THE STRANGE STORY OF
THE DUNMOW FLITCH
EARLIEST OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE FLITCH.
EARLIEST OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE FLITCH.—Entries in the Chartulary of Dunmow Priory, in the British Museum, recording the presentation of the Baron in 1445 and 1510, now reproduced for the first time. The top entry is the earliest surviving record of the custom. The recipient in the first case is Richard Wright; in the second, Thomas le Fuller.
TWO BACON RECEIPTS.
TWO BACON RECEIPTS.—The Parsleys and Reynoldses received their Bacon in 1701, the Shakeshafts in 1751. This 1751 presentation was the last legitimate ceremony.
The Strange Story of
the Dunmow Flitch
By
J. W. ROBERTSON-SCOTT
("HOME COUNTIES")
WITH 34 ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil nisi jurantibus ("Nothing unless you are able to swear")
—Motto of a former Dunmow Lord of the Manor
Two Shillings
DUNMOW: D. CARTER
TO
H. W.
W. H.
CONTENTS
Twas thought a sumptuous treat
On Birthdays, Festivals, or Days of State,
A salt dry Flitch of Bacon to prepare.
—Congreve.
CHAPTER I
[A Narrative of Nine Hundred Years]
CHAPTER II
[The Priory and the Rhymester]
CHAPTER III
[A Yeoman, a Husbandman and Thomas le Fuller]
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
CHAPTER XI
[The Scene at the Modern Ceremony]
CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XIII
APPENDIX
[The Last Prior and the "Fair Matilda"]
LAST LEGITIMATE PRESENTATION OF THE BACON.
LAST LEGITIMATE PRESENTATION OF THE BACON.—This record of the Shakeshaft ceremony is from an old print, "The Manner of Claiming the Bacon," etc., published by Bowles and appearing in Hone's Everyday Book. Note the realistic "sharp-pointed stones"; also that the headgear of the Shakeshafts agrees with that represented in Ogbourne's picture.
PROCESSION AT THE LAST LEGITIMATE PRESENTATION OF THE BACON.
PROCESSION AT THE LAST LEGITIMATE PRESENTATION OF THE BACON.—This Hogarthian record of the Shakeshafts carried in procession with their Bacon is from a painting by David Ogbourne, a local artist who witnessed the ceremony. Local personages are represented in the crowd. The ladies in front of the laden basket are said to be members of the Strutt family. The man mopping his head is Pownall, "the fat butcher of Stebbing."