Popular “Grog” Was The Idea Of An English Admiral

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 34, 5 September 1949, Page 4

Popular “Grog” Was The Idea Of An English Admiral

Most New Zealanders know the meaning of the word “grog” but bow many know its derivation? Today of course, it is the term ap--plied to an alcoholic beverage whose popularity has reached such proportions that it has been found necessary to tone it down so that it will go further, or, at least, that is what the ordinary consumer of the said beverage thinks. However, to get back to “grog.” Names of people and places are borne by various wines and spirits in rather romantic ways, but the designations .of some alcoholic beverages have a doubtful or slangy origin (writes Leo Fanning). On that lower plane lies grog). Rum, a shortened form of the. old Jamaican terms “rumbullion” or “rumbooze,” became “grog” for the British Navy by a strange chance.During Britain’s war with Spain, 1739-42, Admiral Edward Vernon was naval commander in the West Indies. “The admiral was known as ‘Old Grog,’ from his habit of always having his breeches and the linings of his boat-cloaks made of program, a species of coarse white poplin (from the French grosgrain).” “It occurred to ‘Old Grog’ that, in view of the ravages of yellow fever amongst the men of the fleet, it would be advisable in the burning climate of the West Indies, to dilute the blue jackets’ ration of rum "with water before serving out. This was accordingly done, to the immense dissatisfaction of the men, who probably regarded it as a forerunner of ‘Pussyfoot’ legislation. “They at once christened the mixture ‘grog’ after the admiral’s nickname, and ‘grog’ as a term for spirits and water has spread all over the world, and is used as much in French as in English.”

A lump of soda dissolved in blue water will prevent the blue from marking the clothes.