>> They used to use urine to tan animal >> skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was >> taken & sold to the tannery.......if you had to do this to survive you >> were "Piss Poor" >> But worse than that were the really poor >> folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot............they "didn't have a >> pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low. >> >> Most people got married in June because >> they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by >> June. However, since they were starting to smell . .. . brides carried a >> bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. 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 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: a thresh hold. >> >> (Getting quite an education, aren't you?) >> >> In those old days, they cooked in the >> kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they >> lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and >> did not 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 stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. >> Hence the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in >> the pot nine days old. >> >> 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. >> >> Those with money had plates made of >> pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto >> the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with >> tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered >> poisonous. >> >> 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 >> whisky.. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers 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 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 were found to have >> scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying >> people alive. So they would tie a string=2 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 >> Genealogy was boring ! ! !