society > armed hostility > military organization > enlistment or recruitment > [noun] > money given to recruit (3)
Money paid to a sailor or soldier on enlistment, the acceptance of which was held to constitute legal proof of his engagement. Also figurative. Cf…
Money paid to a sailor or soldier on enlistment; = press money, n. 3. Obsolete.
queen's shilling, a shilling formerly given to a recruit when enlisting during the reign of a queen; (hence) the rewards of military life generally…