have gallows adjacent.
(after a fair trial of course) to be hung.
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.
_____
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 odor.
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.”
_____
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.
_____
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”.
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”
_____
And that’s the truth…Now, whoever said history was boring ! ! !
Categories: Attitude