Sir Galahad in Ottawa

Are you wondering why there is a statue of Sir Galahad directly in front of the grounds of Parliament Hill? Well, here’s the story: Lady Minto, wife of Canada’s Governor General at the turn of the 20th century (who later founded the Minto Skating Club in 1903), hosted a series of weekly skating parties at Rideau Hall, giving the sport a tremendous boost. At one of these outings, in 1901, Miss Bessie Blair, daughter of the Minister of Railways and Canals, and her skating partner fell through the ice on the Ottawa River near the mouth of the Gatineau River. Fortunately, Blair’s companion escaped, but the attempt by government employee Henry Albert Harper to rescue Miss Blair failed, and both were lost. To acknowledge both Harper’s bravery and the loss of such a close friend, William Lyon Mackenzie King, in the days before he became prime minister, commissioned a statue of Sir Galahad, known as “the pure.” A confirmed bachelor his whole life (if you don’t count his spiritual advisors or his faithful dog, who he thought was a reincarnation of his departed mother), Mackenzie King had many close friends, both male and female, but apparently Harper was especially close, leading to a particular kind of rumour around town. Perhaps this statue can be considered a tribute to Mackenzie King’s knight in shining armour.