In the
Royal Navy,
sucking the monkey,
bleeding the monkey, or
tapping the admiral[1] was the practice of sucking liquor from a cask through a straw.
[2] This usually involved making a small hole with a
gimlet in a keg or barrel and using a straw to suck out the contents. It was known for people to die from alcohol poisoning by this practice.
Admiral Nelson was killed in the Battle of Trafalgar by a French sniper while topside his ship, Victory. Following his victory at the
Battle of Trafalgar,
Horatio Nelson's body was preserved in a cask of brandy, or rum, to allow transport back to
England. Upon arrival, however, the story goes that the cask was opened and found to be empty of brandy/rum. The pickled body was removed and, upon inspection, it was discovered that the sailors had drilled a hole in the bottom of the cask and drunk all the brandy/rum. Thus, this tale serves as a basis for the term "Nelson's blood" being used to describe brandy/rum. It also serves as the basis for the term tapping the admiral being used to describe surreptitiously sucking liquor from a cask through a straw. The details of the story are disputed, as many historians claim the cask contained
Frenchbrandy, whilst others claim instead the term originated from a
toast to Admiral Nelson.
[4] Variations of the story, involving different notable corpses, and different spirits, have been in circulation for many years
