Part 16 (1/2)

”For Church and King We always ring.”

”I was made in hope to ring At the crownacion of our King.”

”Ye people all that hear me ring Be faithful to your G.o.d and King.”

A bell that has been recast sometimes praises the merits of its new founder at the expense of its first maker, as at Badgworth, Gloucester:--

”Badgworth ringers they are mad, Because Rigbe made me bad; But Abel Rudhall you may see Hath made me better than Rigbe.”

Sometimes all the bells which compose a peal tell their various uses.

Thus at Bakewell we find some verses on each bell:--

1. ”When I begin our merry Din This Band I lead from discord free; And for the fame of human name, May every Leader copy Me.”

2. ”Mankind, like us, too oft are found Possess'd of nought but empty sound.”

3. ”When of departed Hours we toll the knell, Instruction take and spend the future well.”

4. ”When men in Hymen's Bands unite, Our merry peals produce delight; But when Death goes his dreary Rounds, We send forth sad and solemn sounds.”

5. ”Thro' grandsires and Tripples with pleasure men range, Till Death calls the Bob and brings on the Last Change.”

6. ”When Vict'ry crowns the Public Weal With Glee we give the merry Peal.”

7. ”Would men like us join and agree They'd live in tuneful Harmony.”

8. ”Possess'd of deep sonorous Tone This Belfry King sits on his throne; And when the merry Bells go round, Adds to and mellows ev'ry Sound; So in a just and well pois'd State, Where all Degrees possess due Weight, One greater Pow'r one greater Tone Is ceded to improve their own.”

A Rutland bell has the following beautiful inscription:--

”Non clamor sed amor cantat in aure Dei.”

(”Not noise but love sings in the ear of G.o.d.”)

Historical events are sometimes recorded, as at Ashover, Derbys.h.i.+re, where a recasted bell states:--

”This old bell rung the downfall of Buonaparte and broke, April 1814.”

The uses of bells are often shown by their inscriptions. People were aroused by their sound each morning in many places, as at St. Ives, where a bell is inscribed--

”Arise and go about your business.”

The villagers were summoned to extinguish fires by ringing of bells.

Thus Sherborne, Dorset, has a bell inscribed--

”Lord, quench this furious flame: Arise, run, help put out the same.”

Bell-ringing customs are very numerous.[9] The pa.s.sing bell has many variants. In some places three times three strokes are sounded for a man, three times two for a woman, and three times one for a child. Out of the first-named of these practices probably arose the phrase, ”Nine tailors make a man,” which is usually explained as more properly signifying ”nine tellers make a man.” Then we have a pancake bell, which formerly summoned people to confession, and not to eat pancakes; a gleaning bell, an eight hours' bell rung at 4 a.m., noon, and 8 p.m.

The curfew bell survives in many places, which, as everyone knows, was in use long before William the Conqueror issued his edict. Peals are rung on ”Oak Apple Day,” and on Guy Fawkes' Day, ”loud enough to call up poor Guy.” Church bells played a useful part in guiding the people homewards on dark winter evenings in the days when lands were uninclosed and forests and wild moors abounded, and charitable folk, like Richard Palmer, of Wokingham, left bequests to pay the s.e.xton for his labour in ringing at suitable times when the sound of the bells might be of service to belated travellers. Names of benefactors often find a permanent memorial on the bells which they gave; as at Binstead, Hants, where a bell has the inscription--