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Ring a ring of rosie, a pocketful of posies, Achew, Achew, We all fall down. (nursery rhyme) |
'Ring
a ring of Rosie'
relates to people who had the Black Death disease were marked with awful
brusies that would appear to rings around abright red centre on the
body. 'A pocketfull of posies' was
for people who would carry flower petals in their pockets to try and
mask the smell of the plague. 'Achew, Achew'
(sneezing). 'They all fall down'
this is when the diseased person died.
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Rule
of Thumb.
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In
the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his
wife with a stick no bigger than is thumb.
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Sew
on Sunday, rip out with your nose on Monday.
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One is to put aside all sewing, ect on the Lord's Day (Sunday) and honour Him or you will find that you will have to do the whole thing over again on Monday. Sent in by Roxanne Wodtli. |
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Shake
a leg.
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When
a ship was in home port the sailors were allowed to have their wives
or girlfriends visit. When the Petty Officer came through the compartments
in the morning, a woman could avoid being dumped out of the hammock
by 'Shaking a Leg' to show the occupant
was a female and not required to work.
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Sleep
tight, don't let bugbeds bite.
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This
saying derives from the same period of time as the last one. Beds then
did not have mattresses but a series of ropes stretched across the bed
and your bedding on top. After a while the rope would stretch and the
bed would sag in the middle so you tighten up the ropes. Also you had
a canopy above your bed so that any of the bugs ect in the thatched
roof fell out, they would fall onto the canopy and not you!
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Stone
Cold.
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Slate
floors were often cold enough during the winter months that any bare
skin coming in contact with them would 'Stick'.
The slate floors were usually covered with a layed of hay to provide
some warmth.
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Spring
Cleaning.
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The
layer of straw put down on the slate floor during the winter was finally
hauled out of the house when the weather turned warm in the Spring.
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Taking
the Biscuit
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When
a person shows off or pulls a suprise on someone.
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Thresh-hold.
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The
wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when
wet and also very cold. So they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to
help[ them keep their footing. As winter worn on, they added more and
more thresh until when you opened the door it would start slipping outside.
A peice of old wood was placed in the entrance-way to stop the thresh
slipping out.
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Tie
the Knot.
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Tying
the knots of ropes in the mariage bed.
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To
let the cat out of the bag.
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To
lift out of a bag a ships whip which was called 'Cat
of Nine-tails'.
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