In the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, ''sucking the monkey'', ''bleeding the monkey'', or ''tapping the admiral'' was the practice of sucking liquor from a cask through a straw. This usually involved making a small hole with a gimlet in a keg or barrel and using a straw to suck out the contents. It was known for people to die from alcohol poisoning by this practice.

Tapping the Admiral

Admiral

Horatio Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...

was killed in the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

by a French

sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

while topside his ship, . Following his victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson's body was preserved in a cask of

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

, or

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...

, to allow transport back to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Due to damage sustained in the battle, HMS Victory first went to Gibraltar for repairs. There the cask was drained and replaced with a wine spirit Upon arrival, however, the story goes that the cask was opened and found to be empty of brandy/rum. The pickled body was removed and, upon inspection, it was discovered that the sailors had drilled a hole in the bottom of the cask and drunk all the brandy/rum. Thus, this tale serves as a basis for the term "Nelson's blood" being used to describe brandy/rum. It also serves as the basis for the term 'tapping the Admiral' being used to describe surreptitiously sucking liquor from a cask through a straw. The Sunderland Daily Echo referred to ‘local naval hero,’ John Waterhouse as ‘one of those who ''tapped the Admiral''’ when he was on board Nelson’s ship, an act which caused permanent injury to his hand when it was crushed in the process of tipping the cask. The details of the story are disputed, as many historians claim the cask contained French

, whilst others claim instead the term originated from a

toast Toast most commonly refers to: * Toast (food), bread browned with dry heat * Toast (honor), a ritual in which a drink is taken Toast may also refer to: Places * Toast, North Carolina, a census-designated place in the United States Books * '' ...

to Admiral Nelson. Variations of the story, involving different notable corpses, and different spirits, have been in circulation for many years. The official record states merely that the body was placed in "refined spirits" and does not go into further detail. The use of the term 'tapping the Admiral' to mean secretly drinking from a barrel of rum or other spirit, pre-dates the Admiral Nelson story. The term appeared in a Caledonian Mercury article, in 1790 and was referred to as 'still a favourite practical joke with the jolly tars' suggesting it was already a well-established euphemistic term for secretly drinking from the Navy's stores. In

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the open ...

, north London, "Tapping the Admiral", a pub recognised for the high quality of its beer, has been named after the tale.

References

{{reflist Alcohol in England British slang Royal Navy Horatio Nelson