About Impressment

The Press Gang by Luke Clennell (1781-1840)

Some articles and research materials relating to the practice of Impressment:

The National Museum/Royal Navy
THE PRESS GANGS AND NAVAL RECRUITMENT

The Royal Museums Greenwich, Research guide to Press gangs and impressment

National Archives
The War of 1812
Stoking the Fires: The Impressment of Seaman Charles Davis by the U.S. Navy
By John P. Deeben

The Freedom Trail Foundation
IMPRESSMENT — Or, You're in the Royal Navy Now
Kim H. Carrell

And be sure to stop by and LIKE the Doctor's page on Facebook.

Here's the Tender Coming

  Here's the Tender Coming - new and improved! from Sharpie on Vimeo  

This video was SO popular last year that it HAD to be included again this year!

Here's The Tender Coming

Here's the tender coming, pressing all the men

Oh dear hinny, what shall we do then?

Here's the tender coming, off of Shields Bar

Here's the tender coming, full of men of war

Hide thee, canny Geordie, hide thyself away

Hide till the frigate makes for Druid's Bay.

If they take thee, Geordie, who's to win our bread?

Me and little Jacky: better off be dead.

Here's the tender coming, stealing of my dear

Oh dear, hinny, they'll ship you out of here

They will ship you foreign, that is what it means

Here's the tender coming, full of red marines.

Hey, bonny lassie, let's go to the Lawe*

See the tender lying, off at Shields Bar

With her colours flying, anchor at her bow

They took me bonny laddie, best of all the crew.

Here's the tender coming, pressing all the men

Oh dear, hinny, what shall we do then?

Here's the tender coming, off at Shields Bar

Here's the tender coming, full of men of war.

*The Lawe is a high vantage point at Shields; 'hinny' = henny, love or dear (cf. the Cockney 'ducks' or ducky')

Special thanks once again to regular reader 'Sharpie' for allowing us to make use of this video!

Special Press Gang related posts all week long leading up to the

Acasta's Press Gang program at the Fair at New Boston!

Be sure to check back every day this week at 8AM!

And be sure to stop by and LIKE the Doctor's page on Facebook.

Keeping it Legal

From the Orkney Library's Balfour Collection (Ref D2/19/16)

The above document gives ship captains the legal right to impress men for their ships. Captains would sign over such documents to their Lieutanants, who were the ones to lead the press gangs. Additional unseen text on this documents bears witness to that fact, it reads:

"I Do hereby Depute Lieut Wm Balfour belonging to His Majesty's Sloop Lynx under my command, to Impress Seamen, Seafaring Men and Persons whose Occupations and Callings are to work in Vessels and Boats upon Rivers, according to the Tenor of this Warrant. In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal this thirtieth day of April 1803."

In their Ernest Marwick Collection (Reference D31/1/6/15) in a transcript of a letter from Alex Skene on 6th November 1800 he states that: 

"I assure you Sir that the impress service is to me the most unpleasant part of an officers duty and it is impossible to defend the propriety of it but on the score of necessity"

All information comes from the Orkney Library, the oldest public library in Scotland.

Special Press Gang related posts all week long leading up to the

Acasta's Press Gang program at the Fair at New Boston!

Be sure to check back every day this week at 8AM!

And be sure to stop by and LIKE the Doctor's page on Facebook.

Shanties from the Seven Seas

"Shanties from the Seven Seas 

Shipboard work-songs and songs used as work-songs from the great days of sail"

Collected by Stan Hugill 

Reviewed by Jim Apple

First published in 1961, my copy reprinted in 1994

I saw this book mentioned in the footnotes in various places and tracked it down in its present form and hit clicked on the procedure to checkout prompt and received the book on my doorstep after ordering it later in the week, opened it up and spent the next week reading and singing many of my favorite songs (with many new verses that I had never heard) and was led to find songs that had up to this point escaped me. 

My review

1) If you are a lover of the sea and find yourself with nothing new to read, find this book and learn and keep these songs alive for the next generation.

2) This book is a must have for anyone who still sings songs of the seas and wants more....

3) Buy this book, you will thank me later.

So yeah, I liked this book, and I bet you just might too…

Pressgang Week is COMING!

In the week leading up HMS Acasta's Press Gang demonstration at the Fair at New Boston, there will be a series of posts dedicated solely to the act of Press Ganging in the early 19th Century.  We have dubbed it PRESS GANG WEEK! Starting Monday, August 31st and lasting until Friday Sept. 4th, each day the Acasta site will feature special articles, art, video, &c. about Impressment in the Royal Navy.

Come back Monday morning and be a part of the meanest week on the internet!

Mail Packet, Sneak Peek

It's almost time to start putting the Mail into the Packet, but before I did, here's a sneak peek at some of it. We got some really beautiful, amazing stuff this year and I wanted to give special thanks to the following for their amazing efforts!

Melissa Alexander

Toni Tumbusch

Tony Gerard

Lauren Muney

Catie LeCours

Stephanie Farra

Adrian Geary

K. Tolhurst

Paris Major

J. Winchester

Kat Rosewitz

L. Phillips

Sabine Schierhoff

R. Bartgis

S. Jones

…and all of our other readers who submitted pieces for the education and enjoyment of our members and the public. Without you, the mail packet project would have been woefully empty. The Packet is slated to be delivered on Saturday, Sept. 5th at the Fair at New Boston. 

Keep watching participants, there's more to come!

Read This Now!

In the event you haven't noticed, we research and write a LOT, there's always something new to discover on the Acasta website. You can find specific content by following the labels at the bottoms of each day's posts, or by clicking on the links below. Let us know what your favorite stuff is:

200th - Posts with this label are posts that have to do with the 200th anniversary of some event that took place during the War of 1812. Either with the Acasta herself, or the war in general. Want to know what was happening on a particular date? Here you go.

Apple - Posts with this label are either written BY or about Acasta ship's carpenter Mr. Jas. Apple.

Baptiste - Posts with this label are either written BY or about the Acasta Surgeon's Mate.

Book Review - These posts take a look at books written about Naval subjects of interest.

Capt Freymann - Posts with this label are either written BY or about Acasta ship's Captain Robert Freymann

Capt Hurlbut -  Posts with this label are either written BY or about Captain Tom Hurlbut, friend to the Acasta.

Capture - Information regarding historical captures made by the Acasta during her service.

CFNA- Posts related to the organization known as Crown Forces North America (CFNA).

Event Invite - These posts are invitations to the general public to attend specific historic events. A great way to figure out where the Acasta crew will be during the year!

History - Posts involving the REAL history of HMS Acasta or her crew

HMS Bounty - Articles or images concerning this particular vessel.

HMS Victory - Articles or images concerning this particular vessel.

Hollybrass - Posts with this label are either written BY or about Acasta crew member Samuel Hollybrass, a generally unpleasant sort of fellow.

Images - This label is given to any post that is picture heavy. Looking for lots of awesome War of 1812 or Royal Navy recreation pictures? Look no further! The Acasta has been gifted with some amazing photography over the years from a variety of sources.

In The News - Historical news articles that make mention of the Acasta or her crew.

Jane Austen Festival - Given to any post that has to do with the annual Jane Austen Festival that is held every July in Louisville, KY.

Letter Writing - Posts relating to writing letters that look to be from the period portrayed by HMS Acasta. Great help if you wish to participate in the Mail Packet project.

LIST - This label is given to the series of reenactor list, Ways to improve, the best and worst things about the hobby, stupid questions asked by the public and so forth.

Lt Ramsey - Posts with this label are either written BY or about Acasta ship's Second Lieutenant Michael Ramsey.

Lt. Hamilton - Posts with this label are either written BY or about Acasta ship's First Lieutenant Jim Hamilton.

Lt. Tumbusch - Posts with this label are either written BY or about Acasta ship's Third Lieutenant Tom Tumbusch.

Master & Commander - Posts that have to do with the Aubrey-Maturin series of books by author Patrick O'Brian or the 2003 movie.

Mail Packet - This label will involve letters (real or digital) sent or received by Acasta crew. It also occasionally has to do with a call to readers for letters, a fun project for authors and historians alike!

Medical Journal - These posts have to do with entries in the Surgeon's log book. Some are transcriptions from log books of the period, some are fictional.

Miscellany - A grab bag of odds and ends posts that couldn't really be labeled anything else.

Mission 1 - All posts pertain to the Acasta's first play test of the "Spy Game", a first person activity played between teams at Mississinewa 1812.

Mission 2 - A writing exercise by members of the crew involving the 1813 chase of the US vessel, 'Young Teazer'

Mission 3 - These posts involve the Doctor's special assignment to take part in a mock Naval assault at Niagara on the Lake.

Mission 4 - The Acastas go ashore at the Fair at New Boston in an attempt to catch a spy, and the Doctor gets engaged!

Mission X - All posts related to the Doctor's covert mission to France.

Mississinewa 1812 - Given to any post that has to do with the annual Mississinewa 1812 event that is held every October in Marion, IN.

Music - Music or lyrics (or both) to old period songs.

New Boston - Given to any post that has to do with the annual Fair at New Boston event that is held every Labor Day Weekend near Springfield, Ohio.

Press Gang - Content and images from the Acasta's Press Ganging activities at events.

Real Crew - Posts with this label are either written by or about REAL historical members of the crew of the Acasta between 1797-1815.

Red Box - Content and images having to do with the "Red Box' game.

Signal Flags - These posts involve images and information having to do with this means of communication during the War of 1812. Sometimes they even involve fun messages to be decoded!

Tall Ship - Posts with this label contain information about or images of tall ships.

The Doctor - Posts with this label are either written BY or about Acasta ship's surgeon Albert Roberts

Toasts - information pertaining to the Daily Royal Naval Toasts given at dinner.

Vassermann - Posts with this label are either written BY or about the Surgeon's personal servant James Vassermann.

Video - Any post with a video or a link to a video in it can be found here.

Wedding - These image heavy posts are all about the Doctor's 1813 style wedding.