The Boar's Head procession was not pecul.iar to Queen's College in medieval times. It was more or less a common custom, in various forms, at all great feasts. A medieval castle in the winter time was a rather dreary place. They had no entertainment as we know entertainment. They could not travel save on horseback, and the roads were mostly impassable. Therefore they had to make up their own entertainment, and it consisted largely of eating and drinking. Some of their great feasts lasted for many hours, and important dishes such as the Boar's Head were served with pomp and ceremony. This kind of procession is presented annually at Howe Military's rendition of the "Boar's Head Feast." Below: Elliott Russell portrayed the part of a Wise Man who was invited to the feast. In the background, junior high cadet xx poses as one of the slaves.

Above: Mr. Chandler Morley, the director of Marriot Dining se1vices, takes part in the Feast by carrying the "Boar's Head" into the dining hall in a special procession to the "head table."

Left: Torchbearers, slaves and Wisemen take their places in the Boar's Head rei.nactment.