The Bounty: You think this is a humorous occasion.

I’m sharing a scene in “The Bounty” movie so you can watch a Midshipman being tied over a gun barrel to “kiss the gunner’s daughter” as punishment. It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. To “kiss the gunner’s daughter” is to be tied over a cannon (the gunner’s daughter) in order to be beaten, usually with a cat of nine tails.

The phrase dates back at least to 1785 but is probably older. Sir Walter Scott uses the phrase in his book Redgauntlet.

“But I was punished, my lad–made to kiss the wench that never speaks but when she scolds, and that’s the gunner’s daughter, comrade. Yes, the minister’s son of no matter where–has the cat’s scratch on his back!”

I had no idea that kissing the gunner’s daughters was a reference to flogging. I suppose the moral of this story is to be careful who you kiss. You might get “cat scratch fever”