My post Christmas in the Tudor town of Great Dunmow – Part 1 told the story of Great Dunmow’s Christmas Day candles (each weighing two pounds) which were bought by the churchwardens in the 1540s and placed in the parish church on Christmas Day morning.  Having analysed some of the religious elements of Christmas in a Tudor Catholic town, it is now time to turn to the social pleasures of Christmas.

Today’s post on Christmas in a Tudor town is about the ‘Lord of Misrule’ and his activities.  A regular occurrence in Great Dunmow’s Tudor churchwardens’ accounts is that of the money collected (or ‘gathered’) each year by these Lords.   During the Medieval and early Tudor period, Lords were appointed yearly by their parish to be the master of ceremonies and thus supervise parish entertainments, revelry and general chaos.   It is difficult to find any clear understanding on what the Lords got up to – some historians say that it was for one day only and others say that it was for the 12 Days of Christmas, starting on Christmas Day.  Moreover, some internet websites mix the ‘Lord of Misrule’ with the medieval practice of the boy-bishops of St Nicholas.  As Great Dunmow’s churchwardens accounts have separate financial entries for money collected for a ‘boy-bishop’, it is therefore unlikely that Great Dunmow’s Lords of Misrule were also ‘boy bishops’.

Unfortunately, the churchwardens’ accounts of Great Dunmow only provide the plainest of descriptions (see below).  So we don’t know what actually took place during the Lord of Misrule’s ‘reign’.  However, whatever happened, we do know that it raised a considerable amount of money for the parish church – so possibly took place over the 12 Days of Christmas, as opposed to just one day.  All the money gathered from the townsfolk by the Lord of Misrule was handed over to the churchwardens to provide funds for the parish church and thus recorded in their accounts.  We can also determine from other information in the churchwardens’ accounts coupled with the Lay Subsidies of 1523-4, that whenever Lord of Misrule was personally named in the records, he was normally of the ‘middling sort’ or a churchwarden.

The majority of Great Dunmow’s accounts specify ‘at Christmas’ alongside the entry for the ‘Lord of Misrule’ and only two entries don’t specify ‘Christmas’  (see below).   Without this extra description, it is impossible to determine if Great Dunmow’s ‘Lords of Misrule’ were all at Christmas-time or were for other times in the year.  The historian Ronald Hutton documents that many English pre-Reformation villages and towns celebrated May-day with a ‘Lord of Misrule (Ronald Hutton, The Rise of Merry England: The Ritual Year 1400-1700 (Oxford, 1994), p116-7).  In fact, Hutton states that Great Dunmow chose a Lord of Misrule to preside over its May ales (p33) but, as shown below, there is nothing in the original primary source to confirm this assertion.  The entries, as shown below, document that all but two were at Christmas, and none explicitly document that the Lord was at May.  Moreover, the receipts for Great Dunmow’s yearly May festivities are documented separately to the Lord of Misrule.  One of the two entries that doesn’t mention ‘Christmas’ does, instead, mention the Plough Feast (1538-9) and the Plough Feast was celebrated in January, shortly after the activites of the Lord of Misrule.  It seems that there is overwhelming evidence that all Great Dunmow’s Lord of Misrules, as recorded in their Tudor churchwarden accounts, took place during the Christmas period.

The churchwardens weren’t precise or consistent with the dating of their financial records.  See Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts.   Therefore, the dates below show the most likely period in which the events recorded by the entries ‘Lord of Misrule’ took place.  The Lord of Misrule appears for every period recorded by the churchwardens between 1527 and 1542.  The entry for 1541-42 is the last entry in Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts for the Lord of Misrule.  It is not known why the custom died out in Great Dunmow before the end of Henry VIII’s reign as it is well documented that the king had a Lord of Misrule in his court, and his son, Edward VI, carried on the tradition.

1527-1529 ‘Item recd of John Foster ytch [which] was gathered whan he was lorde – liijs iiijd [53s 4d]’ (folio 7r).  John Foster was a churchwarden of Great Dunmow from 1530 for two years.  In the Lay Subsidies of 1523-4, he was assessed as having goods to the value of 25s and paid 4d in taxes to Henry VIII’s commissioners.  He paid 12d towards the parish collection for the church steeple.  John Foster was clearly of the ‘middling sort’.

1529-1530 ‘Item rec of the lord of mysrowle [misrule] which was gadred [gathered] at Crystmas – ljs viijd [51s 8d]’ (folio 11r).

1530-1532 ‘ffyrste of the lorde of mysse rule – xxxviijs iiijd [38s 4d]’ (folio 15r).

1532-1533 ‘Itm rd of ye lord of mony at Crystmas – 10l s [£10]’ (folio 17v).  It is interesting that the word ‘of’ is crossed through in this entry.  Was our Tudor scribe about to write ‘Lord of Misrule’ but thought better of it and so wrote just ‘Lord’s Money at Christmas’?

1533-1534 ‘Resayved at Crystmas of ye lorde of mysrewle declard xxxiiijs 10d ob [34s 10½d – the ‘ob’ is the abbreviated form of ‘obolus’]’  (folio 20r)

1537-1538 ‘In primo recayvyd of Wylliam Stuard lord of mysserewle whych he gathered att Crystmas – xl is [£10 1s]’ (folio 24v). William Stuard (possibly ‘Steward’) paid 8d towards the 1530-32 collection for the church’s organ. In the Lay Subsidies of 1523-4, a William Steward was assessed as having goods to the value of 20s and paid 4d in taxes to Henry VIII’s commissioners.

1538-1539 ‘In primo receyvyd of the lord of mysserowell & for the plowgh ffest – xl s [£10 0s]’ (folio 29r). The medieval English tradition of the Plough Feast is discussed in this post Transcript fo. 4r: The Catholic Ritual Year – Plough-feast, May Day, Dancing Money, Corpus Christi

1539-1541 ‘Item reseyvyd of the lorde of mysrowle at thys Crystmas last wt [with] the plowfest mony at the town declard to the chyrche & all thyngs dyschargyd – xxxviijs jd [38s 1d]’ (folio 30v).

1541-1542 ‘Receyvyd of Skyngle the lord of myserule that he gatheryd at Crystmas there to ye cherche – lijs id [52s 1d]’ (folio 32r).  It’s very difficult to determine the social status of this ‘Skyngle’.  There was a Thomas Skyngell  who gave 1d towards the 1537-1538 collection for the Great Bell Clapper and 1d for the 1537-1538 collection for the Great Latten Candlestick – but he doesn’t appear anywhere else in the churchwardens’ accounts and doesn’t appear in Great Dunmow’s Lay Subsidy of 1523-4.

Join me next time to discover about
Great Dunmow’s St Nicholas and the boy bishop

Notes about Great Dunmow’s churchwarden accounts
Text in square [brackets] are my transcriptions.

The original churchwarden accounts (1526-1621) are in Essex Record Office (E.R.O.), Chelmsford, Essex, D/P 11/5/1.  All digital images within this blog appear by courtesy of Essex Record Office and may not be reproduced.

Examining these records from this Essex parish gives the modern reader a remarkable view  into the lives and times of some of Henry VIII’s subjects and provides an interpretation into the local history of Tudor Great Dunmow.

Christmas was a significant event of great importance for the ordinary people of English villages and towns in the early Tudor Catholic period.  The townsfolk of the North Essex town of Great Dunmow were no exception to this and celebrated with much vigour both the religious and social aspect of this, the most Christian of celebrations.  To discover what Christmas events took place in Great Dunmow, we once more have to turn to the exquisitely tooled leather-bound churchwarden accounts of the town.  In this handsome volume, between the years 1526 to 1621, the churchwardens of Great Dunmow meticulously recorded their expenditure and income of their parish church of St Mary the Virgin.

Buried within this book are the financial accounts for various religious and social activities which took place over the Christmas period between the 1520s and 1550s.  Only the bare-bones can be gleaned from the churchwardens’ accounts but there is enough detail to gather a basic knowledge of the events at Christmas in this Tudor English parish.

So, over the next few days in the lead-up to our 21st Century consumer-driven Christmas, we shall explore together

Christmas in the Tudor town of Great Dunmow

Christmas Day Candle
The expenditure for a special candle, used in the parish church on Christmas Day morning, first appeared in the churchwardens’ accounts in 1544, then again in 1545 and also in 1546 (the final Christmas of Henry VIII’s reign).   It is curious that these Christmas candles do not appear in the early years of the churchwardens’ accounts.  However it is likely that these earlier Christmas candles were bought but not itemised by the churchwardens with such precision as seen in the 1540s folios.

The candles must have been substantial items – probably very large and very long – as the 1544 and 1545 candles weighed two pounds each and cost 3d apiece.  The 1546 candle also weighed two pounds, but cost 4d – had Tudor inflation taken place?  I wonder what our Tudor churchwardens thought of this price increase!  Unfortunately we do not know if they were ornate or a simple candles. It is possible that the Christmas candle was carried in a procession through the church, a procession led by the vicar and priests of Great Dunmow at the Mass held for the entire parish on Christmas morning.

No further mention is made of Christmas candles in the accounts until the reign of Mary I when there are two entries for Christmas Day candles – one which cost 2d but without the weight recorded, and the other weighing the usual two pounds and costing 5d.  The entries for Mary’s reign are not dated, so these Christmas Day candles relate to Christmases in the period 1553 to 1558.  The churchwardens’ accounts are confusing for the period of Henry VIII’s immediate successor, the devoutly Protestant Edward VI.  Therefore, it cannot be determined if the lack of Christmas Day candles during his reign (1547-1553) was because of his religious inclinations and edicts or simply because the churchwardens did not record the entries with their usual meticulous thoroughness.  The Marian entries show that the Christmas candle was enclosed or surrounded by some form of canopy.

There are no further entries in the churchwardens’ accounts for a large candle at Christmas.  Below summarises the entries that are in the accounts.

Entry for 1544 Christmas candle – folio 37v
Entry for 1545 Christmas candle – folio 38v
Entry for 1546 Christmas candle – folio 39r
Entry for Christmas candles in Mary I’s reign – folio 43r

Join me tomorrow to discover about
Great Dunmow’s Christmas Lord of Misrule

Notes about Great Dunmow’s churchwarden accounts
Text in square [brackets] are my transcriptions.

The original churchwarden accounts (1526-1621) are in Essex Record Office (E.R.O.), Chelmsford, Essex, D/P 11/5/1.  All digital images within this blog appear by courtesy of Essex Record Office and may not be reproduced.

Examining these records from this Essex parish gives the modern reader a remarkable view  into the lives and times of some of Henry VIII’s subjects and provides an interpretation into the local history of Tudor Great Dunmow.

Who are these nameless people of Great Dunmow who stare into the middle-distance of their 1860s photographs?  Only a few bare facts are known about them – their photos all purchased from that well-known internet auction-house.  The first five photos came from a single house-clearance in Sussex, so were all related to each other; whilst the sixth photo came from Ireland.

The ladies from Sussex are all wearing the same head-dress.  Are they grandmother, two daughters, and grand-daughter?  The small child (boy or girl?) has been photographed against the same background as the two younger women.  The lady from Ireland is sitting on the same chair with the same table as the two older ladies from Sussex.  Their clothing dates all of them to the first half of the 1860s.

Who are these ladies and child?  All frozen for a moment in time through the lens of the photographer and nurseryman, William Stacey* of Great Dunmow.  Nameless people to add to the local history of Great Dunmow.

*Even today, there is still a flower/plant shop in Great Dunmow’s High Street called ‘Stacey’s Flowers of Great Dunmow’.

You may also be interested in the following post
– The Cole family of Spitalfields Market

I am looking for amateur historians to share their passion for history and contribute guest posts to my blog. I am open to anything as long as it sort-of-fits with the posts already on my blog. If you would like to submit something, here are some (very loose) ideas.  I have put links to my own posts alongside each idea to help you decide if you can contribute:-

• The local history of a village or town within Essex and its Medieval and/or Tudor past
  The pre-Reformation Catholic ritual year

• The Great War and its impact on a town/village/family within Essex
  Memorial Tablet – I died in Hell

• The impact of the Reformation on any town/village in England
  Thomas Bowyer, weaver and martyr of Great Dunmow d.1556

• Witchcraft in early modern England (any county)
  Witches, witchcraft and bewitchment

• Research techniques for being a historian
  Interpreting Primary Sources

• Tudor trades
  Medieval and early Tudor Trades

• An English custom celebrated today which originates from our medieval/Tudor past
  The Dunmow Flitch Trials 2012

 

Please email me at thenarrator[at]essexvoicespast.com with your ideas/posts.  The pay is lousy (none!) but the reward is sharing your historical knowledge with readers from all over the world.

The transcriptions below are from Great Dunmow Parish Council Minutes held by the Essex Record Office, Chelmsford – SEAX Catalogue D/J 88/2/1 (1894-1936).

Great Dunmow Wednesday 17th April 1918
At a meeting of inhabitants of the Parish of Great Dunmow called by the Rev W J House and W H Pace for the purpose of discussing the desirability of erecting a suitable memorial to Dunmow men who had fallen during the present war and held in the Church Schoolroom this evening there present:-

The Rev W J House, The Rev W H Pace Mr Wm Hasler (Chairmen of the Parish Council) and a large number of ladies and gentlemen, inhabitants of the Parish

On the proposition of J W King it was unanimously carried that Mr William Hasler take the Chair.

Mr Hasler suitably addressed the meeting and asked those present to put forward their views.

The Rev W H Pace spoke at length and moved that a war memorial of some sort be erected by the inhabitants.

The Rev W J House addressed the meeting and supported the Rev W H Pace, and moved that a Committee be formed with a view to providing a temporary institute at once and to take such steps as may be necessary to provide a permanent institute. J W King and many others also spoke and expressed their views, when, after considerable discussion, the proposals of the Rev W H Pace and the Rev W J House were, by consent of the Chairmen withdrawn.

The Rev W J House then moved that a committee be formed to consider what form the proposed shall take. This was seconded by J W King. Before putting this to the meeting J Gibbons and J V Mackenzie spoke on the resolution and L C Mackenzie moved an amendment that the whole question be adjoined until peace was declared.

The Chairman put the amendment to the meeting, which was defeated. The resolution was put to the meeting and was carried by a large majority. Resolved unanimously that a Committee of 25 ladies & gentlemen be appointed, with power to add to their number, the following persons were unanimously appointed:-

Mrs Armstrong
Rumsey
Tench
Serfe
Gibbons

Messers Rev W J House
J V Mackenzie
G Lowe
W H Mills
H W King
F W Baldey
Dr J H Gardiner
J Newman
Major Hasler
R R Smith
F J Nicholls
H Rumsey
L G Saville
A J Mills
J W Beard
P Tyler
H J Sewell
Dr Tench
A R Spurgeon

The Rev W H Pace kindly consented to act as Hon Secretary to this committee and to convene its first meeting.

A note of thanks to the chairmen for presiding <illegible> the meeting

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Thursday 3rd October 1918 – Proposed War Memorial
The Chairman stated that the Committee appointed by a meeting of inhabitants to consider the question of a war memorial for the Parish had requested him to call another meeting of inhabitants and asked those present to fix a date for this purpose. After consideration it was resolved that the meeting be called on Friday 18th October 1918 at 7 o clock pm at the Church Schools, provided this date and time is suitable to the Rev W J House and W H Pace

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Dunmow 18th October 1918 – Proposed War Memorial
At a meeting of the inhabitants of the Parish of Great Dunmow held in the Church Schoolroom on Friday the 18th Day of October 1918, to receive the report of the Committee appointed to deal with the question of War Memorial, there were present

Mr W Hasler J P 
In the Chair
The Rev W J House, M.A. & W H Pace B.D. and many ladies and gentlemen inhabitants of the parish.

The Notice calling the meeting was read

The minutes of the last meeting of inhabitants were read, confirmed & signed

The Report of the Committee was presented by the Rev W H Pace as under:-

The Committee elected, met on May 10th and asked the following to serve as co-opted members of the Committee:- Capt. Bacon, Lieut Col J Gibbons, Messrs E J Bond, A Bovill, A E Floyd, J Gibbons L C Mackenzie, F Robus, W O Sharp, J Smith, R Stacey, C L Suthery, W de Vins Wade & C Welch all of whom consented.

Messers J Bacon J L Livermore, J H Trembath declined.
Miss Lyle & Mr E J Foakes did not reply.

The following offices were chosen:-
Chairman Mr J Hasler JP
Vice-Chairmen Dr J W Gardiner
Treasurer Mrs C S Suthery
Secretary Rev W H Pace

The committee met again on May 24th and listened to the Rev R L Gwynne who pleaded for a cottage hospital as a worthy memorial.

Dr Gardiner proposed the following resolution:-
“That this committee sets before itself the task not only of raising a memorial to the Fallen, but also of commemorating and as far as possible perpetuating the spirit of self-sacrifice and co-operation in the cause of humanity, in which our country undertook, and is carrying on the war, in the hope of making the world a better place for men to live in. This was carried, as was the further resolution, moved by the Rev W H Pace. That an Executive Committee of six, in addition to the officers already elected be appointed to take steps for the building of a Social Club and the erection of a Memorial to the Fallen as the Dunmow War Memorial. The following were elected:- Mrs Armstong (who asked to be excused from serving) The Rev W J House, Messers J W Beard, E J Bond, H Rurnelly & W de Vins Wade.

The Executive Committee has met on four occasions. At the first meeting Mrs C S Suthery reported the receipt of the following generous offers to the fund for providing a Social Club, providing five others gave sums of £500. Messrs Hasler & Clapham £1,000, A Bovill £500, W Hasler £500. An offer for a house for sale in the town was made but not accepted.

Arising out of the question of framing an appeal for funds for the Social Club came a division of opinion as to what restrictions, if any were to be laid down for the running of the Club. The committee found itself unable to agree, and on Friday August 16th, the whole Executive resigned. The General Committee accepted the resignation and reformed the election of the new committee to this meeting.

The Chairmen addressed the meeting

The Rev W J House spoke and moved that the resignation of the Committee be accepted, this was seconded by the Rev W H Pace and carried mem con.

After further discussion it was proposed by the Rev W J House seconded by the Rev W H Pace, that new Committee be formed, with a mandate from this meeting to follow up the proposals of a Social Club, etc. Public Hall and memorial in Stone.

Mr J Trembath then addressed the meeting, and moved as an amendment that the whole question of a memorial be left over until the men now on Active Service return home. The Amendment failed to find a seconder.

The Chairmen put the Resolution to the meeting, which was carried with one dissenter.

After considerable discussion in which many took part, the Resolution appointing a new Committee was by general consent withdrawn, and it was proposed by F J Nicholls, seconded by A Dennis and carried mem con that the original Executive Committee be re-appointed with power to add to this number and that it be an instruction from this meeting that they are to confine their activities to raising the funds necessary for the proposed Social Club etc Public Hall and memorial in Stone and not to discuss questions of management and other details

It was further agreed that the Committee should report to another meeting of inhabitants before spending any money or making any commitments.

A vote of thanks to the Chairman for presiding terminated the proceedings

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Thursday 14th November 1918 – Proposed War Memorial
A letter dated the 1st November 1918 from the Rev W H Pace Hon Secretary of the Executive Committee appointed by the Inhabitants was read and after considerable discussion it was proposed by J Gibbons and seconded by A J Mills that a Committee be formed to issue an appeal for funds to provide a suitable memorial in Stone to be placed in the centre of the town on some other spot that may be agree upon. On being put to the meeting six voted for the Resolution and one (the Chairman) against. Resolved unanimously that the Committee consist of three members of the council. Messrs A Dennis, J Gibbons A J Mill, three inhabitants of the town, The Rev W J House & W H Pace mr E O Davey ex officio membus. C S Suthery as Treasurer and L G Machenziie as Hon Secretary

Thursday 27th March 1919 – Proposed War Memorial Committee appointed
The Chairman then addressed the meeting on the question of the proposed War Memorial Hall & explained the position of affairs up to that date. After considerable discussion it was unanimously resolved that a Committee should now be appointed by this council to carry on.

Proposed by J W Beard seconded A J Mills unanimously carried that the following person constitute the committee and that power be granted them to co-opt

P Andrews
Gardiner J N
Tench A
Southery C as Hon Treasurers
Dennis A
Hasler Wm
Wade w de v
Boyce Serg Major & Perry A as ex-service men
Floyed A
Hasler
Major Welch
Col J M Gibbons
J Stacey
R Turner

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Thursday 25th March 1920 – Proposed War Memorial Committee
This committee reported as under:-

1. That the proposed scheme for a Town Hall and club be abandoned on the grounds that it appears to lack sufficient support both moral & financial having regard to the fact that only 120 houses out of 620 had responded to the appeal.

2. That public notice of this should be given by way of printed bills

3. That this Committee be retained to act & proceed to obtain a sum of at least £1000 for the purpose of erecting a stone memorial to be placed on the Downs near the Doctors Pond or some other suitable suite.

4. That the public also be asked to subscribe towards a fund for the Club.

Proposed by F J Baldry seconded by W G Sell that the report of the Committee be seconded & adopted. Carried.

 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Gt Dunmow 7th July 1921
Reports of Committees – War Memorial Committee

Col J Gibbons Chairman of this Committee gave a brief resume of the proceeding of same and a statement of the finances.

Draft Programme of the unveiling by Lord Byng on the 17th inst was submitted and also of the general poster inviting the inhabitants to attend.

Proposed by A Dennis seconded by L G Savill and unanimously carried that the report be received and adopted.

The Clark was instructed to order a suitable laurel wreath in order that the Chairman may place same at the foot of the memorial on behalf of the inhabitants.

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

From Essex Chronicle, Friday 22 July 1921

Dunmow Memorial Unveiled by Bishop of Chelmsford and Lord Byng
On Sunday the two war memorials to the 84 Dunmow men who fell in the Great War were publicly unveiled in the presence of large gatherings. In the morning the marble tablet in church was unveiled and dedicated by the Bishop of Chelmsford and in the afternoon the public memorial, a stone column erected in High Street, upon the open space at the bottom of New Street was unveiled by General Lord Byng of Vimy who resided for some years at Newton Hall, Dunmow, before removing to Thorpe Hall, Thorpe-le-Soken. The tablet in church, which is of beautiful design, was provided by the relatives of the fallen soldiers, and the public memorial in High Street was provided at a cost of £760 by subscription in the parish. The subscription totalled £1,073 and it was arranged that the balance should go to the Dunmow Social Club which was founded as a war memorial to be of use to the young men of the parish. Col Tom Gibbons D.S.O was chairman of the Dunmow committee with Mr C.S. Suthery (of Barclays Bank) hon tres., and Mr L C Mackenzie hon sec. The public memorial is a handsome triangular Portland stone column upon a circular granite base and upon each side there is carved in relief a cross. Upon the front panel of the monument is inscribed: “Remember the men of this place who died for freedom and honour A.D. 1914-1918”. The names occupy the sides of the column. Mr. Basil Oliver was architect for the memorial. Union Jacks were flying a half-mast over Dunmow, and half muffled peals were rung upon the church bells.

The Church Memorial
The tablet in church which is placed in the south wall near the font is by Mr K Smith of Dunmow Monumental Works. There was a full congregation for the morning service, which was conducted by the Rev. W J House, vicar of Dunmow. The Rev John Evans, vicar of St Mary’s Colchester and formerly vicar of Dunmow, read the opening sentences of the burial service. The Rev B E F Mitchell M.C. curate of Dunmow served as Bishop’s chaplain. The first lesson from Wisdom 3 1-16 was read by Col Tom Gibbons D.S.O who commanded the 5th Essex in Egypt and the second lesson, St John 14 1-16 was read by the Rev R E F Mitchell. Psalms 15 and 121 were chantged. During the singing of the hymn “O valiant hearts” the Bishop and clergy proceeded to the south aisle where the Bishop released the Union Jack covering the tablet, and dedicated the tablet. The hymn “Soldiers who are Christ’s below” was sung during the return to the chancel and the Bishop ascended the pulpit.

The Bishop of Chelmsford said that service would live in their memories when other services were forgotten, because it touched their hearts and souls. The restless world needed re-assuring to-day that Christ was alive. No one who believed in God could be a pessimist, he must be an optimist. Men needed the proper perspective. He had been asked “What have we got out of the war?” and “Was it worth while?” From the point of view of pounds, shillings and pence it was all loss but no nation surely would plunge the world into a gigantic struggle for the sake of getting richer by commerce? All the trade of the world was not worth Dunmow men who had fallen, and there were millions fallen all over the world. We want to war for something higher then financial prosperity – for freedom, liberty, righteousness, justice – the things that counted. And now we had the victory the privilege purchased at so great a loss had to be properly used. Materialism was looming too large in the world. Had it been so in 1914 we should have lost the war. When in 1914 the Kitchener posters announced “Your King and country need you,” the men of Dunmow did not stop to ask if it would pay. The pay was only 1s a day, but the men left their homes without any thought of being paid. The same call was needed in peace as in war. Christ spoke today and said “I am alive; you cannot leave Me out without detriment to the world and yourselves”. The time was coming when Christian men and women would have to confess Him openly. For two thousand years men had been saying “Thy Kingdom come” but they never thought of communication between that prayer and public policy. The Christian would only have one kind of politics – that which would bring in the will of God. They should regard the ballot box with that idea alone. There was much talk in the world about death, but Christ had abolished death, the grave was a corridor into life. If we looked at death from the right point of view we could never be sorry for anyone who had passed beyond the grave. Of course, it was human nature to sorrow, but people should rejoice that their dear ones had gone to the region of growth and development. He believed in the communion of saints, and every Sunday morning when he went out on his work he could not help thinking that his late father was praying. “God bless John” as he did when he was a boy at home. When people got up beyond, they would almost laugh at how much they were worried about small things on earth.

Kipling’s Recessional was sung, and the service concluded with the National Anthem.

The tablet in church bears the following inscription, surrounded by a green laurel wreath, from which hangs a gilded Crusader’s sword, dividing the two columns of names of the fallen. “They whom this tablet commemorates, at the call of King and country left all that was dear to them to endure hardships and face dangers. And then passed out of the sight of men by the path of duty and self-sacrifice giving up their lives that others might life in freedom. Let those who come after see to it that their names be not forgotten.”

The public memorial
Lord and Lady Byng were the guests of Col and Mrs Tom Gibbons at Dunmow, and on walking up to the memorial the General was received by a guard of honour composed of local ex-Service men under Lieut A C Knight, Essex Regt. The 5th Essex Territorials under Lieut Hinton (Braintree) held a hollow square facing the monument and saluted General Bung who inspected both the ex-Service men and the Territorials. The General chatted with all the ex-soldiers, including one who had lost a leg. The children of the Sunday Schools were on the side opposite to the troops and the crowd gathered around. The Dunmow Town Band in Mr Floyd’s garden near the monument accompanied the singing of hymns. Among those present besides Gen and Lady Byng were the Countess of Warwick and the hon Mrs Maynard Greville, the Bishop of Chelmsford, the clergy and ministers, the committee and the Dunmow Parish Council. The service opened with the hymn “For all the Saints”. The Rev W J House, vicar, offered prayer, and the Rev W H Pace B.D (Chelmsford formerly Congregational pastor at Dunmow) read the Scriptures.

The Dunmow Record
Col J M Welch, T.D., D.L. on behalf of the people of Dunmow offered Gen. Lord Byng a hearty welcome to Dunmow and thanked him for his kindness in attending to unveil the memorial. Dumow people knew Lord Byng not only as a great soldier, but also as a former resident and they remembered him as a kind neighbour, for whom they had the greatest respect. (Hear, hear). Out of a population of 2,800 Dunmow contributed 600 men to the fighting forces of the country during the war, and of that number he was glad to say that 418 offered themselves during the early stages of the war, when men were most urgently need, and before any form of compulsory service was introduced. There were 84 Dunmow men who fell in the war. Their names on that monument would serve to remind future generations of the duty nobly done and the sacrifice made, that our people might live in peace and freedom. They would further remind people that they had a duty to perform by their lives and conduct to be worthy of the great sacrifice made. (Hear, hear).

General Lord Byng then released the Union Jack by which the monument was enshrouded. He said they had met to pay a last tribute to the 84 Dunmow men who gave their lives in the great war, and to ensure that those names should be handed down to future generations. He asked the people to remember what the tribute to the fallen should be. They paid lip service by prayers and hymns, but was there not something more to be done in the way of tribute to the men who gave their everything for the nation? Would not the men who had fallen expect that in the future those who remained should try to fulfil what the fallen in the past did so nobly? It was the greatest thing a moral man could do to give his life for his country, yet it was a simple thing to do for it was simply in answering the call of duty that the men lost their lives.

Great and simple
These 84 Dunmow boys did a very grand and a very simple thing, ought not those who had got through the 4½ years of war with their lives to try to carry through what those boys made the sacrifice for – to preserve and continue their country as a prosperous whole? They must not only pay respect to the dead. They must also fulfil the object to attain that for which the boys who had fallen gave up all the blessings of this life. The time was now to consider if the ambition of the boys who gave all to make this country happy and better for the war could not be realised. With those words he would leave the people to consider what was in front of each one to do now and in the future.

The hymn “O God, our help in ages past” was sung, and the Bishop of Chelmsford, having dedicated the memorial said there was a right and a wrong way to re-make England after the war. Those who had served in the war knew that England could not be put right with cannon and rifle, and did not want to see the horrors of war in France and Flanders brought home to the women and children of England. A better way was by service and sacrifice. The war was not won by dividing class from class, but by all classes working together. England must be rebuilt sanely and soundly to be made worthy of the comrades who had gone. The Bishops asked the boys as the passed the memorial to doff their caps to their fathers and brothers who had fallen. God had carried us through the war and He could bring us the peace to our native land, so that all the loss and sacrifice endured should not be in vein.

Col Gibbons read the deed conveying the memorial to the Dunmow Parish Council, and the Chairman, Mr J W Beard, accepted the memorial on behalf of the parish and hoped that peace would remain among all nationalities. Buglers sounded the “Last Post”. The Bishop of Chelmsford pronounced the Benediction, buglers sounded “Reveille” and the proceedings closed with the singing of the National Anthem.

Relatives then placed floral tributes on the monument. Lieut Lockwood, 5th Essex, in uniform, placed a laurel wreath tied with the Essex Regiment colours, black, blue and yellow from the 5th Essex Comrades’ Association; Mr W R Siggers placed a wreath from the Dunmow branch N.A.D.S.S and Mr A B Perry placed a floral tribute from the Dunmow Priory Lodge, R.A.O.B.

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From Essex and Herts Observer

Dunmow
MEMORIAL TABLET.-A memorial service for the members of the congregation who fell in the War was held at the Dunmow Congregational Church on Sunday morning, when a memorial tablet, bearing the names of the men, was unveiled by the Pastor (the Rev. W.H. Pace). The tablet of green marble, has been erected by subscriptions from members. It bears the inscription: “In ever grateful remembrance of Fredierick Attridge, Alfred T. Caton, Walter V. Jakins, Ralph Milbank, Frank L. Pitts, Arthur T. Reed, William G. Saunders, H. Mackenzie Scarfe, Victor Spurgeon, A.Edgard Yeldham, John S. Wackrill, of this congregation, who yielded up life in the Great War, 1914-1918, for our sakes.” The Paster made felling allusion to the occasion, and the choir sang the anthem, “What are these?”. Kipling’s recessional was also sung.

 

 

You may also be interested in
– Memorial Tablet – I died in hell
– Memorial Tablet – I died of starvation
– Memorial Tablet – I died of wounds
– The Willett family of Great Dunmow
– Postcard from the Front – To my dear wife and sonny
– War and Remembrance – The Making of a War Memorial
– Great Dunmow’s Roll of Honour

 

School Trip Friday for the academically challenged
will return next Friday.

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.

Mrs H Spurgeon, The Avenue, Great Dunmow, Essex, England

My dear wife and sonny
Received card this morning, Monday. Please to hear you received order. Thank you very much for it and it is very nice. I have sent you one of the Sherwood Foresters I thought perhaps you would like one. Please to hear you are both quite well. I am also. Have you received my letter about Xmas. We saw the New Year in and enjoyed our selves. Do you remember last year how we all enjoyed our selves. Did you hear from any of them this Xmas. Kindly remember me to them and all of them. Will write later. Wishing you a happy New Year from Harry

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Harry’s younger brother, Lance Corporal Victor Spurgeon, the baby of the Spurgeon family,  of the 11th Battalion of the Essex Regiment died aged 28 in France on 8th October 1918 and is commemorated on the Vis-En-Artois Memorial in Pas de Calais.    The memorial has the names of over 9,000 men who fell in battle from 8 August 1918 to 11 November 1918 who have no known grave.

Victor is commemorated on Great Dunmow’s War Memorial.

Great Dunmow’s War Memorial
Victor’s name is immediately underneath the first join

Their Name Liveth For Evermore

1891 Cenus – High Street, Great Dunmow
Spurgeon, Herbert J, Head, aged 42, born 1849 Stambourne, occupation Corn Factors Assistant
Spurgeon, Ann M, Wife, aged 40, born 1851, Great Dunmow
Spurgeon, Grace A, Daughter, aged 16, born 1875 Warboys, Huntingdonshire
Spurgeon, Kate G, Daughter, aged 14, born 1877 Warboys, occupation Dressmakers Apprentice
Spurgeon, Harry B, Son, aged 12, born 1879 Warboys, occupation Scholar
Spurgeon, Ernest H, Son, aged 10, born 1881 Warboys, occupation Scholar
Spurgeon, Mabel J, Daughter, aged 7, born 1884 Broxted, occupation Scholar
Spurgeon, William G, Son aged 3, born 1888 Great Dunmow
Spurgeon, Victor, Son, aged 0 (9mths), born 1891, Great Dunmow

1901 Census – New Street, Great Dunmow
Spurgeon, Herbt, Head Widower, aged 52, born 1849 Stambourne, occupation Late Coal Agent
Spurgeon, Harry, Son, aged 22, born 1879 Warboys, occupation Printer
Spurgeon, Ernest, Son, aged 20, born 1881 Warboys, occupation Clothier’s Assistant
Spurgeon, Mabel, Daughter, aged 17, born 1884 Broxted, occupation Housekeeper
Spurgeon, Wm, Son, aged 13, born 1888 Great Dunmow, occupation Butcher’s Apprentice
Spurgeon, Victor, Son, aged 11, born 1890 Great Dunmow

1911 census
Household of Herbert Spurgeon is not in the 1911 Census – perhaps he was dead by 1911.

1911 Census – High Street Great Dunmow
Spurgeon, Harry Burton, Head, aged 32, born 1879 Warboys, occupation Printer
Spurgeon, Mary, Wife married 5 years, aged 28, born 1883 Great Dunmow

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You may also be interested in
– Memorial Tablet – I died in hell
– Memorial Tablet – I died of starvation
– Memorial Tablet – I died of wounds
– The Willett family of Great Dunmow
– Postcard from the Front – To my dear wife and sonny
– War and Remembrance – The Making of a War Memorial
– Great Dunmow’s Roll of Honour

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.

If you know the town and shops of Great Dunmow, then you will know of the newsagents, A Willett & Sons, next to The Saracens Head. Even today, the signage and frontage of the shop is old fashioned and harks back to a more distant time in Great Dunmow’s past. Many of the real photo postcards of the high ways and by-ways of Great Dunmow’s Edwardian past have the name ‘Willett Dunmow’ printed on the bottom left corner.

The Edwardian shop of A Willett and Son (on the left) – on the right, the road leads onto Market Hill and then out towards Church-end.  

During the Great War, Arthur Willett often ‘popped’ out of his shop, took a few steps to the junction of the High Street and Market Hill and took photos of soldiers marching through his town.  Below are two photos from his camera – from the serial numbers on the cards and the date of the second card, the first card would have been taken in the Summer of 1914 (note the leaves on the trees and the straw boater hats worn by some of the crowd).

I did wonder if these were the Sherwood Foresters (the Notts & Derby) who are known to have marched into Great Dunmow from Harlow in 1914.  However, from the Notts & Derby’s accounts, the Sherwood Foresters first came through Great Dunmow between  16 t0 18 November 1914 but looking at the trees and straw boater hats, this photo had to have been taken during the Summer months. Update March 2014: I am now convinced that these are the Staffordshire Yeomanry, who had, for some reason, marched from Bishop’s Stortford to Great Dunmow – see the bottom of this page for more detail.

 

The soldiers playing their flutes are turning left and so are about to head down Market Hill, so were probably marching onto St Mary’s Church nearly 1 mile away.  I have not been able to trace whose funeral this is.  There is not a casualty buried in Great Dunmow’s church on the Commonwealth War Grave’s Debt of Honour who would match with the date of death of November 1914.  It could possibly be a Sherwood Forester, as they had marched into Great Dunmow 16-18 November and only left the area on 28 December 1914.  However, whoever it is, they are not on either Great Dunmow’s War Memorial or the Commonwealth War Grave’s Debt of Honour as the dates don’t match any casualty buried in St Mary’s churchyard.

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1916 was a terrible year for the newsagent Arthur Willett and his wife Sarah, for they lost two sons to the Great War.  Arthur Albert Willett, aged 25, of the 6th Battalion Essex Regiment died of wounds in a military hospital on 25 February 1916, and was buried in his parish church, St Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow.  Younger brother, Frank Willett, aged 20, of the 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment was killed in action on the Western Front and died on 23 October 1916.  Frank has has no known grave and so is commemorated on the vast and overwhelming Thiepval Memorial.

Both brothers are commemorated on Great Dunmow’s War Memorial – their inscriptions on the memorial facing down the High Street and towards their father’s shop.

Great Dunmow’s War Memorial with the names of the Willett brothers

Their Name Liveth For Evermore

You may also be interested in
– Memorial Tablet – I died in hell
– Memorial Tablet – I died of starvation
– Memorial Tablet – I died of wounds
– The Willett family of Great Dunmow
– Postcard from the Front – To my dear wife and sonny
– War and Remembrance – The Making of a War Memorial
– Great Dunmow’s Roll of Honour

Updates to this story
Update November 2013: There is an update to the story of Military Funeral postcard here: – War and Remembrance: Military Funeral 1914

Update December 2013: There is another update to the Military Funeral postcard here  1914 Military Funeral – a follow-up

Update March 2014: The 2nd postcard down (Willett’s number 830) has been the subject of much debate between myself and another local historian as to which regiment this was.  I am of the firm believe that it is not the Notts & Derby (the Sherwood Foresters) who arrived in Great Dunmow later on in 1914 (I have a postcard of them parading in the Market in November 1914).  A copy of Willett’s #830 postcard exists with the postmark of August 1914.  That well known auction site a few years ago had a Willett postcard showing troops in Great Dunmow, with the postcard labelled by Willett as being the “Staffs. Yeomanry in Dunmow, Aug 31st, 1914”.  The Staffordshire Yeomanry spent 1914 billeted in Bishop’s Stortford.  I have another postcard from a soldier billeted in Bishop’s Stortford in 1915, possibly a soldier of the Staffordshire Yeomanry (he was writing home to his folks in Staffordshire) about his duties whilst he was billeted in Stortford.  Is my mystery card of soldiers marching through Great Dunmow, the Staffs Yeomanry?  They are certainly coming from the direction of Bishop’s Stortford and are marching in the direction of Church End.  If so, what were the Staffs Yeomanry doing in Great Dunmow when they should have been in Bishop’s Stortford?

 

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.

Transcription of Tudor Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts (1526-7)

1. Item ffor ij scaynys of whyte threde ffor ye copys [Item for 2 skeins of white thread for the copys (corpus?) 2d]	iid
2. Ite[m] for lyne & pakthrede & whepcorde when p[ar]nell [Item for line and pack-thread and whipcord when Parnell]	iiiid
3. made the pagantes our corpuscryti daye [made the pageants our Corpus Christi day 4d]
4. Ite[m] payde ffor hornynge of the cherche <illegible crossing out> lanton [Item paid for horning(?) of the church lantern 8d]	viiid
5. Ite[m] for strekynge of ye Rodelyght [Item for striking of the Rood light 13d]	xiijd
6. Ite[m] for a peys lether ffor bawdryk [Item for a piece leather for bawdrick 8d]	viid
7. Ite[m] for mendynge of lede on the new chapell [Item for mending of lead on the new chapel]	iis
8. & on ye gelde on the same syde [and on the gild on the same side 2s]
9. Ite[m] ffor a li of wex for & strykynge a fore owr [Item for a pound of wax & striking before our]	viid
10. lady in the chawnsell [lady in the chancel 7d]
11. Ite[m] payde to dychynge for carryynge of tymber for ye frame [Item paid to Dychynge for carrying timber for the frame [2s]	iis
12. Ite[m] to Wylye[m] blythe for mendynge of ye glase wyndowes [Item to William Blythe for mending the glass windows]	iis iiijd
13. in the new chapell & in other plasys of the cherche [in the new chapel & in other places in the church]
14. Ite[m] pade to burle for the rest of the gyldy of owr lady [Item paid to Burle for the rest of the gild of our lady 6s 8d]	vjs viijd
15. Ite[m] pade to Robart Sturtons wyfe for wasshynge of [Item paid to Robert Sturton’s wife for washing of]	vjs viiid
16. the cherche gere for iij yere [the church gear for 3 years 6s 8d]
17. Item for the bordynge of hynry bode att doscetor & when [Item for the boarding of Henry Bode at Dowsetter & when]	xijd
18. the bell was a perynge [the bell was repairing 12d]
19. Ite[m] laynge of ij shovylls & a mattoke for ye cherche [Item laying of 2 shovels & a mattock for the church 12d]	xiid
20. Ite[m] for wode when the bell was pesyd [Item for wood when the bell was repaired(?) 12d]	xiid
21. Item payde to the belfowder in rernest of ye bargine [Item paid to the bell-founder in ? of the bargain(?) 3s 4d]	iijs iiijd
22. S[u]m[m]a Alloe lvijs ixd & rend ?? xxviijs ixd [Sum of 52s 9d remainder(?) ?? 28s 9d

Commentary
Line 1-3: Great Dunmow’s Corpus Christi pageant.  See the commentary below.

Line 6:  Bawdrick –  According to Wikipedia, a bawdrick/baldric was a belt worn over one shoulder which was often used to carry a weapon (such as a sword). (Not to be confused with Blackadder’s sidekick, Baldrick!)

Line 7 & 8 and 12 & 13: Mending of the led, gild and glass in the ‘new chapel’.  This must have been a side chapel within the church of St Mary the Virgin.  It does not refer to a separate building, such as the small chapel which existed in the town’s centre.

Line 19: A mattock was a tool used for digging. It had a flat blade set at right angles to the handle.

Line 21: The bell-founder.  This is possibly the same bell-founder in London which the parish of Great Dunmow commissioned to make their bells in the late 1520s.  It is very likely that this is the same bell-foundry in Whitechapel which is still in existence today and cast the magnificent bells for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Bells & the London 2012 Olympic Bell.

Great Dunmow’s Corpus Christi Plays
Lines 1-3 above record the expenditure for ‘lyne & pakthred & whepcorde when P[ar]nell made the pagantes on Corpus Cryti day’.   It has been suggested that this entry in Great Dunmow’s accounts signifies rope scourges and therefore, Great Dunmow’s Corpus Christi plays were Catholic religious set-pieces involving flagellation. (1)  Packthread is very strong thread or twine and whipcord is strong worsted fabric often used for whiplashes. This argument is further enforced by the claim that the P[ar]nell in the churchwarden’s accounts was one John Parnell who was active in 1505 in Ipswich.(2)  This John Parnell of Ipswich was given 33s 4d by that town to find ornaments for their Corpus Christi plays for a period of twelve years.(3)  Ipswich’s Corpus Christi plays must have been a magnificent event because of the amount of money given to John Parnell.  Therefore, if Ipswich’s Parnell was the same person as Great Dunmow’s Parnell, then this connection could be used to support a supposition that the town of Great Dunmow was trying to emulate the more prosperous town of Ipswich.

However, by not just looking at Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts in isolation but also analysing other primary sources from Great Dunmow, it can be established that a Robert Parnell was a Tudor resident of Great Dunmow. Whilst he is not listed in any of the parish collections itemised in the churchwardens’ accounts, he is listed in the Great Dunmow’s 1524-5 Lay Subsidy returns.(4)  Moreover, a Roberd Parnell is also detailed in John Bermyshe’s 1526 will as living in one of Bermyshe’s houses in Great Dunmow.(5)  Robert Parnell was a resident of Great Dunmow.  Therefore, the evidence suggests that Ipswich’s Parnell was not the same Parnell who supplied rope for Great Dunmow’s pageant.  Moreover, as the rope was for ‘pagantes’, it is probable the rope was used to support the pageant’s scenery, and not used as rope-scourges.

Detail of a miniature of a bishop carrying a monstrance in a
Corpus Christi procession under an canopy carried by four clerics
The Lovell Lectionary. Harley 7026, f13 (England, c1400-c1410),
© British Library Board

Detail of a miniature of Corpus Christi, with two kneeling angels holding a chalice with the host above.  The Gospel Lectionary, Shelfmark Royal 2 B XIII f. 22 (England, c1508),
© British Library Board

Detail of a historiated initial ‘C'(orpus) of ciborium carried in a Corpus Christi procession.
The Omne Bonum, Shelfmark Royal 6 E VI f.427v (England, c1360-c1375),
© British Library Board

Footnotes
1) Clifford Davidson, Festivals and plays in late medieval Britain (Aldershot, 2007) p55.
2) Ibid.
3) John Wodderspoon, Memorials of the ancient town of Ipswich in the county of Suffolk (1850) p170.
4) Hundred of Dunmow: Calendar of Lay Subsidy Rolls (1523-4), E.R.O., T/A427/1/1.
5) Will of John Bermyshe (1527), E.R.O., D/ABW/3/9.

Notes about Great Dunmow’s churchwarden accounts
Great Dunmow’s original churchwardens’ accounts (1526-1621) are kept in Essex Record Office (E.R.O.), Chelmsford, Essex, D/P 11/5/1.  All digital images of the accounts within this blog appear by courtesy of Essex Record Office and may not be reproduced. Examining these records from this Essex parish gives the modern reader a remarkable view  into the lives and times of some of Henry VIII’s subjects and provides an interpretation into the local history of Tudor Great Dunmow.

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This blog
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You may also be interested in the following
– Index to each folio in Great Dunmow’s churchwardens’ accounts
– Great Dunmow’s Churchwardens’ accounts: transcripts 1526-1621
– Tudor local history
– Pre-Reformation Catholic Ritual Year

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.

Saturday 14 July 2012 was the date of the latest Dunmow Flitch: the ancient English tradition of couples proving their mutual love for each other in a court of law and thus winning (or losing) a side of bacon.  My previous post, The Dunmow Flitch: bringing home the bacon, gives the background to the Flitch trials and has images of The Dunmow Flitch’s past: from the fourteenth century (during the days of William Langland’s Piers Plowman and Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales) to the nineteenth and twentieth century.  Today’s post contains images of yesterday’s Flitch Trials: a very modern twenty-first century celebration of this ancient custom.

Five couples each were separately tried by a court comprising of a judge, barristers (two for The Claimants and two for The Pig/Bacon) and a jury of six maidens and six bachelors. One trial was in the morning, two in the afternoon, and a further two in the evening.  My images are of the two couples on trial for their marriage during the evening’s proceedings.

In the town before the evening’s trials

 After the trial, any successful claimants of the Flitch have to kneel ‘on pointed stones’ and swear the Flitch Oath. This van acted as the platform to hold the Judge, Court Chaplain and the successful Claimants so that they could kneel on ‘pointed stones’ and swear the Flitch Oath in full view of the watching town.

 

Shortly after 6:30pm, sturdy yeoman of the town carried the Flitch of Bacon and the empty Flitch chairs to the court-house in  Talberds Ley.  Successful Claimants are carried on these chairs back through the town after the trial.

 

Carrying the Flitch and empty chairs through the town before the trial.

The Flitch of Bacon.

The brand new Flitch Chair.  The chair was hand made by a 21 year-old student of Leeds College of Art.  He was a former pupil of the Helena Romanes school on Great Dunmow’s Parsonage Down.

The original Flitch chair is kept in the parish church in Little Dunmow and brought out for the Dunmow Flitch.

Members of the Court. In the front, the Court Usher and the Clerk of the Court; followed by the four barristers (including BBC Essex’s Dave Monk).  At the back, the Court Chaplain, the Reverend Canon David Ainge (the current vicar of Great Dunmow’s St Mary’s church).

Reverend Canon David Ainge, the vicar of Great Dunmow, latest in a long line of distinguished vicars of Great Dunmow; followed by the Judge, Michael R Chapman.

In the court-room

The Court Usher, the Judge and the Court Chaplain before the trial.

The swearing in of the jury: 6 maidens and 6 bachelors.

The swearing in of the first of the evening’s Flitch Claimants.

The shenanigans of the barristers: two are for the Claimants and the other two are for the Pig.  The Claimants have to prove that they have never ‘wished themselves unwed’ and are happily married.  The barristers for the Pig have to prove that they are not happily married and the Claimants are unworthy of winning the Pig.  (It’s all very light-hearted and funny – nothing too serious at all.)

The verdict from the jury for the first of the evening’s couples: they successfully fought their case!

The swearing in of the second couple.

Dave Monk vigorously defending the Pig.

Dave Monk taking extreme umbrage at comments the Judge made about his wife.

The verdict from the jury for the second of the evening’s couples: they also successfully fought their case!

The procession through the town to the location of Great Dunmow’s ancient market

Shortly before 10pm the Court moved in procession from the Court’s location in Talberds Ley, up through Stortford Road and then down into Market Street.

Great Dunmow’s Town Crier and Mayor.

Carrying the winners of the Flitch aloft.

The first couple kneeling on pointed stones whilst listening to the Flitch Oath and Sentence.

The second couple kneeling on pointed stones whilst listening to the Flitch Oath and Sentence.

The end of the day’s proceedings.

The Flitch Oath
You shall swear by the Custom of our Confession
That you never made any 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 again
Or in a Twelvemonth and a day.
Repented not in thought any way
But continued true and in Desire
As when you joined Hands in holy Quire

The Sentence
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.

[This last line is normally said to great rousing cheers from the watching audience and the yeomen throwing their  caps in the air.]

If you liked this post, you may also like this
– The Dunmow Flitch: bringing home the bacon
– Thomas Bowyer, weaver and martyr of Great Dunmow d.1556

Copyright notice
This article is © Essex Voices Past 2012. Unless otherwise indicated, the images on this post are also © Essex Voices Past 2012.

This Saturday, 14 July 2012, heralds the much awaited ancient custom of The Dunmow Flitch whereby couples from all over Britain (and, in recent years, the world) come to Dunmow to persuade a formal court that they have not wished themselves unwed for a year and day.  If they win the court case, and persuade the judge and jury of their love for each other, then they win a ‘flitch of bacon’ (a large side of cured pig).  This court is very formal with a judge, jury and barristers: one barrister defends the Pig, and the other is for the couple.  Any couple who wins the Flitch is said to be ‘bringing home the bacon’ and is carried aloft on the ancient Dunmow Flitch chair by ‘yeomans’ in a parade through the streets of the town .  Once the parade arrives in the market place, the winners of the Flitch have to kneel on pointed stones and say The Oath.

The Flitch Oath
You shall swear by the Custom of our Confession
That you never made any 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 again
Or in a Twelvemonth and a day.
Repented not in thought any way
But continued true and in Desire
As when you joined Hands in holy Quire

The Sentence
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.

[This last line is normally said to great rousing cheers from the watching audience.]

If you are in the area of North Essex, I do recommend watching one of these very funny and witty trials.  Sadly, this year’s trials will be without the lovely agony aunt Claire Rayner, who died in 2010.  She was always tremendous fun at the Trials and gave a wonderful performance to the audience.  It was fitting that during the last Dunmow Flitch in 2008, she and her husband took ‘home the bacon’ as they successfully fought their case that they hadn’t argued for a year and a day.  She will be much missed at this year’s Trials.

The ‘custom of the flitch’ appears to have started in the twelfth or thirteenth century by the prior of the priory at Little Dunmow – although no evidence has survived to verify this. The first recorded mention of the Flitch is by William Langland in his 1362 ‘The Vision of Piers Plowman’ and his contemporary, Geoffrey Chaucer in his ‘Canterbury Tales’.  Both of these authors, writing in the fourteenth century, use words that imply that this custom was, at the time of their writings, well known.

In ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale’, Chaucer said

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

‘The Wife of Bath’ from Caxton’s second edition of The Canterbury Tales,
(circa last half fifteenth century) shelfmark G. 11586, fol. b5 v, © British Library Board.

In ‘The Vision of Piers Plowman’ Langland wrote

Though they go
to Dunmow,
they never fetch
the Flitch.

William Langland, Piers Plowman (England, 1st half of the 15th century)
shelfmark Harley 2376 f.1, © British Library Board.

Confusingly, there are two places next to each other in Essex called Dunmow:  Great Dunmow and Little Dunmow.  During the  medieval and Tudor period, Little Dunmow was normally styled as ‘Dunmow Parva ’ and Great Dunmow was ‘Muche Dunmow’.  It was within Dunmow Parva that there was Austin priory which, according the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535, had the net value of £150 3s 4d.  The priory was dissolved in 1536 under the Act for the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries.  However, before it was dissolved, there is recorded instances of the Dunmow Flitch taking place at the Priory in 1445 and 1510.

During the eighteen century, the ancient custom of The Flitch was moved from the village of Little Dunmow to the nearby town of Great Dunmow where it is now held every four years.

British Pathé film archive
The Pathé film archive has some interesting silent film-reels of the Dunmow Flitches held in the 1920s at Ilford: 1920s Dunmow Flitch

Postcards and magazine articles

 

A Note on the Flitch Trials held between 1890-1906, and 1912-1913
Between the years 1890 to 1906, and 1912 to 1913, the Dunmow Flitch was held every year within the town and the events of the day reported in newspapers such as Essex County Chronicle, Essex Standard, Essex County Standard, Pall Mall Gazette, and The Sketch.  From these newspapers, the author Francis W Steer of the Essex Record Office in his book The History of the Dunmow Flitch Ceremony drew up a list of all those that took part in the Trials.  This list includes those that claimed the Flitch, members of the jury (young men and women of the area all under 18), barristers and judges.  The judge, barristers, and jury were all chiefly from Great Dunmow and its surrounding villages.

Sadly, these lists contain the names of sons, brothers, lovers, and husbands of many who marched away to war in 1914 never to return to home.  One such person was my grandfather’s cousin, Harold James Nelson Kemp, son of the James and Alice Kemp, first of the White Horse, then of the Royal Oak.  On the 1st August 1904 Harold was one of the young jurymen for the Flitch Trials held in a meadow near the Causeway in Great Dunmow.  On 28 May 1916, he was killed in action in German East Africa (now Zambia). His brother, Gordon Parnall Kemp, was killed in action the following year in the mud and gore of Passchendaele (the 3rd Battle of Ypres).

Mr J N Kemp of the Golden Lion, The Conge, Great Yarmouth for many years resident in Dunmow has received information from the British South Africa Co that his son Harold has been killed in action with the Northern Rhodesian Force.  Harold was educated at the Dunmow Church Schools.  He started in life with the late Mr F J Snelland at his death continued with Mr Gifford, under whose instructions he became very proficient and acting on Mr Gifford’s advice obtained a situation in the Council offices at Sidcup where his instructions stood him in good steed.  From there he joined the R.S.A. Police and became the manager of the Police Review.  When he had served his time he obtained a good situation with Messrs. Arnold and Co of Salisbury and London.  On the outbreak of the war he volunteered for active service and now, alas, his end.  He was a member of the Dunmow church choir from his school days up to the time of his leaving Dunmow and he will be remembered as singing solo in the old church the Sunday before his departure for South Africa.
                                                                          From Essex Chronicle 9 June 1916

Mr J N Kemp for many years a resident at Dunmow and now of Yarmouth has received the sad news that his second son, Gordon, has been killed in action in France.
                                                                 From Essex Chronicle 19 October 1917

 

 

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Copyright notice
This article is © Essex Voices Past 2012. Unless otherwise indicated, the images on this post are also © Essex Voices Past 2012.