King Alfred is being chased through the woods by the Vikings when he comes upon a peasant's hut in a small clearing. He asks the woman to give him shelter. She tells him that she is in the middle of baking scones but agrees to take him in, if he watches the scones to make sure they don't burn while she goes out to collect more firewood.

Exit old woman:- room warm; Alfred tired; Alfred falls asleep.

Now, contrary to popular belief, the scones were not burnt when he woke up. In fact, the fire was almost out. He quickly put some more wood on the fire and tried to bend down to blow the embers and rekindle the fire, but found that it was impossible while wearing his armour. He looked around and saw a pair of bellows in the corner. He started pumping for all he was worth and soon had a roaring fire in the hearth. The flames were so big that they set fire to the chimney which, in turn, set fire to the thatched roof.

Result:- hut left in smoking ruins; scones burnt to a cinder.

Which gave rise to the saying; "People in brass trousers shouldn't blow scones".

DC