A little humor and possibly some truths to some of these "good old days" stories. Mary Ann > 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 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 >thepets... 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 "threshhold". > >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 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 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". > - ------------------------------------------------- Mary Ann Kaylor My Family Genealogy http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~makaylor/index.htm KAYLOR & TEDROW lineages included In IL - Morgan Area Genealogical Ass. & Waverly GS http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmaga/index.html KAYLOR MAIL LIST To subscribe: KAYLOR-L-request@rootsweb.com KAYLOR GenConnect Cluster Boards http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/surnames/k/a/KAYLOR/queries http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/surnames/k/a/KAYLOR/bible_records http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/surnames/k/a/KAYLOR/biographies http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/surnames/k/a/KAYLOR/deeds http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/surnames/k/a/KAYLOR/obituaries http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/surnames/k/a/KAYLOR/pensions http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/surnames/k/a/KAYLOR/wills KALER MAIL LIST To subscribe: KALER-L-request@rootsweb.com TEDROW MAIL LIST To subscribe: TEDROW-L-request@rootsweb.com