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#1
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Heard this on QI last night. From Wikipedia:
"One trick supposedly employed by press gangs was to slip the shilling into a drink. If the prospective soldier drank the drink to the bottom (so that the shilling was now visible), it was taken as a sign that they had accepted impressment. It is believed that glass bottomed tankards became popular as a result of this practice. This is believed to be the origin of the phrase "to be taken for a mug."" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_shilling |
#2
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Did QI say it was true, or not? Not that I trust QI in these things, but I've heard this before and often wondered about it.
To "take the King's Shilling" literally just means to enlist. (Brewer's backs that up.) There's no overtone of press-ganging there, you're just taking the King's money to serve the King. On the other hand, press-ganging did happen. To quote Brewer's again: Quote:
From the same source, "mug" as a fool is just from the word for "face" and might comes from the gypsy usage as a simpleton or "muff" - somebody who's bad at games. No mention of putting shillings in drinks. According to Chamber's Dictionary of Etymology, "mug" for "face" was first recorded in 1708, Quote:
Cassell's Dictionary of Slang reckons "mug" as "idiot" comes from a SE English expression, and refers to "one into whom one can 'pour' any nonsense". I can't see any decent sources that back up the connection of "mug" to the idea of dropping a shilling into one's pint so as to forcibly enlist somebody in the navy. ("To be taken for a mug" just means "to be taken for a fool".) Like you, I'm also dubious as to whether the practice of dropping coins into drinks was really widespread, but that's a different matter. Even if it was, it seems that's not where the word "mug" for "idiot" comes from. |
#3
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#4
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A couple of years ago BBC History Magazine blew apart lots of myths about the Royal Navy. Impressment was a form of conscription and there were rules about who could be pressed and who could not.
1. Any man pressed into the Royal Navy had eight days to appeal against his impressment. (Thus the idea of a man being coshed outside a tavern and waking up the next day miles out at sea is a myth.) 2. Physical force was only allowed if the prospective pressed man tried to run away. (Not that this rule was never broken, of course.) 3. No man who did not have a naval background could be pressed. That was why press gangs used to go round dockland taverns because most men there would have a naval background. 4. No man could be pressed if he had a wife or dependent children. Both 3 and 4 could be used at any appeal at an appeal. 5. There were strict age limits to impressment (from 17 to 45 from memory, but don't quote me). 6. Sailors could be pressed from a merchant ship, but any pressed sailor could still use 4 and 5 as an appeal against impressment. The merchant ship must still be left with enough sailors to safely sail it back to port. In effect many sailors volunteered for impressment when a press gang visited their ship because conditions were often better on Royal Navy ships. Food and pay were certainly better. (The magazine also exploded the myth about maggots in biscuits.) As a result there were very few pressed sailors at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Fewer than 10% of Royal Navy sailors were pressed. Far more sailors were pressed in the French Navy and this is given as one reason why the Royal Navy won the battle. (Volunteers had greater commitment, usually had more experience and were better trained.) |
#5
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Given the apparent etymology of "impress" as meaning "to have been advanced money (on condition of future service)", I can see how it might happen that somebody in a pub might be "lent" money by his new friends in order to buy a few rounds, and only later realise that this meant he was now obliged to serve. But you wouldn't have to drop the money in somebody's drink to do that...
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#6
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On the other hand, enough American sailors ended up being pressed that a war was started (partially) over the matter, so the rules couldn't have been that strict.
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#7
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Being in the military, I've also heard people refer to being in uniform or on duty as being "on the Queen's dime." |
#8
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#9
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It's semantics.
If I grab you and throw you into uniform, you've been conscripted. If I PAY you and you accept the money, you've been HIRED. By chugging that last swallow of ale and taking that shilling into your mouth, you've "accepted" it... and therefore you've "accepted" the going wage and are therefore "hired." LEGALLY, it's damned similar - but semantically it's worlds apart. |
#10
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From the old folk song Arthur McBride: (planxty's version)
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#11
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Comment: From the Elizabethan era to the end of Napoleonic Wars, the Royal
Navy used impressment to coerce eligible men into service. There’s a rumor that one of the tactics used to accomplish this was the dropping of a king’s shilling into a pewter tankard. (The king’s shilling was given to a new volunteer recruit, and accepted as a sort of contract.) Once the man had finished the drink, he’d discover the coin and be immediately conscripted. The rumor is that this practice resulted in tavern owners having tankards made with glass bottoms to prevent this. (Modern-day renaissance re-enactors have many of these such tankards with glass bottoms.) |
#12
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Plus, the English were allowed to seize deserters without regard to these rules. While it was easy to figure out who was a former English sailor on a vessel crewed with French or Spaniards, figuring that out on a ship with American sailors was a bit trickier. |
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