Clay art on thu 16 aug 12
=3D20
Hi Guys. I thought to share this fwd with you. Not exactly clay, but =3D
some of it comes close to clay discussions. Enjoy!
=3D20
Now you can understand what you have been saying and what it means..
Here is something for history buffs:
There is an old Hotel/Pub in Marble Arch, London , which used to =3D
have a
gallows adjacent to it. Prisoners were taken to the gallows, (after a =3D
fair
trial of course) to be hung.
The horse drawn dray, carting the prisoner, was accompanied by an =3D
armed
guard, who would stop the dray outside the pub and ask the prisoner if =
=3D
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.
They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all =3D
pee
in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery. If you =3D
had
to do this to survive you were, "Piss Poor", but worse than that, were =3D
the
really poor folk, who couldn't even afford to buy a pot, they "Didn't =3D
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 =3D
used
to be. Here are some facts about the 1500's:
Most people got married in June, because they took their yearly bath =
=3D
in
May and they still smelled pretty good by June.
However, since they were starting to smell, brides carried a bouquet =
=3D
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 =3D
sons
and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the =3D
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 =3D
cats
and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained =
=3D
it
became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the =3D
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 =3D
could
mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet =3D
hung
over the top, afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came =3D
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 =
=3D
get
slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor =
=3D
to
help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more =3D
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, =3D
that
always hung over the fire. Every day, they lit the fire and added =3D
things to
the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They =3D
would
eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold
overnight, then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it =3D
that
had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme: ''Peas porridge =3D
hot,
peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot, nine days old''.
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite =3D
special.
When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon, to show off. =3D
It
was a sign of wealth that a man could, "Bring home the Bacon." They =3D
would
cut off a little, to share with guests and would all sit around talking =
=3D
and
''Chew the fat''.
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid =3D
content
caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning =3D
&
death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 =3D
years or
so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided, according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom =
=3D
of
the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or ''The =3D
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. =3D
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 =3D
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 =3D
coffins, 1
out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and =3D
they
realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string =
=3D
on
the wrist of the corpse, thread it through the coffin and up through =3D
the
ground and tie it to a bell.
Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night, (the =3D
graveyard
shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, ''Saved by the =3D
Bell
'' or was considered a ''Dead Ringer''
And that's the truth.
Now, whoever said history was boring ! ! !
=3D20
=3D20
Best wishes.
Antoinette Badenhorst
Follow me on Twitter: Antoinette Badenhors@AntoinetteBaden =3D20
www.porcelainbyAntoinette.com
http://www.facebook.com/antoinette.badenhorst.7=3D20
=3D20
Snail Scott on fri 17 aug 12
On Aug 16, 2012, at 10:16 AM, Clay art wrote:
> Here is something for history buffs:
> There is an old Hotel/Pub in Marble Arch, London , which used to have =
a
> gallows adjacent to it. Prisoners were taken to the gallows, (after a fa=
ir
> trial of course) to be hung...
The pedant in me is obliged to note that nearly all of
these charming stories are completely bogus.
Historical linguistics folks often call them 'Just-So
Stories' (after Kipling) because people think them up
to explain various oddities of language, then they get
disseminated as fact. The real back-story is often much
more complex, somewhat simpler, or flat-out unknown.
-Snail
Frances Howard on sat 18 aug 12
You are so right Snail.
And whilst we are on words only game is hung and prisoners are hanged. And
a mill was originally a miln but the n was dropped early, just like kiln,
but you can't drop that n can you.
Frances Howard
-----Original Message-----
From: Snail Scott
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 9:49 PM
To: Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Some olde English history
On Aug 16, 2012, at 10:16 AM, Clay art wrote:
> Here is something for history buffs:
> There is an old Hotel/Pub in Marble Arch, London , which used to have =
a
> gallows adjacent to it. Prisoners were taken to the gallows, (after a
> fair
> trial of course) to be hung...
The pedant in me is obliged to note that nearly all of
these charming stories are completely bogus.
Historical linguistics folks often call them 'Just-So
Stories' (after Kipling) because people think them up
to explain various oddities of language, then they get
disseminated as fact. The real back-story is often much
more complex, somewhat simpler, or flat-out unknown.
-Snail
-----
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