Before the Industrial Revolutions in Europe whiteness may have been associated with social status. Aristocrats may have had less exposure to the sun and therefore a pale complexion may have been associated with status and wealth. This may be the origin of "blue blood" as a description of royalty, the skin being so lightly pigmented that the blueness of the veins could be clearly seen. The change in the meaning of white that occurred in the colonies (see above) to distinguish Europeans from non-Europeans did not apply to the 'home land' countries (England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales). Whiteness therefore retained a meaning associated with social status for the time being, and, during the 19th century, when the British Empire was at its peak, many of the bourgeoisie and aristocracy developed extremely negative attitudes to those of lower social rank.