Tweet
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 odor. 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 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.
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 the upper
crust.
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would
sometimes
knock the imbibers 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.
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 were 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 throu gh 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 History was boring ! ! !
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 odor. 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 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.
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 the upper
crust.
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would
sometimes
knock the imbibers 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.
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 were 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 throu gh 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 History was boring ! ! !
I hadn't heard any of these before ... thanks for sharing.
Comment