Were you born in a barn?

Posted by Amanda thomson on August 16, 2002

The phrase "were you born in a barn" meaning why have you left the door open was originally "were you born in Bardney".

Bardney in Lincolnshire was the site of an important monastery Tupholme Abbey and when the king Saint Oswald was killed they tried to bring his bones into the abbey but the monks kept the doors shut...

...the upshot of all this was the monks were subsequently forced to leave the doors open...

I'm sure this is vaguely right...can anyone confirm or otherwise?

• Were you born in a barn? Woodchuck 08/16/02