Black Tot Day

[David]

Black Tot Day

On July 31, 1970, Britain’s Royal Navy officially stopped its daily ration of rum to crewmembers aboard naval ships, ending a centuries-old tradition.

Mourning the End of the Tot


Share“Up Spirits” was the famous call that seamen aboard Royal Navy vessels had heard each day around noon for more than three centuries, signaling them to report to the deck and receive a tot, or shot, of rum.

Before rum, the Navy had served beer to its sailors. But as the Navy began traveling to all parts of the world, it needed a drink that wouldn’t rot in barrels and would take up less cargo room. According to the Web site of Pusser’s Rum, sailors were first served rum in 1655 and it became standard practice by 1731.

Sailors were originally served a gill (a quarter of a pint) of rum in the afternoon and evening. The rum helped to boost the spirits of men on a long journey, but often they would become intoxicated by saving their tots and drinking them together. In 1740, Adm. Edward Vernon, nicknamed “Old Grog,” ordered that the rum be watered down before being served so that sailors would be forced to drink it right away.

The watered-down rum, which also had lime and sugar added for flavor, was unpopular with the sailors and derisively called “grog.”

The officer in charge of dispensing the rum onboard ship was called the purser. Mispronunciations eventually gave way to calling the rum “Pusser’s.” The name stuck and Pusser’s is now a popular brand of rum, especially with the older generation of Brits.

In 1831, rum became the official beverage of the Navy. During the 19th century, the serving was reduced to an eighth of a pint and later the evening serving was eliminated.

The tot played an important social role on the ships. “At sea, rum was a kind of currency, just like money,” says Pusser’s Rum. “To offer a shipmate a portion of one's tot, no matter how small, was deemed to be the apotheosis of generosity.”

In 1970, the House of Commons, feeling that the crews needed to be alert and sober to operate the technologically advanced equipment, decided to abolish the practice of serving rum, though sailors would be allowed an extra can of beer every day.

The daily tot was served until July 31, 1970, a day that came to be known as Black Tot Day. Ships bemoaned the dark day in many different ways; some held elaborate ceremonies, and others threw their final ration overboard. The HMS Dolphin paid respects to the tot’s demise by having “a gun carriage bearing a coffin that was flanked by two drummers and led by a piper playing a lament,” says Axford’s Abode.

[David]

Grog - This most traditional of all rum drinks is a rich part of the early history of Pusser's Rum. There was an Admiral by the name of Vernon who was the hero of the Battle of Porto Bello and the Commander-in-Chief, West Indies Station, the prime area for Spanish trade in the Caribbean. He had selected Porto Bello for attack because he learned that a large assignment of gold and silver had been sent there from Panama. The remarkable sequel, which followed the town’s capture, was Vernon’s decision that all public money found was to be divided fairly as prize money among those British crews which took part in the engagement. This was a brave step, in defiance of the regulations, but general delight at home in England over the victory caused it to be overlooked. No act could have done more to win the sailors' hearts that on most occasions received nothing. The men had affectionately nicknamed Vernon Old Grog on account of the old grogram cloak (a rough hewn fabric of mohair and silk) that he often wore when the weather was bad.

In Vernon’s time, the men received one-half pint of rum a day which they drank neat, that is without water. Thus there was a lot of drunkenness and disobedience on board for which many of the men were brutally disciplined. He was much concerned with what he called, “the swinish vice of drunkenness”. He believed that if the rum was diluted with water that its effects on the senses would be reduced – even though the men were to receive the same amount of rum. Thus Admiral Vernon issued his infamous Order to Captains No. 349 on August 21, 1740. His order refers to the "unanimous opinion of both Captains and Surgeons that the pernicious custom of the seaman drinking their allowance of rum in drams, and often at once, is attended with many fatal effects to their morals as well as their health ... besides the ill consequences of stupifying [sic] their rational qualities ... You are hereby required and directed ... that the respective daily allowance ... be every day mixed with the proportion of a quart of water to a half pint of rum, to be mixed in a scuttled butt kept for that purpose, and to be done upon the deck, and in the presence of the Lieutenant of the Watch who is to take particular care to see that the men are not defrauded in having their full allowance of rum... and let those that are good husbanders receive extra lime juice and sugar that it be made more palatable to them."

The men were incensed that he should have ordered that their rum be diluted, and named it contemptuously grog from the name they had given him. Thus real grog is Pusser’s Rum with water, limejuice and brown cane sugar. Unwittingly, Vernon had created the world's first cocktail - grog!

The Grog Tub - Sailors had a way of embellishing their surroundings during their long stints at sea. The scuttled butt in Vernon’s orders was a simple cask with a lid. Soon after he issued his orders, the entire British Fleet adopted his procedures for watering the rum. Eventually, the scuttled butt gave way to the Grog Tub, an oak cask banded with polished brass or copper hoops and covered with a fancy lid. On the side of the cask were the brass letters THE KING GOD BLESS HIM, the daily toast at noon when the rum or grog were issued. The grog tub was naturally the daily gathering place. While the men stood in line for their grog, rumors were exchanged so that in time the word scuttlebutt became synonymous with the word gossip.

Gulpers / Sippers / Sandy Bottoms - At sea, rum was a kind of currency, just like money. To offer a shipmate a portion of one's tot, no matter how small, was deemed to be the apotheosis of generosity. The men purchased articles from one another using rum as the currency; they played cards and other games of chance for it for it, and it was used to repay favors. Rum had a value, and like money, it came in different denominations defined by how much one might take or be given from another's tot. A wet was just enough on the lips to cover them thoroughly with rum. A sipper, a gentlemanly sip when offered; a gulper, one, but only one, big swallow (usually given as a favor), and Sandy Bottoms ... a rare privilege (in some cases, a settlement of a debt) involving drinking the entire contents of another's tot. The currency of the tot went like this:

3 ‘wets’ (a tiny, tiny sip) equalled 1 sip.
3 sips equalled one gulp.
3 gulps equalled one tot.
Jack / Jack Tar - Jack is a generic name for all British sailors, derived from Jack Tar in the 18th and 19th centuries. Sailors in those years used high-grade tar in their clothing and hair for waterproofing. And the term, "Jack-of-all-trades," described a sailor who could turn his hand to anything, is widely used today.

Jack Dusty and the Tanky - These two men, under the "Pusser," were responsible for doling out the daily tot of rum - or "grog" - to sailors on board ship. Jack Dusty comes from "Jack of the Dust" who was once the Pusser's steward employed in the bread room working with flour. In later years, the Jack Dusty was assigned the task of meticulously maintaining daily book-keeping and inventory record's for the ship's rum. The Tanky was the Jack Dusty's assistant, whose job it was to tend the fresh water tanks and to mix the Pusser's Rum with the correct amount of water for the grog issue. The selection of the Tanky required discrimination since Tanky could develop into the biggest "rum rat" of all if he was inclined that way and not someone to be trusted.

Neat / Dram Rum served without water. Dram is an older term for a "neat" rum ration, similar to a "neater."

Nelson's Blood - Another name for Pusser's Rum, and still in use today by old salts - especially in Great Britain's Royal Navy! At the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21st, 1805, Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson engaged the combined fleets of Spain and France. His flagship was HMS VICTORY. Although outnumbered, he sank or captured 17 of the enemy's ships to not a single loss of his own. This victory still lives as one of the greatest in the annals of naval warfare. Unfortunately, Nelson was mortally wounded and died knowing that victory was his. Legend has it that to preserve his body for the long passage back to England, that it was placed into a large cask of Pusser’s Rum. Upon arrival, when the cask was opened, his pickled body was removed, but the jack tars had drilled a small hole at the base of the cask through which they drained most of the rum, thereby drinking of Nelson’s Blood. Since then, the term Nelson’s Blood has become synonymous with Pusser’s Rum, and is still in wide use today.

Pusser / Pusser's Rum Nothing more than a corruption of the word Purser by the sailors after the officer responsible for the daily issue of rum - thus the name Pusser's Rum.

Rum names - Rum derives its name from the Latin saccharum meaning sugar, but it was also known in an early form as "Rumbustion" - a seventeenth century word believed to have originated in the sugar cane plantations. Other ancient names for rum include Rumbullion, Kill Devil, Barbados Waters, Red-eye and "Nelson's Blood" (see above).

Rum Rat - Describes one in the older days of wooden ships who had a good nose for where extra rum might be aboard a ship, and who was seeking an extra tot or two.

Scuttled Butt / Rum Tub - In earlier years, the scuttled butt was an open (scuttled) fresh-water cask (or butt) on ship decks from which issues of the daily tot of grog were served. (As it served as a gathering point to exchange daily rumors, the term also turned into "scuttlebutt" meaning gossip.) The Grog Tub became the officially designed container from which to issue the daily tot.

Splice the Main Brace! - The great sailing ships were propelled only by the wind in their sails which were attached to spars called yards. The lines to trim the sails were called braces and ran from the ends of the yards to the deck. The main brace was the largest and heaviest of all the rigging being up to 20" diameter on the big ships. To splice it was one of the most difficult tasks on board ship. Sometimes in the heat of battle, the braces were shot away making the ship unmanageable. To those that "Spliced the Main Brace"! went a double issue of rum. It became customary to always "Splice the Main Brace" before battle, always after victory, and to reward a ship's crew, or sometimes the entire fleet, with the order to "Splice the Main Brace!" which meant a double issue of rum for a job well. The ritual was always preceded by hoisting the flag signal to "Splice the Main Brace!" In recent times, to say to a friend, "Let's 'Splice the Main Brace'!" is akin to saying "Let 's have a drink!".

Sucking the Monkey - An unlawful prank and a violation of Admiralty Regulations undertaken by "Jack" in older times in the West Indies when he would fill empty coconuts ashore with rum and then bring them back on board ship filled with the illegal rum.

Tot - On ships of Great Britain's Royal Navy from the mid-1600s and ending in 1970 (on "Black Tot Day") a daily ration of Pusser's Rum - called a tot - was served to the sailors. The daily issue of the tot became a cherished ritual and one of the longest, unbroken traditions in the history of seafaring. In 1740, per "Vernon's Orders," this rum ration was mixed with water to dilute it, to which sugar and lime were added when available to make what became known as "grog".

Traditional Royal Navy Toasts - In the early days, up until about 1900, the officers also received rum. In the Ward Room of the Officers Quarters, the daily dinner ritual (at noon) was to toast the reigning monarch, which was then followed by the toast of the day. This ritual is still in effect. The toasts are:



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


These are to be found on the back of the Pusser's ceramic hip flask.


Why Pusser’s Rum is 95.5 Proof. For the more than 300 years that the rum was served in Great Britain’s Royal Navy, one could only appreciate the strength of the spirit issued in those early days before the hydrometer was invented. We know that it was something close to 95 proof even though it was impossible to establish the proof (or strength) of naval rum accurately until 1816 when the Sykes’ hydrometer was invented. For many years prior to this, the ship's purser (or 'pusser' as he was called) was responsible for testing and issuing the rum at proof by a rough rule-of-thumb method said to have been invented at the Royal Arsenal. Pure rum was mixed with a little water to which was added a few black gunpowder grains, so that when the sun heated the mixture through a burning glass, the gunpowder just ignited but did no more. Too weak a mixture failed to ignite, and the purser could be punished for watering the rum. In 1816 when the Sykes’ hydrometer came into use, the navy undertook a test to establish the proof at which the rum should be issued. They mixed 100 samples with gunpowder in the old way, and then accurately measured the proof of each sample using a hydrometer. The average was 95.5, which became one of the specifications of the rum that Pusser's is sold at today.

Charities: Royal Navy Sailor's Fund/'Tot Fund' - The Royal Navy Sailor's Fund was established by the Admiralty when the daily issue of Pusser's Rum was stopped in 1970. It was capitalized with funds that would have been used to purchase a two year's supply of rum for the navy. When Charles Tobias, the founder and CEO of Pusser's Rum, acquired the rights to Pusser's from the Admiralty, he volunteered an ongoing donation to the Tot Fund from the commercial sales of Pusser's Rum. Aside from the fund's original bequest, this Pusser's Rum contribution has become the Tot Fund's largest source of income, which directly benefits the serving jack tars of the Royal Navy for whom the Tot Fund was established. In addition to the Tot Fund, Pusser's has supported and supports numerous other naval charities and maritime connected institutions such as the Star & Garter Home in London, the Royal Naval Museum at Portsmouth, the United States Naval Memorial Foundation, the Royal Naval Association, the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, and numerous others.

Up Spirits! - The "Up Spirits" call was piped by the bos'n every day at noon throughout the ship. It was the call to muster for the daily issue of rum. Today, many of those familiar with this call, sign their correspondence with the closing salutation "Up Spirits! followed by their signature.