Some boys were already sufficiently educated to become midshipmen (boy officers) after a few months of training.
Sometimes older boys of good physique were press-ganged but the majority were volunteers, attracted by the romance of the sea and (from 1794 onwards) the relatively good pay. During battles they were made to carry water and gunpowder, earning them the nickname 'powder monkeys'.Ĭlass divisions were not so rigid as in later Victorian times, and boys from humble backgrounds went aboard with the sons of gentlemen and of existing officers and seamen. They acted as cabin boys to officers and senior seamen, but they were also apprentice seamen, 'learning the ropes' (literally) as they underwent sail training on the rigging. In the eighteenth century the Royal Navy encouraged boys as young as nine to enlist as 'servants' (the lower age limit was raised to 13 in 1794). See also the same scene from other angles. 'Kissing the Gunner's Daughter' was naval slang for corporal punishment administered to a young seaman over a gun as imagined in this artist's impression. Farrell, partly based on research by 'Diogenes' 'KISSING THE GUNNER'S DAUGHTER' United Kingdom - Naval Discipline for Boys Part I: 1780-1860 By 'Newjack' With additional material by C. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT FOR BOYS IN THE UK ROYAL NAVY: 1
