Dunmow

Dunmow, Great, a market-town in Essex, on the Great-Eastern Railway, 11 miles N.W. of Chelmsford. Its incorporation dates from Philip and Mary. On the opposite or left bank of the river Chelmer steends Little Dunmow, within which was situated a priory, where in the reign of John was started the strange practice of presenting a flitch of bacon to any married couple that could prove they had spent the first year of their union in perfect happiness and concord. A jury of bachelors and spinsters had to decide upon the claim, which was only successfully established five times between 1445 and 1753. Mr. Harrison Ainsworth drew attention to the custom in one of his novels, and it was revived in 1855 at Great Dunmow, being still kept up there by casual enthusiasts. At Whichnor in Staffordshire, St. Meleine in Brittany, Vienna, and elsewhere a similar usage seems to have prevailed.