thanks Cheryl I enjoyed it! -----Original Message----- From: Cheryl Shiveley [mailto:cheryl@siscom.net] Sent: Friday, April 26, 2002 12:42 PM To: MIGENESE-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [MIGENESE] Fw: Fw: Fw: Interesting . . . . some facts about the 1500's HISTORY OF 1500's. I thot this is interesting and wanted to share this if its ok. I wonder if there was really a bonehouse??? > > --- > > > > Just think back . .. Next time you are washing your hands and > complain because the water temperature isn't just as you like it, think > about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s: > > Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath > in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to > smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. > > 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 dogs, > cats, and other small animals (mice, rats, and 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. 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"-the straw left over > after threshing grain-- on the floor to help keep their footing. As the > winter wore on, they kept adding more and more thresh until when you opened > the door, it would all start slipping outside. To prevent this, a piece of > wood was placed in the entranceway; hence, a "thresh hold". > > 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 the 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 a high > acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead > poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next > 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous. Most people did not > have pewter plates, but had trenchers, a piece of wood with the middle > scooped out like a bowl. Often trenchers were made from stale pays and bread > which was so old and hard that they could use them for quite some time. > Trenchers were never washed and a > lot of times worms and mold got into the wood and old bread. After eating > off wormy, moldy trenchers, one 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, 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 to see if they would wake up - hence, the > custom of holding a "wake". > > England is old and small and they started out 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, 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 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..........Who said that History was boring?! > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com > >