You shall swear by Custom of Confession That you ne'er made Nuptial Transgression; Nor since you were married Man and Wife, By Household Brawls or Contentious Strife, Or otherwise in Bed or att board, Offended each other in deed or word; Or in a Twelve month time and a Day, Repented not in Thought any way; Or since the Church clerk said Amen, Wish'd yourselves unmarried again, But continued true, and in desire, As when you join'd hand in holy Choire. And immediately thereupon ye said John Reynolds and Ann, claiming the said Bacon, the Court pronounced sentence for the same in these words or to the effect following, viz.-- Since to these Conditions without any fear, Of your own accords you do truly swear; A whole Gammon of Bacon you do receive, And bear it away with love and good leave; For this is the Custom at Dunmow well known. Tho' the Pleasure be ours, the Bacon's your own. And accordingly a Gammon of Bacon with the usual solemnity was delivered unto John Reynolds and Ann his wife. The interesting entry follows-- "N.B.--All the above mentioned Homage and Mrs. Ann Reynolds are still living." CHAPTER VII --And Bachelors The Dunmow Bacon ceremony is discussed in the _Spectator_ of October 15, 1714, and in the succeeding number, the writer concluding-- I hope your readers are satisfied of this truth, that as love generally produces matrimony, so it often happens that matrimony produces love. Thirty-seven years later there is a record of the giving of the Bacon by the Lord of the Manor, the recipients being Thomas Shakeshaft, of the parish of Weathersfield, Essex, weaver, and Ann his wife. They figure in the _Everyday Book_ illustration. The "Hommage" on this occasion consisted of Bachelors as well as Spinsters-- HOMMAGE. William Townsend, Gent. Mary Cater, Spinster. John Strutt, the younger, Gent. Martha Wickford, Spinster James Raymond, the younger, Gent. Elizabeth Smith, Spinster. Daniel Heckford, Gent. Catherine Brett, Spinster. Robert Mapletoft, Gent. Eliza Hazlefoot, Spinster. Richard Birch, Gent. Sarah Mapletoft, Spinster. At this ceremony--it is reported in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ and the _London Magazine_ of the year--some five thousand persons were present. The weaver Shakeshaft and his wife are said to have made a good deal of money by selling slices of their gammon. Photographs of prints of scenes at the Shakeshaft presentation--one from a painting by David Ogbourne, a local artist*--are now reproduced. * _See Essex Review_, vol. viii. It is as well the pictorial records were made, for this ceremony of 1751 is regarded as "the last legitimate instance" of the presentation of the Bacon. An old copperplate from Ogbourne's painting has recently been acquired by Mr. Hastings Worrin. By the kindness of Mr. de Vins Wade we are able to furnish photographs of the receipts given by the Reynoldses and the Shakeshafts for their Bacon.