> these snippets.
>
> 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 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 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 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 "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 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."
>
> =================================================================
| Posted: at | |
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