I am working, Guv, honest!

[tolquhon]

Oh, I am the Guv. Well, that's all right then!

Was surfing the 'net looking for sommat work-related (no, really!) when I tripped over this:

King's Shilling Anyone?!

Why's there no army alternative? Seems odd to me that it's specifically aimed at Navy "recruits", but whatever.

Comments

[mitzimaybe]

So why did they need press-gangs for the navy but not the army?

[sharpiefan]

Because it was a vicious circle: Men could be at sea for years at a time, with no shore-leave. When a ship was in harbour, the men weren't trusted to desert, so they couldn't even get leave to see their families. And the pay wasn't so good in the Navy as it was in the merchant navy - and was months in arrears at the best of times.

And of course there are few people who will put up with that sort of treatment.

Manning the Navy was always an issue; sailors were very skilled people - it took years to train a man to a level whereby he could be rated an able seaman, but to train a soldier only takes a few weeks at most.

[mitzimaybe]

So going to sea was a life sentence (or death sentence, obviously) whereas in the army they expected to be treated better / have leave to see their families etc? Interesting. I'd have thought you'd have to be desperate to do either, but I guess there were a lot of desperate people about in those pre-social-security times. Thanks for the info.

[sharpiefan]

Something like that. If you were a married man in the Army, you might be lucky enough to be able to take your wife abroad with you, but you had no such opportunity at all in the Navy.

(I'm a history geek who belongs to the Age of Sail fandom. And you know what fans are like! :D )

[tolquhon]

I dunno - I get caught in the shop for an hour, and my journal gets highjacked!!! ;p

*hugs*

[sharpiefan]

*looks innocent*

[tolquhon]

You can look innocent???? I'd like to see that!!!!

*ducks 'n' covers*

[mitzimaybe]

*Whistles innocently*

[tolquhon]

*nicks Sharpie's professor hat* There wouldn't have been leave as such - not while a regiment was deployed anyway - but a certain number of wives were permitted to go along, and some got picked up along the way!

Criminals often saw the army as a way to escape justice, and of course - for the very poor - it seemed like a good option when starvation looked like the only alternative. Some of the recruiting officers could be very persuasive, too, and make it seem like a much better life than it was. For some, it probably was a far better alternative than the standard of living in their home town. After all, it provided them with a wage...the recruiters just tended to neglect to mention that the pay could be rather a long time in arrears!

I hope you're not regretting that first comment now! ;)

[mitzimaybe]

Regretting? No, not at all.
Erm... well... you know...