The Grog Ration

[herakles]

No, sorry. We are not about to start issuing a daily tot here.

Some of you will know Michael Quinion's weekly newsletter on aspects of the English language. If you are not subscribing to this excellent thing and you are interested in words, I recommend you join the list of subscribers.

The most recent issue discussed grog. Some of you will, I am sure know all about this, but for those of you that don't I include it here.

I asked Michael for his permission to place it here and he graciously gave it. Thank you Michael.

Q&A: Grog
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Q. My twin brother recently brought back from Grenada a splendid bottle of rum, which bore an equally splendid story that the origin of the name of the daily ration of "grog" served to British seamen was to be found in that island, and was derived from the brand with which the casks were marked, namely GROG, or Georgius Rex Old Grenada. The George in question is said
to be George III. Does this story hold any water?

A. No. Nor rum either. However, the real story sounds even less
likely, though the experts are pretty much convinced it is true.

Parts of the bottle's tale are correct, though. The ration of rum
mixed with water that was once served to sailors on board British
warships was indeed called grog. And the rum did come from the West
Indies - the custom of serving it instead of other strong spirits
such as brandy began in 1687, following the British capture of
Jamaica.

In 1740, Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon was commanding officer of the
British naval forces in the West Indies during the conflict with
Spain that was weirdly named the War of Jenkins' Ear, after a
captain who in 1731 had had an ear cut off in a skirmish with the
Spanish. Vernon was so concerned about the bad effects of the rum
ration on his sailors that in August that year he issued an order
that in future the rum ration was to be served diluted:

To Captains of the Squadron! Whereas the Pernicious Custom
of the Seamen drinking their Allowance of Rum in Drams, and
often at once, is attended by many fatal Effects to their
Morals as well as their Health, the daily allowance of half
a pint a man is to be mixed with a quart of water, to be
mixed in one Scuttled Butt kept for that purpose, and to be
done upon Deck, and in the presence of the Lieutenant of the
Watch, who is to see that the men are not defrauded of their
allowance of Rum.

One may presume the tars were not best pleased by this, not least
considering the foul stuff called water that was usually available
on board ship (the Admiral said later in his order that men might,
if they had the money, buy sugar or limes to make the water more
palatable to them). The men, as was their custom, had already given
Vernon the nickname of Old Grog, because on deck in rough weather
he wore a cloak made of a coarse fabric called grogram, a mixture
of silk with mohair or wool, often stiffened with gum. ("Grogram"
is from French "gros grain", coarse grain.) So it was a short step
to naming the diluted drink "grog".

This might be dismissed as no more than another folk tale about the
origin of words, especially as no contemporary record of "grog" has
been found. However, it was widely believed in the Royal Navy to be
the origin, to judge from the earliest example we have. It is from
a poem written by Dr Thomas Trotter, the surgeon of HMS Berwick. He
wrote these lines on board ship on 4 August 1781:

A mighty bowl on deck he drew,
And filled it to the brink;
Such drank the Burford's gallant crew,
And such the gods shall drink.

The sacred robe which Vernon wore
Was drenched within the same;
And hence his virtues guard our shore,
And Grog derives its name.

The term was broadened by landlubbers who were ill-conversant with
naval customs to mean any strong drink, though in Australia and New
Zealand it can also mean beer. "Groggy", a word first used in the
West Indies, came from "grog" to mean a person overcome by liquor;
later its meaning expanded to include anybody who was unsteady and
dazed for any reason.

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[Uncle Albert]

I served as a junior rate on HMS Jufair, a shore establishment based in Bahrain. The fresh water was so disgustingly brackish, that if you took a can of Coca Cola to 'up spirits', you were allowed to have a neat tot of rum and the OOD watched as you topped up the glass with coke.

As a complete aside, petrol was 1/6 a gallon (7.5p), and good distilled drinking water was also 1/6 a gallon. You had to use the good distilled water in your car radiator or the salts in the local fresh water would block the radiator in a month.

[herakles]

Wow! A reply! After over 6 months too.

[Chris Howat]

Having supervised the issue of grog onboard many times, it was amazing what sailors would get up to in order to get extra. Neat rum in excess of that issued had to be thrown away usually by pouring down the sink. Some clever chap used to disconnect the drain down below and catch the surplus as it poured down.
There must be many other stories about the rum issue.......

[oldsalt]

In the 50's I was a mess caterer of the stokers mess, in HMS Drake, one of my duties was issuing the tot in the drill shed. There were so many in barracks we served the grog from the largest fannies. When a sailor came up for his tot the routine was dip a 1/2 pint glass into the fanny then transfer the rum from the glass into the tot measure held in the left hand, surplus rum would overflow the measure back into the fanny. When a chum came for his tot the usual routine would be followed except when the measure was full the surplus was left in the glass the measured tot quickly poured on top and consumed fast. The vast number of matelots drawing rum meant the supervision was very lax. After I was promoted, my duty supervising the rum issue was to taste the water for mixing, to ensure it was fresh water and then order " MIX".

[Jan Steer]

I too served at Jufair. As a sparker I worked in the joint communications centre. It was almost exclusively RAF and we worked RAF watchkeeping routines instead of naval ones. I was one of two matelots allocated to each watch and kept ostensibly to send and receive morse traffic to and from our 'sweepers.
Of course we were allowed to disappear at 1130 to draw our tot much to the chagrin of the crabfats. Then we would arrive back on watch to burble like rock apes over them for a couple more hours! Great fun! I was there too when the very last tot was issued. I've never seen so many men in tears!
Jan

[SCRG1970]

As a young killick in Collingwood under instuction it was customary to draw our tot after instuction finshed ie 1600. I presume this was to ensure we didnt nod off or wrap ourselves around the lathes.

So on Fridays it was down your tot , get changed and pile into an old banger with three oppos and head up the line on weekend.

What chance would any of us have had of passing a breathalyser test if it had existed in those days !!!!

Gerry

[David Shipton]

Jan, I was probably on the receiving end of your morse when I was a sparker in Wiston, one of the 10th MCMS running out of Bahrain. The lunchtime sked always passed in a blur!

I remember the blokes in Jufair using coke in their tot in lieu of water but onboard we still used oggin

Cheers
David

[Jan Steer]

I remember some of 10 MCM. Tommy Sawyer was in Brereton and I think Jumper Collins was on Beachampton but I can't be sure. Didn't Puncheston break her back in Biscay on her way home? I also remember running down Mina Sulman jetty for drinks onboard various duty frigates when they called in. Galatea springs to mind and with Sam MacFarlane on the Tartar. I don't remember coke in my tot at Jufair but I do recall that more often than not it was almost neat! Can't say I enjoyed Bahrein; so boring. Hated working for the crabs even more!
Jan

[Jan Steer]

Interesting post Herakles. William Spavens writing around 1760 tells us that although there was no official issue of spirits in the navy at that time. All seamen were allowed a gallon of small beer per day until it ran out. After that they got local supplies. They were entitled to half a pint of brandy and one and a half pints of water mixed into grog. In the West Indies of course it was rum-grog and in the East Indies arrack-grog. In the Med or at the Cape of Good Hope the daily allowance was a pint of white wine mixed with another of water and served twice a day, either at breakfast and dinner or dinner and at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Spavey's ships, DRAGON, didn't issue rum officially until July 1760 but the men could buy there own supplies. Usually the sailors mixed spirits with sugar and other ingredients to make punch. 'Flip' was Brandy, beer and sugar. 'Bumbo' was rum, sugar, water and nutmeg. Limes were cheap and often added to rum punch.
Tim Clayton's book, "Tars", makes interesting reading.

Best wishes
Jan

[Woodbutcher]

Uncle Albert, post # 2
You saying that petrol and water were 1/6 a gallon, seems that they are still keeping pace with each other, as petrol and bottled water are about NZ$1.68 per litre, here at the moment.
Cheers, Dagwood.

[herakles]

$1-68 for a litre of water? OMG A litre of pure water costs me 20 cents here.

[jbryce1437]

Twas a sad day when the tot ended. RIP

[bluestreak]

"Up Spirits". I think the shore side photo was taken at Whale Island.

Tony L

[slingerspark]

Afternoon all.I was one of two chief elecs on board H M S ACHILLES when we joined the R.N.from building in GLASGOW at the beginning of JULY 1970 and I do believe that we were the last ship to commence drawing the TOT.On the last day we all decided to save one tot to celibrate its demise the following year. Unfortunately someone gave us away to the captain and so we had to drink it fast. WHAT A SHAME TO GO IN THAT WAY. But as senior rates we were at least allowed spirits even if they were of the civvy variety. Love the site, keep everything going. only one gripe, thats everybody is a nickname. P.S anybody on here from the ACHILLES, believe she is still going with the CHILLEANS SLINGERSPARKS A K A SLINGER

[ltotenby]

Never could understand that as a OD, the rum was watered down. As a Leading rate, the rum was watered down. As a PO, just 'neat', no water... On the Tuesday I had my watered down tot, on the Wednesday as a PO, I had my neat tot. Somehow overnight I ws able to take my tot stronger!!!!!!!!!! George..

[NSR]

That's because as a PO you were considered to have reached the point to be trusted not to store it and have a binge at the weekend. Watered rum didn't keep. or at least that was the theory.

Ken

[mike mayer]

What was a rum ration worth. That is an open question. In terms of monetery value not much, Unless you were RA But what a lot it could be used for!

[oldsalt]

I think in the 50's a rating who choose T was given 4d in lieu of the tot. Each man in the RN was either UA, under age, T, temperance or G, grog. The number of ratings who drew their tots was in decline in the 60's. In Ark Royal 61-3 an experiment was carried out, grog (not neaters) was issued on one of the weather decks to individual entitled ratings. It was found that a high percentage of those entitled just did'nt bother to turn up for the issue. I imagine a lot of messdeck rum rats were disappointed. The age when a rating became eligible for grog was 20yrs.

[harry.gibbon]

and the Death of the Tot!!!

Myself and others attended the "funeral parade" on the parade ground of HMS Terror in Honkers ... the senior rates turned out as did the padre ... the service was solemn ... and when we opened the coffin in the SR;s mess lo & behold twas full of fannies of rum Hmmm and what wasn't pussers was substituted with 151 instead.

how I was deposited home 12 stories up is another stories as is the ruination of a set of whites.

I have pics of the parade but am having probs getting them on to the forum at the moment

Little h

sorry HMS TAMAR ; my time at Terror is the making of other posts little h

[Scribe]

As a Writer during much of the 60s I had to note on pay records if a rating was "T" and entitled to the very small payment. Even on shore establishments, no more than one or two, and frequently none, would be "T". In one shore base where the grog wasn't a mess issue, I sometimes stood alongside the jack dusty who was issuing the neat rum and I dished out the water. I would give as little as I could get away with to make it about a 1:1 mix (better than neaters in my view). Sometimes the officer present would turn a blind eye and sometimes I would be told to do the job properly. Practically nobody didn't turn up, probably only about two or three percent non-take-up and they would be ratings who couldn't get to the muster rather than didn't want their tot. Usually arriving two minutes after the jack dusty and the officer-of-the-watch had disposed of the remains in the traditional way. In one shore base, the Sunday grog was issued at 0930 and we still got a near 100% take-up.

I was rum bosun for about a year in one mess where the grog was issued in a fanny for me to dish it out in the mess and it would be nearly unheard of for someone to tell me that they didn't want it.

It may have been different in the FAA.

[oldsalt]

Scribes where were you in the 60's with rum being issued as you describe, I hav'nt heard of a rum issue early in the morning, was it ashore in tropical routine? Rum was usually drawn from the spirit room & neat SR's issue made & 1100 , junior ratings issue at 1150. After 13 yrs on the lower deck I was promoted in 1963, I had a tot only when "splice the mainbrace" was ordered, if OOD attending issue I had to taste the water intended for the grog to ensure it was fresh water not sea water, when satisfied I ordered "mix". The second tot for splice the mainbrace was usually issued at the end of the working day.:confused::confused::confused:

[Scribe]

Keith - HMS St. Angelo and it could have been tropical routine in the summer and only on a Sunday. However, the same time held true in a shore base in the UK but I can't now remember which one.

[Uncle Albert]

While I was victualled in HMS Osprey, I was compulsory 'T', because I actually lived at Portland Bill WT Station. We didn't have an officer and so there was nobody to supervise the issue of the rum. I'd been there about a year, and one day was checking my pay sheet when I noticed that there was no 'T' money. So I went down to the pay office to see about it.

About six months later I picked up an extra six pounds. The b*****ds had deducted tax from about £8-9.

Also, apparantly there was so much extra work involved in back tracking to trace others who hadn't received their 'T' money, that everytime I visited the pay office, everybody was "too busy" to deal with my query.

Another lesson learned: Never upset the Pay bob, to add to never upset the chef.

[oldsalt]

Keith - HMS St. Angelo and it could have been tropical routine in the summer and only on a Sunday. However, the same time held true in a shore base in the UK but I can't now remember which one.

Thanks for the explaination Scribes, thinking of a 0930 tot was giving me sleepless nights.:o:o

[harry.gibbon]

What was a tot worth....??

Well; with old George Parker (1901-1981) on board the Camperdown, his own brass ball at the mast head, his tariff for favours was barely negotiable ...

Little h

[harry.gibbon]

The subject of my earlier post;
The solemn parade at the Death of the Tot at HMS Tamar

Little h

[jbryce1437]

Looks like the Death March. tut tut, no black arm bands.
I am still in mourning:(

[harry.gibbon]

You know the rules beer bosun..... dis-obey the promulgated daily orders and... suffer the consequences.

No black arm bands indicated either compulsory or optional ... rig of the day for the parade did require black shoes.

... and the Padre was as always our guiding light but not even he with a direct line to a higher power saw the need; neither could his line of communication save our tots.

Sad day indeed.

Little h

[jbryce1437]

For some time now, I have believed that 31st July should be a Public Holiday.
There again, some people believe that every day is a Public Holiday.;)

[ivorthediver]

For some time now, I have believed that 31st July should be a Public Holiday.
There again, some people believe that every day is a Public Holiday.;)

Thats a Fact... Beer Bosun but most of them never do a hard days work anyway !

[harry.gibbon]

Hmmm bit steep that last one:-

Being past retirement age, and still in business... and delivered a car today so the guy can go back to East Anglia when HE comes back of hols monday.

We delivered one 235 miles for a birthday yesterday, day ended 2230!

Just exactly who are 'THEY' guys?:rolleyes:

Little h

'THEY' relating to the quote "most of them never do a hard days work anyway"

[SCRG1970]

Little h

As I sit here nursing my tot of 1:1 I realise that I am could be one of those "THEY" guys ! But the golden liquid does mean I dont really care !

And that was the beauty of the tot , it meant for at least an hour or so we could forget the rubbish bits of life

Regards

Gerry

[harry.gibbon]

Gerry,

ENJOY!!! because I am embibing on a few cans myself... no driving tomorrow and hopefully the day after, so I all of a sudden am one of THEM.;)

Little h

[Jan Steer]

Don't go telling folks that you are one of "them" Little H. Some people might just get the wrong idea about you!

Best wishes
Jan

[harry.gibbon]

Nay nay and thrice times nay Jan...thats why I edited my post of 11-04-2009 at 2115hrs to clarify who THEY were...phew that was a close run thing - thanks:eek: Little h

[ivorthediver]

Nay nay and thrice times nay Jan...thats why I edited my post of 11-04-2009 at 2115hrs to clarify who THEY were...phew that was a close run thing - thanks:eek: Little h


Well I think that clearly establishes the fact that you are not "one of those"
I'm glad to say...........

[mike mayer]

STEADY ! Things could escalate;