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Särskilda ämnen & övrigt => Discussions in English => Swedish language => Ämnet startat av: Mary Upgren Strand skrivet 2012-10-08, 00:46
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I have a question regarding the cause of death, “Fylleri”. What did it really mean in 1854?
Does it mean that the person died because he drank too much on that given day? Or was it a just a term used on someone that drank a lot and upon death it was just assumed that is what he died of?
I ask because I believe this is the cause of death of one of my ancestors, Anders Jansson who died 3-7-1854 at the age of 49. Of course there is high probability that my interpretation is wrong. If so, please let me know.
Household record, Sållerud C:4 (1828-1860) Bild 159/sid 320.
Thanks in advance,
Mary
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If he died of fylleri, he was an alcoholic.
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Fylleri - Drunkenness,intoxication
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One can die of alcohol poisoning in a one off circumstance, without having been an habitual drinker or a confirmed drunkard.
I don't know what the general usage or nuanced meaning of 'fylleri' as a listed cause of death was in 1854.
Remember that alcohol used to be legally distilled on Swedish farms in olden days but I'm not familiar during which time periods this was illegal. Some historians have have indicated that in years of farmer unrest, the Kings facilitaed the redirection of agricultural grains from bread baking to booze making. (Unhappily, toddlers sometimes fell into low rimmed tubs of the stuff and drowned.)
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It was more a case of the Crown not being able to check the private distillation... Then when the Crown needed money distillation again became a Crown monopoly and sheriffs (länsman) became extremely busy. Though private distillation was outlawed in 1756 due to the hard times; the crops were needed for food. In the latter part of the 18th century we learned how to make brännvin from potatoes (a lady scientist discovered how), which made the potato hugely popular after having spent about a century in obscurity.
Private distiallation was finally outlawed only in 1860, so it was permitted in 1854.
I'm sure the occasional toddler drowned in low-rimmed tubs of liquid, but I hardly think it was liquor - brewing beer and distilling liquor didn't take place in the kitchen but in special brewing huts (brygghus) to which I doubt toddlers had access (not to protect the toddlers but the precious brew) - also I think the vessels were generally closed.
Fylleri does have a connotation of long-time drinking, a habit, although it can also be used if you're caught drunk & disorderly. So either a criminal offence or habitual drunkenness (they knew about alcoholism in the 1850's).
Ingela
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I believe he drank too much on a certain day, but I agree that the word also has another meaning, 'alcoholism' in modern parlance.
A common euphemism in kommunionböcker is 'hängiven till starka drycker'.
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Thank you, Ingela, for sharing your knowledge here. I think it's in Wådeliga händelser under 17 och 1800-talen by Johan Wideen, which is a publication by 'Föreningen för hembygdsvård i Österfärnebo, Gästrikland', that there are cases of chilren drowning in vats of homebrew. I'll check my copy.