History Lesson

[neilb]

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the

water  temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things

used

to be.

Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath

in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were

starting

to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body

odour.

Hence

the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

 

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the

house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other

sons and

men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies.

By

then  the

water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the

saying,

"Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

 

Houses had thatched roofs---thick straw-piled high, with no wood

underneath.

It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and

other

small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became

slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof..

Hence  the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

 

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This

posed a

real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess

up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung

over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into

existence.

 

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.

Hence the saying "dirt poor."

 

The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter

when

wet,

so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing.

As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until when you opened the

door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in

the

entranceway. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."

 

(Getting quite an education,  aren't you?)

 

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that

always

hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the

pot.

They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat

the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight

and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that

had

been

there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas

porridge

cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.

When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It

was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They

would

cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and

"chew the

fat."

 

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid

content

caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning

death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400

years or

so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

 

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would

sometimes

knock the drinkers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the

road

would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid

out on

the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather

around

and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the

custom

of holding a "wake."

 

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of  

the

loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper

crust."

 

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of

places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the

bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these

coffins, 1

out of 25 coffins was found to have scratch marks on the inside and

they

realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string

on

the

wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the

ground

and

tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all

night

(the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be

"saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."

 

And that's the truth... Now, whoever said that History was boring!!!

 

Educate someone... Share these facts with a friend

[steppenwolf]

Excellent, one of the best O/T posts I've ever read!

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Some of it is a bit dubious but it's entertaining nonetheless.  

[Mark B]

I've never heard of several of those so called "sayings" but very entertaining all the same!  

[deano.1]

[Tigger]

Well you learn something every day.

Not sure about the "Dead ringer", are you saying that if somebody is a Dead ringer, they may be DEAD?  

Tigger

[steppenwolf]

Not sure about the "Dead ringer",

Ditto but still a good read ...

[grs]

In the 1400's or thereabouts a law was passed that said you could beat your wife with a stick that had a diameter no bigger than the width of your thumb. Hence we have 'Rule of thumb'.

Quite sensible I think!

[Megablade Paul]

Nice one Neil

[Matt Seabrook]