The Flitch Of Bacon Or The Custom Of Dunmow

Excerpt from History of the Dunmow Flitch of Bacon Custom We have written this little book because we are greatly interested in the good old Custom of Dunmow. The usage being curious, and so well calculated to promote domestic felicity, we deem it desirable to produce in a popular form a work on the subject. Grose says "Amongst the jocular tenures of England, none have been more talked about than the Bacon of Dunmow," yet, strange to relate, to the present time no history in a separate form has appeared, hence our wish to furnish one. We agree with the poet when he sings: - It were well if "our Custom" so widely was spread, That every fond couple resolv'd to be wed; Would determine to please, to charm, and bewitch, That in any year they might each claim the Flitch. Should this be the case a glad world would be ours, The thorns and the briars would bloom into flowers; And all might rejoice, the poor and the rich, If all would deserve and lay claim to the Flitch. We have done our best to render our work attractive not only to the antiquary, but to the general reader. In our labour of love we have received much kind assistance, and amongst those we must thank for favours in furnishing poetical contributions and historical information, W. Harrison Ainsworth, Esq., William Berry, Esq., Le Chevalier de Chatelain, S. F. Longstaffe, Esq., F.R.H.S., F. Ross, Esq., F.R.H.S., our very dear friends Mr. and Mrs. G. M. Tweddell, of Stokesley. Mr. John William Savill, of Dunmow, at considerable trouble, has enriched us with valuable notes that have been of the greatest service in compiling this work. It is only right to state the promoters of the Dunmow Custom have in Mr. Savill a most energetic secretary and manager. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Flitch of Bacon: Or the Custom of Dunmow; A Tale of English Home "Among the jocular tenures of England, none have been more talked of than the Bacon Of Dunmow." So says Grose, and truly. The Dunmow Flitch has passed into a proverb. It is referred to by Chaucer, in a manner which proves that allusion to it was as intelligible in his day, as it would be in our own. The origin of the memorable Custom, hitherto enveloped in some obscurity, will be found fully explained in the course of this veracious history. Instituted by a Fitzwalter in the early part of the Thirteenth Century, the Custom continued in force till the middle of the Eighteenth - the date of the following Tale The last delivery of the Flitch occurred on the 20th June, 1751; and I possess a very curious print, quite Hogarthian in its character, from a drawing taken on the spot by David Ogborne, representing (apparently with great accuracy) the Ceremony and Procession on that occasion. This print has furnished me with a few hints for my Story. A Custom, almost precisely similar to that of Dunmow, existed at Whichenoure, in Staffordshire, but is much less generally known. Pennant, who visited Whichenoure House in 1780, states, that it was "remarkable for the painted wooden Bacon Flitch, still hung up over the hall chimney, in memory of the singular tenure by which Sir Philip de Somervile, in the time of Edward the Third, held the Manor." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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