[or-roots] some facts about the 1500s:

[Paulette]

It is rather entertaining, but many thanks for the update, Gene. I wonder if this has been in snopes.com...


-----Original Message-----
>From: Gene Newcomb <newcombg at science.oregonstate.edu>
>Sent: Oct 13, 2010 12:37 PM
>To: 'or-roots mail list' <or-roots at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
>Subject: Re: [or-roots] some facts about the 1500s:
>
>Folks,
>
>Do a search on some fairly unique phrase in this "facts.." and you will find
>much discussion about the inaccuracy of this unattributed essay. It has been
>floating around the web since the late 90's and is no more accurate today
>than it was when first posted.
>
>For the sake of all, do not pass it on.
>
>Gene
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: or-roots-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
>[mailto:or-roots-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Nancy Lee
>Adams
>Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2010 8:23 AM
>To: or-roots mail list
>Subject: Re: [or-roots] some facts about the 1500s:
>
>Sally,
>
>Thank you for sending 'some facts about the 1500s'. I enjoyed reading it so 
>much I read it to my daughter while I was in Virginia for 2 weeks. I'm back 
>home now in Oregon and thought I had deleted it by accident but I found it 
>on my home computer : ) .. I'm going to print it out & save it.. Thanks 
>again, Nancy
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Sally" <sallyya at frontiernet.net>
>To: <or-roots at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
>Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2010 1:07 PM
>Subject: [or-roots] some facts about the 1500s:
>
>
>>
>> I got this on another list and enjoyed it so much I thought I would share 
>> it with all of you.
>> Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in 
>> May, and
>> they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting 
>> to
>> smell . ..... .
>> 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
>> entrance-way. Hence: 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 whiskey. 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 to run 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!!!
>> So...get out there and educate someone! ~~~ Share these facts with a 
>> friend.
>
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