Another local dignitary, Endymion Porter from Aston Subedge, secured a suit of the King’s old clothes for Dover to wear at the Games. His influence with the Royal Family meant that Dover received royal patronage. Sir Baptist Hicks ~ Moneylender to James Iīaptist Hicks was a local benefactor, he not only put the local Grammar School on a firm financial footing and managed the trust running it he also built the Alms Houses, complete with clean piped water and built the Market Hall in the centre of Chipping Campden. The new location about half a mile outside of Chipping Campden makes it accessible but far enough away to avoid damage and vandalism if the competitive spirit got out of hand. Dover almost certainly took over existing Whitsun festivities which took place in the town. This theory is supported to some degree by the chosen location of Dover’s Hill and what is now known as the Mile Drive and the Gallops. Having moved to the area Robert Dover came up with the idea for a modern Olympics style competition to channel some of the more competitive traits of the local people and it is believed his vision was backed by Baptist Hicks, a rich mercer or cloth dealer who had financed a great deal of James I early reign and was at that time building his beautiful mansion by the church in Chipping Campden. Once qualified as a lawyer he worked in Lincolns Inn as a lawyer before moving with his wife Sebilla to Saintbury to join his sisters in 1611. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this - is my husband, this - is my wife.Robert Dover was born in Norfolk and went to Queens College Cambridge where he met a nephew of Baptist Hicks, a great benefactor of Chipping Campden.
Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. Before this moment you have been many things to one another - acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last few years. Look at one another and remember this moment in time. The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, "You know all those things we've promised and hoped and dreamed-well, I meant it all, every word." All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.
All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks - all those sentences that began with "When we're married" and continued with "I will and you will and we will" - those late night talks that included "someday" and "somehow" and "maybe" - and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. From that moment of yes to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way. You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. While initially written pre-same sex marriage, the gendered ending could easily be changed up if required. Union by Robert Fulghum - himself a Unitarian Universalist minister - is about taking a moment in your ceremony to root yourself, to be deliberate about your vows, and to acknowledge the beginning of your next chapter. We've featured a wedding reading by Robert Fulghum in the past, but this one might be the piece of his work most-loved by couples getting married.