The Purser of the old Navy was a man whose integrity was so frequently a matter of supposition that he was forced to lodge a sum of money in the shape of two sureties, varying from £1200 in first rates to a lesser sum in smaller ships, as a guarantee against speculation. The price of his Warrant, which he bought, was, in the reign of JAMES I. between £60 and £70. This, however, did not prevent the Purser from lining his pockets at the expense of the Seamen. He was expected to do so and considered a fool if he refrained — the latter charge being rare. There were various ways in which he made a good thing out of his job, of which the following are a few: Keeping men’s names on the books if they were dead, or discharged. By ‘Short allowance money’ and victuals for the men so borne. By giving the men ‘beverage’ for good wine, or shrunken and poor victuals instead of prime when on foreign voyages.

Probably the most iniquitous proceeding of all was the first named, the man being tricked into leaving the ship, either by going ashore, or being loaned to another vessel when the unfortunate fellow lost the whole of the wages due to him, the Purser drawing them with a forged Pay Ticket.

By an act of GEORGE II., a Purser was entitled to keep two imaginary men per hundred on his books, and these were known as ‘Widows Men’. The value of their pay and provisions was paid by the Paymaster General to the Widows Fund. This practice commenced about 1763, when the Seven Years’ War was terminated by the Peace of Paris, and we find regulations as to the numbers allowed to ships and their rates of pay, in the Navy Lists up to 1831.The expression came to mean an entirely imaginary person.

Short Allowance Money was the money credited to the men when on short allowance owing to the scarcity of provisions. Orders were given in the reign of Queen Anne that Short Allowance credits were always to be paid to the men themselves, but this seems to have been more honoured in the breach than in the observance.

The Purser had very little to do with the actual handling of the men’s wages, as these were drawn at the end of a voyage or commission, from a Pay Office ashore on presentation of the Pay Ticket furnished by the Purser. In most cases, they were bought at the seaports for about a third of their value, and subsequently cashed by the Jews and Crimps who infested the ships on their arrival. On account of the various tricks enumerated, it is not surprising that the Purser was known on the lower deck by the nickame of Mr. Nipcheese.

The expression to 'Make a dead man chew' also comes from the same source. It is probable that, in this respect, the Naval Purser stands out pre-eminently as the only one who has ever managed to do it. ...and you think things have changed?

The Colloquial Terms of 'Pusser' meaning 'a sailor of the Royal or Australian Navy or 'Pussers' meaning The Navy itself is a corruption of the word Purser and these terms are still used to this day.

Slops were bought from a Contractor by the Purser, the Contractor being known as the Slop Seller. He was bound by instructions to allow the Purser one shilling in the pound on all sales. By over charging both the living and the dead, the Purser added to his commission and also to the over-plus of stock, which would become his at the end of the voyage. He was very much in the Slop Seller’s hands, and if the two did not agree, the Captain was authorised to appoint someone else to receive and vend the slops. It was hardly in the interests of the Captain to interfere, as he also made a good thing out of these practices. Up to 1837 it was customary for the Purser to give private pay to his Clerk at the rough annual rate of £1 per gun for every gun carried by the ship.

The junior member of the Paymaster’s Victualling staff is known. as ‘The Dusty Boy' or ‘Jack Dusty’.

Tobacco was not supplied until 1798 and even then was mostly used to chew and not to smoke, smoking only being permitted in the galley

It is owing to the nefarious practices on the part of the Purser that the system came into force, which is still with us, of Mustering by the Open List, when every man personally reports who he is and what he is paid for. This ceremony is also called Mustering by the Ledger, or in Lower Deck slang, 'White Line Day’ from the fact that every man Toes the Line as he recounts the duties for which he draws pay. The ceremony is generally carried out quarterly and at Inspections.

It was not until 1748 that Uniform was first established for Naval Officers and regulations do not appear to have been fixed concerning the men until 1857, although there had, been spasmodic arid ineffectual efforts long before this to get a certain standard of dress.

What little uniformity that was introduced, was chiefly due to the Slop Sellers supplying the demand for clothing which was in vogue at the particular period. Trousers were a comparatively modern invention; an old time sailor as a rule wore a petticoat. In 1553, it appears that the Mariners of a squadron commanded by Captain Richard Chancellor were appareled in Watchett, or sky coloured cloth, made at and called after the busy industrial town of the XV., XVI., and XVII. centuries ‘By the Severn Sea’ near ‘Blue Anchor’ and about 1600 a writer mentions that, on meeting a vessel in the Pacific we knew her to be English because the Seamen wore breeches’.

Chaucer describes the 14th Century seaman wearing a gown of padding to the knee. In Captain Marryatt’s time the canvas petticoat was still part of a sailor’s kit.The sailor’s lanyard was of no fixed length, but depended on the length of the arm, so that he could open his knife with one hand when the lanyard was round his neck.

A sailor’s silk handkerchief, popularly supposed to be a sign of morning for Lord Nelson, is of a very much earlier date than this, and chroniclers tell us that it was worn in action either round the head to prevent the sweat running into the eyes; round the waist, or as a pad over his knee in case he was one of the handspike numbers at the heavy guns. When ashore, its co lour varied according to individual taste.The ‘Fancy man' had a strong preference for what is known as ‘Bird’s eye’, and if he was really particular in his appearance, he would wear one of the colour of ‘Blood and broken eggs. This was worn knotted loose around the throat.

One of the relics of the old rig that was still in use until quite recently are the pumps worn by the riggers in the Royal Yacht. The word Pumps it is believed, is derived from the fact that they were the form of foot wear commonly worn at that focus of society — the Pump Room at Bath (England).

Many Captains dressed their barges’ crews according to their fancy. It is on record that the Captains of the BLAZER, HARLEQUIN and the TRINCOMALEE did so, and it is believed the Captain of the Caledonia as late as the beginning of the 19th Century, dressed his barge’s crew in Tam O’shanters.

Admiral Vernon also had ideas on this subject, and clothed his barge crew in red.

Epaulettes were brought into the English Navy long after the Army had them, and after they were common in the French service. When first introduced, they were more or less a private adornment and were shaped like a tassel and were known, and are known now, as Swabs. We read that NELSON when at St. Omer in France, met Captains Ball and Shephard, who apparently wore epaulettes, for he wrote to a friend concerning these officers - ‘They wore fine epaulettes, for which I think them great coxcombs. They have not visited me, and I shall not court their acquaintance’.

It is worthy of note that this fretful mood revived in Nelson’s mind some fifteen years later, when, in 1798, Captain Ball took command of the ALEXANDER to join Nelson, who is credited with the words — ‘What, have you come to have your bones broken’. It is gratifying to learn that his opinion of Sir Alexander Ball underwent a somewhat drastic change in later years.The main reason for the introduction of epaulettes was that foreign sentries did not accord the usual honours to British officers, as they did not recognise them as officers without epaulettes.