interesting history facts

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charlie.b.c.

Member
Jun 19, 2005
12
0
54
essex
most people got married in june because they took their yearly bath in may,and still smelt pretty good by june.However, they were starting to smell,so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the odour.Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.............charlie.b.c. :)
 

ilovemybed

Settler
Jul 18, 2005
564
6
43
Prague
I feel my leg being pulled... :D

Reminds me of the old chestnut:

Why do most women wear perfume and makeup?

Because they're ugly and they smell....

(ducks)
 

Ranger Bob

Nomad
Aug 21, 2004
286
0
41
Suffolk
charlie.b.c. said:
most people got married in june because they took their yearly bath in may,and still smelt pretty good by june.However, they were starting to smell,so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the odour.Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.............charlie.b.c. :)

If so.....why didn't they just get married in May??? :confused: No need for flowers then! :D
 

bambodoggy

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nov 10, 2004
3,062
50
49
Surrey
www.stumpandgrind.co.uk
Sounds reasonable to me and in addition to what Des says it also means that if the marrage is consumated in June and the lady becomes pregnant then she will have her baby roughly in March which is when the weather is bucking up and the infant has more chance of survival in the warmer weather. :D

Maybe it's a leg puller but I'm not so sure ;)

Bam. :D
 

Spacemonkey

Native
May 8, 2005
1,354
9
52
Llamaville.
www.jasperfforde.com
Don't care-they will all burn in hell, as it is an un Christian thing to do-only Moors take baths, and bathing is a sign of not being Christian! Something to do with nakedness and all that.... That's why they swing the incense around in Catholic churches.
 

Stuart

Full Member
Sep 12, 2003
4,141
50
**********************
why is it people cant just accept it and always want to srutinise an old fable or whatever for that matter

Because there are other explanations for why people traditionally get married in June, for example:

the ancient Romans married in June to honor the queen of the gods, Juno who was also the goddess of women. They hoped to win her favor to make the marriage last and to make childbirth easier.

and

Ancient cultures once believed that the sexual union of the gods took place in May. So marriages would be held over until the first (or only) full moon in June, also the best time to harvest the honey used in making celebratory mead. That is why so many people today get married in June and then go away on honeymoon.

both of which are more likely explanations than "they stank the rest of the time"
 

Womble

Native
Sep 22, 2003
1,095
2
57
Aldershot, Hampshire, UK
On the other hand, the bouquet being used the mask body odur sounds plausable. It reminds me of the "A pocket full of Posies" line in the nursery rhyme, a reminder that it was thought that a bunch of flowers could - by the very nature of their scent - keep away the plague.
 

Spacemonkey

Native
May 8, 2005
1,354
9
52
Llamaville.
www.jasperfforde.com
It's also the reason we have flowers at funerals-a habit that has been continued since our ancient ancestors first 'celebrated' funerals all those millenia ago. In modern times with coffins in church it is to mask the smell, and also why they have large candles burning around the coffin, as the burning of a candle masks the smell also. Which is also why we use both props in viewing chapels in all my funeral parlours.
 

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