on 1/4/02 10:24 PM, ned heite at [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Much of privy literature has been considered a little off color.

Apologies if this has been brought up earlier (we had a server crash last
week, and I'm not reading my resulting 200 e-mails as closely as I might
usually), but for a humorous and informative - though entirely non-academic
- look at English privies from a specific region, there's always:

Lewis, Dulcie (1996) _Kent Privies_ Countryside Books, Newbury, Berks.

Apparently, there are companion volumes on Cotswold Privies (Mollie Harris),
East Anglian Privies (Jean Turner), and Yorkshire Privies (Len Markham),
though I've never read these.

British readers of HISTARCH may be amused to know that (in Kent at least)
the Daily Mail was apparently the favoured newspaper for wiping because the
ink didn't come off - while in the Army, the airmail version of the Times
was considered to deliver a 'soft, thorough wipe'.

I don't suppose anyone has an opinion on those claims?

There once was an expert on loos
Who on paper had very strong views.
From the privy he'd come
With print on his bum
Once again, all behind with the news.

Finally, the Earl of Chesterfield's recommendation to his son that he tear
out a couple of pages of poetry and read them before using them: "It is
better than only doing what you cannot help doing at those moments, and it
will make any book which you shall read in that manner very present to your
mind".

Alasdair




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Alasdair Brooks
Department of Archaeology
La Trobe University
Plenty Road
Bundoora VIC 3083
Australia
Phone - 03 9479 3269
E-mail - [log in to unmask]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The buffalo tastes the same
on both sides of the border"
Sitting Bull