# Did puritans preach from tubs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-puritans-preach-from-tubs/504833>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 31, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-puritans-preach-from-tubs/504833 "2009-07-31T02:34:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-puritans-preach-from-tubs/504833/1 "2009-07-31T02:34:15Z")

</div>

Several Royalist broadsides (published songs) accuse the Puritans of preaching from a ‘tub’.

What does this exactly mean? Did they take baths and preach at the same time?

“And teach a Lecture out of a Tub,” --Protecting Brewer, from Rump Songs, 1662

“Cursing from his sweating tub the Cavaliers to Beelzebub” (from Old Song on Oliver’s Court)

“Some for a church, and some a tub, and some for both together;  
And some, perhaps the greater part, have no regard for either.”

–tale of the Cobbler and the Vicar of Bray

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-puritans-preach-from-tubs/504833/2 "2009-07-31T02:46:55Z")

</div>

Tub preachers in 17th century England street preachers without a formal religious education, usually dissenters and non-conformists. They were called tub preachers because they used an upside down tub as a lectern.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-puritans-preach-from-tubs/504833/3 "2009-07-31T09:13:06Z")

</div>

Egbert van Heemskerk’s [_The Quaker Meeting_](http://www.bridgemanart.com/image.aspx?key=heemskerk&filter=CBPOIHV&thumb=x150&num=15&page=2&img=a2b6d8bcd19343f191b19163d87e84c5) gives a good idea of what was meant.

But whether anyone ever actually did preach from one is another matter.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-puritans-preach-from-tubs/504833/4 "2009-07-31T09:19:04Z")

</div>

So they didn’t live in tubs? I knew they weren’t that cynical!