The Custom of the Sea was a maritime custom in which stranded survivors drew lots to see who would be killed and eaten so that some of the men might live.

Examples in history

Whaleship "Essex"

After the sinking of the Whaleship Essex of Nantucket by a whale, on November 20, 1820, (an important source event for Herman Melville's Moby Dick) the survivors, in three small boats, resorted, by common consent, to cannibalism in order for some to survive.^[1] The whaling ship Essex left Nantucket, Massachusetts in 1819 on a two-and-a-half-year voyage in the whaling grounds of the South Pacific to hunt sperm whales. ... Nantucket is an island south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, formed of glacial moraine. ... November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. ... Moby-Dick[1] is an 1851 novel by Herman Melville. ... This article is about consuming ones own species. ...

"Mignonette"

Main article: R. v. Dudley and Stephens

The case of R. v. Dudley and Stephens ([1884] 14 QBD 273 DC) is an English case which developed a crucial ruling on necessity in modern common law. The case dealt with four crewmembers of an English yacht, the "Mignonette," who were cast away in a storm some 1,600 miles from the Cape of Good Hope. After a few weeks one of the crew fell unconscious due to a combination of the famine and drinking sea-water. The others (one objecting) decided then to kill him and eat him. They were picked up four days later. The case held that necessity was not a defence to a charge of murder, and the two defendants were convicted, though their death sentence was commuted to 6 months' imprisonment. Regina v. ... Regina v. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total... This article is about the law definition of necessity. ... The Cape of Good Hope; looking towards the west, from the coastal cliffs above Cape Point. ...

Examples in popular culture

WS Gilbert describes such a practice in his rhyme "The Yarn of the Nancy Bell".^[2] Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (November 18, 1836 - May 29, 1911) was a British dramatist and librettist best known for his operatic collaborations with the composer Arthur Sullivan. ...

In the television show Futurama, while trapped underwater the bureaucrat Hermes Conrad cites a rulebook titled "The Code of Conduct for Cannibalism". He then suggests, that they cook up lobster for lunch (referring to Dr. Zoidberg, a crustacean-like alien.) Futurama is an Emmy Award-winning animated American sitcom created by creator of The Simpsons Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox network. ... A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy, usually within an institution of the government. ... Hermes Conrad is a character in the Futurama animated series. ... Subfamilies and Genera Neophoberinae Acanthacaris Thymopinae Nephropsis Nephropides Thymops Thymopsis Nephropinae Homarus Nephrops Homarinus Metanephrops Eunephrops Thymopides Clawed lobsters comprise a family (Nephropidae, sometimes also Homaridae) of large marine crustaceans. ... Doctor John Zoidberg is a lobster-like alien, Decapodian, in the television series Futurama. ...

In the Edgar Allan Poe novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, the main characters end up in a partially sunken ship. Soon hunger becomes a serious problem, and the survivors draw straws to decide who among them is to be killed and then eaten by the remaining survivors. The contest eventually takes place and one of the survivors is murdered and then eaten. Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, editor, critic and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ... The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket is Edgar Allan Poes only complete novel, published in 1838. ...

Further reading

• Hanson, Neil. (1999). The Custom of the Sea: The Story that Changed British Law. Doubleday. ISBN 9780385601153. 
• Simpson, A. W. B. (1984). Cannibalism and the Common Law: The Story of the Tragic Last Voyage of the Mignonette and the Strange Legal Proceedings to Which It Gave Rise. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226759425. 

References