You Got Bottom?

I am doing research for the book I am working on and came across this wonderful book called The Age Of Scandal. It is about the late 18th Century characters of the day. Grin.


There is an interesting chapter on MEN and their test of Bottom.

What is Bottom you may ask??

No I’m not talking about testing the luscious curve or a man’s glorious bum. Though that does bring interesting images to mind. Evil Grin.

Bottom… is courage… guts…keeping your cool in stressful situations…having money to pay your way or solidity. The metaphor came from Ships.

There are some very interesting stories about things men did to prove their bottom. I laughed out loud several times reading this chapter.

Interesting enough, all that know me will not be surprised, I grinned when I read that being Flogged or Birched was also considered to show a mans Bottom(giggle… both his inner Bottom and his real one!) There is one story in it that talk about Nathaniel Eaton in 1674 A drunken Master of Harvard College in America awarded his pupils thirty stripes at a time and had beaten his usher for two hours with a walnut-tree plant big enough to have killed a horse.

Eyes widen, OUCH!

The Governor-General of India , who went to school in 1811 said bitterly: “ I was flogged once every day of my life at school except one, and then I was flogged twice.” All of this was consider appropriate to instill and prove Bottom so that they could be a MAN.

Betting was huge in proving you had bottom…such as you put your money on your word… or now days we would say where you mouth is. If you believed one thing and someone else believed the opposite putting money on your belief showed Bottom. “A bet is the most authoritative solution of any argument” said G.O. Trevelyan. They would not even spend so much as 20 minutes confronting a man who would not put money on his own faith. Betting became a mania Men would bet on anything… not only to back their opinions but also to prove bravado. They betted on things from the life expectancy of their fathers to jumping out windows into carriages passing by.

Gaming such as Hazard and loo were games of chance. It was considered Spartan to take ones fortune in ones hands and to risk it on the turn of pitch and toss. When Men lost they played like men of honor… no one ever said a word about there loss.

Fox hunting was also a way to prove Bottom in the way of Courage. If you have ever done this or attended a fox hunt/steeple chase you know why!!!! They are dangerous. Galloping hooves and high fences where you can not see the other side are a recipe for trampling.

And this is one of the silliest I think, and I like my Drink! Drinking in the form of endurance proved bottom. Two friends of locked themselves in a room with a hogshead of claret and contrived to finish it together with unspecified amounts of cherry and brandy in a week! Another said. “Drinking Claret is the liquor for boys; Port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy.” I laughed… I of course love my Vodka Martini a little dirty with extra olives… but I have three at most! I can’t even imagine the hang over. Lol. Eek I think you would feel sick for days.

So All this got me to thinking… in today’s society Men do things to prove themselves some in very similar ways. Remember college and all the drinking! Woman too do things to show they have Bottom.

So my question is in what ways have you in your life shown you have Bottom??

Hugs and Kisses,
Lacy.