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 The Gong Farmer was the Tudor equivalent of a modern
mobile toilet attendant.
It was his job to empty the privies (a row of holes
in a wooden plank over a tank) of private households. Once the Farmer's vat was
full of 'gong' (dung) he carted it outside the city walls.
The job was so unsavoury that Gong Farmers were only
allowed to work during the night and were forced to live together in designated
areas.
When tobacco arrived in this country most Gong
Farmers became heavy smokers to mask the gut-wrenching pong of the gong!
< In Middle Ages, people used to throw excreta from
their houses on the roads below.
Toilet Paper
If you were to travel back in time, you would sadly discover that toilet paper
didn't exist in the Medieval age. In lieu of this modern convenience, handfuls
of straw or hay, known as "torche-culs," were utilized. Another device called
the "gomphus," a curved stick, was also used. |
