Bouquets, canopy beds, and various sayings go back many years. Often we use sayings without actually knowing their background. Here’s the story behind some.
Houses had thickly thatched roofs,. Small animals, and insects, climbed up and snuggled into the thatch where it was warm. However the rain made the thatch slippery and animals would slide off . Hence the saying; ‘Raining cats and dogs.
Similarly the bugs and bird droppings in the straw would frequently drop down onto the beds. Not good. The problem was solved by erecting big posts and stretching a sheet over the beds , which evolved into the canopies we still sometimes see over beds.
In those times only the wealthy had stone flagged floors. Lesser people’s floors would be of rammed dirt hence the saying ‘Dirt poor’. The flagged stone floors had the disadvantage of becoming slippery from arriving people’s footwear. Straw was spread around the door to alleviate this and a board placed across the bottom of the door to stop the straw spreading outside. Hence the name for today’s doorstep, The threshold .
Food, mostly vegetables, was cooked in a large pot hanging over the fire which burned or smouldered all day. Ingredients were added from time to time and what was left at night stayed in the pot to be warmed up next morning as a basis for the day’s meals. These added to stews commonly continued for several days. Hence the rhyme ‘Peas porridge hot peas porridge cold. Peas porridge in the pot nine days old’
Meat was mostly unaffordable for ordinary folk, having meat was a sign of prosperity. A man was doing something special if he could provide some meat, usually bacon, hence the saying ‘Bring home the bacon’. Likewise if visitors arrived he would cut a little off which they would eat as they sat and talked hence; ‘Chewing the fat’.
Bread was distributed according to status. Workers got the bottom portion of the loaves which was often burnt, middle class families received the centre and the rich the golden top third or the ‘Upper crust’.
Bathing for most was an annual event, usually in May when the weather was warmer. Most marriages were held in June while the bride and groom still smelled pretty good. However sometimes, with hotter weather, body odour was again becoming evident. To counter this brides carried a bouquet of flowers. Which continues as a the custom to this day.
The family’s annual bath was in a big tub of heated water. The father had the privilege of the clean water , followed by his wife and then the children. By the time it was the youngest’s turn the water could be quite murky to extent that it could be possible to lose a child which resulted in the saying ‘Don’t throw out the bay with the bath water’.
