The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-09-01
The DUAMDW Fitch.
Two Original Customs Which Our
English Cousins Have
Long Celebrated.
A Peculiar Institution In Which
Happy Married Couples
Play q Part
The Race for Doggett's Coat and Hadge
One In Which the Watermen
Have Engaged.

One In WhIch the Whtorhou
Have Engaged.
Our English cousins celebrated this
month tho anniversary Of two most original
customs, both several hundred years old.
They are OF interest to Americans because
The customs are curious in themselves, and
because, unless some n begins very soon.
Americans, with all their wealth, will mover
have any customs to celebrate.
We are, as a whole. q people devoid OF
customs, and possessing a limited stock OF
traditions. The latter are mostly confined
to a score or 10 of cliffs from" which Indian
maidens have dashed headlong on account
of faithloss lovers, and = few blighted por-
tions Of this otherwise fertile country are
accounted for by the force curses OF native
chiefs who have been moved to revenge by
i'll luck in their encounters with the white
man, Beyond these. excepting revo-
~lutionary ruins and various washing
ton relics in the shape of headquarters,
We have little to remind Us OF the
past, and whatever observancss are still
held to may be traced back to a paltry CEN
fury or two But with England it ID differ
ent-Enelsnd may go back for q thousand
wears and lose itself in the mists OF antigua
~. Our thoughts of England Of to-day are
mainly baocarat and home-ruls, and these
customs OF Yesterday seem ont Of place, al
though some of as are pleased with the
faithfulness Of spirit shat demands their
annual repetition. Only 3 short time ago
within q few weeks-ths people of Dunmow
49, n:A-IoA- - hoN0u tn fhfAQ
married couples because they swore that
their married life was one OF unalioyed
bliss. Now, when you come to look at such
a proceeding from q modern standpoint, 1t
seems decidedly foolish: but when You re-
alize thnt the fashion was instituted some
COO years ago, you think there must DO
something in 1t to ave withstood, the test
of time. A certain English gentleman
called Robert Ftzwalter existed in
the early part of the thirteenth CEN
fury, and probably would have been
forgotten now had not King John takcn
a liking to him. This ~favorits of a fickle
prince must have been a devout man, for no
hraced up the priory of Dunmow, which
was falling into decay, by certain expend1-
lures OF money. When the I,riory was again
firmly re-established. proclamation was
made that "if any pair could, after 4 twelve,
month of marriage, come forward ana
whole time they had mover had . quarrel,
nsver regretted their marriage, and If again
opcn to the engagement would make exactly
that thev had made" tho reward was to
be n fitch or galnmon OF bacon. IT may be
hat Mr.. Fitzwalter had no hand IN thls
offer, for history inclines to the belief that
il emAnated wholly from the priors. In
their cclibate state they were wont to look
doubtful!y upon the idea of conjugal hap
piness. and possibly they thought i a joke
10 offer such II reward, believing with monk
i,h cynicism, that they wonlu save their
bacon" whether the origin Of the last
saving is due to these prlors is doubtful,
hut ii is certain that the phrase has been
used by every writer in connection with
Dunnow Priory.) Matrimony in those
days must not have been perfect, for there
is no record of anybody coming forward
until 1445. Indeed, Chaucer wrote before
this.
.'The bacon was not fst for Chem, I trow, :.
That some men have in Essex. at Dunmow."
Whatever this may mean it points at least
to marital woe, and to MIR, Richard Wright
belongs the honor of furnishing an example
OF welded bliss. MIR. Wright was a labor
ing man who hailed from Bradbury, county
of Norfolk, and ne got his fitch of bacon;
this in 1445. Twelve years later, Stephen
Samuel, of Ashton-parva, in Egsex, took an
oath in the presence of his %neighbors, and
he too got the fitch. Flow fittingly the in
stru1nents of fate are chosen is shown by
the fact that by profession he was a hus-
bandmsn. When the iron hand OF Henry
VIII. foil upon p~riories and such. that at
Dunnow was not exempt, but tho custom
was continued by the proprietora. One
jacob Shakeshaft made demand for the
bacon. and was placed on trial before a jury
of six maidens and six bachelors; these
~ had to S0tjof~ ]hot tlM Aitoh II,
question was deserved. Success crowned
Ms efforts, and he was carried
through the town in a chair with his wife;
and being of a shrewd mind, it is related
That he sold slices of the bacon to the al
miring spectators, which numbered about
made a picture Of some similar procession
of 4 lucky pair. But there was disappoint-
msnt and sorrow in store for John Glider,
who in 1772 came to the priory gntes and
olsimed the bacon, for the gates were
closed, and Mr.. Glider had to 60 away un-
mow was astonished, not to say grieved,
as the demand made upon him by a happy
,,air in 1851. His lordship positively de-
3lined 10 dispose of his bacon in that way,
Hut the neighbors were interested to such
an extent that the claimants cot the
prizs, sitter making good their assertions. In
tsct, suoh was the sceptioism on tho part of
all except the pa ties concerned that n SOL
.mn oath was at all times required of any
lair who came forward as models of hap
ptpsss and peace, and to make tho oath inn
~pssssive they were obliged to swear upon
swo srsnt stones lying nearthe church door.
la 1856 MIR. Harrison Ainsworth revived the
custom, and az the cd of Dunmow and
the clergy and ~nsighborinR gent y declined
IN take any such q thing under their pro-
.~,csion, the town hall was used, and two
couples each received Il fitch. This year
tIo cugtoin was again observed, end three
gentlemen with their wives were rendered
hapor hy the presentation of flitches. They
wsrs triad by the jury of six msidens and
ak bachelors, and counsel appeared for
10th sides, Hvmen winning. The cere-
mony was a public one, neither the chair
ina nor the swearing being omitted, and
rumbers Of people wers present. A doc
tor and n Clergyman were two al the bene-
t~iciAries.
On the first day of August there il another
sustom that is Rnnusliy observed by the
Dung watermen on the Thames. This GUS
ON goes back only about one hundred and
1Hventy- i've yen u, but III curious enough to
ave osiginSted several centuries before; it
hardly one Tint would he SUI gested to-day.
10 ,st OF August, 17li, witnessed the ascen-
'"n OF George |. to the throne OF England.
comedian of Drury Lane, Thos. Doggett
~ name, was highly pleased at this Protes.
FAX succ0Haion, and To show his delight or
j"nlzed a noat rRce on the Thames, to be