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A historian of Kent in 1780-90, Edward Hasted, believed the figures on the biscuits represented a typical pair of recipients of the dole and nothing to do with conjoined twins. The picture and account of the charity found its way into many accounts of local customs and was embellished. However, to Stokes (2008) No family named Preston is recorded as having lived in or near Biddenden during the period in question. Records exist of a family named Chulkhurst living in Biddenden in the 17th and 18th centuries. [21] Lloyd, George (10 February 1866), "Chulkhurst: The Biddenden Maids", Notes and Queries, London: Chappell & Co: 122 The story is effectively split in two; the first 45% tells the story of the Maids as young children. This element of the story is filled with a deep sense of foreboding that drives the story onward and makes the reader fearful for the future of the Maids. The narrative then moves forward a few years, and we see them as young women, trying to make a name for themselves and use their talents for good. At this point, the immediate landscape that the Maids encounter broadens considerably, and we move away from the nunnery and the settlement of Biddenden, into the politics and events of the early twelfth century, that almost consume the lives of the Maids for the remainder of their years - they lived during the time of the tragedy of the White Ship.
What I loved the most is the progression in Mary and Eliza's character from childhood to the end of their days. When we meet them, they're six years old, and their POV shows it: both girls "speak" like children of that age in their early chapters; and then, as they become adults, their voice also changes so their respective latter chapters are different in tone. Interspersed in-between are universal narrator-style chapters that tell it from the standpoint of Sister Agnes, the nun who's been in charge of the Maids since birth, and the girls' father as well as some flashes by their stepmother Gudrun, so you get to see it from all angles. I usually don't like POVs that aren't consistently of one style, but I think it worked here, and I loved the girls' chapters best. The Biddenden maids biscuit has been described as a memorial food item. The museum has three of these Biddenden cakes, 1884.56.100, given by Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers in 1884 and obtained in 1875, 1902.60.4 donated by Henry Balfour, and 1917.53.684 given by Anna Tylor, owned previously by her husband Edward Burnett Tylor who was given the object by Mrs. Elton. There is also a printed account, 1884.56.100.2, given by Pitt Rivers, which sounds similar to the broad sheets mentioned by Bondeson (1992:17): If Eliza and Mary Chulkhurst did exist, it seems likely that they actually lived in the 16th century. The numbers one and five look similar in the Old English writing style, which could explain the confusion. An Elizabethan timeline could also explain why they are often depicted wearing ruffs. It has been claimed that an account of the Maids was published in 1660, but this is believed to be a later addition which was pasted into the 1660 book. [17] It's the story of two real-life conjoined twins, Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst, born in 12th century England, in the town of Biddenden in Kent to a wealthy farmer who could afford to keep them cared for in an abbey for their first half a dozen years of their life. When the girls, joined at the hip by birth, have to be taken from the abbey to live with their father, trouble ensues. First, it's their two-faced stepmother not having their best interest at heart as she pretends, and then it's the townspeople, who, urged on by the town priest, are initially hostile and superstitiously believe the girls are either a punishment from God or a product of the Devil. It takes a while, and lots of work and coordination between the few people able to see Mary and Eliza for what they are, just two unfortunate children not responsible for their condition instead of demonic work, for the girls to get accepted and thrive.
Analysing the English Collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum
Heaton, J. D. (17 April 1869), "United Twins", British Medical Journal, London: British Medical Association, 1869 (1): 363, PMC 2259775 a b c d Cheverells (22 November 1856), "Folk Lore", Notes and Queries, London: Chappell & Co: 404–405
Commemoration of the maids continued when a post was erected with a picture of the maids on top of it which stands on the village green as a village sign. According to Stokes, this sign was the result of a competition for village signs offered by the newspaper the Daily Mail in 1922. It was designed by a man from Suffolk who knew of the village. He did not win the prize but the paper so liked the design that they gave an extra award of fifty pounds. The sign was made and stood there until the 1939-45 war when it was removed so that German invaders would not know where they were! It was returned to its position after the war and was refurbished with a new pole in about 1993. The two figures of the girls in vaguely Tudor costume have been repainted but is still the original 1922 metal. The Biddenden post can still be seen today. Scott, Walter (1855), The Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott, Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company
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Stone, B. 1906. Sir Benjamin Stone's Pictures: Festivals, Ceremonies and Customs. London: Cassel, 2:28-29. Joined at the hip, the sisters overcome fear and hostility to grow into gifted and much-loved women – one a talented musician and song-writer and the other a caring healer and grower of medicinal plants. Entangled in the struggles for power and influence of the great Kent nobles of the time, they achieve much in their lifetimes and leave behind a legacy in Biddenden that survives to this day. Sylvanus Urban ( Edward Cave), ed. (August 1770), "Of Biddenden in Kent", The Gentleman's Magazine, London: D. Henry, 40 For instance, one of the earliest visual representations of the Biddenden maids, after their image appeared in a broadsheet in 1808, is a printed postcard postmarked August 4, 1939 by Young and Cooper in Maidstone, Kent. The Biddenden maids are elegantly dressed in the costume of the time of Mary I. Here, while the writer notes that "the charity in charge of the dole no longer persist," the postcard is created as a substitute to commemorate this particular event. The postcard being accessibly possessed as souvenir in printed form. While current postcards are mostly views of Biddenden, an item which includes the original image of the Biddenden twins as part of the charity's history is sold at the Biddenden Church.
In 1895, surgeon J. W. Ballantyne considered the case of the Biddenden Maids from a teratological perspective. He suggested that they had in fact been pygopagus (twins joined at the pelvis). [36] Pygopagus twins are known to put their arms around each other's shoulders when walking, and Ballantyne suggested that this accounted for their apparently being joined at the shoulders in drawings. [37] The pygopagus Millie and Christine McCoy had lived in Britain for a short time before going on to a successful singing career in the United States, and it was known from their case that such twins were capable of surviving to adulthood. [38] [note 10] Two young girls sat cross-legged side-by-side each playing with a small rag doll. "As they moved their arms to play with the dolls, each anticipated the other's actions, an unconscious dance performed between them." These two young girls, born in the village of Biddenden in Kent in the summer of 1100, were twins conjoined at the hip. Bondeson, Jan (April 1992), "The Biddenden Maids: a curious chapter in the history of conjoined twins", Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, London: Royal Society of Medicine Press, 85 (4): 217–221, doi: 10.1177/014107689208500413, PMC 1294728, PMID 1433064 A broadsheet on the Biddenden Maids was printed in 1808 and sold outside the church during Easter. ... In the 1820s, a 'new and enlarged' account of the Maids was printed ...' Sharpe, T. B. (25 April 1846), "Old and Popular customs", Sharpe's London Magazine, London: T. B. Sharpe, 1 (26): 413, hdl: 2027/njp.32101064477191Although it is known that the charity had been in operation as early as 1656, [16] an anonymous article in The Gentleman's Magazine in August 1770 is the earliest recorded account of the legend of the Biddenden Maids. [17] [note 3] This account states that the twins were joined at the hip only, rather than at both the hip and the shoulder, and that they lived to a relatively old age. [12] [18] The article explicitly states that their names were not recorded, and that they were known only as the "Maids of Biddenden". [12] The anonymous author recounts the story of their bequest of the lands to the parish to support the annual dole, and goes on to say that despite the antiquity of the events described, he has no doubt as to their authenticity. [12] As with all accounts of the tradition prior to 1790 the author does not mention their alleged birth in 1100, or the name of Chulkhurst; these details first appeared in a broadside published in 1790. [19] The Antiquarian Repertory of 1775 says that the sisters had lived "as tradition says, two hundred and fifty years ago". [20] Drawings of Biddenden cakes from this period show that they featured an image of two women, possibly conjoined, but no names, dates or ages. And thrive they do! Both girls show the world to be in possession of talents unique to them: Mary in healing and Eliza in music and poetry. The conjoined twins are so different from each other you can feel their desperation to be cleaved and be separate, but also can feel the deep love and loyalty they hold for each other. Mary, bookish and shy, and Eliza, brash and outgoing, have to learn to live supporting what the other does and wants, even if that means sacrificing their own desires. But they find contentment and earn the love and respect of those who know them, from nobles to peasants, even if there's always the occasional rude person taking it out on them. a b c d Imaging of the Biddenden Maids, Oxford: Pitt Rivers Museum, archived from the original on 27 December 2010 , retrieved 13 October 2010
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