A few readers have mentioned that they didn't 'get' a reference in a post couple of days ago when I wrote about 'Himself' finding 'Rudd's Shilling' slipped into his pint of Purple Moose. (Himself was among the ranks of the puzzled)
Perhaps my historical play on words was a little too subtle and so I thought I'd better explain it.
Many years ago when serving in the Royal Navy was not a very attractive career option, groups of hard nuts, known as press gangs, used to roam coastal areas of Britain looking for men they could round up and force onto the ships. They would press a shilling, which, of course, had the image of the monarch on one face, into their victim's hand and tell him that he had 'taken the King's Shilling' and was therefore obliged to serve as crew on board one of His Majesty's warships.
Unsurprisingly blokes got wise to this, and so the story goes that the press gangs took to dropping the King's Shilling into their beer when they weren't looking. When they came to drain their glass they would find the coin at the bottom and were dragged off forthwith to a waiting ship. (Incidentally, is it said that this is why some tankards have a glass bottom, so you could spot the shilling lurking at the bottom of the beer and scarper before the press gang grabbed you.)
So, to return to the point, 'Himself' has found himself co-opted into FR volunteer Ian Rudd's lineside maintenance gang. Hence my reference to him finding 'Rudd's Shilling' at the bottom of his pint of Purple Moose (a Porthmadog brew which is highly recommended!)
So now you're all clear then!
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