King`s shilling, anyone....?

[bigjarofwasps]

The King's Shilling

Oh my love has left me wi' bairnies twa

And that's the last o' him I ever saw

He's joined the army and he marched awa'

He took the shillin'

He took the shillin' and he marched awa'

Come laddies come, hear the cannons roar

Tak' the King's shilling an' we're off tae war

Oh he looked sae prood and sae gallant then

Wi' his kilt and sporran an' his musket gun

And the ladies kissed them as they marched awa'

And they sailed awa' boys

They sailed awa', boys, by the Broomielaw

The pipes they played as they marched along

And the men they sang oot a battle song

"March on, march on," cried our Captain gay

And for King and country

For King and country we will fight this day

The battle echoed tae the sound o' guns

And bayonets flashed in the morning sun

The drums did beat and the cannons roared

And the shillin' didn't seem

The shillin' didn't seem much worth no more

Some lost the battle their bodies fell

Cut doon by bayonets and musket ball

And many o' these brave young men

Would never fight for

Would never fight for their King again

Oh my love has left me wi' bairnies twa

And that's the last o' him I ever saw

He's joined the army and he marched awa'

He took the shillin'

He took the shillin' and he marched awa'

[bigjarofwasps]

The King's shilling - for many years a soldier's daily pay, before stoppages - was the shilling given to recruits of the British army and the Royal Navy of the 18th and 19th centuries. The expression "to take the King's shilling" meant that a man agreed to serve as a soldier or sailor.

Recruiters of the time used all sorts of tricks, most involving strong drink, to press the shilling on unsuspecting victims. The man did not formally become a soldier until attested before a Justice of the Peace, and could still escape his fate by paying his recruiter "smart money" before attestation. In the 1840's this amounted to ?1 (twenty shillings), a sum most recruits were unlikely to have at hand.

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, however, is a myth. Recruiters were subject to fines if they used trickery in order to recruit civilians. Also, men who signed up to serve in the military were given a four day 'cooling off' period, during which they were permitted to change their minds.