English people usually know about the "shilling" (a coin of the time) from the King or Queen. If you took it, then you were enlisted. Just for entertainment however:
The problems came when people did not want to enlist - the recruiters would buy them a beer and put the shilling in the tankard where of course if fell to the bottom and it could not be seen. That counted as taking the shilling and they hauled you off to become cannon fodder.
The metal tankards of the time quickly started to be manufactured with glass bottoms and these are still popular today.
From about 1700, the practice died out in the early 1850s when the Navy actually started paying the sailors wages and pension, therefore more joined up voluntarily.
English people usually know about the "shilling" (a coin of the time) from the King or Queen. If you took it, then you were enlisted. Just for entertainment however:
The problems came when people did not want to enlist - the recruiters would buy them a beer and put the shilling in the tankard where of course if fell to the bottom and it could not be seen. That counted as taking the shilling and they hauled you off to become cannon fodder.
The metal tankards of the time quickly started to be manufactured with glass bottoms and these are still popular today.
I believe they called the recruiters press gangs.
How long ago was that?
From about 1700, the practice died out in the early 1850s when the Navy actually started paying the sailors wages and pension, therefore more joined up voluntarily.