A Yeoman, a Husbandman and Thomas le Fuller
Now all may have fallen out exactly as Harrison Ainsworth tells us;
but then, again, as Uncle Remus says, "it moughtn't."
"Among the jocular tenures of England," writes Grose--he was the
antiquary for whom Burns wrote "Tam o' Shanter"--"none has been more
talked about than the Bacon of Dunmow." (A peppercorn rent, which
still appears in legal documents, is a kind of "jocular tenure.") In
the theory of a jocular tenure we have probably the true origin of
the Flitch custom.
Morant, the historian of Essex, seems to think that this was the
case. He writes--
The Prior and Canons were obliged to deliver the Bacon to them that
took the Oath, by virtue (as many believe) of a Founder or
Benefactor's Deed or Will, by which they held lands, rather than of
their own singular frolic and wantonness, or more probably it was
imposed by the Crown, either in Saxon or Norman times, and was a
burthen upon their estate.
It is explained that "after the Pilgrims, as the Claimants were
called, had taken the Oath, they were taken through the Town in a
Chair, on Men's Shoulders, with all the Friars, Brethren, and
Townsfolk, young and old, male and female after them, with shouts and
acclamations, and the Bacon was borne before them on poles."
The Chartulary of Dunmow Priory (_Registrum Cartarum Prioratus de
Dunmawe_), a thickish quarto, clearly written in old contracted
Latin, is still to be seen any day in the British Museum. There are
two entries in reference to the Flitch. One is dated 1445, the other
1510. The first is on page 128 and the other on the opening page.
Both are among collections of memoranda apart from the actual
Chartulary, which itself contains no reference to the Flitch. (_See_
Appendix.) Here are translations of the entries--
Memorandum: that one Richard Wright, of Badbourge, near the City of
Norwich, in the County of Norfolk, Yeoman, came and required the
Bacon of Dunmow on the 17th day of April, in the 23rd year of the
reign of King Henry VI, and according to the form of the charter, was
sworn before John Cannon, Prior of this place and the Convent, and
many other neighbours, and there was delivered to him, the said
Richard, one Flitch of Bacon.
Memorandum: that in the year of our Lord, 1510, Thomas le Fuller, of
Coggeshall, in the County of Essex, came to the Priory of Dunmow, and
on the 8th September, being Sunday, in the second year of King Henry
VIII, he was, according to the form of the Charter, sworn before John
Tylor, the Prior of the house and Convent, as also before a multitude
of neighbours, and there was delivered unto him, the said Thomas, a
Gammon of Bacon.
On a sheet pasted on the last page of a volume of MSS. consisting of
extracts from the Red Book of the Exchequer ("Transcripta ex Libro
Rubeo in Scarrario"), the foregoing entries are recorded in cramped
English, and also a third, which, as a matter of fact, is written
first--
Memorandum: that one Stephen Samuel, of Little Easton, in the County
of Essex, Husbandman, came to the Priory of Dunmow, on our Lady-day
in Lent, in the Seventh year of King Edward IV, and required a Gammon
of Bacon, and was sworn before Roger Bulcott, then Prior, and the
Convent of this place, as also before a multitude of other
neighbours, and there was delivered to him a Gammon of Bacon.
It will be seen that in two cases it was a Gammon not a Flitch of
Bacon that was awarded. (A Flitch is a side, a Gammon a leg of
Bacon.)
It is also of interest to notice that, in the cases reported, the
Bacon is given to a man, not to a husband and wife. An historian
also speaks of "the Pilgrim" and of "_his_ Bacon being borne before
_him_."
The first recorded presentation of the Bacon is dated, as will be
observed, 1445. But, in view of the allusion in Chaucer a century
before, it is plain that the custom must have existed even before his
time. The references to the custom in other early authors would also
seem to point to the fact of it having been frequently observed.
There are, however, only three gifts of the Bacon noted down in the
documents of the Priory, now in the care of the British Museum.