The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-09-13
THE DUNMOW Fitch.

ROlemnlV and re1OlCluSiN pitool' " .'SSn VI
parnrnon of bacon to any married couple VINO,
a wear and day after their marriage, would
take q prescribed oath that neither OF them
had renented their union, or had word of
ouarreI The claimants kneel on two uncom-
fortablv sharp-pointed stones in the church
ward. and there, after certain other rites take
the following quaint oath; -
You shall swear by custom of confession,
That you nee made nuptial transgressi0n;
Nor since you were married man aud wlie,
By household brawls or contentious strife,
or otherwise at bed Or at BOARD,
offended eacu other by deed OF by word;
or since the parish clerk said Amen,
Wished yourselves unmarried again;
Or in a twelvemOnth and day
Repented not in thought any way;
But continued true in thought and desire
As when you Joined hands in holy qure.
" 20 these conditions without all rear,
OF your oWn accord you will freely swear,
whole CANNON of bacon you shall receive,
And bear il hence with Joy and good leave;
For this is our custom at Dunmow wei Known, w
Though the pleasure he ours, the bacOns your o"n'
Tn is droll mode of rewarding forbearing
tempers was certainly current even IN Ed
ward the Thirds time, because Chaucer makes
his merry. wanton wife of Bath say OF her
worried husband,
The bacon was not fet, for hem trow,
That some men have in Essex at Dunmowe.
The fitch was, it is said, claimed on an ave
rage about once in a century. The claim OF
the 20th of June, 175l, was peculiarly I'M
4'hN'ciNO
from an original drawing of the scene made
by David Ogbone. 1t represent the joyous
procession on their return from Dunmow
church with the fitch and before the
traditional quarrel had taken place, as
to how the bacon was to be disposed Of. The
happy and successful claimants were Thomas
Shakeshaft, weaver, of the parish Of Wea-
thersfeld, and Ann, his wife. They knelt
down on the sharp stones, as cruelty insisted
Il al o,,I I,,,,o tbp
mon. Moseley's scarce engraving was repub-
lished by Cribb, 2SS, Holborn, in 1926. The
celebrated Bowles, of Cornhill, also pub
ished another large print, now rare, of the
Dunmow procession. After the repetition of
the oath, the couple were seated in a square
wooden chair, still preserved in the
priory very small as it is), and carried
round the site of the old manor, with drums
and tddles, and much noisy and
exulting village minstrelsy the fitch, totally
ruined by the process, being thrust through
with pole, and carried before them. The
stewards lord and officers of the manor fol-
lowed with the inferior servants Then
came very interesting part of the process
sion, the jury-siX ogling bachelors and six
smiling and backward -glancing madens, who
were by this great example urged onward to
the blessed matrimonial state. The ceremony
must indeed have been like wedding break
fast, perfect seed-plot of future marriages.
Many thousands Of people from all villages
and towns, even as far as the borders of Suf-
folk, then followed, shouting and exulting in
this triumph of Love ann Hymen
The oalien chair used on this occasion was
probably the official chair of some former
prior of Dunmow, or else the official seat of
the lord of the manor, being that in which the
FitZwalters for generations had, perhaps, re-
ceived the suit and service of their servants.
1t was, however, satanic device, the very
Fiend's arch mock, the shrewdest subtlety of
Discord, Mrs. Candors grandmamma, tC
make the chair too small, so that the jammeC
and aching couple should quarrel instantly
they had won the prize.
custom almost precisely similar to that o.
Dunmow, existed at Whichenoure, in Stafford
shire but is much less generally known
Pennant who visited Whichenoure House IL
1880, states that it was remarkable from
the painted wooden bacon fitch still
hung over the hall chimney, in me
mory of the singular tenure by which
Sir Philip de Somerville in the time of Ed
ward the Third held the manor" The oatl
ran as follows: "Hear ye, Sir Philip de Somer
vile, Lord of Whichenoure, maintainer an(
giver of this bacon, that l, A.. syth l welded
B., my wife, and syth had her in my kepyng
and at wylle, by a yere and a daye after Oul
marryge, / would not have changed for hane
other, farer nor fowler, richer no pourer, NJ
for none other descended of gretter lynage
sleeping no waking, at moo time; and If the
said b. were sole, and / sole, / would take he
to be my wife before all the women of th
worlde, of what CONDITIONS soevere they be
good or evyle, as help me God, and his seyntys
and this flesh and all heshes." If the claim
ant were ''villager," corn and a cheese wer
given him in addition to the fitch, and
horse was likewise provided to take him on
of the limits of the manor, all the free tenant
thereof conducting him with ''Trompets, tt
bourets, and other MANOR of mystralsie."
respect to the Whichenoure fitch, Pennant re
marks, that it has remained untouched fror
the 1st century ryofitsinsttution othe present,
adding, iocosely, 'We are credibly informe
that the late and present worthy owners
the manor were deferred from entering int
the holy state from the dread Of not obtainin
single rasher of their own bacon.
In Groses time the Dunmow lords of tn
manor tried hard to save their bacon, an
refused the honorable trial of the fitch t
several believers in the excellence of gammor
Probably, SAYS the sly, fat friend of Burns,
was refused because "conlugal affection
not so rare now as heretofore, or else becauS
qualification oaths are now supposed to !
held less sacred.
The Dunmow fitch was first claimed
l445, at least that is the first claim on recort
Shakeshaft and his wife were shrewd peopl
for they made large sum in 1851 by sellir
slices of the beatitied bacon to many of ii
five thousand persons present. Gradual
the custom slept, as good and bad custom
sometimes do, had indeed a good nap of