This week's BMJ has this really weird cover of people having their heads replaced temporaily with lettuce's in 16th C Flanders (see:
http://bmj.com/content/vol326/issue7391/cover.shtml). Apparently, the legend is that they did this because they weren't happy with their heads, the lettuce would stem the flow of blood you see, and the bakers of Eeklo could make improvements in their ovens! (yeah, it's just an urband legend)
So, I googled for some more info, and all I could find is this page:
http://www.eeklo.be/pagina.html?p=legende
And I was wondering if anyone could translate or knows anything more about this marcabe folk story?
― jel -- (jel), Monday, 31 March 2003 14:13 (twenty-three years ago)
re-make/ re-model. some folky surrealism
http://www.eeklo.be/bestanden/schilderij_herbakker.jpg
In the Middle Ages people thought old bodies could be re-newed by either drinking some elixer, bathing in the fountain of youth or getting re-baked in an oven. In case of re-baking the cut off the head, re-modeled and added some paint and baked it in the oven.
In the meantime they put a cabbage on top of the body (symbol of emptyheads). After baking the new head was placed on the old body and you would be reborn.
If your head would be too long baked you would become a hothead, half-baked would make you a softy or you could become completely messed up
if something went wrong during the re-modelling phase.
According to the legend the Baker of Eeclo was the one to go for a new head. With comes the moral with which children were warned: you better be pleased with your head or you end up at Baker Eelco's oven as hothead or softy.
Now i'm sure that jel-- and other Ile folk have enough horror culture slang to have a go with this story.
b-b-b-but don't lose your head.
― Erik, Monday, 31 March 2003 17:11 (twenty-three years ago)
"Oh. It's my cabbage head, isn't it? This bothers me: if a guy has an English accent, you're all wet; you're a lake. But if a guy has a little green on his head, you puke."
"Je suis l'homme a tete de chou"
Lettuce, cabbage, wtfe.
― rosemary (rosemary), Tuesday, 1 April 2003 00:30 (twenty-three years ago)