History lesson

[dbee]

History lesson from the 1500's


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.
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.

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 ! ! !

This is for entertainment and all the facts are not 100% true. Sorry

 

[gr8nrg]

simply fascinating!.....


I still wonder who would want to marry those maidens who have not taken a bath in a year....More than this.....begs a question....WHY NOT TAKE A BATH a little more often???....in the rivers, lakes and such?....wow!

 

[Bleaux]

Interesting read...

 

[JerryP]

simply fascinating!.....
I still wonder who would want to marry those maidens who have not taken a bath in a year....More than this.....begs a question....WHY NOT TAKE A BATH a little more often???....in the rivers, lakes and such?....wow!

http://historymedren.about.com/library/weekly/aa061400c.htm

The Unwashed Dark Ages?

Some medieval trivia is nothing more than nonsense designed to make the people of the Middle Ages look ignorant and slovenly:

"Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and were still smelling pretty good by June. But they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor."

Soap was invented by the Gauls sometime before Christ, and by the end of the ninth century it was in widespread use in Europe. It was soft, much like today's liquid soap, until hard (cake) soap came into use in the twelfth century.

Going without bathing was considered a penance, even in the early Middle Ages. Public bathhouses were not uncommon, and many were closed down during the Black Death in the mid-fourteenth century due to fear of contagion. (They were also popular spots for assignations.) At home, folks were known to take baths by the fire in the winter and out in the garden in the summer.

This is not to say that everyone in the Middle Ages smelled as fresh as a daisy on a daily basis. But it is extremely doubtful that bathing only once a year was acceptable, let alone common, and absolutely ludicrous to think that the reason brides carried bouquets was to hide their stench.

Flowers had many symbolic meanings; in the Church, roses symbolized the Virgin Mary, and in chivalric romances they symbolized passionate love. Bridal bouquets may have been carried for either of these or a dozen other reasons. And, since it was uncommon for gardens in northern medieval Europe to produce flowers past June, it's conceivable that June was a popular month for weddings because brides could still take advantage of fresh flowers when it was at last warm enough to celebrate a wedding outdoors.

hwell: