Mess Dinner

We are honoured to have Major (retired) Sandra Perron, the first female infantry officer in the Canadian Army, as our guest during our holiday mess dinner.

This is an annual event and one that the cadets will talk about for some time. It is always so much fun and a way for us to share and carry on an important naval tradition. This dinner is considered a special or ceremonial occasion, carried on from the days when officers in the Royal Canadian Navy dined formally every evening. We will be sharing this special dinner with our sister corps, Navy League Cadet Corps Vice Admiral Kingsmill.

Details

Who: Cadets of RCSCC Falkland, NLCC Vice Admiral Kingsmill, honoured guests, and staff.

Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2025.

Time: 1800 to 2100.

Dress: C2s/Mess dress or highest order of dress you have. Cadets without a uniform are asked to wear business casual attire (no sweat pants, hoodies, etc.)

Location: HMCS Carleton

Rules of Order

Rules
As soon as the president has tapped the table to commence, the following rules are enforced:

Without the president's permission, no one may enter and seat themselves at the table, leave the table, return to the table, read (except the menu and musical program), write, have a second helping of any course, or speak to anyone not dining.
All diners wishing to communicate with the President must do so through the table Vice-President.
Whenever the President or Vice-President taps the table there must be silence until he has finished speaking.

Diners are not allowed to

Address each other by rank. Mr., Miss, Mx, or Mrs. is used only.
Commence a course before the President;
Utter an oath, use foul language, or tell inappropriate stories
Place a bet/wager or discuss political or other controversial subjects;
Speak in a foreign language (except when foreign guests are present);
Mention a specific sum of money; or propose a toast ("Cheers" or similar remarks or raising the glass as in greeting constitutes a toast).

General Information

The President: The Mess President is normally the President of the dinner, this year it will be Mr. Titcombe (CPO1). There is no rank at a Mess Dinner, so the President presides over all diners regardless of rank, seniority or classification. this is light hearted and fun event, with three table legs that banter amongst each other and diners will be able to partake in various shenanigans throughout the evening to call to attention any misbehaviour outside the mess dinner rules of the other tables.

Service: No diner shall leave the table without permission. If a diner has been granted permission to sit down late, or to return to the table, they continue with the course then being served.

Table Manners: Diners should sit up straight at the table with their hands on their lap when not using table utensils. Elbows should never touch the table. Traditionally diners who have officially been on a ship which navigated Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope may place one elbow on the table. In a rare occasion where a diner has crossed both Capes they may place both elbows on the table. The table napkin should be laid across the lap and not tucked into the tunic. At the end of the meal, the napkin should be laid on the table so that it can be taken away by the stewards as the table is cleared.

The Gavel: The President and Vice-Presidents shall have gavels to conduct business. They shall tap their base to gain the attention of the mess.

Arrival: The time of arrival at a dinner is always set out in the invitation. If no time is noted for arriving at the dinner then arrival no later than 15 minutes prior to sitting is always the rule. NEVER BE LATE. Diners will arrive dressed and ready for the event.

Entry: When the mess is ready to begin the function, everyone stands behind their seats and awaits the arrival of the Head Table. If a band is present, or a sound system is available, the head table enters to “Heart of Oak”. The President, accompanied by the head table, enters into the mess. The President, Commanding Officer, Captain, and guests take their places behind their seats. No one should sit before the President has taken his/her place.

Seating: Members sit according to the seating plan posted. Members of the mess sit from the left side of their set and stand from the right side. There should never be a vacant seat between two diners. If too many places have been laid, the diners should close in towards the vice-president, keeping the numbers on each side of them and at the table as even as possible.

Commencement: When everyone is seated, the senior steward reports to the president, “The Corps is seated, Sir/Madam/Ma’am”. The president taps the table for silence and will let guests know that the dinner has commenced.

Toasts

When the last course has been finished, the stewards clear the table of everything except the table decorations, sweep up all the crumbs and remove the napkins. If juice glasses are part of the original table setting, they glasses should remain on the table. Decanters of juice, stoppers in, are placed before the President and each Vice-President. These decanters will be passed to all diners. Once the decanters are in place, the senior steward reports to the President: "The juice is ready to pass, Mr. President``.

The President then unstoppers the decanters in front of him, as do the Vice-Presidents with decanters. The President passes his decanter to the left, and other Vice-Presidents do the same without serving themselves. The port is passed by sliding the decanters along the table, reducing the risk of dropping them or spilling their contents. They may be raised from the table to pour. The practice of never lifting the decanters, even to pour, is an exaggeration of the passing method. There is absolutely no necessity to hold your glass below the edge of the table then tilt the decanter to pour while its base remains firmly on the table. The decanter can be picked up to pour in a normal fashion as long as it is placed back down and then remains touching the table as it is slid to the next diner on the table.

In the Navy, however, toasts are never made with water, as superstition says that the person toasted will die by drowning. When the decanter arrives back at the President, or Vice-President, they should serve themselves and then wait for the passing of the juice to be completed on other tables. When the juice passing has been completed, the President should stoppers the decanter in front of him and the others should do the same. No diner should touch their juice until the "loyal toast" has been proposed. in the Loyal Toast His Majesty the King is honoured.

Diners remain seated in the wardrooms of HMC ships and designated naval establishments, except: when a band is present, and “God Save the Queen” is played; when foreign guests, other than foreign exchange officers, are present; and then His Majesty the King, or another member of the Royal Family is present (unless they have specifically expressed a wish that those in attendance remain seated.) The privilege accorded to the Navy of remaining seated while drinking to the Sovereign’s health is long-standing but obscure in its origin. There are several popular beliefs about these origins. One is that King Charles II when on board the Royal Charles bumped his head on rising to reply to the toast and that King William IV, Lord High Admiral, did the same as he stood up during a dinner on one of HM ships. Another is that King George IV, while dining on board one of HM ships said, as the officers rose to drink the King’s health "Gentlemen, please be seated, your loyalty is above suspicion.

"The host or President of the Mess Committee (PMC) shall call for the loyal toast by addressing the vice-president in English or French and the vice-president shall propose the toast in the other language. The loyal toast shall be – "[Ladies and Gentlemen, The King of Canada". Naval members never clink glasses when they make a toast. The sound is reputed to be too much like the solemn toll of the ship’s bell as the body of a sailor was committed to the deep. Thus, it is assumed that the clinking sound will herald the death of a sailor.

The Toast of the Day, once the "Loyal Toast" has been proposed the formalities of the dinner are considered ended. At this point, the President will call upon a member (usually the most Junior diner present) to propose the Toast of the Day. There is a different toast for each day of the week! In fact, the President has the right to ask for any Toast of the Day regardless of the day on which the dinner is being held. Most recently the toasts were changed to better reflect the current "Navy". The toasts are the toasts that are authorized for use in today's navy and listed below.