| FENLAND AUTHORS, SIGNATURES, MYTHS , MYSTERIES and LITERATURE |
| NAMING THE AREA The word FEN, which originally meant a 'low lying marshy area of Land', is a misnomer as far as 'The Fens' of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire are concerned as nowadays it is very difficult to find a 'low lying marshy area of land', and far more common to find 'low lying flat arable land'. The area nowadays is generally called 'The Fens', or 'Fenland', which seems to take account of both these definitions. |
OLD FENLAND REMEDIES FOR ILL HEALTH 1. Rheumatism - Could be combated by wearing eelskin garters just the above the knee. 2. Faceache - Putting the core of a roast onion in the ear on the side of the ache. 3. Earache - Also cured by putting the core of a roast onion in the ear. 4. Whooping Cough - Eating a Roast Mouse. 5. Smallpox - Eating a Roast Mouse. 6. Unsightly warts - Cured by rubbing with a raw potato at midnight. 7. Avoiding Pregnancy - Holding for two minutes a dead man's hand gives immunity for two years 8. Fenmen had cures for many ills such as Maleria and Rhematism: - There was an old saying: 'Poppy Tea and Opium Pill Are the Fen cure for many an ill' |
| OLD LINCOLNSHIRE LUCKY CHARMS AND DISHES LUCKY CHARMS 1. A stone with a hole in it. 2, Mole's foot 3. Dried Potato 4. Pennies from a church collection kept in the pocket having been soaked in vinegar were regarded as being capable as warding off evil. FAVOURITE FOODS 5. Boston Smelts - Seafood 6. Stuffed Chine -Salted Neck of pig stuffed with parsley. 7. Haslet - (pronounced 'Acelet') Herbal meatloaf made from the left overs from pork (bit like a pork pie without crust) 8. Stuck Pie - Remnants of food stuck to a metal cooking utensil 9. Spiced beef - Meat pie baked in an oven with spices 10. Brawn - Clear jelly like substance, similar to filling between pork pie meat and crust. 11. Funeral Cakes - A derogatory term for cakes made with flour. 12. White Gingerbread - Also known as White Grantham Gingerbread (Gingerbread made without ginger) 13. Whetstone Cakes - Ordinary cakes which include Caraway Seeds and Rose water |
| FENLAND CUSTOMS. 1. Women regarded as Witches were common place in The Fens. 2. 'Bundling' was undertaken in a cold wet wInter. (This is courting by couples in a bed). |
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