The Tudors were savages.

In relation to the pronunciation of -ough words in English, there's this old poem:

I'm taught p-l-o-u-g-h
s'all be pronouncé "plow."
"Zat's easy w'en you know," I say,
"Mon Anglais, I'll get through!"

My teacher say zat in zat case,
O-u-g-h is "oo."
And zen I laugh and say to him,
"Zees Anglais make me cough."

He say "Not 'coo,' but in zat word,
O-u-g-h is 'off,'"
Oh Sacre bleu! such varied sounds
Of words makes me hiccough!

He say "Again mon frien' ees wrong,
O-u-g-h is 'up'"
In hiccough." Zen I cry, "No more,
You make my t'roat feel rough."

"Non, non!" he cry, "you are not right;
O-u-g-h is 'uff.'"
I say, "I try to spik your words,
I cannot spik zem though!"

"In time you'll lean, but now you're wrong!
O-u-g-h is 'owe.'"
"I'll try no more, I s'all go mad,
I'll drown me in ze lough!"

"But ere you drown yourself," said he,
O-u-g-h is 'ock.'"
He taught no more, I held him fast,
And killed him wiz a rough.

- Charles Battell Loomis, from The Book of Humorous Verse