happy? - Sept 28 (Flogging ends)

Subject: RE: happy? - Sept 28 (Flogging ends)
From: A Wandering Minstrel
Date: 29 Sep 05 - 08:01 AM

The rarity is not that unusual. The US navy really only came into existence in the late 1700's and having just thrown off the colonial yoke they were having no truck with things like the Articles of War. US sailors were largely volunteers and as such needed much less discipline unlike the Royal Navy with a two hundred year tradition of the press and keeping the mutinous dogs subservient. :)

Subject: happy? - Sept 28 (Flogging ends)
From: Abby Sale
Date: 29 Sep 05 - 07:41 AM


The US Navy & Merchant Marine end flogging= 9/28/1850

          He was a New York tailor
                  Ranzo, boys, Ranzo!
          Shanghai'd aboard a whaler
                  Ranzo, me boys, Ranzo!
  
          They gave him lashes thirty
          Because he was so dirty.
  
          They gave him lashes twenty
          That's twenty more than plenty
  
          Ranzo nearly fainted
          When his back with oil was painted
  
                          "Reuben Ranzo," a long-drag shanty.

Far as I've found, USian songs dealing with flogging seem pretty rare compared to a fairly large number of British/Australian ones that do deal with it. The DigTrad version of this is a particularly good one.

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