Hi Linda and listers Its a long time since I have posted to the Gippy group, but have been lurking in the background. In Peter Synan's book Gippsland's Lucky City, he mentions that in the 1890's there was a depression and that many of the young men moved to West Australia to find work. The Werner's were no exception there soap and candle works went bankrupt and they moved back to Melbourne, with the exception of one boy, my great uncle who moved to Coolgardie where I assumed that he was working in the mines. recently I saw that there was a new site to post to in West Australia, which I joined but then found that all the action over there is actually on another site called the DPS-Chatline (dead persons society) well since joining I have found that my gr.uncle in fact started his own carpentry business, where he lived , when he and his family died and where they are all buried. I am now hoping to get a photograph of the grave. If any one else had rellies going to the West from Gippsland, I would be very happy to post the URL. Also I have a friend in Queensland who is subscribed to the Co Tipperary site and has sent me a copy of a history of the 16th century which makes very good reading and I thought I would pass it on to this site. I have no idea if there's any truth to the following "history lesson" someone sent to me (author unknown). However, it does have a reference (albeit British) to a previous thread on this site which speculated on why most marriages occurred in spring or early summer. There's also interesting attempts to provide historical basis for several popular bromides. Who knows? Jack Thueson Stillwater, MN USA *********************** A wonderful, humorous history lesson: Life in the 1500's---- When Anne Hathaway married William Shakespeare, she was 26 years old. This is very unusual for the time, as most people married at age 11or 12 years. Life was different in many other ways in the 1500's. Here are some examples: Ann Hathaway's home was a 3-bedroom house with a kitchen and a small parlor, which was seldom used except for company. There was no bathroom. Mother and Father shared a bedroom. Before she was married, Anne had a queen size bed, but she did not sleep alone. She had two other sisters and they shared the bed with six servant girls. They did not sleep lengthwise on the bed, as we do nowadays, but would lie crosswise. However, at least they had a bed. The other bedroom was shared by six brothers and about a dozen workers. Since they did not have beds, the men wrapped up in their blankets and slept on the floor. The combined body heat served to keep everyone warm. People in the 1500's were smaller than the modern Americans or Britons. The men averaged about 5'4" and the women were generally about 4'8". Most people in the 1500's got married in June. This was because they took their yearly bath in the spring, when the weather began to warm enough that being wet and naked was not a health hazard. In most cases, people still smelled fresh in June when the sun would come out steadily and the days were long. However, if the weather became unseasonably hot, sometimes the bride would develop noticeable body order, so it was not uncommon for the young women to carry a bouquet or sweet smelling flowers as a kind of mobile deodorant. The annual spring ablution took place in a big tub fill with hot water. The man of the house would get the privilege of the nice clean water. Then all the sons would follow then the women, and finally the children. Babies came last. By then the water was pretty thick. When mothers would caution, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water," it was because the water was so thick, someone could actually be lost in it! Houses in the 1500's frequently had thatched roofs. Thatch was thick straw, pile high, with no substantial support, only widely spaced rafters. The thatch was a good place for small animals to sleep, such as the dogs and cats, which were commonly kept as mousers and ratters. Sometimes, they would be joined by mice, rats and insects. When it rained, the thatch would grow heavy with the weight of the water and the "residents," and often the animals would fall through the thatch into the room below. This why people would say, "It is raining cats and dogs." Since there was nothing to stop them from falling through the thatch, people became inventive about ways to keep the house clean, especially the bedrooms, which were typically located on the upper floor. Dead insects and animal dropping were a particular problem, until someone (perhaps one of Martha Stewart's ancestors) made a bed with the high posts at each corner. The women would then hang a sheet over the top to catch the droppings from the thatched roof. That was the original idea behind our beautiful modern four-poster beds with canopies. Middle class and wealthy people had houses with floors of slate of hard wood. But, many houses in the 1500's had dirt floors. This is where we get the saying, "dirt poor". Dirt floors posed a particular problem in winter because they would become so slippery, but people found ways to deal with this dilemma. They would spread straw and fine twigs on the floor to help them keep their footing. It was similar to the roofing material which they called thatch, but when they spread it on the floor, people called it "thresh" As people would come and go throughout the winter, it was easy to track the thresh outside. So to prevent this, people put a piece of wood at the entry. This was called a "thresh hold." Some houses had fireplaces for warmth in the parlor or master bedroom but all houses had a fireplace in the kitchen, which was used both for warmth and for cooking. "There was always a kettle that hung over fire and every day the people would add things to the pot. Mostly, they ate vegetables since cows were prized for their milk and hens for their eggs. People would eat their stew for dinner, and then leave the leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and start over again the next day. Sometimes the stew would have food in it that was over a week old! Thus the rhyme: peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old. Sometimes a family would buy a piece of pork. This was always a special occasion, such as a holiday or a party. When the visitors arrived, they would see the rack in the parlor where the hosts would hang the bacon to show it off. It was a real sign of prosperity that a man "could bring home the bacon". Toward the end of the party, the hosts would cut off few pieces to share with guests, and then people would sit around and "chew the fat". Poor people in their 1500's didn't have plates; they had "trenchers" A trencher was a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. The people seldom washed their trenchers and because of this, worms would often get into the wood. This would cause many health problem and was poor people often had "trench mouth'. Working class people generally had plates that were made of pewter. Food that had high acid content would cause lead to leak into it, causing other health problems. This was one reason only wealthy people with ceramic plates ate the "New World" delicacy, the tomato. It would take almost four hundred years before average folk would incorporate this versatile fruit into their diets! Innkeepers in the 1500's usually provided a bed and a simple meal, which always included some bread. However, the bread was divided according to status. The workers at the inn would get the burn bottom of the loaf, the innkeeper family would get the middle and paying guests would get the top, or the "upper crust" People in the 1500's used lead cups from which they would drink their ale or whiskey. The combination of lead and strong alcohol in large quantities would often render them unconscious for a couple of days! Some in such a heavy sleep could be mistaken for dead. Of course, the family would begin to make burial preparations. But, people began to realize that if they took their time about burying their loved ones, sometimes they woke up! So, the family would lay the deceased out on the kitchen table for a couple of days, gather around and eat and drink, and wait to see if the dead would wake up. That is where the custom of hold a "wake" came from Since England is so old and small, burial plots became scarce around the large towns and cities. So they start re-using graves and coffins which were made of wood. Wood was more valued as a source of fuel than a burial box. However, when the coffins were opened, it was discovered that many had scratch marks on the inside. It was then the people realized they were still burying some people alive! This led to a second custom. They would tie a string to the buried one's wrist and lead it through the coffin and up through the ground, then tie it to a bell. Someone would volunteer to sit in the graveyard all night to listen for the bell. That is how the saying "graveyard shift" came about. If the bell would ring he was know as a "dead ringer," who was "saved by the bell." ==== CoTipperary Mailing List ==== The Ryans are headed to Ireland for a Rally!! Check web page: www.ryans.org for more information - contact Terry Ryan at: trakker@nettally.com if interested - NOW!! I realise that this is not pertinent to Gippsland but it is interesting Regards Brian