The King’s Shilling

Taking the King’s Shilling

During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the regular army largely relied on voluntary recruitment. People enlisted for all manner of reasons: patriotism, family tradition, the desire to quit a boring job for a new career or an exciting adventure, or for the chance to see another country. For many, economic hardship was also a motivating factor.  Although volunteers were the norm, at times of severe manpower shortage the Army had to make do with whomever it could get, sometimes conscripting the down-and-out. Convicted criminals were frequently offered the choice between army service, prison, or penal transportation to the colonies.

Army recruiting parties were a common sight in the 18th century. It was their job to persuade men to leave behind their civilian lives and join the local regiment. They employed various tactics to help seal the deal, including exaggerated tales of the glamour of army life and the promise of money. Sometimes, they even resorted to plying men with drink. The original daily pay rate for a private soldier was a shilling. So, when a man agreed to enlist in the Army, he was said to have ‘taken the King’s shilling’.  Often this first month’s pay was made in advance (sometimes as deceit).

Many ruses were used to entice men into the regular Army.  Publicans, tricksters and recruiting parties would scour the country to lure men into regiments, often slipping a shilling into the drink of an unsuspecting patron at the local pub. Often a bonus payment of a shilling was offered to tempt lowly-paid workers to leave their trade. Since the average daily wage during the late 18^th Century was about 2p, a shilling represented a whole week’s wages in advance (six days). 

Sometimes the ‘King’s shilling’ was hidden in the bottom of a pewter tankard (having drunk his pint, the unfortunate drinker found that he had unwittingly accepted the King’s offer) and once the shilling had been accepted, so had the contract to serve.  This is why some tankards were made with glass bottoms. 

Other recruiting sergeants often had to use less than honest methods to secure their ‘prey’, such as getting the prospective recruit drunk, placing the shilling into his pocket and then hauling him before the magistrate the following morning to get a judgement that he had accepted the enlistment (while drunk) and as was now in the Army. Once conscripted in this manner, it was almost impossible to leave the Army.

Of course, this cheating went both ways.  The bounty for joining the Army for life was £23.17s.6d (about $3,783.91 in today’s money), and this was a huge incentive when the average daily wage was 2p (about 22¢).  One man was hanged in 1787 for enlisting, taking the bounty, escaping and re-enlisting no less than 47 times before being apprehended thus defrauding the Crown of £1144.2s.3p ($177,843 in today’s money).

So, today’s beer seeks to mimic the sort of brew that would be favored by recruiting parties.  It needs to be dark to hide the shilling and strong to “convince” recruits that they willingly agreed to the contract.  In other words, we need a traditional stout.

The Kings Shilling Stout:

20 gallon batch in 18^th Century 3 vessel brewery

Fermentables

• Caramel Malt 80L     12 lb
• 6 Row Brewers Malt 10 lb
• Dark Brown Sugar    12 lb

Hops

• 4 oz Saaz 3.8% AA  Boil 60 min
• 4 oz Saaz 3.8% AA  Boil 15 min
• 4 oz Saaz dry hop

Ferment at room temperature with Whiskey Yeast

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