Norma wrote on the Gen-Med List Norma Rudinsky <rudinskn@ucs.orst.edu> OK, comic relief, apparently from the Norfolk Mailing list, and others before that.... - ----------------------------------- > In a message dated 5/9/99 10:12:00 AM, curran@accessin.com.au writes: > > << informative and funny > > Life in the 1500's: > Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in > May and were still smelling pretty good by June. However, they were > starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the > b.o. > > Baths equaled 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 that > time 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 > pets...dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, 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 > really > mess up your nice clean bed. So, they found if they made beds with > big > posts and hung a sheet over the top, it addressed that problem. Hence > those beautiful big 4 poster beds with canopies. > The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, > hence the saying "dirt poor". > > The wealthy had slate floors which would get slippery in the winter when > wet. So they spread thresh 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 > at the entry way, hence a "thresh hold". > > They cooked in the kitchen in a big kettle that always hung over the > fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. > They mostly ate vegetables and didn't 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 in there for a month. Hence the rhyme: peas porridge hot, peas > porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old." > > Sometimes they could obtain pork and would feel really special when that > happened. When company came over, they would bring out some bacon and > hang it to show it off. It was a sign of wealth and that a man "could > really bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with > guestsand would all sit around and "chew the fat." > > Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid > content > caused some of the lead to leach onto the food. This happened most often > with tomatoes, so they stopped eating tomatoes...for 400 years. > > Most people didn't have pewter plates, but had trenchers - a piece of > wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Trenchers were never > washed > and a lot of times worms got into the wood. After eating off wormy > trenchers, they would get "trench mouth." > > 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 whiskey. 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 they started running out of places to bury > people. So, they would dig up coffins and would take their bones to a > house and re-use the grave. In reopening these coffins, one 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 their wrist and 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 to listen for the bell. Hence on the > "graveyard shift" they would know that someone was "saved by the bell" > or he was a "dead ringer". >