Grouse dinner

The Grouse dinner is a special event in my life as it marks the coming together of family for a traditional English feast. My family have a Grouse dinner once every year at the Cavalry Club. It is a unique event, as to eat Grouse is to eat the king of birds. Its very rare to eat grouse as its very hard to shoot because of its colour which is grey. The grey of the bird makes it difficult to shoot on the Scottish moors. (These dinners are even more special when one considers that kings themselves have partaken of similar feasts in exactly the same spot!)

I believe it is a special event as I know for a fact that it is outdated nowadays and that is why we should cling onto this particular ancient tradition. My most fascinating fact about the Grouse dinner is that 160 years ago, it was mostly associated with Scotland as the Grouse shooting took place in the Highlands. The English clubs adopted it in the Victorian age as Grouse was considered the King of games birds and a great luxury to munch on during a feast.

This the history of the Grouse dinner is an aristocratic tradition, like shooting. In fact one procedes the other. It also has strong links to the Victorian age, as they started the Grouse shooting and dinners and it has just stuck with us into modern times. I think its very important to maintain these traditions so that the next generation are aware of their duty to carry them on. I have always loved the Grouse dinner at the Cavalry and Guards club as I have been going there for as far back as I can remember.

Am at the Grouse dinner with my favourit

Celebrating my grandmother 80 birthday

I have always held found memories of Grouse dinners. When I explain it to other people, I have often lacked the words to describe the fanfare and fun; now I have the words and the pictures to put you in the picture of this weird feast. I had always loved formal dinners. It is the whole point of civilisation that one is able to eat for a long time without the fear of the food being taken away from you. When one realises how far the human race has come from stuffing there faces with food with the bare hands. Then compare it to the Grouse dinner when one needs a different set of cutlery for each course , it makes you proud to be human.

One of my favourite games is think about who I would invite to a special Grouse dinner. In this game I am allowed to invite five people dead or alive. So, who would they be? My first guest, I think, would be President Kennedy, as I think he would be great at dinner parties. The next person on my list would be Princess Margaret as she was a legend at dinner parties. Then I would have Ivan the Terrible as I think he would be great fun. Stalin would of course been invited to my grouse dinner and lastly I would also invite Kyle Monogoue. What a mad Grouse dinner it would be.

The cavalry club started in the victorian age its a very heavy on tradition and keeping it alive. It is one of my favourite clubs as my family have always had a long association with the club. They are very old fashioned and that is rather lovely, as old fashioned is rare these days. The Cavalry Club is a very old club where they do many black tie dinners. In the tradition of black tie dinners they are always rather formal. It is also a military club where the officers in the army go to relax and have wild fun.

My favourite grouse dinner was probably this year, as I was sitting next to my Grandmother and sister. It meant that it was less formal as I was not sitting next to any strangers. It was a useful learning experience as it got me accustomed to the dinner as a normal event. People can't just be suddenly thrown into this world they would not understand it. Yet because I have had this dinner every year of my life since the age of 7, it has become normal. Also, through experiencing this dinner, it means I am not awed when I am invited to other huge events. Its all a learning curve; even these dinners, as they prepare the mind.

Overall, I am a huge fan of the Grouse dinners as I have very fond memories of them at the Cavalry and Guards club. They have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I am just lucky that I am not a grouse being eating and am the human eating the Grouse.