Drunken sailors and rum shops

A DRUNK SAILOR IS A DOCILE SAILOR

A pint of rum is quite some alcohol for one person. But that is precisely what every Royal Navy sailor was entitled to daily back in the 18th century. Each warship, like those found in Nelson’s Dockyard at that time, had a much larger crew than was necessary to sail it in case it found itself at battle. The theory behind giving the sailors such ample rum rations was that drunk sailors wouldn’t mutiny against their superiors. Bear in mind that the rum that was being consumed back then wasn’t like the beautiful smooth English Harbour Rum we drink today in our delicious rum punches, but instead came from the first distillation, which not only made it very cheap but also extremely strong. And by strong, we are talking about 80 percent alcohol per volume. Unsurprisingly, mutinies were rare.

ISLAND RUM CULTURE

By the early 20th Century, most villages had a rum shop serving spirits imported by the barrel from Barbados. Aged, blended, diluted and coloured with caramel or prune juice by the owner of the rum shop, who was often a Portuguese immigrant from Madeira, it was sold by the glass or bottle to the men of the village who would meet up for a friendly, or sometimes more competitive, game of dominos. There was a rather compelling reason to win the game because tradition had it that the loser bought the next round.

ISSUE 12 • DECEMBER 2021