While I was looking for information about 'Heart of Oak' I came across a rather sad little song, 'O the weary cutters', which clearly refers to the press gang, 'cutter' being an eighteenth century word for a bully, (and 'weary' meaning 'tiresome' rather than 'tired')
'O the weary cutters, they've taen my laddie fre me,
They've pressed him far away foreign
Wi' Nelson ayout [sic] the salt sea....'
and an interesting last verse:
'I'll give the cutter a guinea, I'll give the cutter a guinea
To steal my laddie ashore...'
I wonder if bribery was a common ploy to rescue a pressed man?
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