@England interesting facts@

Life in the 1500s

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..

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.

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.

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.

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..

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.

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.

come on you have to admit this is interesting...

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.

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..

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.

Hope you enjoyed..peace,sugarcookie1


link

Very interesting, thank you.
And the reason for driving on the left side of the road: Up to the late 1700's it was the sensible option for feudal, violent societies of mostly right-handed people.
Jousting knights with their lances under their right arm naturally passed on each other's right, and if you passed a stranger on the road you walked on the left to ensure that your protective sword arm was between yourself and him.

More on "http://www.2pass.co.uk/goodluck.htm"

I remember stumbling on a site with all these on a while back, love these little facts about England, so much social history get overlooked because of the amount of wars we've had, kings and queens, and what not. But we have alot of sayings here, and each one has a story. Nursery ryhms and what are now classic children stories are very interesting, like ring-a-ring-a-roses for an example is interesting.

If i were you i would add the link to the site at the bottom, someone will ask for it at some point.

Originally posted by trisvonbis
Very interesting, thank you.
And the reason for driving on the left side of the road: Up to the late 1700's it was the sensible option for feudal, violent societies of mostly right-handed people.
Jousting knights with their lances under their right arm naturally passed on each other's right, and if you passed a stranger on the road you walked on the left to ensure that your protective sword arm was between yourself and him.

More on "http://www.2pass.co.uk/goodluck.htm"

trisvonbis
Thanks for posting and some more facts I'm glad you enjoyed..peace,sugarcookie1

Trolloks
Thank for posting ..peace,sugarcookie1

'Mind your Own business' Our ancestor's personal hygiene left much room for improvement. As a result, many women and men had developed acne scars by adulthood. The women would spread bee's wasx over their facial skin to smooth out their complexions. When they were speaking to each other, if a woman began to stare at another woman's face she was told 'mind your own bee's wax'. All UK Tours 'Crack a smile' Should the woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term . Also, when they sat too close to a fire the wax would crack and drip! All UK Tours 'Mind your P's and Q's' In old England ale is/was drunk in pints and quarts. So when customers got unruly, the innkeeper would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. All UK Tours 'Grog' In 1794 Admiral Vernon of the British fleet decided to water down the Navy's rum. Needless to say, the sailors weren't too pleased and called Admiral Vernon Old Grog, after the stiff wool grogram coats he wore. The term "grog"soon began to mean the watered down drink itself. When you were drunk on this grog, you were "groggy", a word still in use today. Submitted by Marg Duncombe.

Other interesting facts link

Quite a few on here you may be interested in. Sorry for the formatt of the copy/paste, may look a little messy but im sure ATS users can work their way around it

reply to post by Trolloks


I love words and phrases some i put in were ones i was told as a kid that stood out to me ..Thanks for the link some of those made me laugh..peace,sugarcookie

Did not know much of that. The body odor and nine day old pot got to me. I am grateful every day to have been born in a time with refrigeration and deodorant. Also indoor plumbing. Between the rotting meat, chamber pot street disposal and body odors, the good old days were not so good! yuck!

Some of these just aren't limited to England, they carried over to the US as well.

The act of reburying people is still carried out in population dense countries in Asia.

Here are some goofy patents for just this very fear...

I like the spring loaded coffin lid lol.

link

Apparently ceramic goblets have become popular for wine again, and there was a recent issue with lead contained goblets..

Hundreds of years later and we haven't solved it, LOL.

An Illinois-based company is recalling ceramic wine goblets sold nationwide, because they contain more leachable lead and cadmium than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers safe.

EMSL analytical

Great thread - love things like this.
Some very interesting old facts, heard a few of them before but some I have not....found this site with those and a few more on it as well.
Thanks for posting.

Originally posted by Iamschist
Did not know much of that. The body odor and nine day old pot got to me. I am grateful every day to have been born in a time with refrigeration and deodorant. Also indoor plumbing. Between the rotting meat, chamber pot street disposal and body odors, the good old days were not so good! yuck!

Hi Iamschist
I cant imagine living back then..Food poisoning must have been a everyday occurrence with the nine day old pot of food ugh!
I would not have done well back in those times the body oder and human waste would have done me in..peace,sugarcookie1

Originally posted by nixie_nox
Some of these just aren't limited to England, they carried over to the US as well.

The act of reburying people is still carried out in population dense countries in Asia.

Here are some goofy patents for just this very fear...

I like the spring loaded coffin lid lol.

link

Apparently ceramic goblets have become popular for wine again, and there was a recent issue with lead contained goblets..

Hundreds of years later and we haven't solved it, LOL.

An Illinois-based company is recalling ceramic wine goblets sold nationwide, because they contain more leachable lead and cadmium than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers safe.

EMSL analytical

edit on 14-5-2012 by nixie_nox because: (no reason given)

nixie_nox
Thanks for posting..Its hard to believe some of the things they did back then..They went to great lengths to make sure you went buried alive with some very crazy inventions..
Its hard to believe there still making lead goblets thats just nuts..A law suit waiting to happen even with a recall..peace,sugarcookie1

Originally posted by facchino
Great thread - love things like this.
Some very interesting old facts, heard a few of them before but some I have not....found this site with those and a few more on it as well.
Thanks for posting.

facchino
Thank you for posting i appreciate it..That was another interesting link you posted i have read it all..peace,sugarcookie1

My great nation! ;

What were American's doing in the 1500's......ohh wait a minute!!!

All of those sayings are very common here in the United States, even I often say them. It is rather surprising how close the US and UK are culturally. Of course we have differences in every general area from politics to certain customs and foods, but the culture has largely been carried on here. It is especially amusing when one notes that people of British stock make up only 15-20% of the current American population; this is adding together English, Scotts-Irish, Welsh, Scottish, and “American” which are really just British folk. Altogether America has about as numerically many ethnically British as the UK does.

I read somewhere, written during the early 20th century, that the major difference between the UK and US is this: one has a “low culture” or “popular culture” and the other has a “high culture”. Of course this difference has been reduced substantially, and quite unfortunately, with the “Americanization” of Great Britain. It must also be confessed that the greatest literary minds have come from England in particular. There is definitely something special about the native inhabitants of that dreary island. Please take that as a compliment from a person whose ethnic makeup is scarcely British.

Originally posted by Just Chris
My great nation! ;

What were American's doing in the 1500's......ohh wait a minute!!!

Just Chris
Thanks for posting..What were American's doing in the 1500's..probably the same thing peace,sugarcookie1

Originally posted by Misoir
All of those sayings are very common here in the United States, even I often say them. It is rather surprising how close the US and UK are culturally. Of course we have differences in every general area from politics to certain customs and foods, but the culture has largely been carried on here. It is especially amusing when one notes that people of British stock make up only 15-20% of the current American population; this is adding together English, Scotts-Irish, Welsh, Scottish, and “American” which are really just British folk. Altogether America has about as numerically many ethnically British as the UK does.

I read somewhere, written during the early 20th century, that the major difference between the UK and US is this: one has a “low culture” or “popular culture” and the other has a “high culture”. Of course this difference has been reduced substantially, and quite unfortunately, with the “Americanization” of Great Britain. It must also be confessed that the greatest literary minds have come from England in particular. There is definitely something special about the native inhabitants of that dreary island. Please take that as a compliment from a person whose ethnic makeup is scarcely British.

Misoir
I agree some of the greatest literary minds have come from England such as the poet and artist William Blake and the list goes on and on as you know..
I'm in the US and Ive never heard most of them but i was brought up in a small Swedish community and we have our own words and phrases ...Thank you for posting..peace,sugarcookie1

reply to post by Just Chris


Oh poster, in your rush to be clever, you totally missed the point, which is not that these methods strictly stayed in England,but they didn't stay in that time period. If you looked at my link, there were patents in the 1700 and 1800.

No comment on how the Asians stole the burial methods?

But hey,if you want full credit for a period of people being filthy and bowing to irrational fears, you got it!

Originally posted by nixie_nox
reply to post by Just Chris

 

Oh poster, in your rush to be clever, you totally missed the point, which is not that these methods strictly stayed in England,but they didn't stay in that time period. If you looked at my link, there were patents in the 1700 and 1800.

No comment on how the Asians stole the burial methods?

But hey,if you want full credit for a period of people being filthy and bowing to irrational fears, you got it!

nixie_nox
Your right he can have full credit for that disgusting time period lol I thought what you wrote was funny peace,sugarcookie1