The custom of toasting is said to have begun with the ancient Greeks. The host took the first sip of wine to show his guest that it was not poisoned.
Restaurants where wine is served allow the host to sample the wine before the guests’ glasses are filled.
At a mess dinner it is forbidden to pro¬pose a toast before the Loyal Toast to the Sovereign, except that foreign heads of state are toasted first if foreign guests are present. In civilian circles it is permissible to drink toasts in water; naval superstition presupposes death by drowning for the personage toasted.
Likewise a glass that rings tolls the death of a sailor; stop the ring and the Devil takes two soldiers in lieu. This will explain why naval officers never clink glasses in drinking a toast.
At mess dinners it used to be a custom, not often observed now, to propose what was known as the toast of the day. The list that seems to be most commonly followed dates from before Trafalgar, and is:
Monday - our ships at sea
Tuesday - our men
Wednesday - ourselves, because no one else is likely to both
Thursday - a bloody war or a sickly season (to ensure quicker promotion)
Friday - a willing foe and sea room (The two preceding seem to be of historica l interest only)
Saturday - wives and sweethearts - may they never meet (reply is made by the youngest officer present)
Sunday - absent friends.
Restaurants where wine is served allow the host to sample the wine before the guests’ glasses are filled.
At a mess dinner it is forbidden to pro¬pose a toast before the Loyal Toast to the Sovereign, except that foreign heads of state are toasted first if foreign guests are present. In civilian circles it is permissible to drink toasts in water; naval superstition presupposes death by drowning for the personage toasted.
Likewise a glass that rings tolls the death of a sailor; stop the ring and the Devil takes two soldiers in lieu. This will explain why naval officers never clink glasses in drinking a toast.
At mess dinners it used to be a custom, not often observed now, to propose what was known as the toast of the day. The list that seems to be most commonly followed dates from before Trafalgar, and is:
Monday - our ships at sea
Tuesday - our men
Wednesday - ourselves, because no one else is likely to both
Thursday - a bloody war or a sickly season (to ensure quicker promotion)
Friday - a willing foe and sea room (The two preceding seem to be of historica l interest only)
Saturday - wives and sweethearts - may they never meet (reply is made by the youngest officer present)
Sunday - absent friends.
