Toastmasters in Essex

Why You Should Have an Essex Toastmaster

Essex is an integral part of the fabric of England. It's home to more than 14,000 listed buildings and some rather unusual marriage customs. One of these is the Dunmow Flitch, which dates back to at least 1104, though particular passages in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle may indicate an earlier origin.

In any case, the story goes that a local lord and lady, dressed in the guise of humble peasant folk, appeared before the prior of Little Dunmow a year and a day after their wedding to beg his blessing.

They said 'What ho!', as was the custom back then; the prior replied 'What ho!' ('Salve!' in Latin) in turn, and after several exchanges of mutual esteem and a gift of land to boost the priory's stock of assets, the prior gave the lord and lady a side of bacon and promised that any other couple who could likewise prove their devotion to one another could come forward and would receive the same reward.

The lord and lady were true to their word, and the prior was true to his, and the custom of giving blessings and receiving sides of bacon continued and became so well known that it even warranted a mention in Geoffrey Chaucer's Prologue to the Wife of Bath's Tale.

After which, it died.

Then, in 1855, the Victorian novelist William Harrison Ainsworth wrote a wildly popular novel that rescued the Dunmow Flitch Trials from obscurity.

Ainsworth himself, of course, was not quite so fortunate. The man who (briefly) outsold Dickens is largely unknown today. The Dunmow Flitch Trials take place every four years.

The point of the above story is that a toastmaster doesn't just help shepherd guests to their respective tables and act as a human bullhorn. They're also genial hosts and practised storytellers who know to pepper their remarks with a bit of humour and local flavour. And Essex boasts some of the best toastmasters in the business!