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 entrance way. Hence the
saying a "thresh hold."
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."
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 was found to have
scratch
marks on the inside and they realised 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!!!