On our day trip of the Cotswolds and Stratford Upon Avon, we took a tour of the birth place of William Shakespeare, the childhood home of his wife, Anne Hathaway, and a working Tudor-era farm. While we were aware and curious about the numerous Shakespearean phrases that have become common in everyday speech, we were particularly struck by the number of figures of speech that have made their way into our modern usage that are actually rooted in sleeping, eating, and even dying experiences of Tudor life in the 1500’s. We couldn’t wait to share them with you!
In the picture below you can see a medieval bed from the Hathaway home with a hay-filled mattress that is held up by ropes.
People slept sitting upright in these beds propped up by pillows. This was for several reasons. 1) They lived in cold houses with wood fired cooking areas in the lower floor. You can imagine the condition of their lungs. So practically, people could breath better while sitting up, even while sleeping. 2) They were superstitious about evil spirits coming into their homes at night. If someone was found laying down to sleep the evil spirit might mistake them for a dead person. Hence, it was better to sleep upright than risk certain death!
“HIT THE HAY”
Blankets on the mattress would be firmly tucked in and held in place with tall wooden pins. This served two purposes. 1) It would keep people from rolling out of bed and 2) the wooden pins could be used to beat the lumps out of the hay mattress. That is where we get the phrase, “I’m going to hit the hay!”
“GOOD NIGHT SLEEP TIGHT”
Mattresses were suspended in the bed frame by a grid of ropes. Before going to bed you would need to take the wooden “bed key” and twist the ropes sequentially until the slack could be taken out of all the ropes running to and fro under the mattress could be tightened and tied off in a knot.
This tightening would lift up any sagging in the mattress from the previous night’s weight of sleep. This is where we get the saying, “Good night, sleep tight…”
“TYING THE KNOT”
It is noteworthy that it would take two people to properly tighten the ropes under the mattress. And, in the case of a husband and wife, they would work together to “tie the knot.” Quite literally a reference to tightening the bed ropes and cinching them until a final knot could be tied. We still refer to a husband and wife “tying the knot” on their wedding day — a phase that harkens back to this sleeping ritual of the teamwork needed to ensure a good night’s sleep.
“DON’T LET THE BED BUGS BITE”
The complete phase, “Good night, sleep tight… don’t let the bed bugs bite” was brought to life at the childhood home of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s wife. Because homes were constructed with thatched roofs, any number of creatures from birds to rats to insects would live above the rafters of the home among the wheat thatch. A canopy above the bed proved an invaluable ally in order to prevent their liquid and solid waste from falling on people in the night. Further, the canopy prevented myriad flying and crawling bogs from dropping out the the roof thatching onto the bed. So, you would not only want to sleep tight, but you would want to sleep in a bed without insects dropping on you. “Don’t let the bed bugs bite!”
“GETTING OUT ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE BED”
Another hazard in the medieval home was the chamber pot… or in the case of Shakespeare and other Tudors, two chamber pots. One for #1 and the other for #2. This way they would be dumped out in the morning and #2 could be essentially recycled for farming uses. But because chamber pots might not be properly pushed back under the bed there was certainly a danger of “Getting out on the wrong side of the bed” and stepping your bare foot into a chamber pot. There are other phrases such as, “kicking the can,” “putting your foot in it,” and “raising a stink” also recall this unfortunate occurrence.
BLOW OUT ALL THE CANDLES ON YOUR BIRTHDAY CAKE
Children would move from a trundle bed under that parents bed (see picture) to their own room only when they could safely carry a candle through the whole house to their rooms, blow it out and get into bed (without setting the house on fire!). Our modern day practice of “blowing out the candles” in one blow on a birthday cake is a reminder of this sign of maturation and safety!
“SAVED BY THE BELL”
And now for some bone-chilling historical roots of phrases from the portion of our tour that included a visit to a quaint country church in a gorgeous Cotswold village! A more macabre saying might just save your life! We learned about the saying, “Saved by the bell” from our Mad Max Tours bus driver, Richard. (Mad Max for tour company founder Madeline and her dog Max, not the movie). He encouraged us to note that in the entry way of many medieval churches were two stone benches with quite a history.
At a time in history when people were dying in droves from the Black Plague, communities had to bury people very quickly… sometimes too quickly! Since grave spaces needed to be reused across time, so the bones of the dead would be removed and relocated once decomposition was completed. Alarmingly, in about 1/4 of all bone relocations, scratch marks were found on the underside of the casket lids. Lacking medical devices to measure heart rates or brain activity, people were occasionally buried alive. Yikes!
Because people feared being buried alive in this manner, they would tie a string to the finger of the dead person and run the string out of the tomb and up to a small bell. Towns people would take turns sitting on the stone bench in the church for two days and two nights after a burial to listen for the bell. It is disturbing to think that some people were literally “Saved by the Bell” after having been buried alive.
This is also the origin of phrases such as “WORKING THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT” and “DEAD RINGER.”
“THE BOARD ROOM”
The Tudor English dining room is also responsible for a number of sayings we use today. Instead of permanent tables being installed in the small dining room, a large Board would be placed on two supports and serve as the dining table.
This would be the table around which the Lord, who was the landowning adult male of the property, would gather his servants and farm hands to share information and hear from them about their lives and concerns during occasional “BOARD MEETINGS.”
“CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD”
While the servants and farm hands would sit on benches around the board, the only chair would be occupied by the Lord of the house, or the “Chairman of the Board.”
“ABOVE BOARD”
Tudor mealtimes were governed by a long list of manners to make community life more pleasant. Since people were seated closely on the benches, people were expected to sit up straight. Additionally, they could not put their elbows on the table or else the board would fall over from being unevenly weighted. Hands were to be kept above the table so that young men wouldn’t touch themselves or the knees of the women under the table. Hence the saying, “Let’s keep things Above Board” was quite appropriate. This guideline also applied when paying the farm hands their wages (all the money was spread out so everyone could see what everyone else was being paid) and when gambling so someone couldn’t fetch an Ace tucked in a sleeve under the table. It was best to keep things above board.
“ROOM AND BOARD”
A farm hand or traveler would be offered a place to sleep in the small family home, often near the fire in the dining area. The only bed was the “Board” that was laid on the floor. So, they were given room and a board to sleep on.
While we expected to adore the quaint and beautiful villages of the Cotswolds and learn more about Shakespeare while visiting Stratford upon Avon, we were absolutely delighted to learn more about the history of English linguistics!
Well, we must “hit the hay” and surely hope we do not “wake up on the wrong side of the bed!” So, we bid you a final, “Good night, sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite!”
Loved this illuminating English lesson. We were there many years ago but did not get such a delightful tour. Mad Max rules!