Some of the earliest recorded accounts of nautical initiations in the North Atlantic come from the mid-1500s. An account from a French sailing vessel in 1529, reports that new sailors were “…smeared with a blackening substance, and subsequently being tied up and plunged into the sea (Bronner 2006, 33).” The Dutch brought new sailors out into the harbor and dunked them three times under the boat before a voyage. Several other European nations had rituals to initiate novice sailors that included some form of dunking or dousing with water, and often included beatings with paddles, sticks, or rope (Bronner 2006, 34). Crews of diverse backgrounds operated sailing ships during this period. These sailors came from a variety of ethnic, national, and religious backgrounds and it was essential that they work together and avoid conflict for their safety and the good of the ship (Rouleau 2007, 32). Many nations performed these rituals whenever their ships crossed or passed so-called “points of danger (Bronner 2006, 7).” Among these points was the equator. 

 

Early manifestations of these initiation ceremonies were voluntary; those who chose not to participate could pay a fine that would be used to fund a celebration when they returned to their homeport (Bronner 2006, 40). In 1614, the Dutch East India Company attempted to ban the ritual of dousing, by offering gallons of wine to the crews of their ships (Bronner 2006, 7). These rituals persisted in the North Atlantic because they reminded the sailors of the severity and dangers of life on the sea, they were seen as essential for ensuring a safe journey, and they helped create a sense of group identity (Bronner 2006, 24, 38; Sims and Stephens 2011a, 71). When the United States Navy was established in 1775, they continued the traditions they learned from the British Royal Navy.

 

As ships began to increasingly travel to distant ports in the East Indies and South Seas, these rituals also moved further from home, and the equator which represents a liminal space between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres became the central point where these ceremonies took place (Sims and Stephens 2011c, 109, Bronner, 2006, 41). King Neptune was absent from these ceremonies until around 1800 when he became a crucial figure in the ritual. King Neptune creates the frame for the “crossing the line ceremony,” by opening the ceremony by sending his envoy Davy Jones to announce the king’s visit the evening before the ship crosses the equator, and closing the ceremony by presiding over a feast to celebrate the newly initiated shellbacks (Bronner 2006, 41, Sims and Stephens 2011c, 102). It is around the time that King Neptune began appearing in these ceremonies, that the opportunity to avoid participating in the ritual by paying a fine disappeared and participation became mandatory (Bronner 2006, 41).