High seas and hard drinks: Alcohol rations on Dutch vessels

Introduction

Alcohol was ‘the very cement that ke[pt] the mariner's body and soul together’, according to Barnaby Slush, an eighteenth-century British Royal Navy cook. ¹ But while it bound the ‘body and soul’, alcohol also caused more people to drown in their wine glasses than in the sea, or so said the Zeemans-Woordenboek in an 1856 adaptation of the original 1681 text. ² Sailors were known for their heavy drinking, and that reputation has persisted for centuries. But it is a reputation that is based on the sailor with whom the landsman came into contact most often – a sailor ashore. These landsmen, such as clergy, police officers or the local elite, were highly critical of the shore behaviour exhibited by mariners, seeing it as behaviour that was characteristic of excess. But after long periods where their access to alcohol was controlled on board vessels, sailors could let loose when they reached a port, celebrating surviving another voyage in a deadly profession with months of wages in their pockets, although those coins did not stay there for long.

Most sailors spent the majority of their time at sea, however, and drank alcohol there in a different way – usually on someone else's terms. So, how much alcohol were sailors drinking on Dutch vessels and how did that compare to other European ships? This article looks at sailors aboard Dutch ships in the Age of Sail until 1820, ³ and how, and how much, they consumed while at sea. This alcohol consumption did change over time as Dutch regional, Atlantic, Pacific and global commerce expanded and was impacted by domestic changes in alcohol trade and production in the Netherlands itself as well as in states across Europe.

Overall, Dutch vessels did issue more alcohol, by alcohol unit per volume, compared to other states, even as the types of alcohol consumed varied. This article compares the Dutch maritime drinking rates and practices with those of other European nations to determine if sailors on Dutch ships were excessive or atypical. Additionally, the point of nationality is worth considering when studying consumption on Dutch vessels. The Dutch maritime historian Jaap Bruijn remarks that there were always thousands of seamen in Dutch ports and on vessels, and the national make-up was always changing. ⁴ Because of the diverseness of Dutch crews, it is not only the consumption of Dutch sailors that is discussed in this article, but also the issuance of alcohol on board Dutch ships. The nationality of the consumer is thus irrelevant.

Throughout the Middle Ages, beer, wine and water were the traditional and predominant shipboard ration liquids for European sailors, but each had its drawbacks. Water was difficult to keep fresh, beer spoiled quickly, and wine was expensive. Alcohol was cleaner and safer than water, so men, women and children consumed some form of it daily. At sea, contaminated water was particularly problematic. In 1797, David Howarth wrote: ‘we drink water the colour of bark of a pear-tree with plenty of little maggots and weavils in it’. ⁵ Alcohol was often drunk instead, since it lasted longer and was more portable.

Due to global exploration and expanded trade networks with Africa, the Americas, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans, European trade shifted from short-haul Mediterranean or western Atlantic coastal transits to long voyages that lasted months or even years. Ship's companies consequently required liquid rations that were both durable and concentrated, and distilled beverages met these requirements. ⁶ Additionally, alcohol was used to celebrate victories, make toasts, and as part of traditional ceremonies on board.

Consumption varied depending on the type of vessel. According to Bruijn, seafaring enterprises in the Netherlands during the Age of Sail can be grouped into five branches: merchant shipping, whaling, fishing, East India Company shipping and the Navy. ⁷ Each faced different constraints that impacted provisions and shipboard life through variations in voyage length, location and product availability, reprovisioning options, the size of ship and cargo, crew number and make-up, and the type of institution conducting the operation. Further, the Admiralty, West-Indische Compagnie (WIC; West India Company); and Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC; United East India Company) were more regulated and documented than private ventures with civilian owners.

Estimating alcohol consumption at sea is complex, and the data is patchy. Because of their small scale and localized nature, whaling and fishing will not be discussed here in great detail besides a few points to loosely compare them with the VOC, WIC, and Admiralty. Archival sources and secondary literature tend to cover company shipping, especially as part of the VOC and WIC or the Navy. These vessels had rations issued in fixed amounts that were recorded and survive today, making them the strongest sources to consider when studying alcohol issuance on board ships. This article mostly discusses VOC vessels since there is a well-documented pool of ration lists to examine.

Types of Dutch vessels and rationing

The issuing of alcohol on Dutch ships has always been covered through discussion of the official rations, but this has not always been contextualized or placed in a modern framework. In this section, the rationing procedures of the different types of Dutch vessels will be explained and the historiography of the topic will be evaluated.

Once a voyage was underway, food and drink rations were handed out in fixed amounts by the ship's officers. Rations remained largely unchanged throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, especially in the VOC, WIC and Navy, although the specific amounts varied per ship. ⁸ The ration distribution was usually carried out by the bottelier (‘purser’ or ‘steward’) and overseen by a higher officer, who recorded the amount given out to each man. ⁹ The regular sailors were divided into bakken (‘messes’) of seven or eight men, who ate together at set times. ¹⁰

Beer, though in a weaker form than today, was the predominant drink in the fifteenth, sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries on land. ¹¹ Additionally, beer made up the largest quantity, by volume, of shipboard alcohol rations. ¹² But as liquor became cheaper throughout the seventeenth century, drinking patterns changed, particularly among the lower classes in the Netherlands. ¹³ On board vessels, beer shifted in use as well. As voyages became longer, alcohol with a longer shelf life was increasingly used. The risk of scurvy also increased with voyage length, so ways to combat this threat became more important.

Wine was issued on many Dutch ships, though in smaller quantities, at mealtimes or on special occasions, especially because it was more resistant to spoilage. ¹⁴ Wine could also be issued for health reasons, including increasing vitamin intake, and its quantity depended on the circumstances of the voyage. ¹⁵ For example, in 1614 on ‘t Wapen van Amsterdam, the crew noted that, once the beer had gone, they had one small glass, a mutsje, of wine three times a day; a month later, this was reduced to twice a day and then further to once a day. ¹⁶

Like wine, strong spirits were issued (sometimes called an oorlam) on Dutch vessels for both health benefits (anti-scurvy properties or vitamin nutrients) and celebratory intoxication. ¹⁷ In the Netherlands, jenever (‘genever’) and brandewijn (‘brandy’) only started to be differentiated in the later seventeenth century. That century saw the rise of genever first in the Netherlands, which was followed by a British imitation (London Dry Gin) in the early eighteenth century. ¹⁸ Over the course of the eighteenth century, the Dutch made a shift from brandewijn to genever on board ships, and the VOC increasingly standardized its rations. ¹⁹ This coincided with the use of lepelblad (a plant, Cochlearia, high in vitamin C) to prevent scurvy. Brandewijn disappeared from VOC ration lists after 1742 when the daily issuances of wine and genever began, along with beer, while stocks lasted. In 1760, a book on illnesses at sea recommended a mixture of one to six parts of brandewijn or genever to lemon to prevent scurvy. ²⁰

The exact amounts of drink differed depending on the type of Dutch maritime enterprise and how the rations were conducted. For example, from 1597 to the end of the Dutch Republic in 1795, the Dutch Navy comprised five admiralties, each with its own organization. ²¹ According to Dutch naval historian Marc van Alphen, in these chambers, until 1808, the officers themselves took care of the provisioning for vessels, and the captain, with an allotted seven stuivers per head per day, would purchase the provisions for the voyage. ²² The quality of the foodstuffs could vary because if the captain could purchase the goods for less than the allotted amount, he could keep the change.

There is a large gap in knowledge when it comes to the five types of Dutch seafaring enterprises because merchant ships, unlike the VOC, WIC and Admiralty, were administered as private undertakings. ²³ Information on Dutch whaling, fishing and coastal trade is equally scant in the archival sources. Some information can be gathered, although further research is much needed. Bruijn suggests in his overview of seafaring in the eighteenth-century Netherlands that the composition of the foodstuffs on merchant ships, whaling vessels and fishing ships was not much different than that of the VOC or the Admiralty. ²⁴ All vessels were confined by the shelf life of different provisions and none of them offered their sailors many choices. Like the VOC, on Dutch whaling ships, the owners usually issued rations of semi-regulated, fixed amounts, although these ships were only provisioned for four to five months at a time. ²⁵

Rations did not apply to everyone on board, however. Passengers and senior officers ate in their cabins and enjoyed more agreeable food and tableware, as well as (usually) unlimited drinks. ²⁶ Lesser officers got double or triple drink rations and the chief officers drank in abundance. Additionally, deck officers brought their own supply of alcohol, usually two kelders (‘cases’ with 12 bottles) of genever and wine. ²⁷ The separation between high-ranking sailors and common sailors existed on whaling vessels as well. In the 1710 Inventaris of lyste, more expensive and higher-quality alcohol was provisioned specifically for the officers’ cabin, while the main crew received drink of lesser quality and in lesser quantities. ²⁸

Dutch vessels and other European ships

The Dutch were perhaps the most intensely maritime nation in Europe. Were Dutch sailors therefore exceptional in their alcohol consumption when compared to other European nations’ navies and merchant marines?

Each nation had its own rationing practices, alcohol production economies and drinking cultures onshore. France focused on wine and brandy (the grape-based distilled product, not Dutch brandewijn); Spain had wine; Portugal used wine and port (fortified wine); the Scandinavians enjoyed beer; and Britain, like the Netherlands, had beer, imported wine, rum and, later, gin. Drinking at sea was thus shaped by and dependent on what was available domestically and foreign imports. As with Dutch vessels, there were also variations across centuries, type of vessel, and voyage duration and location.

Again, the sources are more limited for the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, before rations became more standardized. The sources on European East Indiamen, besides the VOC, are remarkably lacking in calculations for diets. While Jaap Bruijn and Femme Gaastra's edited volume, Ships, Sailors and Spices, features well-researched chapters on Portuguese, French, English, Danish, Swedish and Austrian vessels, only the first two authors discuss provisions. Nevertheless, some historians have made promising strides in calculating provision rates and some contemporary sources are available. These will be discussed below and compared with the Dutch rates.

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

The most complete study on rations in the sixteenth century comes from Hayes et al.’s work and some calculations by Unger. Mostly during this century, the north-western nations drank beer while the southern seafarers had wine. There is some variation in the recorded amounts, however. Hayes et al. estimate that English sailors in the Navy drank 3.8 litres of beer daily in 1565, while Unger states that it was 4.6 litres. Hayes et al. estimate that, in the Danish Navy, 6.4 litres of beer were consumed daily in 1557, while Unger uses 4 litres in 1578. Hayes et al. argue that the French Navy issued 5 litres of cider in 1582, the Swedish gave 3 litres of beer in 1546, and the Spanish issued 1.2 litres of wine in 1560. ⁶⁵ Earl Hamilton gives a similar estimate for wine on Spanish treasure ships at that time and notes that they could substitute it for double the quantity of cider when the wine ran out. ⁶⁶ A summary of these rations can be seen in Table 1.

In the seventeenth century, more calculations are available and for vessels closely related to the Dutch ones (see Table 2). On French East Indiamen, 0.75–1.5 litres of wine or 0.2–0.3 litres of spirits were provisioned. ⁶⁷ The historian Philippe Haudrère calculated volumes from sources in French archives and found that these rates differ little from naval vessels, and that on both vessels rations varied by rank. ⁶⁸ A. J. Pack estimates that, on French naval vessels in the seventeenth century, the daily amount was 0.75 litres of wine, and the historian Janet Macdonald notes that the rates stayed unchanged from their issuance in 1689 through several ‘ordonnances’ in 1747, 1765 and 1786. ⁶⁹ Pack notes that when the wine ran out, spirits were issued at 0.1875 litres, but were less beneficial to health than wine. ⁷⁰ Cider and beer were sometimes available through the eighteenth century on vessels making shorter voyages or in colder climates, and issued in double the quantity to wine. ⁷¹

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Table 1.

Ration amounts in the sixteenth century.

Nationality of vessel	Beer	Wine	Spirits
Dutch
English	4.2 litres average
French	5 litres cider
Spanish	2.4 litres cider substitution	1.2 litres
Portuguese
Danish	5.2 litres average
Swedish	3 litres

Sources. Richard Unger, Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Philadelphia, 2004),; Patrick W. Hayes et al., ‘European Naval Diets in the Sixteenth Century: A Quantitative Method for Comparative and Nutritional Analysis’, Historical Methods, 52, No. 4 (2019), 195–212; Earl J. Hamilton, ‘Wages and Subsistence on Spanish Treasure Ships, 1503–1660’, Journal of Political Economy, 37, No. 4 (1929), 430–450.

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Table 2.

Ration amounts in the seventeenth century.

Nationality of vessel	Beer	Wine	Spirits
Dutch	1.8 litres	0.23 litres median substitution
English	4.5 litres
French		1.13 litres median	0.25 litres median substitution
Spanish		0.75 litres
Portuguese		1.4 litres
Danish
Swedish

Sources. For the Netherlands: P. G. M. Diebels, ‘Voeding op de schepen van de Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie’ (Unpublished PhD thesis, Leiden University, 1986). For England: Cheryl A. Fury, The Social History of English Seamen, 1485–1649 (Rochester, 2012). For France: Philippe Haudrère, ‘The “Compagnie des Indes” and Maritime Matters (c. 1725–1770)’ in Jaap R. Bruijn and Femme Gaastra, eds., Ships, Sailors and Spices: East India Companies and Their Shipping in the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries (Amsterdam, 1993), 81–98 ; A. J. Pack, Nelson’s Blood: The Story of Naval Rum (Havant, 1982); Janet Macdonald, Feeding Nelson’s Navy: The True Story of Food at Sea in the Georgian Era (London, 2014). For Spain: Paul S. Taylor, ‘Spanish Seamen in the New World during the Colonial Period’, Hispanic American Historical Review, 5, No. 4 (1922), 631–661.

According to the maritime historian Vitorino Magelhães Godhinho's archival research, Portuguese East Indiamen similarly distributed 1 canada (1.4 litres) of wine a day in the early 1600s, although the sailors were sometimes not given the full amount to ensure the provisions lasted the whole voyage. They were given their full daily allowance in the morning and responsible for managing their consumption throughout the day. ⁷² This applied only to the common sailor, as passengers had to bring their own provisions. ⁷³ In The Social History of English Seamen, 1485–1649, it is noted that each man was entitled to 1 gallon (4.5 litres) of beer daily. ⁷⁴ The historian Paul Taylor notes that the allowance on the 1665 Spanish windward Flota was 0.75 litres of wine daily. ⁷⁵

The eighteenth century

As seen in the Dutch records, the eighteenth century brought a greater diversity of alcohol issued on board, along with more formal regulations (see Table 3). The British, for example, have an extremely well-documented history of alcohol rations on board vessels during this period in both primary and secondary literature. Just as the Dutch brought more genever on board their vessels, the British introduced rum. In 1655, rum was informally adopted as a substitute for traditional beer rations on ships in the Caribbean, where sugar plantations and rum production flourished. ⁷⁶ Beer rations were available as early as the time of Henry VIII, but Vice Admiral William Penn's West Indies naval fleet made the switch to rum due to its plentiful supply where the ships were stationed. ⁷⁷

By the 1740s, rum was the drink of choice in the British West Indies and was drunk neat in drams. ⁷⁸ Because this resulted in a drunk and badly behaved crew, Admiral Edward Vernon ordered rum rations to be mixed with two parts water. The Admiral's nickname was Old Grogram, and the beverage ‘grog’ was named for him. ⁷⁹ By 1756, grog was officially put in naval regulations in the Additional Regulations and Instructions, which first appeared as an agenda to the main Regulations and Instructions text. ⁸⁰ These rations stipulated the official requirement of 1 gallon (4.5 litres) of beer, 1 pint (0.57 litres) of wine or half a pint (0.28 litres) of spirits. ⁸¹ Lemon or lime was recommended to prevent scurvy in a three-to-one ratio, similar to the Dutch use of genever. ⁸² A passenger, William Hickey, remembered a sailor crediting grog for his immunity to vitamin C deficiency, saying: ‘on your honour, grog is your only hope … more virtues than all the contents of a doctor's chest’. ⁸³ Within a century, rum became the preferred beverage, eclipsing weak beer, which soured quickly at sea. ⁸⁴ Beer rations were repealed altogether in 1831. ⁸⁵

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Table 3.

Ration amounts in the eighteenth century.

Nationality of vessel	Beer	Wine	Spirits
Dutch	1.8 litres	0.15 litres	0.15 litres
English	4.5 litres	0.57 litres substitution	0.28 litres substitution
French		1.13 litres median	0.25 litres median substitution
Spanish
Portuguese		0.57 litres
Danish	2.4 litres median
Swedish

Sources. For the Netherlands: Nationaal Archief, 1.04.02, 7075 1, ‘Reglement voor de overbeeden van d O. I. Compagnie scheepen’, Zeeland Kamer. For England: Brian Lavery, ed., Shipboard Life and Organisation 1731–1815 (London, 1998). For France: For France: Philippe Haudrère, ‘The “Compagnie des Indes” and Maritime Matters (c. 1725–1770)’ in Jaap R. Bruijn and Femme Gaastra, eds., Ships, Sailors and Spices: East India Companies and Their Shipping in the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries (Amsterdam, 1993), 81–98; A. J. Pack, Nelson’s Blood: The Story of Naval Rum (Havant, 1982); Janet Macdonald, Feeding Nelson’s Navy: The True Story of Food at Sea in the Georgian Era (London, 2014). For Portugal: Macdonald, Feeding Nelson's Navy. For Denmark: André Skyaasen, ‘Social Dynamics on Danish Sail Ships 1690–1721 (Communication of Roles and Behaviour On Board Danish West India and Guinea Company Ships)’ (Published Master’s thesis, University of Oslo, 2019).

Scandinavian vessels used beer just as the Dutch and British did during the eighteenth century. According to the historian André Skyaasen, Danish and Norwegian crews may have consumed up to 3 litres a day, although a 1702 vessel, Gyldenløve, shows 1.8 litres of beer. Spirits would have also been available. ⁸⁶ These spirits were a regular feature by 1711, although, in the Danish West India Company and merchant ships, they were probably drunk earlier.

Looking at the wine-drinking nations in the eighteenth century, less information is available. Macdonald notes that information on Spanish ships and the Spanish Navy is sparse. ⁸⁷ After 1768, she estimates a basic daily ration that included wine but gives no measurement. She extrapolates information from an 1818 ration for the Chilean Navy of a quarter of a pint (0.14 litres) of spirits and an 1826 ration of half a pint (0.29 litres) of rum in the Argentinian Navy. This is interesting for comparison but negligible to the overall discussion, although the Spanish would have most likely issued wine. Macdonald does note that a decree in 1797 for the Portuguese Navy set the daily amount at 1 pint (0.57 litres) of wine. ⁸⁸

In some navies across the world, alcohol rations at sea decreased in the nineteenth century and beyond. In 1899, the government attempted to curb the chronic drunkenness of Dutch sailors by only allowing alcohol rations to sailors over the age of 20. ⁸⁹ By 1905, liquor rations were abolished by royal decree. ⁹⁰ In the British Royal Navy, the daily allowance of rum was slowly reduced and watered down, but not abolished until 1970. ⁹¹

Comparison

So, the Dutch were not alone in rationing alcohol, but how much were the sailors actually consuming and how did the Dutch rate compare? Is it true that Dutch sailors drank marginally more than those from other nations, according to the official rations? Figure 1 explores this comparison. The calculations are based on the mix of primary and secondary data just discussed and using an alcohol per cent of 3 for beer, 10 for wine, 50 for the Dutch and genever, and 45 for other nationalities and spirits. The provisions used are from larger ocean-going vessels such as East Indiamen or naval vessels because that is where the most information is recorded. Where historians or the primary sources give two different amounts, an average has been taken. When a range is listed, the median amount has been used. If a type of alcohol is merely a substitution for another, that has also been noted. Additionally, rates have been compared for the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries, but the eighteenth century is where the most complete information can be found.

For the Dutch, this means that, on average, sailors on Dutch ships in the eighteenth century drank 1.8 litres of beer and 0.075 litres of genever with breakfast, and 0.15 litres of wine and 0.075 litres of genever with dinner. This is equivalent to about 15.6 units of alcohol daily. ⁹² The maximum daily total takes rationing practices into account. For example, on many days, the Dutch were issuing all three types of alcohol daily on VOC vessels, whereas the British Royal Navy only gave out one type of alcohol. The red line indicates the modern-day weekly recommendation of the British National Health Service.

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Figure 1.

Officially rationed units of alcohol per day in eighteenth-century vessels.

Analysis and conclusion

The reader is probably now wondering how these alcohol rations impacted sailors and if they were drunk all the time. They may have been, according to the nutritional analysis in Hayes et al.’s article and based on contemporary sources. ⁹³ Leuftink argues that drinking was a problem on many Dutch ships and that, in the first few weeks of a voyage, drunkenness was the rule rather than the exception, although contemporary sources do not mention this often and few shipboard surgeons report alcohol as a cause of sickness. ⁹⁴ Additionally, British Royal Navy documents show that very few sailors suffered from the impact of alcohol withdrawal – delirium tremens. ⁹⁵

This does not mean, however, that the sailors were not drunk on board ship. Even if alcohol was supposed to be issued in rations, as previously discussed there were many cases of extra or illicit drinking. Cornelis Boeye, in 1733, noted that as long as their genever stocks were flowing, people used it to get drunk and they were often found sleeping off their drinks under the quarterdeck. ⁹⁶ On the Groningen, the sailor Henderick Meijer noted how a bottle of arak (a Middle Eastern spirit made from anise) called to him and made him beestelijck drunken (beastly drunk) and unable to work all day. ⁹⁷ Harmen Jansz, on the Mocha, took arak as well. ⁹⁸ Arak replaced brandewijn or genever on most VOC ships’ return voyages since it was easily procurable in Asia. ⁹⁹ The memoirs of VOC sailor Jan Ambrosius, another contemporary source, was titled Verdrinken zonder water (‘Drowning without water’), referring to the excessive drinking of sailors. ¹⁰⁰ Here, Ambrosius noted in 1760 that the cabin boy would come round at 11 o’clock with a bottle of genever – a stronger beverage than he had ever had before. ¹⁰¹ Ambrosius was a Dutch anomaly and skipped alcohol rations throughout his time as a sailor, noting that he was in the minority in doing so. At the end of his memoirs, written in retirement, he remembered men who would drink six bottles in one night, though they did not live very long. ¹⁰² While this was probably an exaggeration, Ambrosius lamented that so many sailors began to drink genever when they were young and, by the time they were older, they had ‘drowned without water’. He finished by reminding the reader not to drink excessively.

There are few sources from the eyes of landsmen discussing the behaviour of sailors on board ships. Occasionally, passengers on VOC vessels (usually wealthy civilians) got first-hand evidence of the behaviour of sailors and shared the view that the sailors needed handling. A 1751 passenger exclaimed that the sailors needed to be controlled by the officers or else they would all be at risk. ¹⁰³ Statements like this would have undoubtedly made their way into the public perception of sailors – for example, in the way religious writers warned against the dangers of drinking at sea – and suggested an image of what life on board a Dutch ship may have been like, regardless of whether or not it was accurate. Additionally, a document from 1646 gives an insight into drunken behaviour on an Admiralty ship when a letter from the Dutch envoy in London notes the drunken misconduct and complaints about a Dutch warship off the coast of the Isle of Wight. ¹⁰⁴

The sailors on Dutch vessels and in Dutch ports were heavy drinkers since their daily rations exceeded the weekly recommended values, and this does not even include alcohol that was smuggled aboard, issued for special occasions or drunk onshore. The mariners of Dutch enterprises were also issued with marginally more than those on other European vessels while at sea. However, alcohol consumption varied widely across European navies, merchant marines, and large trade companies and so the ‘sailor culture’, including drunken sailors, was highly diverse. Different sailors drank different things in different ways – but they were all drinking quite a lot.