DESCRIPTION:
The Royal Navy always had trouble recruiting enough men to man all the ships. This was especially so in wartime. The Navy gained seamen by three means, Volunteers, The Impress Service, and the Quota acts.
The organization charged with obtaining seamen from the ports was known as the Impress Service. The Impress service was limited to seizing men who were seamen, a word given a broad interpretation. The age limits were set at 18 to 55 years of age, frequently these limits were ignored.

The Impress Service covered every port in Great Britain. Each major port had a captain in charge, while smaller ports had a lieutenant. These officers were rarely seagoing men, and often this was the only alternative to being on half pay. The senior officer was known as the Regulating Officer, and the headquarters chosen was called the Rendezvous. Having set up the Rendezvous, the Regulating officer would then hire some of the local hard men as 'gangers', to form the Press Gang (on land the press gang was rarely formed by sailors).

Being one of the gangers was perhaps the only sure fire way of not being pressed. The Gang was then sent out and roamed the surrounding countryside in search of suitable recruits.The gang were paid money for travel, 3d per mile for officers 1d for men, and money per man pressed, anything up to 10 shillings. The scope for corruption was large, many men would bribe their way out of the gangs clutches, for a prosperous man a £10 bribe to the press gang was a small price to pay for his continued liberty.


Info from http://www.nelsonsnavy.co.uk/broadside7.html

Lyrics:

As I walked out on London Street
A press gang there I chanced to meet.
They asked me if I'd join the fleet
On board of a man-o-war, boys.

They said that a sailor's life was fine.
Good comrades and good pay I'd find.
They promised me a bloody good time,
On board of a man-o-war, boys.

But when I went, to my surprise,
All they'd told me was shocking lies.
There was a row and a bloody old row,
On board of a man-o-war, boys.

The first thing they did, they took me in hand
And they flogged me with a tarry strand.
They flogged me till I couldn't stand,
On board of a man-o-war, boys.

They hung me up by my two thumbs,
And they cut me till my blood did run.
That was the usage they gave me,
On board of a man-o-war, boys.

If I could get one foot on shore,
I'd marry the pretty girl I adore.
And neither wind nor waves would entice me more,
On board of a man-o-war, boys.

And nothing could ever entice me more,
On board of a man-o-war, boys.