Life in the 1500's

[StottieCake]

>The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water
>temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.
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>Here are some facts about the 1500s:
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>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 odour.
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>Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.
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>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.
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>Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."
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>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 off the roof.
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>Hence the saying: "It's raining cats and dogs."
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>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.
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>Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some
>protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.
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>The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.
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>Hence the saying "dirt poor."
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>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
>entranceway.
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>Hence the saying a "thresh hold."
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>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.
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>Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in
>the pot nine days old."
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>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."
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>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.
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>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 "upper crust."
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>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."
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>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 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."
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>And that's the truth... Now, whoever said that History was boring!!!

[johnc10]

Not boring at all, very interesting in fact, thanks for that Stottie

[Alice]

Enjoyed reading that and history is never boring.

[Scrappy]

HOLEY MOLEY!!!!