Interesting Historical Trivia

[longknocker]

There is an old Hotel/Pub in Marble Arch, London which used to have gallows adjacent. Prisoners were taken to the gallows (after a fair trial of course) to be hung. The horse drawn dray, carting the prisoner was accompanied by an armed guard, who would stop the dray outside the pub and ask the prisoner if he would like ''ONE LAST DRINK''.

If he said YES it was referred to as ONE FOR THE ROAD !!
If he declined, that prisoner was ON THE WAGON!!
So there you go. More history.
They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor". But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot they "Didn't have a pot to Piss in" & were the lowest of the low...
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 they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour. 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 talking 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''Those people destined for hanging were transported by horse and cart long distances from different prisons on "hanging day" where up to 25 people from different areas would be hung at once. As they travelled through villages and towns, people would come to watch and throw things at the hapless prisoner who would be in chains, travelling alongside his own coffin. Sometimes an innkeeper would come out to offer a drink to the driver, and the prisoner. The driver would usually accept and then respond about the condemned person "Oh and none for him, he is on the wagon."
And that's the truth...Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !

[shilala]

That was an awesome read. Thanks Greg!!!

Great read to start this morning. Thanks.

[md4958]

Originally Posted by shilala

That was an awesome read. Thanks Greg!!!

[icehog3]

Some cool stuff there, Greg.

[G G]

Very cool.

[Mr.Erskine]

I love adding to the creases in my brain--thank you!

[E.J.]

Good stuff.... Glad I am not on the wagon....

[Blindjimme]

Very cool Greg

[Powers]

U know that's right up my alley Greg

I've only heard of a few of those bro!

I've got one more for ya though, again from England:

Beer was sold in pints and quarts in the Old Country for centuries, and still is today. So when a particular patron was getting to drunk on booze, the bartender would instruct him to "Mind you Ps and Qs" or else they'd be thrown out.

Another explanation is that it came from chalking up a tally of drinks in English pubs (on the slate). Publicans had to make sure to mark up the quart drinks as distinct from the pint drinks.

[longknocker]

Somehow, I Realized You Would Know That, Michael!

[MedicCook]

Thanks Greg.

[croatan]

While amusing, most of those "facts" are made up and that email has been going around, in one form or another, for quite a few years. Here's a snopes on most of it: http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/1500.asp

And, while I don't have a good source for it right now, I believe that "on the wagon" arose around the turn of the 20th century in the US along with the temperance movement.

Still a funny read, though

[The Professor]

Two sources for "on the wagon" (which James is right about):

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/on-the-wagon.html

http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/inde...?date=20001215