Flitch of bacon custom
Encyclopedia
A flitch is the side, or a steak cut from the side, of an animal or fish. The term now usually occurs only in connection with a side of salted and cured pork in the phrase a flitch of bacon.
The awarding of a flitch of bacon to married couples who can swear to not having regretted their marriage for a year and a day is an old tradition, the remnants of which still survive in some pockets in England.
) near Lichfield
, Staffordshire
was granted to Sir Philip de Somerville in the 10th year of the reign of Edward III (1336) from the Earl of Lancaster
for a small fee but also on condition that he kept ready "arrayed at all times of the year but Lent, one bacon-flyke hanging in his hall at Whichnoure, to be given to every man or woman who demanded it a year and a day after the marriage, upon their swearing they would not have changed for none other".
The couple are required to produce two of their neighbours to witness that the oath is true. The oath that was to be sworn by the couple reads,
The winning couple are escorted away in a grand ceremony with "trompets, tabourets, and other manoir of mynstralcie". Although this is a valuable prize, it does not seem to have been claimed very often. Horace Walpole, who visited Whichnoure in 1760, reported that the flitch had not been claimed for thirty years and that a real flitch of bacon was no longer kept ready at the manor. A replacement, carved in wood, was now displayed over the mantle of the fireplace in the main hall, presumably in order to continue to meet the conditions of the original land grant.
Walpole is quite taken by this tradition and mentions it in several letters to his friends. In a letter to the Countess of Ailesbury (Lady Caroline Campbell, daughter of John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll
and widow of Charles Bruce, 4th Earl of Elgin and 3rd Earl of Ailesbury
but by this stage married to Hon. H. S. Conway), Walpole with tongue firmly in cheek
berates her for not having come to Whichnoure to claim the flitch: "Are you not ashamed, Madam, never to have put in your claim? It is above a year and a day that you have been married, and I never once heard either of you mention a journey to Whichnoure." Describing the location and explaining why the flitch no longer gets claimed "...it is a little paradise, and the more like an antique one, as, by all I have said, the married couples seem to be driven out of it." Walpole concludes, "If you love a prospect, or bacon, you will certainly come hither."
An anonymous humorous piece appeared in Joseph Addison
's Spectator
in 1714 purporting to explain the rarity of the flitch being awarded in terms of the poor quality of the applicants. The writer claims that the source is the Register of Whichenovre-hall but sadly, the truth is that the piece is almost certainly entirely fictitious. The first couple to claim, according to this account, were at first successful, but then had the flitch taken away from them after they began to argue about how it should be dressed. Another couple failed when the husband, who had only reluctantly attended, had his ears boxed by his wife during the questioning. A couple who applied after only their honeymoon had finished passed the questioning but since insufficient time had elapsed were awarded just one rasher. One of only two couples to be successful in the first century of the tradition was a ship's captain and his wife who had not actually seen one another for over a year since their marriage.
As well as married couples, a flitch of bacon was also given at Whichnoure to men in the religious profession one year and a day following their retirement.
Priory in Essex
. It is generally held to have been instituted by the family of Robert Fitzwalter
in the 13th century. According to Rev. W. W. Skeat in his notes to the fourteenth-century The Vision of William Concerning Piers the Plowman, "In the present passage we have the earliest known allusion to the singular custom known as that of 'the Dunmow flitch of Bacon.' The custom was—'that if any pair could, after a twelvemonth of matrimony, come forward, and make oath at Dunmow [co. Essex] that, during the whole time, they had never had a quarrel, never regretted their marriage, and, if again open to an engagement, would make exactly that they had made, they should be rewarded with a flitch of Bacon'". It is referred to in Chaucer (1343–1400) in a way that makes clear the reference would already be well known to the reader. It continued to be awarded until the middle of the 18th century, the last successful claim being made on 20 June 1751. The ceremony of this last flitch award was recorded by the artist David Ogborne who was present at the time to make sketches and, later, engravings. His images were later used as source material by Ainsworth
for his novel, The flitch of bacon. Ainsworth's 1854 novel proved so popular that it revived the custom which has continued in one form or another down to the present day and is now held every leap year.
The oath to be taken was very similar to the one at Whichnoure, that "neither of them in a year and a day, neither sleeping or waking, repented of their marriage". The couple are required to kneel on sharp stones in the churchyard while taking the oath and a verse was chanted;
Following the taking of the oath, the couple are then paraded around the town with their bacon in a noisy ceremony, much as at Whichnoure.
The historical Dunmow flitch is known to have been successfully claimed only a total of six times, although there may have been more that are unknown (among the possible ones there are Montagu Burgoyne
and his wife Elizabeth). Three are known prior to the dissolution of the monasteries
from the records of the house of Sir Richard St George
, and a further three awards are known from the records of the manor court
at Dunmow now in the British Museum
. There was a long gap after the dissolution but the tradition was revived by Sir Thomas May in 1701 when he became the owner of the Priory.
There was an attempt made to claim the flitch on 12 June 1772 by John and Susan Gilder. The couple had given due notice of their claim and were accompanied by a large crowd of onlookers. However, the lord of the manor had ordered that the ceremony should not take place and the gates of the priory were nailed shut to prevent it. By 1809 the tradition was definitely abolished. A further attempt to claim the flitch was made in 1832 by Josiah Vine, a retired cheesemaker, who travelled with his wife from Reading
to make his claim. He too was refused a trial by a very unsympathetic Steward of Little Dunmow
. John Bull
on 8 October 1837 reported that it had been revived by the Saffron Walden
and Dunmow Agricultural Society. Apparently however, this flitch was merely distributed at the annual society dinner. In 1851 a couple from Felstead were also refused a trial at the Priory, but obtained a flitch from the people of nearby Great Dunmow
who felt that they deserved it.
after the publication of Ainsworth's novel in 1854 which proved to be tremendously popular. Ainsworth aided the reinstitution by himself donating two flitches for the first of the revived ceremonies in 1855. They have been held ever since in one form or another except for a gap caused by the World Wars. The first ceremony after World War II
was held in 1949, despite rationing still being in force. The modern trials are held every fourth year on leap years, the next one is planned for 14 July 2012. The event is organised by the Dunmow Flitch Trials Committee who employ a counsel to cross-examine the applicants in an attempt to save the bacon for the sponsors who donated it. The trial is decided by a jury.
When first revived the original stones on which the couple knelt had been removed and the chair on which they were carried if successful is kept permanently in Little Dunmow Priory. However, replacements for both of these have been provided for the modern ceremony. The modern trials are held in the town of Great Dunmow
rather than the location of the original custom at Little Dunmow, a smaller nearby village.
Dunmow claims to be the only location to have continued the flitch of bacon custom into the 21st century.
Although the flitch ceremony at Dunmow is generally held to have originated with the Fitzwalters in the 13th century there are some who would date it to earlier Norman or Saxon times, one suggested date being 1104, the founding of the Little Dunmow Priory. This is partly because the flitch of Dunmow seems to have already been common knowledge in very early works such as the prologue to Chaucer's Wife of Bath and also in the Visions of Pierce Plowman
by William Langland
. Some would also read passages in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
as alluding to the Dunmow flitch.
It is possible that the flitch of bacon custom was at one time quite widespread. There was a flitch of bacon tradition at the Abbey of St Melaine
, Rennes
, Brittany, where the bacon is said to have hung for six centuries without being claimed. In Vienna
, there was a similar tradition in which the prize was a ham
of bacon rather than a flitch. The ham was hung over the city gate, from where the winner was expected to climb up and remove it himself. One such winner had the prize revoked after winning it, after he inadvertently let slip that his wife would rebuke him for staining his coat while bringing down the ham.
Historian Hélène Adeline Guerber
theorizes that the tradition traces back to an ancient Norse
custom connected with the Yule
feast, a Germanic pagan
festival that in modern times has inextricably been absorbed into Christmas
. Guerber theorizes that Yule is primarily dedicated to the god Thor
, but is also important for the god Freyr
(who rides a wild boar, Gullinbursti
). A boar
is eaten at Yule in Freyr's honour and the boar can only be carved by a man of unstained reputation. Guerber says that Freyr was the patron of gladness and harmony and was often invoked by married couples who wished for the same, and that this led to the custom of married couples who actually succeeded in living in harmony for a given period being rewarded with a piece of boar meat. Guerber states that it is this tradition that became the flitch of bacon custom after converting boar meat into bacon.
first published in 1854. The central theme of the story is the flitch at Dunmow and the scheming by the leading character to be awarded it by marrying a succession of women in an attempt to find the right one. The description of the ceremony in the book is partly based on the art of David Ogborne, an eyewitness to the last ceremony in 1751.
The Flitch of Bacon public house
, of which the protagonist of Ainsworth's novel is the publican, still exists in Little Dunmow
.
The flitch of bacon is a comic opera from 1779 by William Shield
and Sir Henry Bate Dudley.
Made in Heaven
is a 1952 film starring David Tomlinson
and Petula Clark
about a married couple attempting to win the Dunmow flitch.
The awarding of a flitch of bacon to married couples who can swear to not having regretted their marriage for a year and a day is an old tradition, the remnants of which still survive in some pockets in England.
Whichnoure
The manor of Whichnoure (now Wychnor HallWychnor Hall
Wychnor Hall is an early 18th century country house near Burton on Trent, Staffordshire. Formerly owned by the Levett family, descendants of Theophilus Levett, Steward of the city of Lichfield in the early eighteenth century, the hall has been converted to a Country Club. It is a Grade II listed...
) near Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
was granted to Sir Philip de Somerville in the 10th year of the reign of Edward III (1336) from the Earl of Lancaster
Earl of Lancaster
The title of Earl of Lancaster was created in the Peerage of England in 1267, merging in the crown in 1399. See also Duke of Lancaster.-Earls of Lancaster :...
for a small fee but also on condition that he kept ready "arrayed at all times of the year but Lent, one bacon-flyke hanging in his hall at Whichnoure, to be given to every man or woman who demanded it a year and a day after the marriage, upon their swearing they would not have changed for none other".
The couple are required to produce two of their neighbours to witness that the oath is true. The oath that was to be sworn by the couple reads,
- "Hear ye, Sir Philip de Somervile, lord of Whichenoure, maintainer and giver of this Bacon, that I, (husband), syth I wedded (wife), my wyfe, and syth I had her in my kepyng and at wylle, by a Yere and a Day after our Marryage, I would not have changed for none other, farer ne fowler, richer ne powrer, ne for none other descended of gretter lynage, sleeping ne waking, at noo time; and if the said (wife) were sole, and I sole, I would take her to be my wyfe before all the wymen of the worlde, of what condytions soevere they be, good or evyle, as helpe me God, and his Seyntys, and this flesh, and all fleshes."
The winning couple are escorted away in a grand ceremony with "trompets, tabourets, and other manoir of mynstralcie". Although this is a valuable prize, it does not seem to have been claimed very often. Horace Walpole, who visited Whichnoure in 1760, reported that the flitch had not been claimed for thirty years and that a real flitch of bacon was no longer kept ready at the manor. A replacement, carved in wood, was now displayed over the mantle of the fireplace in the main hall, presumably in order to continue to meet the conditions of the original land grant.
Walpole is quite taken by this tradition and mentions it in several letters to his friends. In a letter to the Countess of Ailesbury (Lady Caroline Campbell, daughter of John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll
John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll
General John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll KT PC was a Scottish Whig politician in the 17th and 18th centuries.He was born to John Campbell, the third son of Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, and Elizabeth Elphinstone, daughter of John Elphinstone, 8th Lord Elphinstone...
and widow of Charles Bruce, 4th Earl of Elgin and 3rd Earl of Ailesbury
Charles Bruce, 4th Earl of Elgin
Charles Bruce, 3rd Earl of Ailesbury and 4th Earl of Elgin , styled Viscount Bruce of Ampthill from 1685 to 1741, was the son of Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury and Lady Elizabeth Seymour...
but by this stage married to Hon. H. S. Conway), Walpole with tongue firmly in cheek
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
berates her for not having come to Whichnoure to claim the flitch: "Are you not ashamed, Madam, never to have put in your claim? It is above a year and a day that you have been married, and I never once heard either of you mention a journey to Whichnoure." Describing the location and explaining why the flitch no longer gets claimed "...it is a little paradise, and the more like an antique one, as, by all I have said, the married couples seem to be driven out of it." Walpole concludes, "If you love a prospect, or bacon, you will certainly come hither."
An anonymous humorous piece appeared in Joseph Addison
Joseph Addison
Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was a man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison...
's Spectator
The Spectator (1711)
The Spectator was a daily publication of 1711–12, founded by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele in England after they met at Charterhouse School. Eustace Budgell, a cousin of Addison's, also contributed to the publication. Each 'paper', or 'number', was approximately 2,500 words long, and the...
in 1714 purporting to explain the rarity of the flitch being awarded in terms of the poor quality of the applicants. The writer claims that the source is the Register of Whichenovre-hall but sadly, the truth is that the piece is almost certainly entirely fictitious. The first couple to claim, according to this account, were at first successful, but then had the flitch taken away from them after they began to argue about how it should be dressed. Another couple failed when the husband, who had only reluctantly attended, had his ears boxed by his wife during the questioning. A couple who applied after only their honeymoon had finished passed the questioning but since insufficient time had elapsed were awarded just one rasher. One of only two couples to be successful in the first century of the tradition was a ship's captain and his wife who had not actually seen one another for over a year since their marriage.
As well as married couples, a flitch of bacon was also given at Whichnoure to men in the religious profession one year and a day following their retirement.
Dunmow
A rather better-known example of the awarding of a flitch of bacon to married couples occurred at Little DunmowLittle Dunmow
Little Dunmow is a village situated in rural Essex, England, in the vale of the River Chelmer about east-southeast of the town of Great Dunmow. It can be reached from the Dunmow South exit of the A120 by following the road towards Braintree for 3.2 km before turning right for the village...
Priory in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. It is generally held to have been instituted by the family of Robert Fitzwalter
Robert Fitzwalter
Lord Robert FitzwalterAlso spelled FitzWalter, fitzWalter, etc. was the leader of the baronial opposition against King John of England, and one of the twenty-five sureties of the Magna Carta...
in the 13th century. According to Rev. W. W. Skeat in his notes to the fourteenth-century The Vision of William Concerning Piers the Plowman, "In the present passage we have the earliest known allusion to the singular custom known as that of 'the Dunmow flitch of Bacon.' The custom was—'that if any pair could, after a twelvemonth of matrimony, come forward, and make oath at Dunmow [co. Essex] that, during the whole time, they had never had a quarrel, never regretted their marriage, and, if again open to an engagement, would make exactly that they had made, they should be rewarded with a flitch of Bacon'". It is referred to in Chaucer (1343–1400) in a way that makes clear the reference would already be well known to the reader. It continued to be awarded until the middle of the 18th century, the last successful claim being made on 20 June 1751. The ceremony of this last flitch award was recorded by the artist David Ogborne who was present at the time to make sketches and, later, engravings. His images were later used as source material by Ainsworth
William Harrison Ainsworth
William Harrison Ainsworth was an English historical novelist born in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in London he met the publisher John Ebers, at that time manager of the King's Theatre, Haymarket...
for his novel, The flitch of bacon. Ainsworth's 1854 novel proved so popular that it revived the custom which has continued in one form or another down to the present day and is now held every leap year.
The oath to be taken was very similar to the one at Whichnoure, that "neither of them in a year and a day, neither sleeping or waking, repented of their marriage". The couple are required to kneel on sharp stones in the churchyard while taking the oath and a verse was chanted;
Following the taking of the oath, the couple are then paraded around the town with their bacon in a noisy ceremony, much as at Whichnoure.
The historical Dunmow flitch is known to have been successfully claimed only a total of six times, although there may have been more that are unknown (among the possible ones there are Montagu Burgoyne
Montagu Burgoyne
Montagu Burgoyne was a politician of Essex.Burgoyne was a younger son of Sir Roger Burgoyne, 6th Baronet of Burgoyne of Sutton, Bedfordshire. He was a member of Trinity Hall, Cambridge where he gained his M.A. in 1774. Lord North gave him the sinecure office of Chamberlain of the Till office in...
and his wife Elizabeth). Three are known prior to the dissolution of the monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
from the records of the house of Sir Richard St George
Richard St George
Sir Richard St George was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms on London during the seventeenth century.The date of birth of Richard St George is unknown. In 1575 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas St John of Lydiard Tregoze, Wiltshire. He joined the College of Arms in 1602...
, and a further three awards are known from the records of the manor court
Manor court
The manor court was the lowest court of law in England . It dealt with matters over which the Lord of the Manor had jurisdiction. Its powers extended only to those living in the manor or who held land at the manor-Basic functions:Each Manor has its own laws listed in a document called the Custamal...
at Dunmow now in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. There was a long gap after the dissolution but the tradition was revived by Sir Thomas May in 1701 when he became the owner of the Priory.
| No. | Husband | Occupation | Wife | Residence | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steven Samuel | Little Ayston | 7th year of Edward IV (1467) | ||
| 2 | Richard Wright | Badbourge (near Norwich Norwich Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom... ) |
23rd year of Henry VI Henry VI of England Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars... (1492) |
||
| 3 | Thomas Ley | fuller Fulling Fulling or tucking or walking is a step in woolen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker... |
Coggeshall Coggeshall Coggeshall is a small market town of 3,919 residents in Essex, England, situated between Colchester and Braintree on the Roman road of Stane Street , and intersected by the River Blackwater. It is known for its almost 300 listed buildings and formerly extensive antique trade... , Essex |
1510 | |
| 4 | John Reynolds | Ann | Hatfield Regis | 27 June 1701 | |
| 5 | William Parsley | butcher Butcher A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments... |
Jane | Much Eyston | 27 June 1701 |
| 6 | Thomas Shapeshaft | weaver | Ann | 20 June 1751 | |
| 6 | John Shakeshanks | woolcomber Combing Combing is a method for preparing carded fibre for spinning. It separates out the short fibres by means of a rotating ring of steel pins. The fibres in the 'top' it produces, have been straightened and lie parallel to each other... |
Anne | Wethersfield Wethersfield, Essex Wethersfield is a village and a civil parish on the B1053 road in the Braintree district of the English county of Essex. It is near the River Pant. Wethersfield has a school, a post office, a fire station and two places of worship. Nearby settlements include the town of Braintree and the village of... |
20 June 1751 |
There was an attempt made to claim the flitch on 12 June 1772 by John and Susan Gilder. The couple had given due notice of their claim and were accompanied by a large crowd of onlookers. However, the lord of the manor had ordered that the ceremony should not take place and the gates of the priory were nailed shut to prevent it. By 1809 the tradition was definitely abolished. A further attempt to claim the flitch was made in 1832 by Josiah Vine, a retired cheesemaker, who travelled with his wife from Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
to make his claim. He too was refused a trial by a very unsympathetic Steward of Little Dunmow
Little Dunmow
Little Dunmow is a village situated in rural Essex, England, in the vale of the River Chelmer about east-southeast of the town of Great Dunmow. It can be reached from the Dunmow South exit of the A120 by following the road towards Braintree for 3.2 km before turning right for the village...
. John Bull
John Bull (magazine)
John Bull Magazine was a weekly periodical established in the City, London EC4, by Theodore Hook in 1820.-Publication dates:It was a popular periodical that continued in production through 1824 and at least until 1957...
on 8 October 1837 reported that it had been revived by the Saffron Walden
Saffron Walden
Saffron Walden is a medium-sized market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It is located north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and approx north of London...
and Dunmow Agricultural Society. Apparently however, this flitch was merely distributed at the annual society dinner. In 1851 a couple from Felstead were also refused a trial at the Priory, but obtained a flitch from the people of nearby Great Dunmow
Great Dunmow
Great Dunmow is an ancient market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England in which the great Shannon Gray, also known as Hazzah Potter, lives...
who felt that they deserved it.
Modern flitch trials
The flitch trials were revived in the Victorian eraVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
after the publication of Ainsworth's novel in 1854 which proved to be tremendously popular. Ainsworth aided the reinstitution by himself donating two flitches for the first of the revived ceremonies in 1855. They have been held ever since in one form or another except for a gap caused by the World Wars. The first ceremony after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
was held in 1949, despite rationing still being in force. The modern trials are held every fourth year on leap years, the next one is planned for 14 July 2012. The event is organised by the Dunmow Flitch Trials Committee who employ a counsel to cross-examine the applicants in an attempt to save the bacon for the sponsors who donated it. The trial is decided by a jury.
When first revived the original stones on which the couple knelt had been removed and the chair on which they were carried if successful is kept permanently in Little Dunmow Priory. However, replacements for both of these have been provided for the modern ceremony. The modern trials are held in the town of Great Dunmow
Great Dunmow
Great Dunmow is an ancient market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England in which the great Shannon Gray, also known as Hazzah Potter, lives...
rather than the location of the original custom at Little Dunmow, a smaller nearby village.
Dunmow claims to be the only location to have continued the flitch of bacon custom into the 21st century.
Older traditions
Piers Plowman
Piers Plowman or Visio Willelmi de Petro Plowman is the title of a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in unrhymed alliterative verse divided into sections called "passus"...
by William Langland
William Langland
William Langland is the conjectured author of the 14th-century English dream-vision Piers Plowman.- Life :The attribution of Piers to Langland rests principally on the evidence of a manuscript held at Trinity College, Dublin...
. Some would also read passages in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
as alluding to the Dunmow flitch.
It is possible that the flitch of bacon custom was at one time quite widespread. There was a flitch of bacon tradition at the Abbey of St Melaine
Melaine
Saint Melaine was a 6th century Bishop of Rennes in Brittany .-Traditional history:...
, Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
, Brittany, where the bacon is said to have hung for six centuries without being claimed. In Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, there was a similar tradition in which the prize was a ham
Ham
Ham is a cut of meat from the thigh of the hind leg of certain animals, especiallypigs. Nearly all hams sold today are fully cooked or cured.-Etymology:...
of bacon rather than a flitch. The ham was hung over the city gate, from where the winner was expected to climb up and remove it himself. One such winner had the prize revoked after winning it, after he inadvertently let slip that his wife would rebuke him for staining his coat while bringing down the ham.
Historian Hélène Adeline Guerber
H. A. Guerber
Hélène Adeline Guerber , better known as H.A. Guerber, was a British historian most well known for her written histories of ....
theorizes that the tradition traces back to an ancient Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
custom connected with the Yule
Yule
Yule or Yuletide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic people as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January...
feast, a Germanic pagan
Germanic paganism
Germanic paganism refers to the theology and religious practices of the Germanic peoples of north-western Europe from the Iron Age until their Christianization during the Medieval period...
festival that in modern times has inextricably been absorbed into Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
. Guerber theorizes that Yule is primarily dedicated to the god Thor
Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
, but is also important for the god Freyr
Freyr
Freyr is one of the most important gods of Norse paganism. Freyr was highly associated with farming, weather and, as a phallic fertility god, Freyr "bestows peace and pleasure on mortals"...
(who rides a wild boar, Gullinbursti
Gullinbursti
Gullinbursti is a boar in Norse mythology.When Loki had Sif's hair, Freyr's ship Skíðblaðnir and Odin's spear Gungnir fashioned by the Sons of Ivaldi, he bet his own head with Brokkr that his brother Eitri wouldn't have been able to make items to match the quality of those mentioned above.So to...
). A boar
Boar
Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
is eaten at Yule in Freyr's honour and the boar can only be carved by a man of unstained reputation. Guerber says that Freyr was the patron of gladness and harmony and was often invoked by married couples who wished for the same, and that this led to the custom of married couples who actually succeeded in living in harmony for a given period being rewarded with a piece of boar meat. Guerber states that it is this tradition that became the flitch of bacon custom after converting boar meat into bacon.
In the arts and culture
The flitch of bacon, subtitled The custom of Dunmow: a tale of English home is a novel by William Harrison AinsworthWilliam Harrison Ainsworth
William Harrison Ainsworth was an English historical novelist born in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in London he met the publisher John Ebers, at that time manager of the King's Theatre, Haymarket...
first published in 1854. The central theme of the story is the flitch at Dunmow and the scheming by the leading character to be awarded it by marrying a succession of women in an attempt to find the right one. The description of the ceremony in the book is partly based on the art of David Ogborne, an eyewitness to the last ceremony in 1751.
The Flitch of Bacon public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, of which the protagonist of Ainsworth's novel is the publican, still exists in Little Dunmow
Little Dunmow
Little Dunmow is a village situated in rural Essex, England, in the vale of the River Chelmer about east-southeast of the town of Great Dunmow. It can be reached from the Dunmow South exit of the A120 by following the road towards Braintree for 3.2 km before turning right for the village...
.
The flitch of bacon is a comic opera from 1779 by William Shield
William Shield
William Shield was an English composer, violinist and violist who was born in Swalwell near Gateshead, the son of William Shield and his wife, Mary, née Cash.-Life and musical career:...
and Sir Henry Bate Dudley.
Made in Heaven
Made in Heaven (1952 film)
Made in Heaven is a 1952 British comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs which stars David Tomlinson, Petula Clark and Sonja Ziemann.A happy household is thrown into chaos when an attractive new housemaid arrives. The screenplay was based on a story by William Douglas-Home.-Cast:* David...
is a 1952 film starring David Tomlinson
David Tomlinson
David Cecil MacAlister Tomlinson was an English film actor. He is primarily remembered for his roles as authority figure George Banks in Mary Poppins, fraudulent magician Professor Emelius Browne in Bedknobs and Broomsticks and as hapless antagonist Peter Thorndyke in The Love Bug.-Early life:Born...
and Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
about a married couple attempting to win the Dunmow flitch.
External links
- Dunmow Flitch Trials official site