LANE: Dave, talk to them. You’re the leader, that’s flat out insubordination going on in there! They should be flogged, keelhauled, strung up from the highest yard-arm!
Lane’s suggestions for punishments Dave should use on Zack and Brian come from those used on sailors long ago, suggesting that she sees Dave as the “captain” of the band.
Flogging: being beaten with a lash or a cat o’ nine tails, a whip made from nine strands with small knots on the ends (see Flagellation). This was a common punishment, administered to a sailor’s bare back while his wrists were tied to a grate, performed in front of the entire ship’s company. Outlawed in 1806, it wasn’t suspended until 1881.
Keelhauling [pictured]: a form of punishment where the offending sailor was tied to a line looped beneath the vessel, thrown overboard on one side of the ship, and dragged under the ship’s keel, either from one side of the ship to the other, or the length of the ship. It could lead to death by drowning or head trauma, or result in permanent injury. It was an official, although rare, punishment in the Dutch navy. There are vague reports of it being used elsewhere, although there are no records of it.
Strung from the highest yard-arm: sentenced to being hanged after an official court-martial, the ultimate punishment for desertion, rebellion, or mutiny. A noose would be placed around their necks, the rope running through a tackle, or pulley, hanging from the yard-arm (a large pole going across the mast). A team of sailors would slowly pull on the rope until the hanging was complete. The last such hanging was in 1860.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 