Did you know?

1
Did you know?
Origins of common words or sayings
Name
A HenryTudor.com Production
2
Click to move on
Customers had to pay One Penny to enter a Tavern,
to cover the cots of breakages. Their coin was
checked at the doorway to see if it was a
forgery, by dropping it on the stone floor to see
if it bounced like a Copper alloy should. Hence a
BOUNCER stood at the doorway.
Tudor means House of Iron in old Welsh and was
the first name of a son given at birth, it comes
from Theodore. Henry means Ruler of the
House So Henry Tudor means Ruler of the House
of Iron
End file and return to website
3
Gone to Pot
Click to move on
The cooking pot in the middle of a Medieval Hall
was called the Eternal Kettle because it was
always boiling. It was called the Hot Pot in
Lancashire. You only received what was dished out
to you by chance, this became known as Pot
Luck The mixture sank to the bottom and was
added to daily by other mixtures this was a
Potpourri. To shoot an animal purely to cook it
for food was called a Pot Shot. The mixture at
the bottom became very strong, hence Potent. To
cook in the water of the Pot was to Potch the
food, this became Poach the food. A new food was
introduced in Tudor times for public consumption
the Potato. Named after where it was to be cooked.
End file and return to website
4
The Board was the Medieval Table where all meals
were eaten and where all business was undertaken
Click to move on
The master of the house was the Chairman of the
Board, the room was the Boardroom. Sideboard,
Cupboard, across the Board, above Board, Board
and lodgings, by the Board, swept the Board, all
come from the Board. The medieval cart had a
piece of wood to keep the mud (the dash) off the
passengers, this became the Dashboard. Games were
played on the Board, Board games. A scratch was
made for the starting line of a game. To start
from Scratch. A board-game of disadvantages was
called Hand I the Cup this became Handicap.
End file and return to website
5
Stone floors were so cold that cut reeds called
Thresh was laid on them. The thresh used to walk
out and blow around the yard so a piece of wood
was fixed at the bottom of the door to hold it
in, The Threshold
Click to move on
A bay in a house was the distance between the
stanchion supports of the house, they were spaced
about 16 feet apart, the width of two pairs of
oxen in a barn.
A Half-Timbered house was not because its was
made of WoodStone nor was it because of
WoodWattle n Daub. It was a ship-building
technique to split a full tree down its centre
and place the two halve opposite each other to
equalise the warpage and house movement.
A Black and White Tudor house is wrong. It should
be silvery grey and cream. The Victorians made a
big mistake painting the wood with Tar to protect
it. Its had the opposite effect.
End file and return to website
6
The Romans took two steps with a full suit of
armour on, measured it , multiplied this
measurement by 1000 and invented the Roman
Mille. Saxons took the same idea, but with no
armour on, and so their Mille became the Mile
which is longer that the Romans Mille. The Romans
marched 15 Milles per day and then built a Fort.
Click to move on
There are roses in the ceilings of all talking
rooms, the Parlour, the Great Hall. The Rose
signifies to be Trustful and to keep a secret.
Subrosa is Latin for Under the Rose. A place of
trust. This is why Lancashire and Yorkshire had
Roses as their emblems.
The great Eternal Kettle was hoisted above the
fire by a ships wooden, block and tackle. When it
was too heavy the system was Choc-a-Bloc.
Sometimes called the Hotpot.
End file and return to website
7
In Medieval England the serfs worked the land
and kept half the income for their living. If
they had more than 5 sick days off per year they
lost their work. Others could keep a record of
their absences by nicking a groove on a gate,
fence or Mine entrance beam, after 5 nicks they
got the job instead. The Job was Nicked! To
legally take away.
Click to move on
The length of a Furrow on a field of 10 acres was
called a Furlong. The Romans used a Furlong as
the length of 1/8th of a Mille, which became
their length of a stadium arena.
A Caliber was a Mould for casting crude
projectiles, it became the size of a bullet.
End file and return to website
8
A bundle of straw to sleep on for the poor was
called a Pad. Come back to my Pad..
Click to move on
A tender cut of meat , the Loin, became the loin
meat, then Luncheon Meat then Lunch.
A day in the life of a peasant. You went to bed
at 9.00pm and must not eat nor drink for 8 hours,
the Fast. You went Fast-asleep, woken up at
5.00am by Break-fast of bread and water. You
toiled for 4 hours returning for Dinner at 9.00.
You eat off a Trencher loaf cut in half sideways,
you had the hard bottom half, the Upper-crust got
the top half. All food not touched was then put
into the Hot pot and boiled for 8 hourd while you
worked. It turned into soup, this was your Supper
at 6.00pm. You were 5050 to survive to 12 yrs
old when you married, had all the children by age
20, a grandparent by 30, dead by 40.
End file and return to website
9
Cheap furniture was stained with Pigs blood and
Urine. Expensive furniture was stained with
Shellac, crushed Lac Beetles in spirit. It took
10,000 beetles to make 1 litre of Shellac,
Lacquer came from this name.
Click to move on
Glass windows were so expensive, you took it all
with you when you moved house! Glass was spun and
old glass still shows the spin marks today. See
Class!
Thatched roofs were a warm place to be, so
animals lived in them. When it rained heavily all
the animals ran out of the roof. Its raining
Cats and Dogs!
A good design of priest hole has one way in and
two ways out!
End file and return to website
10
The upper floor jutted out to save money on the
floor area tax. It was known as the Jetty, Jut
out from shipbuilding.
Click to move on
Oak trees were only used for spans up to 20 feet
because they did not grow so straight. The Romans
introduced Wych Elm trees to Britain to dry out
the damp land. They grow fast and straight up to
100 feet long. Most large houses and ships keels
were made of Wych Elm because of its water
resistance and ease to bend with steam.
The stone on Medieval house roofs was not slate,
it was cut from ordinary stone lying about,
graded into size and applied largest at the lower
end to smallest at the top, because it was easier
to carry.
The Parlour was a place to Parley, that is a
place to talk.
End file and return to website
11
Goosie goosie gander the lyrics
Goosie goosie gander where shall I wander,Upstairs, downstairs and in my lady's chamberThere I met an old man who wouldn't say his prayers,I took him by the left leg and threw him down the stairs. Obscure morality Nursery RhymeGoosie, goosie gander - an attention grabber to a nursery rhyme which uses alliteration in the lyrics designed to intrigue a child. The 'lady's chamber' is a room that no longer exists today but English history refers to a high born lady having her own chamber, which was once referred to as a solar. The origins of the nursery rhyme are said to date back in history to the 16th century and refer to Catholic priests hiding in 'Priest Holes' ( very small secret rooms found in great houses in England) to avoid persecution from zealous Protestants who were completely against the old Catholic religion. If caught the priest and also members of any family found harbouring them would be executed. The moral to the story and in the lyrics is to point out that something unpleasant would occur to anyone found not saying their prayers!
Click to move on
End file and return to website
12
Click to move on
The Pot again. Potash was the ash under the Pot
from burnt vegetables and dried wood. Potassium
the element came from Potash, use by the Romans
for an ointment. Crack Pot, a ridiculous thing to
have in the kitchen! Gone a bit Potty! Eating the
overcooked, old potent food at the bottom of the
pot.
End file and return to website
13
The term Class came originally from Roman days
and was Glass, to be able to afford Glass you had
to have class, and money of course.
Click to move on
The spun glass with its circular marks would be
much clearer at the out rim, the very rich could
afford clear glass and so they are the upper
class. Towards the centre of the spin they were
the middle class and jealousy was abound as the
middle class thought the upper class to be a cut
above them.
Seemingly dead bodies were placed in their
coffins on two stools in front of a lit fire. The
family has a party to wake the dead up, it is now
the Wake! After the party they stood around the
now curling up body, its feet curling backwards
because of the fire heat and the shoes coming off
the feet. They now declare the body to be
properly dead as it has popped its clogs.
End file and return to website
14
Click to move on
The Parlour was a place to Parley, that is a
place to talk, BUT! In England it would not have
been used until about 1650 because we didnt like
the French. We would have had the wooden board in
the talking room and it would be called the
Boardroom.
There was such a thing as flavoured bread in
Tudor times, even garlic bread! Trenchers were a
strange looking loaf, burnt on the underside to
seal them, white and hard on the outer topside
because the gentry didnt like eating common
browned bread. There were wooden bread making
contraptions which held hot stones and draped wet
muslin over the uncooked bread, they were then
steamed to cook and stay white. The flavour was
added into the water which the muslin was soaked
in.
End file and return to website