General Chat

Hmm, nice mix of May and navy knickers. Only the English could ramble so delightfully! Anyway, my old Mum took the line that May refers to the may blossom, for the reasons already given by others. I like to frighten the locals by walking round in shirtsleeves in the middle of winter. I grew up on the Lancashire Pennines on the edge of Bronte country, where the trees all grow at right angles because of the prevailing wind, so Devon's sub-tropical by comparison. Have to put my vest on after Christmas, though, to avoid traumatising them altogether ! Lol! Talking of navy knickers, whole generations of schoolgirls must have memories of these. Us boys had the white gym shorts and bare chests, if I remember rightly. Certainly remember the post war impetigo stuff though! Boarding school wasn't much better. We boarders weren't allowed off site down town without an exeat, and certainly not to meet girls. The regulation annual sixth form dance with the girls' grammar school under supervision. What would the younger generation mak of all this? I remember two senior scouts being expelled after being found naked in a bath with two girls at a supposed weekend camp. Cor luv a duck! Lol!

Nice one She ! LOL ! Elaine x

hmmmmm - all about May and nowt about CLOUT - which can mean a cloth but can also mean a slap or thump as in to give someone a clout in the kisser :-)

Sylvia:- R.E: Goosefat = Nowadays they would use Tar & Feathers.......... Elaine x :o)

The old saying, in my opinion, refers to the May Blossom, as the time that it flowers depends entirely upon the season that year. The date it flowers can vary, from what I've seen, by a couple of weeks. Frog spawn seems to be the same! I think the frogs will only spawn once the water reaches a certain temperature, and in previous years when we've had a cold snap after they've spawned, the tadpoles don't appear until it warms up again. This year, the tadpoles appeared very quickly after they'd spawned. Now I'm rambling ......... !!

Sylvia - I doubt that anyone would have noticed - if I recall infant/junior school correctly just after the war, most kids had areas on their body with purple blotches (impetigo remedy I think) bread poltices stuck all over, saggy navy knickers, vests and liberty bodices, wool stockings, various scabs and bruises - so what's a brown paper parcel of goose grease amongst friends? Jacqui

I bet not many of you had what I had strapped to my chest when I was younger. I had brown paper with goosefat. I must have stunk to high heavens in the classroom. I had lots of bronchitis and asthma, and this was supposed to help. It took me hours to get dressed - can you picture it?

Bob - many thanks for the lengthy explanation - I still think my old welsh grannie was talking about the month of May and the only web she would have known anything about was the one in the sitting room from the light fitting to the curtain rod (she swore that when she was a girl spider's webs were used to help heal wounds) Navy blue knickers - chaffed legs - too tight elastic and then - just when you least expected it - the elastic went and you had droopy bums! Oh, thongs aint what they used to be! Yes Norah, I think I can recall the vest beneath the liberty bodice too - such a palaver getting undressed. Jacqui

Daphne, .... and where do you put your hankie now? I always find this a problem if I've no pockets. Many thanks Bob for such a length explanation of May. Does make sense.

From:http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk Common hawthorn or May is associated in folklore with May Day, although it normally flowers around the middle of May, depending on location, altitude and prevailing weather. The reason for this discrepancy is thought to be the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752, when the dates 2-14th September were omitted. From then on, natural events were dated 11 days later than in the old calendar, with 'May Day' becoming 12th May (Mabey, Richard, 1996). 'Ne'er cast a clout till May is out' refers to the blossom, not the month. From:Saint George in English History http://www.knyght.*co.uk/My%20Webs/CULTURE/10%20literature.htm At summer festivals, the figure of the Queen of the May was brought in procession to the churchyard where she was married to the Green Man. These rowdy jollifications sometimes got out of hand and, wherever they could, the Puritans put a stop to them. It may be that the procession of the Queen of the May is the origin of the proverb 'Ne'er cast a clout till May be out' From Old Wives tales http://www.snailnews.*co.uk/oldwivestales/talespage.htm Cast ne'er a clout 'till May be out! (what does this mean?) We have an explanation on this; Sam says that a Clout is a garment or cloth, probably warm which it is recommended you don't remove until after the Frosts ie. after May. It all makes sense now! Aint the www wonderfull Bob

I think I also wore a vest under my liberty-bodice!!!! Well they had cold winters and no central heating in Nottingham. lol. Norah

"Liberty" bodices were called that because they didn't have bone stays or tight laces.

What about the navy-blue knickers and long stockings. What a sight for sore eyes. Also the swimming costume I had to wear for the Swimming Gala in which I was swimming for my school. I soon got rid of that costume though and made myself, without sewing machine, bikinis from old woollen dresses of my mothers.

Yes I remember the liberty bodice, just like corsets with stays, horrible things.

I've always assumed the month of May - I can remember my old welsh grannie telling me not to leave off my liberty-bodice until the beginning of June - lol Anyone remember liberty-bodices? nasty little contraptions with tiny rubber buttons - the purpose of the liberty bodice has always escaped me! I'm talking 1948/1949 here for you youngsters out there. Jacqui

I know many of you will have heard this saying, but when they refer to "May" do they mean the month of May or the May bush?