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Pip Wilson

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The prisoner: I don't think there is much proof they did die the death.

His Honour: In your case the law will be carried out by its officers. The gentlemen of the jury have done their duty, and my duty will be to forward to the proper quarter the notes of your trial, and to lay before the Executive all the circumstances connected with your trial that may be required. I can hold out to you no hope, and I do not see that I can entertain the slightest reason for saying that you can expect anything. I desire to spare you any more pain, and I absolve myself from saying anything willingly in any of my utterances that may have unnecessarily increased the agitation of your mind. I have now to pronounce your sentence.
Judge Sir Redmond Barry, born on June 7, 1813, sums up in the trial of Australian bushranger, Ned Kelly   Source

... the fact that she dressed well and talked rather more freely and wittily than a young girl should, up to a point justified the suspicion against her. She was remanded, and afterwards acquitted, with a warning from the Pontifex Maximus, in the name of the college of priests, to stop making jokes and to dress in future with more regard to sanctity and less to elegance.
Livy, Roman historian; History of Rome, referring to Postumia, a Vestal Virgin who was put on trial for a sexual offence she had not committed

As freely as St Robert gave his cow.
English traditional expression [Presumably it refers to this English St Robert]

If people want to think I get drunk and stay out all night, let 'em. That's how I got here, you know.
Dean Martin, American actor, born on June 7, 1917

I've got seven kids. The three words you hear most around my house are "hello", "goodbye", and "I'm pregnant".
Dean Martin

I know it's the gentlemanly thing to let the wife file. But, then, everybody knows I'm no gentleman.
Dean Martin

I drink because my body craves, needs alcohol. I don't drink, my body's a drunk.
Dean Martin

People ask me if Dean drinks any more. I'll tell you this: He doesn't drink any less.
Dom DeLuise on Dean Martin

June 7 is the 158^th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (159^th in leap years), with 207 days remaining.
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The Dunmow Flitch

Ancient custom of marital bliss

This quaint ancient ceremony is an annual event in Little Dunmow, Essex, England. The custom died out in 1772 but has been revived at various times.

A married couple would present themselves to town authorities for the trials; if they could prove that they had lived for twelve months without ever wishing, either awake or asleep, that they weren't married, they would receive a gammon or flitch of bacon – half a pig, also known as a side of bacon. Or, as the British clergyman and antiquary, John Brand (1744 - 1806), put it in his classic Observations on the popular antiquities of Great Britain: Including the Whole of Mr. Bourne's 'Antiquitates Vulgares' (1777):

A custom formerly prevailed, and has indeed been recently observed at Dunmow, in Essex of giving a flitch of bacon to any married couple who would swear that neither of them, in a year and a day, either sleeping or waking, repented of their marriage.

The actual words of the ancient rite, performed before a 'judge' in a mock court and a 'jury' of maidens and bachelors, require that in "twelvemonth and a day" both spouses have "not wish't themselves unmarried again".

The full pledge went:

You shall swear by custom of confession,
If ever you made nuptial trangresssion,
Be you either married man or wife,
If you have brawls or contentious strife
Or otherwise, at bed or at board,
Offended each other in deed or word:
Or, since the parish-clerk said Amen,
You wish't yourselves unmarried agen,
Or in a twelvemonth and a day,
Repented not in thought any way,
But continued true in thought and desire
As when you join'd hands in the quire.
If to these conditions, without all feare,
Of your own accord you will freely swear,
A whole gammon of bacon you shall receive,
And bear it hence with love and good leave;
For this is our custom at Dunmow well knowne,
Though the pleasure be ours, the bacon's your own.

The parties were to make their oath before the Prior and Convent and the whole town, humbly kneeling in the churchyard upon two hard, pointed stones. The ancient oath is still sworn today:

We do swear by custom of confession
That we ne'er made nuptial transgression,
Not since we were married man and wife,
By household brawles or contentious strife,
Or otherwise in bed or a boarde,
Offended each other in deed or in word,
Or in a twelve months and a day
Repented not in thought in any way.
Or since the church clerke said Amen
Wish't yourselves unmarried agen,
But continue true and in desire,
As when you joyn'd hands in Holy Quire.

The successful husband was called the 'pilgrim', and with his wife was lifted up in a chair on men's shoulders, and carried about the churchyard and through the village, with the bacon carried in procession before him, attended by the parishioners and other spectators who followed flitch and spouses with great carousing and noise. Still today, the old carved oak chair in which the successful couple were lifted remains, preserved in the priory church.

When did it begin?

Literary references to 'The Dunmow Trials' go back to medieval times and were first recorded in 1340 by Chaucer in 'The Wife of Bath' in his Canterbury Tales. The poem of 'Piers Plowman', half a century before Chaucer, mentions the custom in a manner that implies a general knowledge of it among his readers.

The custom might be much older, as it has been said that it started with the Lord of the Manor of Little Dunmow, Robert Fitzwalter, a favourite of King John, December 24, 1166/67 - October 18/19, 1216 (Knowlson¹ says it was his successor, Henry III). It is said that Robert (or Reginald, depending on source) Fitzwalter and his wife dressed themselves as humble folk and went to the priory to ask the blessing of the prior a year after their marriage. Their devotion so impressed the prior that he gave them a flitch of bacon. The Fitzwalters then revealed their identity and Bob/Reggie gave his lands to the priory on one small condition: a side of bacon must be given in perpetuity to any couple who could claim they were similarly devoted. It's a nice tale, but we have no evidence of its authenticity ...

It’s uncertain on which day it was always held, but we know that in 1701 it was held on June 7 (this source gave June 12). www.dunmowflitchtrials.co.uk/ shows varying dates.

Read on at the Dunmow Flitch page at the Scriptorium

Feast day of Vestalia (penus vestae), Roman Empire (Jun 7 - 15)

The day of Vesta Aperit – the opening of the Temple of Vesta (pictured) in Rome, and a women's feast of the six Vestal Virgins. Only women were allowed in this temple which was shaped like the huts of early Rome. Letting the fire die out was a serious offence, and punished by execution. The fire was rekindled in this case by "the rays of the sun". The exact method is unclear.

The Virgins today drew holy water from a sacred spring and gathered grain to prepare holy cakes, the salty 'mola salsa', which were offered with prayers and hymns. Libations of wine were drunk and poured on the ground and altars. Donkeys, the familiar creature of the goddess, were garlanded with wreaths and cakes, as a blessing to millers and bakers.

"The college of the Vestals consisted of six (in very late times of seven) priestesses, among whom there were probably always some who were still children. At the time of their admission into the college the Vestals were never younger than six, nor older than ten years of age. The pontifex maximus appointed them subject to the consent of their parents: they were compelled to endure for thirty years the strict convent life of the Atrium Vestae, to perform the wearisome service of guarding the sacred fire and fetching the holy water from the spring of the Camenae outside the Porta Capena (on the Via Appia), and to carry out oftentimes extremely complicated ritualistic acts in connection with many sacrifices and ceremonies. The penalties for the neglect of duty were very heavy: a Vestal who permitted the sacred fire to go out was beaten with rods by the pontifex maximus; if she had offended against the command of chastity, she was buried alive in the campus sceleratus near the Porta Collina (not far from the northern corner of the Ministry of Finance in the Via Venti Steembre). The service was so severe that in the course of time it became steadily more difficult to find the necessary candidates for the six positions – or more properly speaking, parents who offered their children for the task. The conditions of eligibility were accordingly made more and more easy: for example in the old days it is probable that only the daughters of patricians were allowed to serve Vesta, but in later times maidens from plebeian families were admitted, and finally under Augustus even the daughters of freedmen were declared eligible. At their reception they often received from the emperor a very considerable dowry: for example even the frugal Tiberius gave the Vestal Cornelia two million sesterces (500,000 fr.). The Vestals were not, like all other women, under the tutelage of the head of the family; instead they were allowed to govern their own property independently, to give testimony in court without the customary oath, etc.; their recommendation had great weight in the civil as well as in the military career; if they accidentally met a criminal being conveyed to his punishment, he was immediately pardoned; they had places of honour at the public games; when they went out into the city they were preceded by a lictor, before whom even the Consul gave way; they enjoyed the privilege, otherwise confined to the empresses, of driving inside the city limits; any injury to their person was punishable by death. –In spite of all this, it was extremely difficult in later times, as the church fathers are fond of telling us, to find the few maidens necessary for the service of Vesta, while the Christian cloisters were filled with consecrated virgins. In A.D. 382, Gratianus appropriated the property of the Vestals; the house was then used as a residence first for the imperial and later for the papal officials. After the eleventh century it was abandoned."
Christian Hülsen, The Roman Forum – Its History and Its Monuments; XXXIII. 'The House of the Vestals', Ermanno Loescher & Co, Publishers to H. M. the Queen of Italy, 1906

 

Temple of Vesta and house of the Vestals

"The House of the Vestal Virgins, (Atrium Vestae), was the residence of the Vestal Virgins, the high priestesses of the cult of Vesta. The cult of Vesta is very ancient, and the Vestal Virgins had their residence in the same location from the 6th century BCE to the end of the 4th century CE. It is located on the Forum Romanum, just behind the Temple of Vesta, between the Regia and the Palatine Hill.

"The oldest building on the area was much smaller than the present ruins. It was aligned on a E.-W. axis and formed a single complex with the Temple of Vesta, the Regia and the Domus Publica, which encompassed all the religious duties of the king and his family. It is likely that the wife and daughters of the king administered the cult of Vesta in this period. When the king was expelled from Rome a group of young patrician women were appointed to the cult of Vesta.

"The first known house of the vestals was a simple building at the foot of the Palatine Hill. It was within an enclosure that also included the Temple of Vesta, and it consisted of front room in the full width of the house on the N. side towards the temple, and six separate rooms in the back. It is tempting to assume that the rooms are for the six vestals, and hence the house is from after the expulsion of the king."   Source

Claudia Quinta, a vestal virgin, and the goddess Cybele, in the Book of Days

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Rusalka Week begins, Bulgaria In Slavic mythology, a rusalka (plural: rusalki) was a female ghost, water nymph, succubus or mermaid-like demon that dwelled in a waterway (see also Sacred Wells and Springs). To the Bulgarians, the week following Trinity (June 6 in 2004 – see Easter calculator) was Rusalka Nedela or Rusalka Week. The Rusalki arrived on Monday, bringing with them Rusalka Sickness, apparently a kind of lovesickness. Spinning and weaving were forbidden the womenfolk, as were sleeping during the day or hair washing, especially on Monday and Wednesday. Women wore garlic and walnut leaves for protection. During the week, girls made bouquets for the men and a circle dance was held. Men called Koluchari sang to cure the love-sick, following which they broke ceramic pots to break the spell.     Egyptian day (dies egypticus, dies ægypticus or dies mala), unlucky day in Medieval Europe. ("But, notwithstanding, I will trust the Lord" was the associated saying.) Nones of June, ancient Rome Feast day of St Paul Anne of Saint Bartholomew Feast day of St Paul Anthony Mary Gianelli Feast day of St Colman, Bishop of Dromore, confessor Feast day of St Paul Deochar Feast day of St Gotteschalk (Gottschalk; Godeschale), Prince of the Western Vandals, and his companions, martyrs Feast day of St Paul Habentius Feast day of St Paul Meriadoc (Meriadec), Bishop of Vannes, confessor Feast day of St Paul Landulf of Yariglia Feast day of St Paul Lycarion Feast day of St Paul Odo of Massay Feast day of St Paul, Bishop of Constantinople and martyr (Red centaury, Chironia centaureum, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint.) 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On that day, responding to neighborhood complaints about traffic congestion around his home, police arrested Father Divine for disturbing the peace. Viewing the incident as racially inspired, he refused bail, pleaded not guilty, and was tried and convicted. The jury asked for leniency. The judge ignored them and handed down a sentence of a year in jail and ordered him to pay a $500 fine. Father Divine went to jail. Two days later the judge, apparently a healthy man, died, and Father Divine freely offered his opinion that the death was not the result of natural causes. One follower is to have remarked on the day of sentencing, 'The judge can't live long now. He's offended Almighty God.' From his cell, Father Divine remarked simply, 'I hated to do it!' (Since that date, the Peace Mission commemorates June 7, the day of the Judge's death, by publishing accounts of disasters that befell people whose activities conflicted with Father Divine's program)."   Source Union Dissolution Day, Norway Observing the 1905 decision to dissolve the Union between Sweden and Norway. Sette Giugno, Malta commemorates the riot in Malta that began the road to self government and then independence.       On which day of the week were you born? Find out here 1491 Jacques Cartier (d. 1557), explorer 1761 John Rennie (d. 1821), engineer 1778 Beau Brummel, fashion leader 1811 James Simpson (d. 1870), obstetrician (used chloroform)   1813 Sir Redmond Barry (d. November 23, 1880), British colonial judge in Australia Sir Redmond and Ned Kelly's curse Sir Redmond Barry was a prominent judge in colonial Australia. While en route to Australia, Barrie was kept locked in his cabin by the ship's captain because of an alleged immoral liaison the legal man had on board with one of the female passengers. Barrie was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of several of Sydney's important cultural institutions, including the Art Gallery and the Public Library. He was the judge presiding over the murder trial of Ned Kelly (he had tried him before on lesser charges), and handed down Australia's most famous bushranger's death sentence.  Before being led off, the fatal words still ringing in his ears, Kelly launched a tirade at Sir Redmond. "And I will see you there (in hell)!" the bushranger cried. Twelve days later, the judge died.   Gang leader Kelly was captured at Glenrowan at dawn on June 28, 1880, sentenced to death by Sir Redmond Barry on October 29, and hanged in Melbourne on November 11, 1880 (qv). More  Ned Kelly    Kelly Gang   Kelly Gang chronology   More    More    And more   Yet more   1831 Amelia Edwards, English author and Egyptologist 1848 Paul Gauguin (d. May 8, 1903) , French post-Impressionist painter 1868 Charles Rennie Mackintosh (d. 1928), architect, designer and illustrator 1879 Knut Rasmussen (d. 1933), explorer 1883 Sylvanus Morley (d. 1948), American archaeologist, epigrapher, Mayanist scholar and spy with the USA Office of Naval Intelligence 1886 Henri Coanda (d. 1972), aerodynamics pioneer 1896 Imre Nagy (executed June 16, 1958), Prime Minister of Hungary on two occasions 1909 Jessica Tandy (d. September 11, 1994), Academy Award-winning British-born American stage and film actress, the oldest person (80) to win an Oscar (for Driving Miss Daisy, 1989). She subsequently earned a Supporting Actress nomination for her work in the grass-roots hit Fried Green Tomatoes (1991),  She also was in Hitchcock's The Birds. 1917 Dean Martin, American actor/singer who was straight man to funny man Jerry Lewis in more than a dozen comedy movies. Before fame he was a a prize-fighter, steel mill labourer, gas station attendant and card shark. Movies such as The Young Lions (1958) and Rio Bravo (1959) brought 'Dino' international fame. One of Martin's best remembered films is the 1960 smash Ocean's Eleven, in which he played Sam Harmon alongside the other members of the legendary Rat Pack: Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford. 1917 Gwendolyn Brooks, poet 1920 Georges Marchais (d. 1997), politician 1928 James Ivory, producer 1929 John Turner, seventeenth Prime Minister of Canada 1931 Malcolm Morley, painter 1931 Virginia McKenna, actress (Born Free; Carve Her Name with Pride) 1937 Claus Peymann, theatre director 1940 Tom Jones (Born Thomas Woodward), Welsh singer whose many hits include It's Not Unusual and What's New Pussycat? 1943 Nikki Giovanni, poet 1945 Wolfgang Schüssel, Austrian Bundeskanzler since 2000 1946 Bill Kreutzmann of The Grateful Dead 1952 Liam Neeson, actor (Schindler's List; Rob Roy) 1954 Louise Erdrich, author 1958 Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson), American singer and musician   Phew!! 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