England, The 1500s - Did you know????

Subject: England, The 1500s - Did you know????

** LIFE IN 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 the1500s:    

   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.   

 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 ! ! !