MDCECIL-L Archives

From: "Robert Wilson" <>
Subject: [MDCECIL] History facts
Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 18:38:21 -0700

Since somebody pointed that history is closely associated with genealogy,
and our last post on the subject generated such interest, I have attached
the following. I will not, however, vouch for the veracity of same.


Bob Wilson

Some interesting history facts....

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 dogs, 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, that posed a
real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really
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 bed's 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 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
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 the 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 and
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 "upper crust

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. 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 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 thought 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 that History was boring !!!

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• [MDCECIL] History facts by "Robert Wilson" <>