Hear the word " chimney sweep , " and most of us remember the movie " Mary Poppins , " with Dick Van Dyke ’s character singing and trip the light fantastic with his brush . Pretty fun , right ? Many multitude think that a shake from a chimney sweep oar lend in force luck , even though the history of the chimney sweep is actually quite dark ( or sooty , if you ’ll condone the bad caper ) .
In seventeenth - century England , original chimney sweeps employed small boys ( and sometimes girls ) to clean chimney because they could easily fit into the flues . Typically orphan are sold into the craft by their families . Many of these children slept in cellars on bags of carbon black and often choke ofcancer , respiratory illness or as a result of falls . Parliament transcend a series of resolutions in the 1800s restricting the use of child labor , but they were n’t on a regular basis impose until the oddment of the hundred .
As an aside , some believe the expression " fire up a fire under you " may have start from child chimney sweeps . If a kid was afraid to climb up the chimney , some of the sterner master sweep would make him go into the labial pipe anyway , then light a ardor in the open fireplace . This would push the child to sputter up the chimney , cleaning as he operate .
So how did the lamp chimney sweep become a good fortune charm?Folkloreexperts account several theories . These may or may not be truthful , but they ’re the vulgar fable passed down through time .
Prince Philip reportedly pall out of Kensington Palace on the day of his hymeneals to Princess ( now Queen ) Elizabeth to shake a lamp chimney sweep ’s hand . Today , you could rent a literal chimney chimneysweeper to attend your wedding , snog the bride and shake off hands . Some will even read the decree from King George declaring lamp chimney sweeps as bringers of good fortune for the wedlock .
