If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in
the air, the person died in battle;  if the horse has one front leg in
the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if
the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
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"We'll be there with bells on!"

 Years ago, once snow had a good covering on the ground, people used
 horse drawn sleds and sleighs. The rural roads were not plowed and
 the runners of these vehicles left ruts to be followed in the deep
 snow cover. Many folks walked to their destinations and used the
 ruts as "the path of least" resistance to follow. Since these
 pedestrians were bundled up from head to toe against the cold, it
 was impossible for them to hear a sleigh coming until it was on top
 of them. The snow cushioned the hoof beats and made the runners
 almost silent. Drivers and riders in these open vehicles got the
 full brunt of the wind and cold in their faces, making visibility
 dicey at best; nonexistant in the dark. Consequently, the foot
 traveler was at great risk of mortal injury. Bells, hand wrought by
 local blacksmiths,  were attached to the harnesses and leather
 trappings so the walkers hear them coming and could quickly "get out
 of their rut", before being run over.

 Since each bell was slightly different in shape and size, it had
 it's own sound. Putting a set together meant that each person's
 horse harness had it's own distinctive sound and rhythm with the
 horses movements. People would know long before seeing them, who was
 coming down the lane. Inhabitants living in roadside homes could
 tell who was passing and in what direction they were going without
 looking. They also knew when there was a stranger in the vicinity or
 someone was using new harnesses. "Yah, I heard Jake going to town
 mid afternoon today, he was in no hurry". And if company was coming,
 they would say "We'll be there with bells on" so you knew, even in
 the dark,  when they were coming down the lane and could meet them
 at the door with a smile and hug.

 Everyone in the sleigh was covered with blankets or fur hides to
 keep warm. Sleighs were not often very roomy so it was close
 quarters, but added to the warmth. Quarry stones that were cut into
 squares or rectangles were set against the wood stove several hours
 in advance of a planned trip. Once heated, these were used as
 footwarmers on the trip, tucked in front of the seat, just behind
 the part of the sleigh that curled up to block snow kicked off the
 horse's hooves. That is also where the smallest children were
 nestled; sitting up front, behind the sleigh front, on the adult's
 feet which were on the warmer stones, under the blankets and hides.
 Sometimes even under the seat itself. Snug and warm, you could get a
 load of them in there, along with a few little gifts and some
 "dishes" of food. Once at their destination, the blankets were
 pulled off and out would tumble the giggling cargo. Older children
 were to bring in the footstones to place by the stove until it was
 time to go home. If they forgot, everyone got home "stone cold".

 Rita - Oconto County  http://www.rootsweb.com/~wioconto/

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This was printed in Nov/Dec issue of -  Bay Area Genealogical
 Society (BAGS) GEMS (WI). No author or source was given but it was
 too good not to share. Every one of us had ancestry living at that
 time and even if they were not in England, they probably faced
 similar situations. Gives you something to think about. "If they
 could see us now".   Rita - Oconto County WIGenWeb Coordinator


         HISTORY LESSON
 Here are some facts about the 1500's:

 Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath
 in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were
 starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide
 the body odor.

 Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the
 house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then the sons and
 the other men, then the women,
 and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water
 was so dirty that 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 dogs and cats and other small animals, (bugs, rats, and mice)
 lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometime
 the animals would slip and fall off the roof-hence the saying "It's
 raining cats and dogs".
 There was nothing to stop things from falling in the house. This
 posed a real problem in the bed room where bugs and other droppings
 could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence a bed with big posts

 and a sheet hung over the bed afforded some protection. That's how
 canopy beds came 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 get slippery in the winter
 when wet, so they spread thresh on the floor to help keep their
 footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until
 when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A
 piece of wood was placed in he entry way-hence, a "threshold".

 They cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over
 the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot.
 They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat

 stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight
 and add to these to start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had
 food in it that had been there for quite a while-hence the rhyme,
 "peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot
 nine days old".

 Sometimes they would obtain pork, which made them feel quite
 special. When a visitor came over they would hang up their bacon to
 show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "could bring home the
 bacon".

  They would cut off a little to share with guests and all 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 into the floor, causing
 lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with
 tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were
 considered poisonous.

 Most people did not have pewter plates, but had trenchers, a piece
 of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Often trenchers
 were made from stale paysan bread which was so old and hard that
 they could use them for some time. Trenchers were never washed and a

 lot of times worms and mold got into the wood and old bread. After
 eating off wormy moldy trenchers, one would get "trench mouth".

 Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottoms

 of the loaf, the family got the middle and the quests got the top,
 or "upper crust".
 Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey.
 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 and see if they would wake up-hence the custom of
 holding a "wake".

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

 people.
 So they would dig up the coffins and take the bones to the "bone
 house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, one out of

 25 coffins were found to have
 scratch marks on the inside and they realized that they had been
 burying people alive.
 So they tied a string to the wrist of the corpse, lead it through
 the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone
 would sit in the graveyard all night (the
 "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus someone could be
 "saved by the bell" or was :
 considered a "dead ringer."