Texas Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 Listening to radio interview the other day the person being interviewed kept referring to her partner. Her partner this, her partner that and so on. I took that to mean she was unmarried and living with some guy. But no. It was another girl. But enough of that. Time was when two people were living together, unmarried, it was called ' living over the brush'. Anyone remember that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francypants Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 Yes, and it was frowned upon to be ' living over the brush ' wasn't it. The phrase isn't used any more as it's now just common practice. How times change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echo beach Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 That, Texas, brings back fond memories of seeing Stan Barstow's 'Listen for the Trains, Love' at the Playhouse in 1970. From what I recall it was a musical play which was set in the camp of the navvies who were building the railways in general the 1800s and digging the Woodhead Tunnel in particular. In one scene a couple who wanted to live as man & wife, but were unable to afford a church wedding, followed the custom, whilst holding hands, of jumping over a long handled brush held by two older folks. They were then accepted as 'married' by their community. That, I believe, is where the tradition originated. echo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillsbro Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 That's correct, echo, in fact I think there was also a 1970s TV production of that play. "Living over the brush" is described here and it's evidently related to "jumping the broom". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleetwood Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 Funnily enough if one casts their mind back and remembers the 'Roots' saga by Alex Haley that was shown on TV many years ago, there's a scene depicting a black slave wedding which they called 'jumping the brush,' which kinda proves it was an old English Colonial term going back a century or two. fleetwood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hardie Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 Remember this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousemouse Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Brenda Lee!! Brings back some memories! In Liverpool living over thyr brush is known as living tally. Lord knows where that came from! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstarr Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 My Grandma used to say unmarried couples who were living together were living "on the wrong side of the blanket " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris99 Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Children born to unmarried couples were said to have been born on the wrong side of the blanket. Very often when two people lived together the man was passed off as a lodger or the woman a housekeeper. Laughable today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidley Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 and of course, living in sin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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