CHAPTER IIIBig Bells; Carillons and Chimes; Campaniles

Plate 8.Moulds ready for casting.The inner and outer moulds clamped together; the molten metal is poured in through an aperture at the top. (See page14.)

Plate 8.

Moulds ready for casting.The inner and outer moulds clamped together; the molten metal is poured in through an aperture at the top. (See page14.)

Moulds ready for casting.

The inner and outer moulds clamped together; the molten metal is poured in through an aperture at the top. (See page14.)

Very few bells of this period are dated; but we find examples at Worcester, perhaps cast by the monks there, with the dates 1480 and 1482; and at Thirsk (1410), on a bell which is said to havecome from Fountains Abbey. There are also some bells in Lincolnshire, dated 1423 and 1431, by an unknown founder, but remarkable for the extraordinary beauty of the lettering (Plate36). Dated mediaeval bells are more commonly from foreign sources, as at Baschurch, in Shropshire, where is a Dutch bell by Jan van Venlo, dated 1447, which is said to have come from Valle Crucis Abbey. At Whalley Abbey, in Lancashire, is a Belgian bell of 1537, by Peter van den Ghein, and at Duncton, in Sussex, a French bell dated 1369.

The period of the Reformation, down to about 1600, was, as has been said, “a real bad time for bell-founders,” and several of the important foundries, as at Bristol, Gloucester, and elsewhere, appear either to have been closed for a time or died out altogether. The chief cause of this was doubtless the dissolution of the monasteries, coupled with the operations of Edward VI’s commissioners, large numbers of bells being sold or converted into secularproperty. These were distributed among the parish churches, and many instances may be traced of second-hand bells still existing, as at Abberley, in Worcestershire, where there is an ancient bell from a Yorkshire monastery. It should also be remembered that very little church-building was done in the latter half of the century. On the other hand, the statement which has gained some currency, that the commissioners only left one bell in each parish church, is not borne out by facts. Many churches still possess three or even four mediaeval bells which must have hung untouched in their towers before and since the reign of Edward VI.

But this lapse in bell-founding was not invariable; the foundries at Leicester, Nottingham, Bury St. Edmunds, and Reading actually seem to have received a new lease of life, and 1560–1600 is almost their most flourishing period. This is especially the case at Leicester, where a well-known family named Newcombe were at work,succeeded by an equally celebrated founder named Hugh Watts, whose fine bells were deservedly famous. At Nottingham we have the dynasty of the Oldfields, lasting from 1550 to 1710; and at Reading a series of founders of different names, ending in a succession of Knights down to 1700. The Hatches of Ulcombe, in Kent, were another prosperous family, as were the Eldridges of Chertsey.

Plate 9.Forming the Mould.Part of the Bell Founder’s Window in York Minster.(See page16.)

Plate 9.

Forming the Mould.Part of the Bell Founder’s Window in York Minster.(See page16.)

Forming the Mould.

Part of the Bell Founder’s Window in York Minster.

(See page16.)

At Bury St. Edmunds, one Stephen Tonne reigned from 1560 to 1580. His foundry was, however, destined to yield to the sway of that at Colchester, which begins with Richard Bowler about 1590, and reached its culmination between 1620 and 1640, under the great Miles Graye, who has been called “the prince of bell-founders.” Numbers of his bells remain in Essex and Suffolk, his masterpiece being, by common consent of ringers, the tenor at Lavenham, in Suffolk. At Colchester, as in other foundries, the seven years of storm and stress—1642–1649—while theCivil War between Charles I and the Parliament raged in England, practically put an end to bell-founding. Siege and other troubles certainly hastened the end of old Miles Graye, who died in 1649, worn out by privation and bodily suffering. His grandson Miles kept on the foundry until 1686.

Turning to the West of England, we find the foundries at Bristol, Gloucester, Worcester, and Salisbury still in a flourishing condition. At Bristol George Purdue, a native of Taunton, was followed by Roger and William Purdue in the seventeenth century; the latter migrated to Salisbury about 1655, where he carried on the work of John Wallis and John Danton. Thomas Purdue, the last of the family, died at Closworth, in Somerset, in 1711, and on his tombstone are the words—

“Here lies a Bellfounder, honest and true,Until the Resurrection, named Purdue.”

In the West of England their place wasfilled by the Penningtons of Exeter, the Evanses of Chepstow, and the Bilbies of Chew-Stoke, Somerset. The Keenes of Bedford and Woodstock, John Palmer of Gloucester, and John Martin of Worcester, all did good work in their day, as did the Cliburys of Wellington, in Shropshire. Another important Midland firm was that of the Bagleys, of Chacomb, in Northamptonshire, whose foundry was opened in 1631, and flourished till the end of the eighteenth century; though in the latter period its owners became restless, and settled temporarily in London, Witney, and other places. In the North, York was again the chief bell-founding centre, and Samuel Smith and the Sellers were famous exponents of the art; in the East of England we have, besides Miles Graye, first the Brends of Norwich, then John Darbie of Ipswich, and Thomas Gardiner of Sudbury.

Several founders between 1560 and 1700 were mere journeymen, who wentabout from place to place, doing jobs where they could. Of such was Michael Darbie, of whom it is said, “one specimen of his casting seems to have been enough for a neighbourhood.” At Blewbury, in Berkshire, a local man attempted to recast a bell in 1825. He failed twice, but was then successful, and placed on his work the appropriate motto,Nil desperandum. Apart from this, it was not at all uncommon for bells to be cast on the spot, as were Great Tom of Lincoln and the great bell of Canterbury, or at some convenient intermediate place.

Plate 10.Running the Molten Metal.Part of the Bell Founder’s Window in York Minster.(See pages16,17.)

Plate 10.

Running the Molten Metal.Part of the Bell Founder’s Window in York Minster.(See pages16,17.)

Running the Molten Metal.

Part of the Bell Founder’s Window in York Minster.

(See pages16,17.)

In 1684 a fresh start was given to the Gloucester foundry, then fallen on bad days, by Abraham Rudhall, perhaps the most successful founder England has known. He and his descendants cast altogether 4,521 bells down to 1830, and their fame spread all over the West of England, from Cornwall to Lancashire, and even over the seas. Most of the big rings of bells in the West Midlands aretheir work. The foundry finally came to an end in 1835, when the business was bought up by Mears of London.

In London itself bell-founding seems to have come almost to an end between 1530 and 1570. But about the latter year arose one Robert Mot, who set on foot what is now the oldest-established business of any kind in England. The foundry in the Whitechapel Road, now only a short distance removed from its original home, has always upheld its reputation throughout the three hundred years and more during which it has been continuously worked. Several of Mot’s bells still remain in London, and many others in Kent and Essex (Plate15). In the seventeenth century the foundry was in the hands of Anthony and James Bartlet, who cast many bells for Wren’s churches after the Great Fire. In the eighteenth, under Phelps, Lester, Pack, and Chapman, successively, its reputation gradually increased, and in 1783 began a dynasty of Mearseslasting down to 1870. The name is still preserved by the firm of Mears and Stainbank, though neither a Mears nor a Stainbank now owns a share in the business. An illustration of their bells is given in Plate16.

Their great rivals of modern times, the Taylors of Loughborough, cannot emulate them in antiquity, though they can still boast a respectable pedigree, dating from Thomas Eayre of Kettering, in 1731. After moving to S. Neots, Leicester, and Oxford, the firm finally settled, about 1840, under John Taylor, at Loughborough, where his grandsons now carry on the business. Illustrations of their bells are given in Plates17–21.

Plate 11.The Mortar of Friar Towthorpe.(See page21.)

Plate 11.

The Mortar of Friar Towthorpe.(See page21.)

The Mortar of Friar Towthorpe.

(See page21.)

Bells of exceptional size, styled in LatinSigna, are no new invention of the founder’s art. It speaks much for the skill of the mediaeval craftsman that he should have been able to cast giant bells which not only rivalled thechefs-d’oeuvreof our own day, but, as objects of beauty, certainly surpassed them.

In the twelfth century a “tenor” was added by Prior Wybert to Prior Conrad’s great ring of five at Canterbury Cathedral, which bell, it is said, took thirty-two men to ring it. (This was achieved by placing them on a plank fastened to a stock, by which means it was set in motion.) Itwas, however, surpassed by another cast in 1316, in memory of S. Thomas of Canterbury. This weighed over 3½ tons, but was broken in the fall of the campanile, 1382, and was replaced in 1459 by a slightly heavier bell, cast in London, and dedicated in honour of S. Dunstan. Its successor, a re-casting by Lester and Pack of London, in 1762, stills hangs in the south-west tower, and is used for the clock and for tolling.

The cathedral of Exeter was furnished with two bells which deserve the title of great; but one, the tenor of the old ring of seven, does not strictly come within the limits of this chapter, which deals with single bells. All these old bells had names, some derived from their donors, and the tenor was called Grandison, from the bishop by whom it was given about 1360. Its successor, cast in 1902, by Taylor of Loughborough, weighs about 3 tons (Plate18). The other, Great Peter of Exeter, hangs in the north tower, andwas the gift of Bishop Peter (Courtenay) in 1484. It has been twice re-cast, and the present bell is the work of the Thomas Purdue mentioned in the previous chapter, dated 1676. The founder attempted to preserve the old mediaeval inscription,

Plebs patriæ plaudit dum petrum plenius audit

“The people of the country applaud when they hear Peter’s full sound,”

but only found room for the first five words. From the style of the inscription we gather that it was originally cast at the Exeter foundry. Its weight is given as 6¼ tons, but according to another estimate is not more than four.

There is a rival “Great Peter” at Gloucester, and here the original bell still survives, the only mediaevalsignumwhich we still possess. It bears the inscription,

Me fecit fieri conventus nomine petri

“The monastery had me made in Peter’s name,”

together with two shields, one charged with three bells, the other with the arms of the abbey. It may have been cast by the monks, as it bears no known foundry-stamps, but the expression “had me made” seems to imply otherwise. Its weight is 2 tons 18 cwt. Yet another, but a modern “Great Peter,” is that of York Minster, cast in 1845, and weighing 12½ tons. It is the second largest church bell in England.

Plate 12.Bell by an early fourteenth-century London founder.With inscription in Gothic capitals. (See page24.)

Plate 12.

Bell by an early fourteenth-century London founder.With inscription in Gothic capitals. (See page24.)

Bell by an early fourteenth-century London founder.

With inscription in Gothic capitals. (See page24.)

From “Great Peters” we pass to “Great Toms.” Of these there are two famous examples, one at Lincoln Cathedral, the other at Christ Church, Oxford. The Lincoln Tom, which hangs in the central tower of the cathedral, does not appear in records before 1610, in which year it was re-cast by Henry Oldfield of Nottingham, and Robert Newcombe of Leicester. It was cast in the minster yard, and weighed 4 tons 8 cwt. In course of time it was found to be too heavy for the tower, and was “clocked,” or tied down, asa contemporary journalist describes it, in 1802: “He has been chained and riveted down, so that instead of the full mouthful he hath been used to send forth, he is enjoined in the future merely to wag his tongue.” The result was inevitable, and in 1827 “he” was reported cracked, which led to his being re-cast by Mears of Whitechapel in 1835.

Great Tom of Christ Church, which now hangs in the tower over the gateway, originally came to the newly-founded “House of Christ” from the despoiled Abbey of Oseney. Six other bells were brought with it, of which two still hang in the “meat-safe” belfry. Antony à Wood, the Oxford chronicler, tells us that it bore the inscription:

IN THOMAE LAVDE RESONO BIMBOM SINE FRAVDE

“In the praise of Thomas I sound ‘Bimbom’ without guile.”

Thrice unsuccessfully recast between 1612 and 1680, it is in its present form the work of Christopher Hodson, a London founder, who placed upon it a long inscription beginning with the words,MAGNUS THOMAS(“Great Tom”). Oxonians will remember the ringing of the bell every night at nine o’clock.

Among other great bells of historical interest we may mention that which hangs in the south tower of Beverley Minster. It survived from mediaeval times until so recent a date as 1902, when it was re-cast by Messrs. Taylor of Loughborough the weight being no less than 7 tons (Plate19). The old bell was probably cast at Leicester about 1350, and bore some of the most beautiful lettering ever designed by mediaeval craftsmen (Plate36). Another of Messrs. Taylor’s great works is the great bell of Tong, in Shropshire (Plate20), originally given by Sir Harry Vernon, in 1518, to be tolled “when any Vernoncame to Tong.” It was recast in 1720, and again in 1892, its present weight being 2½ tons. It was dedicated to SS. Mary and Bartholomew.

Another great mediaeval bell, only recently recast, deserves mention here, though strictly speaking, the tenor of a ring, and not asignum. This is the magnificent tenor at Brailes, in Warwickshire, richly ornamented with shields, crowns, and other devices, cast by John Bird of London, about 1420. It bore a beautiful inscription taken from an old Ascension Day hymn. Greatly to the credit of the local authorities, the inscription and ornaments were exactly reproduced from the old cracked bell on its successor, an admirable piece of work executed in 1877 by Messrs. Blews of Birmingham. The bell weighs about 2 tons.

Plate 13.Blessing the Donor of the Bell.Part of the Bell Founder’s Window in York Minster.(See page26.)

Plate 13.

Blessing the Donor of the Bell.Part of the Bell Founder’s Window in York Minster.(See page26.)

Blessing the Donor of the Bell.

Part of the Bell Founder’s Window in York Minster.

(See page26.)

Among great modern bells the hour-bell at Worcester Cathedral, cast by Taylor in 1868, and weighing 4½ tons, deserves special mention, as does a bell at Woburn,Bedfordshire, the work of Mears and Stainbank of London, in 1867, weighing nearly 3 tons. The former bears an inscription taken from Ephesians v. 14, and the letters used are copied from those on the beautiful Lincolnshire fifteenth-century bells mentioned in the previous chapter (p. 32). But the chief masterpiece of recent founding is Messrs. Taylor’s “Great Paul” at S. Paul’s Cathedral, which holds the reputation of the largest bell in England (Plate21). It has, however, a rival in the hour-bell of the same cathedral, which has a more lengthy history. There was once at Westminster a famous bell known as “Great Tom,” which hung in a clock-tower opposite Westminster Town Hall, but was removed to S. Paul’s at the end of the seventeenth century. This bell was famous for its connection with the story told of a sentinel at Windsor Castle in the reign of William III, who was accused of sleeping at his post. He defended himself bystating that he had heard the Westminster bell strike thirteen at midnight, and this brought about his acquittal. Though the truth of the story has often been doubted, the striking thirteen is, mechanically, quite possible. It is said that this bell was originally given by Edward III in honour of the Confessor. On the way to S. Paul’s it was cracked by a fall, and eventually it was recast by Richard Phelps, of Whitechapel, in 1716 (Plate22). It now hangs in the south-west tower, and is used for striking the hour, and for tolling at the death of various great personages. Its weight is 5 tons 4 cwt.

Plate 14.Stamps used by London Founders.Ornamental Cross used by Henry Jordan of London (1460).With the words “ihu merci ladi help” and trade mark of William Culverden of London (1510–20), with the words “In d’no co’fido” and a rebus on his name. (See pages29,106.)

Plate 14.

Stamps used by London Founders.Ornamental Cross used by Henry Jordan of London (1460).With the words “ihu merci ladi help” and trade mark of William Culverden of London (1510–20), with the words “In d’no co’fido” and a rebus on his name. (See pages29,106.)

Stamps used by London Founders.

Ornamental Cross used by Henry Jordan of London (1460).

With the words “ihu merci ladi help” and trade mark of William Culverden of London (1510–20), with the words “In d’no co’fido” and a rebus on his name. (See pages29,106.)

Great Paul is the masterpiece of Messrs. Taylor, “one of Loughborough’s glories,” says Dr. Raven. It hangs in the same tower, below Phelps’ bell, and weighs 16 tons 14 cwt., the diameter at the mouth being 9½ feet. It was cast in 1881, and simply bears the founders’ trade-mark and the words (said to havebeen selected by Canon Liddon) from 1 Corinthians ix. 16:

VAE MIHI SI NON EVANGELISAVERO

“Woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel.”

It is used for a few minutes before Sunday services, and at certain other times.

A description of S. Paul’s bells is hardly complete without an allusion to the great ring of twelve cast by Taylor in 1877, and placed in the north-west tower, the tenor weighing over 3 tons. They were given by the City Companies and the late Baroness Burdett-Coutts. In addition there are a “service bell,” cast in 1700, and two quarter-bells of 1717 for the clock.

Among other great London bells are the ring of ten at the Imperial Institute, cast by Taylor in 1887, and the tenors of the rings at Southwark Cathedral, S. Mary-le-Bow, S. Michael, Cornhill, S. Giles, Cripplegate, and other famous towers;those mentioned are all from rings of twelve, and weigh 2 tons or more.

The old campanile at Westminster, built by Edward III, originally contained three “great bells”; it was pulled down in 1698, and we have followed the history of one of these bells, but the others disappeared. They had no successor until 1856, when the late Lord Grimthorpe (then Mr. Denison), an enthusiast for clocks and bells, designed a great bell for the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. It was called “Big Ben,” either after Sir Benjamin Hall, who was then First Commissioner of Works, or after a noted boxer of the time named Benjamin Brain. Its original founders were Messrs. Warner of London, but being sounded in Palace Yard with a hammer, for the amusement of the public before being hung, it was very soon cracked. In 1857 a new bell was cast by George Mears of Whitechapel, from an improved design, and containing less metal. Its weight is givenat 13½ tons. Shortly after its casting Big Ben gave way, but after being quarter-turned, could be once more utilized for striking the hours. Its tone, however, is anything but satisfactory, and one is forced to the opinion that these excessively large bells, very difficult to cast and awkward to manipulate, are apt to prove great mistakes.

Chimes

Sets of chimes, or arrangements for playing tunes on bells, existed in England even in mediaeval days; but they are nowadays regarded as a speciality of Belgium, and the famous carillons of Antwerp, Bruges, and Mechlin are well known to many a traveller. But it is not our province to speak of these, and it may be of some interest to see what use has been made of such arrangements in England.

Dr. Raven, in his fascinating book,The Bells of England, tells us that the machinery of the carillon was a recognized thing inthe middle of the fifteenth century, and quotes from the will of John Baret of Bury St. Edmunds, who died in 1463, and gave directions for the playing of aRequiem aeternumfor his dirge at noon for thirty days after his death, and on each “mind-day,” or anniversary, to be continued during the octave. The sexton was also to “take heed to the chimes and wind up the pegs and the plummets” as required. The music of thisRequiem, we are told, only compassed five notes, and must have been somewhat wearisome to the good people of Bury. In old churchwardens’ accounts, as at Ludlow or Warwick, we find frequent references to the repair or upkeep of the chimes.

Plate 15.Bell by Robert Mot of London(1575–1600),The first owner of the Whitechapel Foundry, where it had been for some years preserved, but is now broken up. (See page40).

Plate 15.

Bell by Robert Mot of London(1575–1600),The first owner of the Whitechapel Foundry, where it had been for some years preserved, but is now broken up. (See page40).

Bell by Robert Mot of London(1575–1600),

The first owner of the Whitechapel Foundry, where it had been for some years preserved, but is now broken up. (See page40).

The principle of the carillon is similar to that of a barrel-organ or musical-box, implying a barrel or drum, set with pegs, and set in motion by being connected with the mechanism of the clock. The pegs, as they turn, raise levers which pull wires in connection with the hammers which strikeon the bells. With the ordinary eight bells of an English belfry it is obvious that only a limited choice of tunes within the compass of an octave is possible, and that they can only be played in one key on single notes. The Belgian carillons have sometimes forty or fifty bells in communication with a key-board like that of an organ, and tunes can therefore be played on them in harmony. There are a few carillons of this type in England, the best known being at Boston, in Lincolnshire, and at Cattistock, in Dorset, but usually the ordinary bells are employed, as at Worcester Cathedral and in many towns.

At the Reformation chimes largely died out, but with the Restoration they revived, and we hear of them at Cambridge, Grantham, and elsewhere. Another kind of chime which may here be mentioned is that employed for striking the quarters for the clock. Here, of course, no mechanism is required beyond the connecting-wire which raises the hammer and drops it onthe bell. Of such chimes the best known are the Cambridge Quarters, put up in Great S. Mary’s Church in 1793. They were composed by Dr. Jowett, the Regius Professor of Laws, assisted by the composer Crotch, who was then only eighteen. The latter is said to have adapted a movement in the opening symphony of Handel’s “I know that my Redeemer liveth,” for the purpose.

The practice sometimes adopted nowadays of playing hymn tunes on bells by means of ropes tied to the clappers is a miserable substitute for the mechanical contrivance. It not only causes agonies to the musical ear by the unavoidable occurrence of false notes, but is only too likely to lead to the destruction of the bells altogether, as the result of the “clocking,” of which I shall have more to say later.

Campaniles

We have seen that it is the normal rule in England for bells to be placed in towersforming part of the structure of churches; or rather it should be said that towers for containing the bells were regarded as an essential feature in the construction of a church from the Saxon period onwards. Over the greater part of the Continent the same also holds good; but in Italy we find detached bell-towers, or campaniles, to be of frequent occurrence. The most familiar examples in that country are the campanile of S. Mark’s at Venice, and that built by Giotto at Florence. There are many others in Northern Italy, especially at Bologna, and at Ravenna, where the churches are of great antiquity.[3]

Plate 16.A ring of eight bells.Recently cast at the Whitechapel Foundry for Uckfield, Sussex. (See page41).

Plate 16.

A ring of eight bells.Recently cast at the Whitechapel Foundry for Uckfield, Sussex. (See page41).

A ring of eight bells.

Recently cast at the Whitechapel Foundry for Uckfield, Sussex. (See page41).

Nor are such campaniles altogether unknown in England. In mediaeval times they were attached to several of our cathedral churches, as, for instance, Old S. Paul’s, Chichester, Salisbury, and Worcester. The bells of Old S. Paul’s were traditionally gambled away by Henry VIII in 1534, and the campanile at Worcesterdid not survive the Reformation; but that at Salisbury, a most picturesque structure, with a wooden upper storey and spire, was wantonly destroyed in 1777 because the bells were misused! That at Chichester alone remains, a fine Perpendicular erection, at the north-west angle of the cathedral (Plate24). At King’s College, Cambridge, a noble peal of five bells hung in a low wooden belfry on the north side of the chapel, which was destroyed when the bells were sold and melted down in 1754 (Plate25).

Detached towers are not uncommon features of our parish churches in some parts of England, particularly in Herefordshire and Norfolk. The best examples are at Berkeley, Gloucestershire; Ledbury, Herefordshire; West Walton, Norfolk; and Beccles, Suffolk. Some churches, again, can only boast wooden detached belfries of moderate height to hold their bells, as at Pembridge in Herefordshire, Brooklands in Kent, and East Bergholt inSuffolk (Plate26). The belfry at the last-named place is no more than a mere shed, and more than one story is told in explanation of the absence of a tower to the otherwise imposing church.

Plate 17.The 9th bell of Loughborough Parish Church.Cast by the Taylors of that town. (See page41.)

Plate 17.

The 9th bell of Loughborough Parish Church.Cast by the Taylors of that town. (See page41.)

The 9th bell of Loughborough Parish Church.

Cast by the Taylors of that town. (See page41.)

One of the chief uses made of church bells in modern times is not strictly a religious use, though it is more or less associated with the Church’s seasons, particularly with Sundays and Christmas Day. But it has always been recognized that the secular use of bells, within certain limits, is permissible, as will be further seen in the next chapter.

Change-ringing is, as we have already noted, an entirely modern introduction, and is, moreover, confined to England. In pre-Reformation days we hear of guilds of ringers, as, for instance, at Westminster Abbey, in the reign of Henry III, where the brethren of the guild appear to have enjoyed their privileges since the time ofEdward the Confessor. In smaller monastic or collegiate establishments clerics in minor orders were often entrusted with the duty of ringing the bells, as at Tong, in Shropshire (cf. Plate30). But this kind of ringing was in no way scientific, nor were the fittings of the bells adapted for ringing in the strict modern sense.

The accompanying diagram (Plate27; compare also Plate28), showing the way in which a modern bell is hung, will serve to explain the method now adopted for ringing proper, as opposed to chiming. The headstock, or wooden block to which the top of the bell is firmly fixed (so that the bell cannot move independently of it), revolves by means of brass pivots, known as the “gudgeons,” in a socket made in the top of the framework. One of these pivots forms the axle of a large wooden wheel, half the circumference of which has a groove for the rope, one end of which is fixed in it, the other passing through a pulley down into the ringing-chamber. Inmediaeval times half-wheels only were used, but the complete wheel seems to have been introduced by the fifteenth century, and single bells were “rung” in the sixteenth. Peal-ringing, as we know it, cannot be traced before the seventeenth.

The essential feature of ringing in peal is that the bell shall perform an almost complete revolution each time the rope is pulled, starting from an inverted position. To prevent its falling over again at the conclusion of the stroke, a vertical bar of wood or iron, known as the “stay,” is fixed to the side of the stock, which is checked by a movable bar in the lower part of the frame, called the “slider.” It is clear that in the course of each revolution the clapper will strike the side twice. Before the invention of the wheel, the bell was merely sounded by means of a lever connecting the rope with the stock, as is still done in ringing small bells, either as “ting-tangs,” or when hung in an open turret.

Before the peal can be started, the bellsmust be rung up or “raised” to the inverted position, which the ringer achieves by a series of steady strokes, each pull increasing in length until it is balanced; at the end of the peal this process is reversed. When bells are merely chimed they are not “raised,” but the rope is pulled each time sufficiently to allow one stroke of the clapper. By means of an ingenious apparatus invented by the late Canon Ellacombe, this can now be done by one man if necessary, the muscular effort required being reduced to a minimum.

But change-ringing is a real science, and entails long and assiduous practice and considerable muscular exertion. It is, in fact, one of the best forms of physical exercise conceivable, and must have proved a godsend in that respect to many men whose opportunities would otherwise be limited.

Its elementary principle is, of course, that the bells should be rung in succession, but in a varying order. The method in which the succession varies is the foundation of the various forms known vaguely to most of us as Grandsire Triples, Treble Bob-Major, and so on. They are founded on a recognized arithmetical basis, that of permutations, or the number of arrangements possible of any given number of objects. We know that three letters or numbers can be arranged in six different ways:

123 132231 213312 321

Thus, on three bells, only six changes can be rung so as to vary the order each time, and we must then begin over again. With four bells we have a choice of twenty-four changes, which might run as follows:

1234 3124 4321 42132134 1324 4312 42312314 1342 4132 24312341 3142 1432 24133241 3412 1423 21433214 3421 4123 1243

This method is known as “hunting the treble up and down,” and was invented by Fabian Stedman, a Cambridge printer, who printed in 1667 the earliest treatise on change-ringing. If the above table is carefully observed, it will be seen that the first bell, or treble, shifts its place by one each time, backwards or forwards, while the other three only change six times in all; in other words, if the treble was omitted it would be a peal of six changes on three bells.

Plate 18.The tenor bell of Exeter Cathedral, called “Grandison.”Recast by Taylor, 1902. (See page44.)

Plate 18.

The tenor bell of Exeter Cathedral, called “Grandison.”Recast by Taylor, 1902. (See page44.)

The tenor bell of Exeter Cathedral, called “Grandison.”

Recast by Taylor, 1902. (See page44.)

When we come to rings of five, six, or eight bells, these changes are, of course, capable of greater variety. On five bells we may have 5 times 24, or 120 changes; on six, 6 times 120, or 720; on eight bells, 40,320; and so on. But in actual practice it is very rare to have more than five or six thousand rung, even if there are eight or more bells; about 1,600 changes can be rung in the course of an hour, and two to three hours’ consecutive work is as much as an ordinary ringer iscapable of accomplishing. The essential feature of each set of changes is to bring the bells round to the order in which they started; as they would naturally do in the peal given above.

The result of the introduction of systematic and organized change-ringing was that companies or societies of ringers were very soon formed. So early as 1603 we hear of a company known as the “Scholars of Cheapside,” formed in London. In 1637 was founded a famous London Society, that of the “College Youths,” probably a revival of the one just named; its name is derived from some connection with Sir Richard Whittington’s College of the Holy Ghost, near Cannon Street. It was to them that Stedman dedicated hisTintinnalogia, the work already mentioned. There is still an energetic “Ancient Society of College Youths,” but it is not certain whether it can trace an actual descent from the older society. Another well-known ringing society is that of the “CumberlandYouths,” originally “London Scholars,” who changed their name in 1746 in compliment to the victor of Culloden.

Before leaving the subject, may I venture here a protest against the absurdities perpetrated by the artists of Christmas cards and illustrated magazines, in the attempt to render the form of a bell and the method in which it is rung? It is certain that few can ever have visited either belfry or ringing-chamber! Plate29gives a more truthful rendering of the method of ringing.

It may be fairly claimed as one of the far-reaching effects of the Church Revival that the conditions of our belfries and the conduct of our ringers will compare very favourably with what it was some forty or fifty years ago. Where the more accessible portions of the fabric were given over to dirt and neglect, and slovenliness was the chief feature of all ordinary forms of worship, it was hardly surprising that the towers and their internal arrangementswere neglected, and frequently given over to more secular uses.

Nor was this merely a result of the general laxity and indifference of the “dead” period in the Church. There are not wanting signs that in the seventeenth century the standard of discipline among ringers was not high. We may recall how John Bunyan, at one time an enthusiastic member of the ringing company of Elstow, was constrained to abandon the pursuit, along with other enjoyments, as not tending to edification. That conviviality reigned in the belfry in those days is shown by the use of ringers’ jugs, some of which still exist, in which large quantities of beer were provided, and by the frequent entries in parish accounts of money spent on beer for the ringers. One of the bells at Walsgrave, in Warwickshire (dated 1702) has the inscription:

“Hark do you hear?Our clappers want beer,”

evidently intended for a gentle hint that the ringers suffered from thirst!

Plate 19.“Great John of Beverley.”A fourteenth-century bell recast by Taylor, with old lettering reproduced. (See pages49,116,155.)

Plate 19.

“Great John of Beverley.”A fourteenth-century bell recast by Taylor, with old lettering reproduced. (See pages49,116,155.)

“Great John of Beverley.”

A fourteenth-century bell recast by Taylor, with old lettering reproduced. (See pages49,116,155.)

At the same time there was a feeling that the actual ringing should be properly carried out, which finds vent in the numerous “Ringers’ Rules,” mostly dating from the eighteenth century, which may be seen painted up on the walls of our belfries. They all follow very much on one pattern, and one of the best versions is at Tong, in Shropshire, which may be given as an example—

“If that to Ring you doe come hereYou must ring well with hand and eare.Keep stroak of time and goe not out;Or else you forfeit out of doubt.Our law is so concluded hereFor every fault a jugg of beer.If that you Ring with Spurr or HatA jugg of beer must pay for that.If that you take a Rope in hand,These forfeits you must understand.Or if that you a Bell ou’r-throwIt must cost Sixpence e’re you goe.If in this place you sweare or curse,[Pg 79]Sixpence to pay, pull out your purse:Come pay the Clerk, it is his fee;For one that Swears shall not goe free.These laws are Old, and are not new;Therefore the Clerk must have his due.”Geo. Harrison, 1694.

It is satisfactory to note that the rule against swearing was very generally included, though possibly honoured more in the breach than the observance; but it is probable that the objection to wearing a hat was more on the grounds of inconvenience to the ringers than of irreverence.

As late as 1857, the Rev. W. C. Lukis, one of the earliest writers on church bells, complained of his own county, Wiltshire, that “there are sets of men who ring for what they can get, which they consume in drink; but there is very little love for the science or its music; and alas! much irreverence and profanation of the House ofGod. There is no ‘plucking at the bells’ for recreation and exercise. Church-ringers with us have degenerated intomercenary performers. In more than one parish where there are beautiful bells, I was told that the village youths took no interest whatever in bell-ringing, and had no desire to enter upon change-ringing.”

Although less money is available nowadays for payments to ringers on special occasions, it may be feared that these remarks still hold good to some extent. But in other respects there is undoubted improvement. We do not now hear of “prize-ringing,” or ringing in celebration of a victory in the Derby or in a parliamentary election, and if our ringing-chambers do not always reach a high standard of decency, there is a marked improvement in the character and behaviour of the ringers themselves.

An old monkish rhyme sums up the ancient uses of bells as follows:—

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