then the Steward fhall cause these two Neighbours to fwear, if the faid Demandant be a wedded Man, or have been a Man wedded; and if fince his Marriage one Year and a Day be paft; and if he be a Freeman, or a Villain. And if his faid Neighbours make Oath, that he hath for him all these three Points rehearsed; then shall the Bacon be taken down and brought to the Hall-Door, and fhall there be laid upon one half Quarter of Wheat, and upon one other of Rye. And he that demandeth the Bacon fhall kneel upon his Knee, and fhall hold his Right Hand upon a Book, which Book fhall be laid upon the Bacon and the Corn, and fhall make Oath in this

manner.

HERE ye, Sir Philip de Somervile, Lord of Whiche noure, mayntener and gyver of this Baconne: That I A fithe I wedded B my Wife, and fithe I had hyr in my kepying, and at my Wylle, by a Year and a Day after our Marriage, I would not have chaunged ⚫ for none other; farer, ne fowler; richer, ne pourer; ne for none other defcended of greater Lynage; flepying ne waking, at noo tyme. And if the feyd B were fole and I fole, I would take her to be my Wife before all the Wymen of the Worlde, of what condiciones foever they be good or evylle, as help me God ond his Seyntes, and this Flefh and all Fleshes.

AND his Neighbours fhall make Oath, that they truft verily he hath faid truly. And if it be found by his Neighbours before-named, that he be a Freeman, there fhall be delivered to him half a Quarter of Wheat and a Cheese; and if he be a Villain, he fhall have half a Quarter of Rye without Cheese. And then fhall Knightleye, the Lord of Rudlow, be called for, to carry all thefe Things tofore rehearfed; and the faid Corn fhall be laid on one Horfe and the Bacon above it: and he to whom the Bacon appertaineth fhall afcend upon his Horfe, and fhall take the Cheese before him, if he have a Horse. And if he have none, the Lord of Whichenovre fhall caufe him to have one Horfe and Saddle, to fuch time as he be paffed his Lordship: and fo fhall they depart the Manor of Whichenovre with the Corn and the Bacon, tofore him that hath won it, with Trumpets, Ta

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bourets

bourets, and other manner of Minftrelfie. And all the Free Tenants of Whichenovre fhall conduct him to be paffed the Lordship of Whichenovre. And then shall they all return; except him, to whom appertaineth to make the Carriage and Journey without the County of Stafford, at the Cofts of his Lord of Whichenovre,

N° 608. Monday, October 18.

Perjuria ridet Amantum.

Mr. SPECTATOR,

A

G

Ovid.

CCORDING to my Promise, I herewith tranfmit to you a Lift of feveral Perfons, who from time to time demanded the Flitch of Bacon of Sir Philip de Somervile, and his Defcendants; as it is preferved in an ancient Manuscript under the Title of The Regifter of Whichenovre Hall, and of the "Bacon Flitch there maintained.

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6

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or

IN the Beginning of this Record is recited the Law Inftitution in Form, as it is already printed in your laft Paper: To which are added two By-Laws, as a Comment upon the General Law, the Substance whereof is, that the Wife fhall take the fame Oath as the • Husband, mutatis mutandis; and that the Judges fhall, as they think meet, interrogate or cross-examine the • Witneffes. After this proceeds the Register in Manner following.

AUBRY de Falstaff, Son of Sir John Falstaff, Kt. with Dame Maude his Wife, were the first that demanded the Bacon, he having bribed twain of his Father's Companions to fawear falfly in his behoof, whereby he gained the Flitch: But he and his faid Wife falling immediately into a Difpute how the said Bacon fhould be

dreed,

dreffed, it was by Order of the Judges taken from him, and hung up again in the Hall.

ALISON the Wife of Stephen Freckle, brought her faid Husband along with her, and fet forth the good • Conditions and Behaviour of her Confort, adding withal that he doubted not but he was ready to atteft the like of her, his Wife; whereupon be, the faid Stephen, faking his Head, he turned short upon him, • and gave him a Box on the Ear.

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'PHILIP de Waverland, having laid his Hand upon the Book, when the Claufe, Were I fole and fhe fole, was rehearfed, found a fecret Compunction rifing in his Mind, and fole it off again.

a very

RICHARD de Loveless, who was a Courtier, and well-bred Man, being obferved to befitate at the Words after our Marriage, was thereupon required to "explain himself. He reply'd, by talking very largely of his exact Complaifance while he was a Lover;. and alledg'd, that he had not in the leaft difobliged his Wife for a Year and a Day before Marriage, •which he hoped was the fame Thing:

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Rejected.

JOCELINE Jolly Efq; making it appear by un questionable Teftimony, That he and his Wife had preferved full and entire affection for the Space of the first Month, commonly called the Honey-Moon; he had in Confideration thereof one Rafher beftowed upon him..

AFTER this, fays the Record, many Years paf• fed over before any Demandant appeared at Whichenovre Hall; infomuch that one would have thought that the whole Country were turned Jews, fo little & was their Affection to the Flitch of Bacon.

THE next Couple enrolled had like to have carried it, if one of the Witneffes had not depofed, That dining on a Sunday with the Demandant, whofe Wife had fat below the Squire's Lady at Church, fhe the faid Wife dropped fome Expreffions, as if the thought. her Husband deferved to be knighted; to which he returned a paffionate Pif! The Judges taking the Premifes into Confideration, declared the aforefaid

6. Бе

Behaviour to imply an unwarrantable Ambition in the Wife, and Anger in the Husband.

IT is recorded as a fufficient Difqualification of a certain Wife, that speaking of her Husband, fhe faid, God forgive him.

IT is likewife remarkable, that a Couple were rejected upon the Depofition of one of their Neigh'bours, that the Lady had once told her Husband, that it was her Duty to obey; to which he replied, Oh! my Dear, you are never in the wrong.

THE violent Paffion of one Lady for her LapDog; the turning away of the old House-Maid by another; a Tavern-Bill torn by the Wife, and a Tailor's by the Husband; a Quarrel about the KiffingCruft; fpoiling of Dinners, and coming in late of Nights; are fo many feveral Articles which occafioned the Reprobation of fome Scores of Demandants, whose Names are recorded in the aforesaid Register.

WITHOUT enumerating other particular Per fons, I fhall content my felf with obferving, that the • Sentence pronounced against one Gervafe Poacher is, that he might have had Bacon to his Eggs, if he had not heretofore fcolded his Wife when they were over boiled. And the Depofition against Dorothy Doolittle runs in thefe Words; That he had fo far ufurped the • Dominion of the Coalfire, (the Stirring whereof her • Husband claimed to himself) that by her good Will he never would fuffer the Poker out of her Hand.

I find but two Couples, in this first Century, that were successful: The firft was a Sea-Captain and his Wife, who fince the Day of their Marriage had not ⚫ feen one another till the Day of the Claim. The Se⚫cond was an honeft Pair in the Neighbourhood; The • Husband was a Man of plain good Senfe, and a peaceable Temper; the Woman was dumb.

Wednesday,

Wednesday, October 20.

Farrago libelli.

Mr. SPECTATOR,

I

Juv.

Have for fome time defired to appear in your Pa per, and have therefore chofen a Day to steal into the SPECTATOR, when I take it for granted you will not have many fpare Minutes for Speculations of your own. As I was the other Day walking with an honeft Country-Gentleman, he very often was expreffing his Aftonishment to fee the Town fo mightily crouded with Doctors of Divinity: Upon which I told him he was very much mistaken if he took all thofe Gentlemen he faw in Scarfs to be Perfons of that Dignity; for, that a young Divine, after his firft Degree in the Univerfity, ufually comes hither only to how himself; and, on that Occafion, is apt to think he is but half equipp'd with a Gown and Caffock for his publick Appearance, if he hath not the additional. Ornament of a Scarf of the firft Magnitude to intitle him to the Appellation of Doctor from his Landlady, and the Boy at Child's. Now fince I know that this. Piece of Garniture is looked upon as a Mark of Vanity or Affectation, as it is made ufe of among fome of the little fpruce Adventurers of the Town, I fhould be glad if you would give it a Place among thofe Ex4. travagancies you have juftly expofed in feveral of your Papers: being very well affured that the main Body of the Clergy,, both in the Country and the Univerfities, who are almoft to a Man untainted with it, would be very well pleafed to fee this venerable Foppery well expofed. When my Patron did me the Honour to take me into his Family (for I must own my felf of this Order) he was pleafed to fay he took me