Flitch of bacon custom a succession of women in an attempt to find the right one. The description of the ceremony in the book is partly based on the art of David Ogborne, an eyewitness to the last ceremony in 1751. "The Flitch of Bacon" public house, of which the protagonist of Ainsworth's novel is the publican, still exists in Little Dunmow. "The Flitch of Bacon" is a comic opera from 1779 by William Shield and Sir Henry Bate Dudley. "Made in Heaven" is a 1952 film starring David Tomlinson and Petula Clark about a married couple attempting to win the Dunmow flitch. "Dunmow
Flitch of bacon custom by John and Susan Gilder. The couple had given due notice of their claim and were accompanied by a large crowd of onlookers. However, the lord of the manor had ordered that the ceremony should not take place, and the gates of the Priory were nailed shut to prevent it. By 1809 the tradition was definitely abolished. A further attempt to claim the flitch was made in 1832 by Josiah Vine, a retired cheesemaker, who travelled with his wife from Reading to make his claim. He too was refused a trial by a very unsympathetic Steward of Little Dunmow. "John