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Folklore of Essex

The History Press

Essex Traditions

The Dunmow Flitch

He that repents him not of his marriage in a year and a day either sleeping or waking, may lawfully go to Dunmow and fetch a gammon of bacon.

Sir William Dugdale

For more than 900 years, the people of Great Dunmow have been wedded to the tradition of celebrating one of Britain's oldest folk ceremonies – the Flitch Trials. Brave couples put their marriage on trial and enter the witness box, claiming that they have 'not wished themselves unwed for a year and a day'. The couple who convince the counsel and jury – which consists of six maidens and six bachelors from Dunmow – of their love can claim the coveted flitch of bacon. The word 'flitch' comes from the Old English flicce and means 'a salted and cured side of bacon'.

The origin of the Dunmow Flitch Trials remains obscure. There are several versions of the flitch tale; the one which is most often quoted was created in 1854 by the writer William Harrison Ainsworth in his book The Flitch of Bacon and his poem 'The Custom of Dunmow', which describes how Sir Reginald FitzWalter (sometimes referred to as Robert) and his wife, disguised as humble folk, present themselves at Little Dunmow Priory, asking for the prior's blessing on their year-old marriage. Reginald says:

In peasant guise my love I won
Nor knew she whom she wedded;
In peasant cot our truth we tried,
And no disunion dreaded,
Twelve months' assurance proves our faith
On firmest base is stead.

So impressed is the prior that he orders the convent cook to present a flitch of bacon to the lovers. The couple then reveal their identity and give lands to the priory on condition that a flitch should be given to any couple who are prepared to make an oath that they had not repented of their marriage for a whole year.

The earliest mention of the Dunmow Flitch tradition occurs in William Langland's The Vision of Piers Plowman. Langland was alive during the period 1330-1400. Geoffrey Chaucer also mentioned the tradition in a matter-of-fact way in his Prologue to the Wife of Bath's Tale:

The bacoun was nat fet for hem, I trowe,
That som men han in Essex at Dunmowe.

There are other literary mentions, including an eighteenth-century ballad opera by Henry Bate, which was produced in 1778 at the Haymarket Theatre under the title of The Flitch of Bacon. One of the songs from the opera describes the winning of the flitch:

Since a year and a day
Have in love roll'd away
And an oath of that love has been taken,
On the sharp pointed stones,
With your bare marrow bones,
You have won our fam'd Priory bacon.

Recorded instances of successful claimants of the flitch are few and far between – the first four were in 1445, 1467, 1510 and 1701. The 1701 occasion was the first time that wives were mentioned as having a part to play and also the first time that a formally constituted jury heard the case. After 1751, the custom appears to have lapsed until William Harrison Ainsworth's book, The Flitch of Bacon, published in 1854, gave the event tremendous publicity. This resulted in the revival of the Flitch Trials the following year and they have continued to the present time.

The modern version of the pageant is staged every leap year and attracts worldwide television and radio coverage. Included in the 2004 'court' were Judge Michael Chapman, Leading Counsel Claire Rayner OBE, Daniel Pitt, Mary Bard, Chris Hancock QC and Junior Counsel Dave Monk from BBC Essex. The Court Chaplain was Revd Canon David Ainge.

Talberds Ley is where it all happens, with a large marquee to accommodate the crowds who come to listen to the couples talking of their marriages and being subjected to cross-questioning from a bewigged counsel for the bacon and another arguing for the couple. The Flitch Judge presides over the trial to make sure there is fair play. The jury listens carefully to what has been said and then leaves the marquee to decide on the verdict.

Afterwards, the winning couple (although there are usually several couples) are carried from the trials in an ancient chair. The procession, led by men carrying the flitch of bacon, makes its way to the old town hall in Market Place. There, the couple are required to kneel and repeat the flitch oath first used in 1751:

You shall swear by the Custom of Confession
That you ne'er made Nuptial Transgression
Since you were married Man and Wife
By Household Brawls or Contentious Strife
Or otherwise in Bed or at Board
Offended each other in Deed or in Word
Or since the Parish Clerk said Amen
Wished yourselves unmarried Agen
Or in Twelve Month and a day
Repented not in thought any way
But continued true and in desire
As when you joined hands in Holy Quire
If to these Conditions without all fear
Of your own Accord you will freely Swear
A Gammon of Bacon you shall receive
And bear it hence with Love and good Leave
For this is our Custom at Dunmow well known
Though the Sport be ours, the Bacon's your own

The famous chair that carries the winning couple in celebration is kept in the Great Dunmow Museum between Flitch Trials. One of the first Flitch Chairs, made from part of a thirteenth-century stall, is kept at St Mary's church in nearby Little Dunmow.

The Fairlop Fair

To Hainault Forest Queen Anne she did ride
And beheld the beautiful oak by her side
And after viewing it from the bottom to the top
She said to her court 'It is a Fair-lop'

Hainault Forest, once a regular haunt of highwaymen, became famous in the eighteenth century for an entirely different reason: a large fair which was attended by thousands of people at the height of its popularity. The fair was founded by a successful, if slightly eccentric, ship's pump and block maker from Wapping, Daniel Day, known to his friends as Good Day, reflecting the man's amiable disposition. When collecting rents from tenants who lived in some of his cottages in the Barkingside area, Day decided to treat both his tenants and employees to a picnic – a beanfeast – in the woods. The finest ale, bacon and beans were distributed from the hollow trunk of possibly England's largest oak tree, its trunk measuring 36ft in girth and its seventeen branches extending 300ft in circumference.

Setting out early from the East End on the first Friday in July one year in the early 1700s, Day had made arrangements for the food and ale to be laid out under the old oak. The picnic was a wonderful success and Day decided to repeat it the following July. What had originally started as a private event gradually grew to be an annual festival on the calendar, attracting not only Day's staff and tenants but also the general public. The fair grew in popularity, apparently without causing Day any resentment. In fact, he seemed to enjoy the unexpected expansion.

Day had always had a strong aversion to land travel and chose to travel on water whenever possible. This idiosyncrasy was incorporated into the procession that preceded the fair, which consisted of fully rigged model ships mounted on carriage frames covered with bright awnings, each drawn by six horses with outriders and postillions dressed in blue and gold. The boats were cut out of one piece of fir and each seated thirty or forty 'sailors'. They were called the Fairlop boats. The day of the fair often proved wet, giving rise to a local proverb: 'On Fairlop Friday it will be sure to rain, if only nine drops'.

Vehicles of all kinds followed and musicians escorted the parade. The fair became such a tradition that even Queen Anne, accompanied by her court retinue, paid a visit one summer. When, during one picnic, a branch fell from the old oak, Day saw this as a bad omen and had a carpenter turn the branch into a coffin which he tested for his size and comfort. He died, aged eighty-four, on 19 October 1767, requesting that his body be conveyed to his Barking grave by water, as in life he had met with a number of accidents while travelling over land.

The fair continued after Day's death, and so popular did it become that in 1839, according to missionaries of the Religious Tract Society, there were many sporting events, sideshows, gaming tables and heavy drinking. By this time, the fair had become a three-day event lasting from Friday to Sunday. The following year, there were thousands of revellers in the forest. It is believed that Charles Dickens, as a contemporary journalist, wrote a feature describing the fair in the Morning Post in 1854.

By then, however, the venerable oak had gone. Over the years, the surface roots of the tree were damaged by fires lit by the picnickers and revellers, and in 1805 the tree, already suffering from the degradation of time, was seriously damaged by fire. In 1820, the tree, which was by then dead, was finally blown down during a gale. Part of its timber was used by a builder to make a pulpit and reading desk for St Pancras church in Euston Road, London. Despite the loss of its namesake, the Fairlop Oak Festival continued to be held until July 1899.

A replacement for the Fairlop Oak was paid for and planted, on 21 February 1992, on the exact site of the ancient oak by Ilford historian and writer Mr Norman Gunby and the East London Soroptomists.

Colchester's Famous Oyster Feast

Essex oysters are famous throughout the world. They have been cultivated around the Thames Estuary, particularly in Colchester, since before the time of the Roman invasion. The Romans found these succulent shellfish so delicious that they set about establishing an industry around the Colchester beds, even exporting them to Rome. Oysters were also cultivated in other places in the county, including Maldon, Pagelsham, Leigh, Canvey and Southchurch. Celebrations take place in some towns; the most famous is the annual Colchester Oyster Feast.

The Colchester oyster fishery is officially 'opened' on the first Friday of September each year. In full civic regalia, the mayor of Colchester, his town clerk and council members take passage on an oyster dredger out into the Pyefleet Channel of the Colne Estuary, off Mersea Island. A flotilla of small boats carrying invited guests follows the mayor out into the channel. Oaths are sworn, pledging devotion to the Queen, and the mayor dredges and eats the first oyster of the season. Gin and gingerbread follow and then there is an oyster lunch on board.

The grand Colchester Oyster Feast is held on the last Friday of October each year. It takes place at Colchester's Moot Hall and is presided over by the mayor. No one knows when the first Oyster Feast was held but it was an established annual event by the reign of King Charles II. It took place on 9 October, marking the start of the ancient Saint Denys' Fair. This fair dated from 1319 and was the greatest of all fairs in Essex, with festivities taking place over eight days.

In modern times, the Colchester Oyster Feast has grown in size and importance and has been attended by many members of the Royal Family and civic dignitaries from around the nation. The mayor also invites Colchester citizens who are active in local charities, civic bodies and good causes. There is a public lottery to ensure that every citizen of the borough has the chance to attend this prestigious event. The arrival of the oysters is greeted by a fanfare of trumpets, signalling the start of the feast. The Town Clerk reads the proclamation, dating from 1256, which states that the oyster beds have belonged to Colchester 'from the time beyond which memory runneth not to the contrary', and the feast begins.

The Whispering (or Lawless) Court

Until the end of the nineteenth century, an unusual tradition took place annually, around the time of Michaelmas, at Rochford. Following a splendid supper at the King's Head in Rochford marketplace, provided by the lord of the manor, tenants of the town made their way at midnight to congregate around a white-painted wooden post in the front garden of the ancient King's Hill Cottage. The lord's steward whispered the names of the people who owed service to the manor, the tenants replied by whispering their names and the steward concluded with the following proclamation:

Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes, all persons who have appeared at this court for the manor of King's Hill have leave to depart hence keeping their day and hour on a new summons. God save the King.

This ended the proceedings. The torches were extinguished and the men left. No one knows exactly when this custom started but it is believed to have originated in the mid-seventeenth century, when the second Earl of Warwick was lord of the manor. His tenants were annoyed at his long absences abroad and complained that he was never present to hear their grievances and land disputes. On arriving home late one night after a long journey, he retired to bed but was awoken around midnight by the crowing of a cock that had been startled by the lanterns carried by the tenants in the courtyard below. Believing that that they were plotting against him, he strode out to meet his men, mistakenly reprimanding them for their treachery. As penance, he commanded them every year thereafter on the Wednesday following Michaelmas Day to assemble around the post to pay homage for their lands – but in hushed voices.

In time, the Whispering Court developed into a boisterous annual event, with the village lads carrying flaming torches and 'crowing' lustily in keeping with the legend, throwing their firebrands into the middle of the marketplace and chanting the 'Song of the Lawless Court'. The beginning of the nineteenth century saw the departure of the manorial lords and with them their courts and other interesting but strange customs. The white-painted wooden post still stands today at King's Hill Cottage, as decreed.

Boy Bishops

The ancient tradition of electing a boy bishop into the local church each year was well known in many places, including Essex, during the Middle Ages. St Nicholas is the patron saint of schoolboys and on his feast day, 6 December, an ordinary chorister was chosen to become 'bishop' for three weeks, until Holy Innocents' Day on 28 December.

During that time, the chosen one was addressed as St Nicholas and treated with reverence by clerics and laymen alike. He was expected to perform most of the duties of an adult prelate. He wore a miniature cope and mitre and carried a crozier, and was assisted by other boys acting as his lesser clergy. He sang Vespers and took a chief part in all the church services, except those which only an ordained priest could celebrate. On his last day as bishop, he was required to preach a sermon and to ride out in procession to bless the people. Henry VIII suppressed this custom in 1541, Mary I revived it in 1554 and Elizabeth I abolished it once more.

During the nineteenth century, the custom was revived in parts of East Anglia. In 1899, Revd H.K. Hudson reintroduced the Boy Bishop ceremony in the small village of Berden, which is not far from Saffron Walden, and it continued annually until he left the village in 1937. Over the last ten years, the custom has become popular again, in a shortened form, in some church schools in Essex.

Seeking Sanctuary

For 1,000 years, the ancient custom of seeking sanctuary, instituted by Pope Boniface V in AD 633, existed in England. This meant that any sinner seeking refuge in a church could remain there safely for up to forty days, free from persecution by his enemies. No doubt the idea was prompted by the Pope's interpretation of the scriptures that decreed that there was 'always room in Heaven for the sinner ready to repent'.

The Thomas à Becket Chapel at Brentwood proved to be a place of sanctuary for Hubert de Burgh, chief minister to King John and later to King Henry III. In 1232, Hubert angered King Henry, who branded him as a traitor and confiscated his home and possessions. Hubert decided to leave Essex and, so great was his haste, it is said he 'had no time to don his clothes'. With armed soldiers in hot pursuit, Hubert sought sanctuary in the chapel at Brentwood, which had been built nine years earlier. But the soldiers ignored Church law and prepared to drag Hubert from the chapel. Hubert stood bravely before the soldiers, his cross in one hand, but this did not prevent the soldiers trying to force the local blacksmith to make shackles to prevent Hubert from escaping. However, when the blacksmith realised the identity of the prisoner, he refused, saying:

Do with me as you please: as the Lord liveth I will not make shackles for him, but will rather die the worst death there is. Let God judge between you and him for using him so unjustly. Is he not that most faithful and noble-minded Hubert who so often saved England from the ravages of foreigners and restored England to herself?

The Bishop of London, upon hearing that his monarch had violated sanctuary, threatened to excommunicate all involved. As a result, Hubert was returned to the chapel, where he stayed as a prisoner for thirty-nine days. The soldiers then re-arrested him and 'sette him on a sorry horse and conveyed him to the Tower of London'. There was a happy ending, as Hubert was eventually pardoned by the King and had his lands restored. He died in retirement in 1243.

Birthplace of Henry Fitzroy

Henry VIII's relationship with Anne Boleyn and the political consequences of his efforts to produce a male heir are well known in national history. However, little space has been given to Henry's illegitimate son, who was born in the village of Blackmore, where Henry's mistress, Elizabeth Blount, was living.

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Excerpted from Folklore of Essex by Sylvia Kent. Copyright © 2013 Sylvia Kent. Excerpted by permission of The History Press.
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