Flitch of bacon custom had not actually seen one another for over a year since their marriage. As well as to married couples, a flitch of bacon was also given at Whichnoure to men in the religious profession one year and a day following their retirement. A rather better-known example of the awarding of a flitch of bacon to married couples occurred at Little Dunmow Priory in Essex. It is generally held to have been instituted by the family of Robert Fitzwalter in the 13th century. According to Rev. W. W. Skeat in his notes to the fourteenth-century "The Vision of William Concerning Piers
Flitch of bacon custom first couple to claim, according to this account, were at first successful, but then had the flitch taken away from them after they began to argue about how it should be dressed. Another couple failed when the husband, who had only reluctantly attended, had his ears boxed by his wife during the questioning. A couple who applied after only their honeymoon had finished passed the questioning but since insufficient time had elapsed were awarded just one rasher. One of only two couples to be successful in the first century of the tradition was a ship's captain and his wife who