PEEP:
Interesting (and bizarre) reading.
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 1500's:
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
dogs, 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,
that posed a
real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really
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
bed's 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 kept adding 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."
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 the 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 and
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
"upper crust."
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination
would sometimes
knock them 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
"bonehouse" 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 thought 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 "deadringer."
And that's the truth...
Now , whoever said that History was boring ! ! ! !
Interesting (and bizarre) reading.
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 1500's:
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
dogs, 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,
that posed a
real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really
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
bed's 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 kept adding 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."
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 the 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 and
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
"upper crust."
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination
would sometimes
knock them 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
"bonehouse" 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 thought 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 "deadringer."
And that's the truth...
Now , whoever said that History was boring ! ! ! !
