Ask yer Granny!

EstherH

It's strange that for all my mums OS ways when I was growing up, and my husbands even poorer childhood, both sets of parents aren't particularly old style now. Especially not my in laws. Mil has every latest gadget that she fancies and they get used once or twice and that's it. They buy more expensive food than us and lots of brands.

vl2588

Yes my mum is the same. She used to throw a fit if I left a light on after walking out of a room; now she has computer, TV, all the lights etc. on all the time!

mishmogs

Were any of your grannies superstitious? - my mums mum was and I still do a lot of the same things and believe the same folklore as she did. Go out the same door as you come in, never turn a gypsy away from your door, salt over your shoulder if you spill it, if the coal fire burns blue there is snow coming etc...... I panic if I only ever see one magpie, and I go loopy if anyone puts new shoes on the table![/QUOTE]

All of these and a couple more......magpies, if you see one on its own, cross yourself! new years eve, a stranger brings a lump of coal in via the front door and leaves by the back so the good luck follows into the house..., dont walk under ladders, if a bird poops on you its a sign of good luck to follow, if a black cat walks across your path in front of you, you will have good luck, in a money spider crosses your palm, then you will come into money....... any more anyone???:D

Hardup_Hester

My Dad's parents were in service until they married, eventually my grandpa became manager of a brickworks, my Gran worked seasonally on the land, hop picking etc
My Mum's Dad was a civil servant & my Mum's Mum also worked seasonally on the land, mainly potato picking.

shelley_crow

mishmogs wrote: »

Were any of your grannies superstitious? - my mums mum was and I still do a lot of the same things and believe the same folklore as she did. Go out the same door as you come in, never turn a gypsy away from your door, salt over your shoulder if you spill it, if the coal fire burns blue there is snow coming etc...... I panic if I only ever see one magpie, and I go loopy if anyone puts new shoes on the table!

All of these and a couple more......magpies, if you see one on its own, cross yourself! new years eve, a stranger brings a lump of coal in via the front door and leaves by the back so the good luck follows into the house..., dont walk under ladders, if a bird poops on you its a sign of good luck to follow, if a black cat walks across your path in front of you, you will have good luck, in a money spider crosses your palm, then you will come into money....... any more anyone???:D[/QUOTE]

If I see a magpie, I have to say, "I salute you Sir magpie!" It's a habit I can't give up. The only other superstition my nan used to have was to never cross knives and that's also something I'm wary of.

Ceirdwyn

I'm quite lucky in that I can just about remember all my grandparents. Unfortunately only my mum's mum, my Granny, is left now. Her husband died when I was 5 when we were all on a family holiday in Majorca:( She loved him very much and although she was only 52 when he died, she has never been with anyone else, he was the love of her life. My Dad's mum was a little mad Irish woman, get my mum and her SIL talking about her and they can vent for hours, she worked in the NAAFI when she met my Granddad, he was a marine. After the war, they lived in London. then they moved up to Burnley so Granddad could work at the Michelin factory and Grandma didn't work. By the time I can remember her, she had had a few strokes and was not the battle axe my Mum and Dad talked about. She died when I was about 9 and Granddad seemed to give up then, he died a few months later.
My Granny is still going though, she's not in the best of health, but she's tough. Her mother died due to complications after giving birth to her, and her father gave her away to the woman next door :eek: Her Aunt got her back and in the end she was raised by her Grandmother. She had a very tough life, she left school at 14 to work in the mills, she's also worked at Pendelfin, painting the little rabbits. She had a big collection that she used to let me play with. They were never well off, but managed. Granny still hates leaving any food on her plate, even if she's unwell, as "Someone's sweat put that food on the table" She knows how to knit,crochet and sew, but hates doing it, it's something that had to be done as a necessity, not a pleasure. She always had time for me though, I've got great memories of pulling all the old glass jars of dried peas, lentils, etc and old tins out of the cupboards and playing shops for hours on end. She loves my girls too, and she "Won't give one wi-out t'other" We go and see her once a fortnight and she always has a small bag of sweets each. and more often then not some thing from the charity shop for them.

ETA : The only real superstition that I've heard from her, is that you cant give anything with a blade as a gift, it will cut the friendship.

meritaten

my lovely nan taught me a lot - but her 'mum' was interesting too! My nan found out she was adopted when she was in her fifties. she walk in on her mum and an older gentleman and he was introduced and Gran then said 'he's your father'.
and Gran clammed up! Wouldnt say any more!
It took me a few years to unravel what i believe is the story. according to the dates my nan was born and was immediately (adopted - informally) by my 'Gran' - who then married my nans biological father. he left (was kicked out?) by my 'Gran' who immediately took up with a much younger man (my Grancher and the man my nan called Dad).
I have a photograph of my nan as a toddler and she is so well dressed and looks happy. I also have a photo of her aged about 5 or 6 - she looks like a poster for abused children!
her eyes are agonised............her 'mum' was a hard woman (her history is interesting too - her mother married five times and was widdowed each time. she earned her living by running 'camps' for itinerant workers - her daughters (Gran included) apparently had responsibility for each 'hut'. at around the age of 10! in Grans case. I Remember Gran very well - I disliked the woman intensely - she wasnt above slapping your face if you looked at her the 'wrong' way. Nan and mum were afraid of her. I wasnt afraid - I just despised her - and she knew it. Mum never did work out why Gran hated me, lol.
Any way - Nan was a lovely woman - she married her next door neighbour and thier relationship was a joy. They had very little money - but as young as I was I realised how deeply they loved each other. Nan told me that every night they would go to bed and discuss thier day. They never argued as such - they APPEARED to - but it was all in fun! Dave and Phyl were a team - I wish I had a relationship like thiers!
Gran died and her .........um ..........toyboy died a couple of years later. it was only then that we learned that toyboy was 14 years younger - and they didnt marry until the guy introduced as Nans dad had died!!!
This makes me laugh - My Gran was such a stickler for 'GOOD' moral behaviour - and all that time she had been living in sin!

kochi1

Loving this thread - has got me misty eyes at times must admit!
I only ever knew one set of grandparents and they have sadly passed on. My grandad was originally from Scotland and my nanny from North England. Both their families moved down south to work in the mines. After they married they moved to London and my grandad worked in hotels and nanny in a shoe shop, then moved back to the coast. Grandad worked as a steward on the trains and nanny did various jobs. My happiest memories are sitting in the kitchen on the train and going on little day trips (plus getting chocolate, crisps etc) whilst grandad was working, and when nanny was cleaning at my school I used to leave the line up when leaving the class room and head to the cleaners room and then had the entire school as my playground whilst she worked - which meant awesome playbox which I was allowed to use. Then when it was time to go home off we went until mum got home from school. As we lived with them it was my job in the mornings to get grandad his paper and he'd give me 5p for doing that little job. Both of them were careful with their money, I remember nanny worked at a hospital at one stage and she would bring food home from the kitchens - except never did want to eat the stuffed hearts :eek: - so saved some pennies on food. Did learn how to cook from both of them and grandad taught me how to iron a shirt as his eyesight was failing! I feel very lucky to have spent so much time with them unlikd some of my cousins who never really knew them or didn't get to meet them. Miss them all the time - but still got lovely memories of them which wont be forgotten

meanmarie

I love this thread!

I have a crossover apron that I bought in a market in Sardinia and I love it....amazing how warm it keeps you and how clean my clothes stay...when I was a child in the 40/50s most women wore aprons...no washing machines to throw the clothes in after one wear.

I recognise all the superstitions and never fail to salute a magpie when I see one....OH thinks I'm mad, although he remembers when his youngest brother was a baby their cow was dry and he was sent to a neighbour for a bottle of milk....the neighbour called him back as he left to put a handful of salt into the milk ( for a baby!!) as failure to do so would have caused her cow to stop milking too...I think that beats saluting a magpie any day!

My paternal grandfather was a small farmer/miller and also provided stones/gravel for the mending of roads, of their 11 children 3 died in infancy, my grandmother died when the youngest was 15 months old, there were 5 other children under 12 at that stage, as my grandfather was unable to care for them they were put in care, when my grandfather died 5 years later the land was sold and after bills they each got £8....the only good thing was that they all were trained, the boys given trades, 2 of the girls became nurses, one a nun and the other 2 were married at that stage.

My maternal grandfather owned granite quarries and was a monumental sculptor, that grandmother died when the youngest children were 2, 4, 6 and 10, the next oldest ( still alive at 102) was taken out of school at 13 to housekeep although someone came in to do the washing every week. My grandfather married a widow some years later and went to live in her house....there are different stories about their own house but none of them make much sense, the quarries seem to have gone to someone else....ownership seems to have been a very uncertain thing in those days. My mother worked in a grocery shop for a while but married at 17 and never worked outside the home again.

Can't remember who was looking for Irish records....church records are more reliable in many cases because of the ones lost in the burning of the custom house in Dublin in 1922.....if your ancestor was Church of Ireland, Presbyterian or Baptist records may go back to late 18th century, Catholic ones are only reliable from 1864, and all only for births....the Irish seem to have had a strange attitude to death and many were never registered.

Marie

helzbelz_57

my granda on my dad's side was a builder by trade but he also built stone walls. he built a stone fireplace in a house my mum and dad renovated (my first home). unfortunately i have heard that the current owners ripped it out when they moved in. his wife, my granny ran the shop they owned in their tiny townland.

my mum's dad was also a builder and he founded the first boxing club in our town, from what i have been told he was a brilliant boxer. my nana was a nurse. all my grandparents were born in the 1920's.