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From: "colleen morrison" <>
Subject: Re: Bunting Room in an 18th century yeoman's house
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2004 13:13:38 +0100
References: <004901c47ddd$96534320$b6db71d8@HPAuthorizedCustomer> <003801c48210$a28c2e40$7aea2d52@Patricia>


Following Pam and Betty's interesting postings about this, Patti, I had
look at the New Oxford Dictionary which states that during the 18th century,
bunting was also a form of closely woven material.

In so many cases, the term 'bunting' is associated with some form of
containment and protection of something precious which could also be
troublesome, or a special container, bag and/or the special material used
for this in one form or another: papoose like bags to hold, protect -and
shut up - babies even the babies themselves - closely woven material -
baseball hits safely contained in a limited area (I think!) - material used
to delineate and contain the (often, very rowdy merriment of Fairs and
special celebrations like Harvest Home etc?) in one area and period - the
bag like part of sails that catch or contain the wind - the bag like part of
a fishing or hunting net. Its also associated with weaving, perhaps of the
closely woven material above - maybe using the bunting hutch mentioned in
your man's Will as Pam suggests. Doesn't it also mean to bash someone in a
gentle or jocular manner - to shut them up yet not injure them?

The 'Bye Baby Bunting' rhyme, 'daddy's gone a hunting ...to get a rabbit
skin to put the baby bunting in' - seems to link much of the above,
'papooses', containment, nets or bags to capture and contain animals and
birds, and keeping troublesome things contained, safe and quiet.

Living in an early 18th century property of the same period, Patti, (1716) I
can tell you that such places were typically built with shallow gravel
footings covered in earth and without damp proof courses, so dampness is an
ever present problem. My cottage needs its damp treatment periodically
repeated or the bricks and paint crumble, and I have the central heating
which your man lacked.

In view of there being a number of tubs and sacks of meal in your man's
bunting room and of the number of sacks of hops he needed to store, I wonder
if the term refers to a room with, say, a sealed stone floor - or elevated
above the damp earth - built to be a crucial dry store room. This would
avoid degeneration of stock through damp and - could help contain
contamination and destruction by pests such as rats etc, which were a huge
problem at that time. It could also help prevent and contain the spread of
incredibly destructive and smelly wheat bunting disease, which is encouraged
by damp (my small holder friend tells me) taking hold or spreading.

Such a storage room might also have been useful for containing the various
horrible smells which could be associated with 18th storage of goods whcih
would often be rotten. Perhaps the room was also used for brewing - another
smelly business?

The driest part of the floor in my, single storey, cottage, as long as I
keep the roof in good repair (another perennial job with older properties)
is in the attic, because its raised up away from contact with the damp
footings. Millers and farmers stored grain somewhere elevated, didn;t they -
even with ground floor storage, raising the level of the floor by building
it on top of those stone mushroom, rat and damp deterrent things, the name
of which I always forget. The problem with attics is that though the floor
tends to be dryer, the atmosphere is still a bit dampish because of lack of
heating. So, maybe a stone floored, or 'mushroom elevated' floor is the
likeliest bet for this bunting room?

Colleen


----- Original Message -----
From: "patricia salter" <>

> Does anybody out there know what a 'bunting room' is? I have just come



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