To The Queen!

The Royal Navy's drinking policy is interesting! When the "Sun goes over the yardarm", you may be caught "three sheets to the wind"! Then, "What will we do with a drunken sailor?"

It might come as a surprise to us these days, but during the 18th Century, the Royal Navy issued daily rum rations to all the enlisted men. This practice actually survived until 1970. On the last day, sadly known as "Black Tot Day", the final rum ration was replaced with 3 cans of daily beer.

But, the famed grog was actually a healthier drink than water, which often was not fresh, and contained for long periods of time in casks, stale, foul-tasting and contaminated. From 1740, each sailor received a half pint of rum each day, (half of that at noon, the other half at sunset), served neat. After 1756, a "standard" grog was issued which was 2 parts water to 1 part rum, mixed with lime or lemon and cinnamon, to prevent scurvy. Hence, the British sailors were called "Limeys".

Of course, the naval tradition of drinking is always accompanied by the ritual toasts. The ritual was, and still is, to toast first, the reigning monarch, and secondly, as shown below by the order of the day:

on Monday “Our ships at sea”
on Tuesday “Our men”
on Wednesday “Ourselves”
on Thursday “A bloody war and quick promotion”
on Friday “A willing soul and sea room”
on Saturday “Sweethearts and wives, may they never meet”
on Sunday “Absent friends and those at sea”

I am signing off for a bit as I travel "across the pond" to visit family in London. I will be back soon with, hopefully, new and interesting posts for you.

So, today, being Friday, I say, "To the Queen", and "A willing soul and sea room"!