> 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 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 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 >guests and 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 reuse 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".