Ralph Whitlock in one of his many books (over 100), Wiltshire Folklore And Legends, published in 1992 by Robert Hale, in a chapter titled ‘Ghosts Miscellaneous,’ noted:
“Smock weddings . . . are worth a mention. It used to be generally believed that if a man married a widow other than by a smock wedding he took over the debts of her former husband. To avoid this, she came to him naked, thus demonstrating that she brought nothing with her from her previous life. Decency had to be preserved, however, so she came to church dressed in a sheet or a smock, purchased by the bridegroom. The most recent Wiltshire example which I have been able to find occurred at Chitterne All Saints on 17 October 1714. The parish register states that on that day: ‘John Bridmore and Anne Selwood were married, the aforesaid Anne Selwood was married in her smock, without any clothes or headgier on.’ “