WERE YOU BORN IN A BARN?

This phrase translates roughly as “you left the door open – please close it.” It’s frequently said by parents to their children, even though most of us know where our children were born, and in most cases it wasn’t in a barn.

It’s claimed that the original form of this phrase was “were you born in Bardney.” Apparently, in AD 679, the monks of Bardney Abbey in Lincolnshire were asked to house the bones of King Oswald but refused, as he had occupied their kingdom by force around forty years ago. The bones were left overnight in a wagon outside the abbey walls. However, a bright light from heaven shone down to illuminate the wagon and the bones within it and remained there for much of the night. The monks interpreted this as a sign and repented, requesting that the bones be housed thereafter in the abbey. As a sign of their repentance, they removed the previously closed doors of the monastery walls. This led to people who left doors open being asked if they were born in Bardney [1].

A simpler explanation, offered in the Urban Dictionary, is that the phrase refers to barn doors being left open to let animals in and out.

[1] Amazing Deeds of God: Volume I Great Miracles From The Centuries, Daniel Curry (2013), USA

Photo credit: The.Grim.North