=: Life in the 1500s :=

[KB]

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 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 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 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 history was boring?

Ken

[trailboss]

Geeeze mate, I posted this at RWG1.1 months ago!

Catch up!

Col.

[Nanuq]

Life in the 1500s? That's life in Alaska!

If you've ever frozen your butt to an outhouse seat, you'll know what I'm talkin' about.

[FxrAndy]

Thanks ken i feel educated

[Mardo]

Interesting to know that so many phrases were coined from life in the 1500's.

Great write up, thanks for sharing.

[Corgi]

I like bread which has been slightly burnt. It has the real smokey taste. Easy going down with an old fashioned style.

[KB]

If you've ever frozen your butt to an outhouse seat, you'll know what I'm talkin' about

Pretty sure that wont apply to most of us.

Ken

[cornerstone]

Where's Pugwash when you need him

It was a fun read, but alas it's a well-known hoax. It's all bollocks.

I mean seriously - 'saved by the bell' - ever seen a boxing bout?

http://historymedren.about.com/od/dailylif...a/bod_intro.htm

[phaedo]

Where's Pugwash when you need him

It was a fun read, but alas it's a well-known hoax. It's all [censored].

I mean seriously - 'saved by the bell' - ever seen a boxing bout?

http://historymedren.about.com/od/dailylif...a/bod_intro.htm

Sadly at least some of it is untrue. Couldn't be bothered hunting for all real answers though

[lanikai]

That was very Witty~

here's some true trivia

The Term "Cocktail". came from the Colonial day's in taverns there were rooster tials in a jug behind the counters.. and they were used to stir beverages .. brandy and ale to be more precise.

The "Cesar Salad".. was invented in Tiajuana Mexico .. by an Italian Immigrant of the same name..

the term "86'd".. when you get ousted from any establishment, or food is spoiled in restaurants or entree's are out.. you are told their 86'd ... comes from whiskey which is and was 86 proof .. the term was started in bars when someone had too much whskey.. "he was 86'd"

The East Coast... Boston area.. where the main industry was ..Cod "fishing" the Cod was preserved in salt... salt was the element that sustained all life back then .. hence the term..."he's not worth his salt"

I forget the name of the Irish Women that made this term famous.. but .. was it Ghicago .. or NY ?? the womens cow kicked over a kerosine lamp thus starting one of the worse fires in History... hence the term "luck o the Irish"

the Police force in the East Coast were traditionally made up of Irish Immigrants... they would use horse driven wagons (enclosed) to pick up undesirables.. hence the term "Paddy Wagon"

.. I love History Trivia..

Lani

[Demsey]

As a young student matriculating through Eton College as a frosh, one 'Clive Humm', had fallen to the custom of all plebes to being fed capricious quantities of shandy and clear gin in the afternoon by upper classmen in hopes he would fail miserably; the evening's muster held by the dormintory's prefect.

Having been raised by Welsh farmhands and immigrant Irish sheep barons to the mother isle, young Clive was no stranger to 'drink', even through his tender years. He passed the evening's muster in fine form and actually managed a very stirring recital of a passage from Homer's Iliad, as penance.

Not to be undone by the upstart, and much later into the night, the seniors bound young Clive in garb remiscent of medieval haberdashery, repleat with woolen tights, slippers and cod piece, and hoisted hisself atop the eastern spire of the Lupton's tower to be met by dawn and the gathering student body. Hence the term and oft used screen name; 'Highflyingclive'

Sadly, 'tis true. 'Snopes.com' will confirm.

But, that is not the end of the chain. As Clive would personally, undoubtedly, interject here; I have mispelled "penance, capricious, and haberdashery" while using the function pronoun "hisself" out of proper grammatical context. Which I certainly have not. Hence that other well known colloquialism:"Clivo, you are a moron".

True history is awesome.

[cornerstone]

Not to be undone by the upstart, and much later into the night, the seniors bound young Clive in garb remiscent of medieval haberdashery, repleat with woolen tights, slippers and cod piece, and hoisted hisself atop the eastern spire of the Lupton's tower to be met by dawn and the gathering student body. Hence the term and oft used screen name; 'Highflyingclive'

Here's another bit of info:

In the 1500's, the consequences of speaking out of turn in society were so fatal / get stabbed / get beheaded that it became very awkward to mention truths beyond social etiquette. So people had to find a very subtle way to impart truths to friends and family without fear of insult. What they would first do is to offer to build the person an extension on their house - which of course was gratefully received. This stage would take several weeks to complete.

But their generosity hid another purpose, which was they need a room of an adequate size to smuggle in an elephant. When the home owner arrived and walked into their new extension for the first time they would be so surprised by the presence of an elephant that they would barely even notice the friend shouting "You...fucked...my...wife! You muthaf...."

Thus the phrase 'the elephant in the room'.

[Artist's Impression]

[Demsey]

Speechless!

Just goes to show; the only thing new in this world is the history we don't know.

If I had the time, I could dispel some myth to the European membership as to the why the Stars and Stripes' colors mimic the Union flag of the British commonwealth and how that truth may shed light on the current state of international affairs regarding cultural imperialism, greed, avarice and economic selfishness of said same. That, indeed, provong fact is stranger than fiction.

It is quite involved, but suffice for now; no, these United States of North America did not evolve from the native tribes of the contintent. Mind boggling I know, but all true. In fact, the first tongues of what is currently this great nation, spoke in the accent and dialects of chiefly British, French, German and other Anglo-European peoples. Seriously. Look it up.

[lanikai]

King Kamehameha was quite the Diplomat ~

There are various accounts of the earliest history of the flag of Hawaii. One relates how King Kamehameha I flew a British flag, probably a Red Ensign, given to him by British explorer Captain George Vancouver as a token of friendship with King George III. Subsequent visits reported seeing the flag flying from places of honor. An adviser to Kamehameha noted that the Union Flag could draw Hawaii into international conflict as his kingdom could be seen as an ally of the United Kingdom, and he subsequently lowered the Union Flag over his home. While disputed as historically accurate, one account of events that followed stated that in order to placate American interests during the War of 1812, a flag of the United States was raised over Kamehameha's home only to be removed when British officers in the court of Kamehameha vehemently objected to it. This account then explains why the resulting flag of Hawaii was a deliberate hybrid of the two nations' flags

True History .. from wikepedia ~

[AllergyDoc]

Who could possibly wade through such a long post? Certainly not Clive.

Mind your nouns and possessives.

[trailboss]

God I miss Clive!

Actualy the origen of Cocktail is in dispute. I have an article on the subject by Brittish drinks expert John Duxuat somewhere that I will endevor to dig out.

One can find a forshortened version in his exelent if now somewhat dated tome Drinks and Drinking.

Col.

[Demsey]

God I miss Clive!

Me too. Like I miss the flu.

[sammalone]

WHAT!?!?!?....there were no reps back then!?

[pollux1]

I was taught that the phrase " A man worth his salt" Was from Roman times.