While in St. Petersburg for Convention earlier this year we came across a wonderful restaurant serving British and colonial food called The Moon Under Water. I thought the story behind the name was an interesting part of British history.
Here is the story from their menus and website.
The name came into being following the activities of Recruiting Sergeants in the 18th Century who spent their time visiting taverns in order to 'press' people into joining the British Army. Many of the methods were extremely dubious and they would go to any length in order to get men to sign up since their pay depended on it. Once the man had accepted the "Queens Shilling" by fair means or foul, he was deemed to have become a recruit. On entering the tavern a Recruiting Sergeant would very often sit next to some drunken oaf and secretly drop the Queens shilling into the man's pewter tankard. When the drunkard lifted the tankard and the ale touched his lips that was it! He was regarded as having accepted the Queen's shilling and was in the British Army. He was carted off for service in some far off campaign and almost certain death.
As means of countering the practice, the glass bottomed pewter tankard was introduced so that if a customer was in the least bit suspicious as to whether a coin had been dropped into his tankard, he could hold it up and look underneath before taking a drink. The sight of the Queen's shilling under the ale with froth above was likened to that of 'the moon under water'.
