Did You Know?
Ever wonder how some sayings and traditions got started? I happened to run across some interesting ones that I thought I would pass on. Interesting facts about life in the 1500's
by someone named Andy, Gettysburg, Pa
* Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and were still smelling pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the b.o.
* Baths equaled 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 loose 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 pets ... dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, 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."
* The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors which would get slippery in the winter when wet. So they spread thresh 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 at the entryway, hence a "thresh hold."
* Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. 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."
* England is old and small and they started running out of places to bury people. So, they would dig up coffins and would take their bones to a house and reuse the grave. In reopening these coffins, one 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 their wrist and 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 to listen for the bell. Hence on the "graveyard shift" they would know that someone was "saved by the bell" or he was a "dead ringer."
posted by Ann at
9:14 AM
8 Comments:
Wow. Granny, once again you have enriched my mind. Those bath stories are just gross. Why wouldn't people bath at least once a month. Seriously - make the time! :)
That's amazing! I love discovering things like that!
I'm surprised wedding vows didn't include "in good smells and in stench."
That last one about people being buried alive creeps me out!
I was a little suspicious so I wanted to try and "prove" at least one of them. I came across one website suggesting some of these may not be entirely true. Whatever the story is behind these, I am sure it is a good one. These were!! Can you imagine not bathing for a year?!
Jim: you might take a look at some of these sites.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genepool/sayings.htm
http://www.xomba.com/dont_throw_the_baby_out_with_the_bath_water
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=where+did+Most+people+got+married+in+June+because+they+took+their+yearly+bath+in+May+come+from&page=1&qsrc=2417&ab=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.att.net%2F~jrd%2Fphrase.htm
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/193860/the_origin_of_common_sayings.html?cat=4
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/a.html
Jim: P.S. I know some of these are probably not actual but passed down from one person to another and probably changed as it went. However, they are probably pretty close.
I actually had been on the last website which listed some info. on life in the 1500s. It is a lot of fun looking at how things got started. Thanks :)
I agree with Marissa, being buried alive or waiting to see if someone was going to wake up on the kitchen table would be by far the worst and creepiest! He I had a great uncle I'm sure never bathed, he always smelled like tobacco, whiskey, BO, and gasoline. I think the gasoline was to kill his bugs.
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