> Thought you might enjoy these bits and pieces about Western > traditions. > > > > 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. > 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 the > 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. > Hence the saying 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 it > 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 > "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 > 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 that History was > boring > !
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