|
Nostalgia aint what it used to be... The "I remember when......." section is finally with us - lets reminisce! |
|
|
Welcome to Accrington Web!
We are a discussion forum dedicated to the towns of Accrington, Oswaldtwistle and the surrounding areas, sometimes referred to as Hyndburn! We are a friendly bunch please feel free to browse or read on for more info. You are currently viewing our site as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, photos, play in the community arcade and use our blog section. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please, join our community today!
|
11-12-2009, 10:30
|
#1
|
Full Member
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Accrington,
Posts: 494
Liked: 13 times
Rep Power: 3186
|
A fun history lesson
A Fun History Lesson
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 "**** 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 **** in" and 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 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...
And that's the truth...Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !
|
|
|
11-12-2009, 11:54
|
#2
|
Resting in Peace
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: In a state of confusion
Posts: 36,973
Liked: 715 times
Rep Power: 76552
|
Re: A fun history lesson
Where the hell did you dig that lot up from Jelly, very entertaining indeed
__________________
35 YEARS AND COUNTING
|
|
|
11-12-2009, 12:17
|
#3
|
Full Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 131
Liked: 0 times
Rep Power: 46
|
Re: A fun history lesson
Thanks for the history lesson - now will we remember it all !!!!
|
|
|
11-12-2009, 12:24
|
#4
|
Coffin Dodger.
|
Re: A fun history lesson
if they had taught history like that in my day, might not have played wack as often.
__________________
N.L.T.B.G.Y.D. Do not argue with an idiot, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
|
|
|
11-12-2009, 18:49
|
#5
|
Senior Member+
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Home
Posts: 3,223
Liked: 578 times
Rep Power: 20952
|
Re: A fun history lesson
Brilliant :-)))
__________________
Regards,
Barrie
|
|
|
11-12-2009, 18:52
|
#6
|
Beacon of light
|
Re: A fun history lesson
I loved it...more history please.......and if you know a similar way to teach maths and physics....I might just matriculate next year
__________________
The world will not be destroyed by evil people...
It will be destroyed by those who stand by and do Nothing.
(a paraphrase on a quote by Albert Einstein)
|
|
|
11-12-2009, 21:20
|
#7
|
God Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Not sure anymore
Posts: 9,009
Liked: 1 times
Rep Power: 514
|
Re: A fun history lesson
A brain popper that was. Need to find some were to recover.
|
|
|
12-12-2009, 11:18
|
#8
|
God Member
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Cloud Cuckoo Land
Posts: 3,212
Liked: 328 times
Rep Power: 12995
|
Re: A fun history lesson
Very good but read the disclaimer on the page it was copied and pasted from. Also take note of the name of the copyright holder in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.
Life in the 1500s - Folk Etymologies
The disclaimer:
These attributions are unproven, lacking evidence or credibility and were almost certainly made up by whoever posted that message.
Please don't mail us saying that what's listed below isn't correct - we know.
__________________
Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right.
Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.
|
|
|
12-12-2009, 11:37
|
#9
|
Resting in Peace
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Clayton-le-Moors
Posts: 10,551
Liked: 16 times
Rep Power: 11257
|
Re: A fun history lesson
Quote:
Originally Posted by yerself
Also take note of the name of the copyright holder in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.
.
|
If you go into the name yerself ... not the one you may be thinking of.
|
|
|
12-12-2009, 16:03
|
#10
|
God Member
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Cloud Cuckoo Land
Posts: 3,212
Liked: 328 times
Rep Power: 12995
|
Re: A fun history lesson
Quote:
Originally Posted by katex
If you go into the name yerself ... not the one you may be thinking of.
|
Your kidding
__________________
Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right.
Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.
|
|
|
12-12-2009, 16:22
|
#11
|
God Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: i'm on the edge of glory
Posts: 13,528
Liked: 214 times
Rep Power: 95231
|
Re: A fun history lesson
well whatever anyone says....it does all make sense
__________________
When people walk away from you, let them go... It doesn't mean they are bad people, it just means their part in your story is over
|
|
|
13-12-2009, 13:05
|
#12
|
Resting in Peace
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Clayton-le-Moors
Posts: 10,551
Liked: 16 times
Rep Power: 11257
|
Re: A fun history lesson
Quote:
Originally Posted by yerself
Your kidding
|
Obviously you were then .. must have misinterpreted the double winks ..
Quote:
Originally Posted by flashy
well whatever anyone says....it does all make sense
|
Yes agree Flashy, I'd like to think some of them are true.
|
|
|
13-12-2009, 18:50
|
#13
|
God Member
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Cloud Cuckoo Land
Posts: 3,212
Liked: 328 times
Rep Power: 12995
|
Re: A fun history lesson
Quote:
Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington
I might just matriculate next year
|
Is that allowed on Robinson's coaches?
__________________
Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right.
Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.
|
|
|
14-12-2009, 11:13
|
#14
|
Resting in Peace
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: In a state of confusion
Posts: 36,973
Liked: 715 times
Rep Power: 76552
|
Re: A fun history lesson
Quote:
Originally Posted by yerself
Is that allowed on Robinson's coaches?
|
I thought it was an arrestable offence
__________________
35 YEARS AND COUNTING
|
|
|
29-12-2009, 18:51
|
#15
|
Full Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: St. Annes
Posts: 352
Liked: 16 times
Rep Power: 3000
|
Re: A fun history lesson
Well I enjoyed it wherever it came from!!
|
|
|
Other sites of interest.. |
More town sites.. |
|
|
All times are GMT. The time now is 16:16.
© 2003-2013 AccringtonWeb.com
|
|