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 have been more that are unknown (among the possible ones there are Montagu Burgoyne and his wife Elizabeth). Three are known prior to the dissolution of the monasteries from the records of the house of Sir Richard St George, and a further three awards are known from the records of the manor court at Dunmow now in the British Museum. There was a long gap after the dissolution, but the tradition was revived by Sir Thomas May in 1701 when he became the owner of the Priory. There was an attempt made to claim the flitch on 12 June 1772