It was once the custom in Wales that young men's hands should be kept
busy when they came courting. Therefore, they were required to carve
spoons for their young ladies' parents. Some of the wooden spoons were
very ornate with birds carved into the handles and links of wooden
chain extending from the end of the handles. - from the World History
section of www.odd-info.com

Sun, Sep 23, 2007, 11:01am (EDT-3) (javawizard) doth
sayeth:
It was once the custom in Wales that young men's hands should be kept
busy when they came courting. Therefore, they were required to carve
spoons for their young ladies' parents. Some of the wooden spoons were
very ornate with birds carved into the handles and links of wooden chain
extending from the end of the handles. - from the World History section
of www.odd-info.com

And does it say how many came prepaed with an already carved spoon,
and carving chips, concealed in a jacket pocket?



JOAT
What is life without challenge and a constant stream of new
humiliations?
- Peter Egan

I never had any problem keeping MY hands busy.

B.

On Sep 23, 3:35 pm, (J T) wrote:
Sun, Sep 23, 2007, 11:01am (EDT-3) (javawizard) doth
sayeth:
It was once the custom in Wales that young men's hands should be kept
busy when they came courting. Therefore, they were required to carve
spoons for their young ladies' parents. Some of the wooden spoons were
very ornate with birds carved into the handles and links of wooden chain
extending from the end of the handles. - from the World History section
ofwww.odd-info.com

And does it say how many came prepaed with an already carved spoon,
and carving chips, concealed in a jacket pocket?


I LIKE the way you think, JT.

On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 17:08:42 -0700, Robatoy wrote:

On Sep 23, 3:35 pm, (J T) wrote:
Sun, Sep 23, 2007, 11:01am (EDT-3) (javawizard) doth
sayeth:
It was once the custom in Wales that young men's hands should be kept
busy when they came courting. Therefore, they were required to carve
spoons for their young ladies' parents. Some of the wooden spoons were
very ornate with birds carved into the handles and links of wooden chain
extending from the end of the handles. - from the World History section
ofwww.odd-info.com

And does it say how many came prepaed with an already carved spoon,
and carving chips, concealed in a jacket pocket?


I LIKE the way you think, JT.

Me, too...
A dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste..


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Mon, Sep 24, 2007, 7:16am (EDT-3)
(mac*davis) doth sayeth:
Me, too...
A dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste..

Clean mind, clean body - you make your choice.



JOAT
What is life without challenge and a constant stream of new
humiliations?
- Peter Egan

"J T" wrote in message
...
Sun, Sep 23, 2007, 11:01am (EDT-3) (javawizard) doth
sayeth:
It was once the custom in Wales that young men's hands should be kept
busy when they came courting. Therefore, they were required to carve
spoons for their young ladies' parents. Some of the wooden spoons were
very ornate with birds carved into the handles and links of wooden chain
extending from the end of the handles. - from the World History section
of www.odd-info.com

And does it say how many came prepaed with an already carved spoon,
and carving chips, concealed in a jacket pocket?



JOAT
What is life without challenge and a constant stream of new
humiliations?
- Peter Egan

Fast thinking JT.

On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 15:35:42 -0400, (J T)
wrote:

It was once the custom in Wales that young men's hands should be kept
busy when they came courting. Therefore, they were required to carve
spoons for their young ladies' parents.

And does it say how many came prepaed with an already carved spoon,
and carving chips, concealed in a jacket pocket?

They all did. A good spoon is a significant amount of work - prospective
suitors were judged on the basis of their offerings. Welsh love spoons
are serious pieces of carving, with many technical flourishes such as
caged balls or chain links. Carving one isn't an overnight task. They
were also given to the girl, not her parents.

I've never heard this "keeping the hands busy" malarkey. None of my
spoon books, nor my spooning books, make any mention of this bogus
claim.

There's also the issue that Wales practised "bundling" as a form of
courtship [1], something that's known in America (and Tim Burton's film
"Sleepy Hollow) but are in England. There's little point in carving
spoons whilst both being bundled into a sewn-up sack, you'd get shavings
everywhere...

[1] A History of Courting, E. S. Turner, 1954

--
'Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu Evesham wagn'nagl fhtagn'