convent, and many other neighbours, and there was delivered to him, the said Richard, one flitch of bacon." "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 TAKING THE OATH FOR THE GAMMON OF BACON, BY THOMAS SHAKESHAFT, 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." "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 Tils, the Prior of the house and convent, as also before a multitude of neighbours, and there was delivered to him, the said Thomas, a gammon of bacon.” Particulars of only three presentations of bacon have come down to us prior to the suppression of religious houses, but we may safely assume that more were entertained, and that the records of them are lost. to the subject by the supposition. The frequent allusions old poets support our Dunmow Priory was one of the religious houses supplied by Henry VIII. The mode of religious worship changed, but the bacon as a reward for matrimonial bliss remained. The new holders of land displayed no disposition to withhold the bacon. Morant obtained from the rolls of the court particulars of the next presentation. The document states as follows: "At a Court Baron of Sir Thomas May, Knt., holden the 7th of June, 1701, before Thomas Wheeler, gent., steward, the homage being five fair ladies, spinsters; namely, Elizabeth Beaumont, Henrietta Beaumont, Annabella Beaumont, Jane Beaumont, and Mary Wheeler.--They found that John Reynolds, of Hatfield Brodoke, gent. [Essex], and Ann his wife; and William Parsley, of Much Easton [Essex], butcher, and Jane, his wife, by means of their quiet and peaceable, tender and loving cohabitation for the space of three years last past, and upwards, were fit and qualified persons to be admitted by the court to receive the ancient and accustomed oath, whereby to entitle themselves to have the Bacon of Dunmow delivered unto them according to Custom of the Manor. Accordingly, having taken the oath, kneeling on the two great stones near the church door, the Bacon was delivered to each couple." Mr. John Reynolds was the Steward to Sir Charles Barrington. The next claim was granted in the year of grace 1751, and the official account is as follows: "The Manor of Dunmow late the Priory in Essex. The Special Court Baron of Mary Hallett, Widow, Lady of the said Manor, there held for the said Manor, on Thursday, the twentieth day of June, in the five and twentieth year of the reign of our Soverign Lord George the Second, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, and in the year of our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty One, before George Comyns, Esquire, Steward of the said Manor. HOMAGE. William Townsend, Gent. Daniel Heckford, Gent. Robert Mapeltoft, Gent. Richard Birch, Gent. Sarah Mapletoft, Spinster. Sworn. Mary Cater, Spinster. John Strutt, the yor., Gent. Elizabeth Smith, Spinster. Be it remembered, that at this Court, it is found and presented by the homage aforesaid, that Thomas Shakeshaft, of Weathersfield, in the County of Essex, weaver, and Ann, his wife, have been married for the space of seven years last past and upwards. And it is likewise found, presented, and adjudged by the homage aforesaid, that the said Thomas Shakeshaft, and Ann, his wife, by means of their quiet, peaceable, tender, and loving cohabitation, for the space of time aforesaid, as appears to the said homage, are fit and qualified persons to be admitted by the Court to receive the ancient and accustomed Oath, whereby to entitle themselves to have the Bacon of Dunmow delivered unto them according to the custom of this manor. Whereupon at this Court, in full and open Court, came the said Thomas Shakeshaft and Ann, his wife, in their own proper persons, and humbly prayed they might be admitted to take the Oath aforesaid. Whereupon the said Steward, with the Jury, Suitors, and other Officers of the Court, proceeded with the usual solemnity to the ancient and accustomed place for the administration of the Oath, and receiving the bacon aforesaid (that is to say), to the two Great Stones lying near the Church door, within the said manor, where the said Thomas Shakeshaft, and Ann, his wife, kneeling down on the said two Stones, the said Steward did administer unto them the accustomed Oath, in the words to the effect following (that is to say): 'You shall swear by custom of confession, That you ne'er made nuptial transgression ; 'Or since the parish clerk said "Amen," As when you joined hands. in holy quire.' And immediately thereupon the said Thomas Shakeshaft, and Ann, his wife, claiming the said bacon, the Court pronounced the sentence for the same in these words, or to the effect following to wit: 'Since to these conditions without any fear, your own accord do freely swear; A whole gammon of bacon you shall receive, And accordingly a gammon of bacon was delivered to the said Thomas Shakeshaft, and Ann, his wife, with the usual solemnity." An account of the presentation will be found in the Gentleman's Magazine and the old London Magazine for the year 1751, from which it appears that the successful candidates realized a large sum of money by selling slices of the bacon to those who witnessed the ceremony. It is estimated that some five thousand persons were present. A local artist named David Ogborne witnessed the ceremony, and made sketches of it, and afterwards painted a picture of the procession. It has been several times engraved. It is a It is a picture |