I am sending you all something educational..........continued.

[KingoftheCocktails]

Continued......................Life in the 1500's

......................Not a lot of people know about that

Sometimes people in the 1500's could obtain pork and would feel really special when that happened.

When company came over, they would bring out some bacon and hang it to show it off.

It was a sign of wealth and that a man '' could really bring home the bacon,''

They would cut off a little to share with guests and would sit around and ''chew the fat''.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food. This happened most often with tomatoes, so they stopped eating tomatoes .. for nearly 400 years.

Most people didn't have pewter plates, but had trenches- a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl.

Trenchers were never washed and a lot of times worms got into the wood.

After eating off the wormy trenchers, they would get ''trench mouth.''

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 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 to see if they would wake up.

Hence the custom of holding a ''wake.''

England is old and small and they started running out of places to bury people.

So they would dig up coffins and would take their bones to a house and re-use the grave. In reopening these coffins, one out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realised that they had been burying people alive.

So they thought they would tie a string on their wrist and 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 to listen for the bells.

Hence on the ''graveyard shift'' they would know that someone was ''saved by the bell ''

or he was a ''dead ringer''

****************************************************************************************************************************

KOTC hopes you feel much more knowledgeable after this latest history lesson.

BREATHE EASY= FRIENDSHIP

You will be much more knowledgeable if you attend your local Breathe Easy group

For those all important details phone [phone] BLF Helpline Mon - Fri 9am 5pm

[Hidden]

Where do you find these interesting items, King. I enjoyed that a lot.

[KingoftheCocktails in reply to Hidden]

I learned my history at school .I think! annieseed

[katieoxo60]

Never did like history at school to do with the teacher really, but your post gave history a whole new meaning and approach with a giggle added

[KingoftheCocktails in reply to katieoxo60]

I went to a funny school katieoxo60

[newlands]

Yes i would have enjoyed history at school with interesting items and tales like that

love Dorothy xx

[KingoftheCocktails in reply to newlands]

History has realty become history to me Dorothy

[Hidden]

glad I didnt live in those days Joyce

[KingoftheCocktails in reply to Hidden]

Changed a little bit since then Joyce. ell maybe for the uppercrust

[Hidden]

These are all really interesting

I think I'd heard the bell one before, something jogged in my mind when I read it anyway....

[KingoftheCocktails in reply to Hidden]

It wasn't you pulling the string was it? flylikeeagles

[Hidden]

Yes,I heard the bell one before,but none of the others.They were all very interesting,always a good tale behind every custom!

[KingoftheCocktails in reply to Hidden]

Ring the other one Wendells

[Tomcat98]

Good start to very wet Friday. Love the history lesson!

[KingoftheCocktails in reply to Tomcat98]

Get off the naughty step and go to the top of the class Tomcat98

[mustcarryon]

is all this interesting info in a book, if so what is the title and where can we buy it?

[KingoftheCocktails in reply to mustcarryon]

It is from a collection of my ,'no I'm not throwing that away' box mustcarryon. I'm a hoarder

[silversurfer]

It makes you realise all these old sayings have a modicum of truth. Thanks for helping to brighten my day.

[KingoftheCocktails in reply to silversurfer]

I think you must be from the upper crust, or maybe you hang the bacon out, I can't make my mind up

[silversurfer in reply to KingoftheCocktails]

Definately upper crust

[Toci]

Oh, well done, Your Majesty! I love these little tidbits.

[KingoftheCocktails in reply to Toci]

It is a good subject for my Subjects Toci