Claire's fascinating facts vol.1

[Rob_the_Saint]

This was 'lost' last week but i thought I would retrieve it for you all to enjoy once more...

 

Just a few little facts about the 1500's i've gathered from being bored at work!!!!

 

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.

 

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 kept

adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start

slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway - hence,a

"thresh hold."

 

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 and

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 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 and see if they would wake up -

hence, the custom of holding a "wake." - or 'waking the dead'

 

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 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."

 

Well done, Claire!

[Claire!]

Thanks Rob!!!!

[HelenC]

Why encourage it Rob?!

 

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