[PW] Origin of quote

[T. F. Mills]

Edith Bailes wrote:

> Sounds like a variant of taking the King's shilling. New recruits in the
> British army were given a shilling when they were signed up. Once they had
> accepted that shilling, they were in the army and had to do the king's
> bidding. No telling who first said it.

The OED traces first mention of taking the king's shilling as a euphemism for enlisting to 
1707.  It was still a shilling at the outbreak of the Napoleonic wars when the Duchess of 
Gordon raised a regiment in record time by sealing the transaction with a kiss.  A quarter 
century of war caused tremendous economic dislocation such that by the 1840s the 
enlistment bonus was a pound.  So, it is generally an 18th century term, but the usage has 
endured. Taking the shilling was not actually final since recruiters used every trick in the book 
to get men to enlist.  After taking the shilling they had to be sworn in by a JP before which 
they could still opt out by paying "smart money"in the form of a pound.

and Reed C Bowman wrote:

> And it somewhat predates the British form, taking the King's shilling. 
> The word "soldier" itself comes from "solidus", the coin with which they 
> were paid in the Roman Empire. I think the first coin sealing the deal 
> is a tradition from back then, too. It's pretty likely the saying is at 
> least that old. And if you replace "coin" with "bread" you can take it 
> back several millennia more, no doubt...

Before the solidus (about 3rd century) the Roman soldier was paid in salt, which is the root 
word for salary.

Until 1971 decimilisation in Britain, currency was known by the abbreviation £ s d (pounds, 
shillings, pence) which were actually Latin terms: Libra, Solidus, Denarius.

Even the Peruvian sol is not a reference to the Inca sun god, but rather derived from 
"solidus."

T.F. Mills                            (Colorado, USA)
temporary email:         phasco at earthlink.net
(pending resurrection of regiments.org mail)