Bells early summoned soldiers to arms, as well as Christians to church. They sounded the alarm in fire or tumult; and the rights of the burghers in their bells were jealously guarded. Thus the chief bell in the cathedral often belonged to the town, not to the cathedral chapter. The curfew, the Carolus and St Mary’s bell in the Antwerp tower all belong to the town; the rest are the property of the chapter. He who commanded the bell commanded the town; for by that sound, at a moment’s notice, he could rally and concentrate his adherents. Hence a conqueror commonly acknowledged the political importance of bells by melting them down; and the cannon of the conquered was in turn melted up to supply the garrison with bells to be used in the suppression of revolts. Many a bloody chapter in history has been rung in and out by bells.
On the third day of Easter 1282, at the ringing of the Sicilian vespers (which have given their name to the affair), 8000 French were massacred in cold blood by John of Procida, who had thus planned to free Sicily from Charles of Anjou. On the 24th of August, St Bartholomew’s day, 1571, bells ushered in the massacre of the Huguenots in France, to the number, it is said, of 100,000. Bells have rung alike over slaughtered and ransomed cities; and far and wide throughout Europe in the hour of victory or irreparable loss. At the news of Nelson’s triumph and death at Trafalgar, the bells of Chester rang a merry peal alternated with one deep toll, and similar incidents could be multiplied.
There are many old customs connected with the use of church bells, some of which have died out, while others remain here and there. The best known and perhaps oldest of these is the “Curfew” (couvre-feu), first enforced (though not perhaps introduced) by William the Conqueror in England as a signal for all lights and fires to be extinguished at 8P.M.—probably to prevent nocturnal gatherings of disaffected subjects. In many towns it survived into the 19th century as a signal for closing shops at 8 or 9; and it is still kept up in various places as an old custom; thus at Oxford the familiar boom of “Tom’s” 101 strokes is still the signal for closing college gates at 9. The largest and heaviest bells were used for the Curfew, to carry the sound as far as possible, as it did to Milton’s ear, suggesting the descriptive lines inIl Penseroso(74-75):—
“Oft, on a plot of rising ground,I hear the far-off curfew soundOver some wide-watered shore,Swinging slow with sullen roar.”
“Oft, on a plot of rising ground,
I hear the far-off curfew sound
Over some wide-watered shore,
Swinging slow with sullen roar.”
Gray’s allusion in theElegyis well known; as also are those of Shakespeare to the elves “that rejoice to hear the solemn curfew” (Tempest), or the fiend that “begins at curfew and walks till the first cock” (King Lear); or Milton’s inComusto the ghost “that breaks his magic chains at curfew time.”
Among secular uses connected with church bells are the “Mote” or “Common” bell, summoning to municipal or other meetings, ase.g.the 7th at St Mary’s, Stamford, tolled for quarter sessions, or the bell at St Mary’s, Oxford, for meetings of Convocation. In some places one of the bells is known as the “Vestry Bell.” The “Pancake Bell,” still rung here and there on Shrove Tuesday, was originally a summons to confession before Lent; the “Harvest Bell” and “Seeding Bell” called labourers to their work; while the “Gleaning Bell” fixed the hours for beginning or leaving off gleaning, so that everyone might start fair and have an even chance. The “Oven Bell” gave notice when the lord of the manor’s oven was ready for his tenants to bake their bread; the “Market Bell” was a signal for selling to begin; and in some country districts a church bell is still rung at dinner time. The general diffusion of clocks and watches has rendered bells less necessary for marking the events of daily life; and most of these old customs have either disappeared or are fast disappearing. At Strassburg a large bell of eight tons weight, known as the “Holy Ghost Bell,” is only rung when two fires are seen in the town at once; a “storm-bell” warns travellers in the plain of storms approaching from the mountains, and the “Thor Glocke” (gate bell) gives the signal for opening or shutting the city gates. On the European continent, especially in countries which, like Belgium and Holland, were distracted by constant war, bells acquired great public importance. They were formally baptized with religious ceremonies (as also in England in pre-Reformation days), the notabilities of a town or church standing as sponsors; and theywere very generally supposed to have the power of scaring away evil spirits.
Other old customs are naturally connected with the ecclesiastical uses of bells. The “Passing Bell,” rung for the dying, is now generally rung after death; the ancient mode of indicating the sex of the deceased, viz. two pulls for a woman and three for a man being still very common, with many varying customs as regards the interval after death or the bell to be used,e.g.smaller bells for children and females, and larger ones for aged men; the tenor bell being sometimes reserved for the death of the incumbent, or of a bishop or member of the royal family. “Burial Peals,” once common at or after funerals to scare away the evil spirits from the soul of the departed, though discouraged by bishops as early as the 14th century, were kept alive by popular superstition, and only finally checked in Puritan times; but they have been revived, since the spread of change-ringing, in the “muffled peals” now frequently rung as a mark of respect to deceased persons of public or local importance, or the short “touches” on hand-bells sometimes rung at the grave by the comrades of a deceased ringer. The “Sermon-Bell,” rung in pre-Reformation times to give notice that a sermon was to be preached (cf. Shakespeare,Henry IV., Pt. II. iv. 2. 4-7), survives in some places in a custom of ringing the tenor bell before a service with a sermon; and a similar custom before a celebration of the Holy Communion preserves the memory of the “Sacrament Bell.” The ancient “Sanctus” or “Sance” bell, hung on the rood-screen or in a small bell cot on the chancel gable, and sounded three times when the priest said theTersanctus(Holy, Holy, Holy) in the office of mass, was specially obnoxious to Puritan zeal, and few of them survived the Reformation. An early morning bell, rung in many places for no apparent reason, is probably a relic of theAve MariaorAngelusbell. The inscription on some old bells,Lectum fuge, discute somnum(“Away from bed, shake off sleep”), points to this use, as also does the name “Gabriel” applied to the bell used for ringing the Angelus. In old times bells were generally named at their baptism, after the Virgin Mary or saints, or their donors; thus the bells at Oseney Abbey in the 13th century were called Hautclere, Doucement, Austyn, Marie, Gabriel and John; sometimes they were known by mere nicknames, such as “Great (or “Mighty”) Tom” at Oxford, or “Big Ben,” “Great Paul,” &c., in recent times.
Bell Inscriptions.—The names of bells were often stamped upon them in the casting; whence arose inscriptions upon church bells, giving in monkish Latin the name of some saint, a prayer to the Virgin, or for the soul of the donor, or a distich upon the function of the bell itself;e.g.—
“Funera plango, fulgura frango, Sabbata pango,Excito lentos, dissipo ventos, paco cruentos.”(I mourn for death, I break the lightning, I fix the Sabbath, I rouse the lazy, I scatter the winds, I appease the cruel.)
“Funera plango, fulgura frango, Sabbata pango,Excito lentos, dissipo ventos, paco cruentos.”
“Funera plango, fulgura frango, Sabbata pango,
Excito lentos, dissipo ventos, paco cruentos.”
(I mourn for death, I break the lightning, I fix the Sabbath, I rouse the lazy, I scatter the winds, I appease the cruel.)
The character of the lettering and the foundry marks upon old bells, are of great assistance in determining their date. Sometimes a set of bells has each a separate verse,e.g.on a ring of five in Bedfordshire:—
1st. “Hoc signum Petri pulsatum nomine Christi.”(This emblem of Peter is struck in the name of Christ.)2nd. “Nomen Magdalene campana sonat melode.”(This bell named Magdalen sounds melodiously.)3rd. “Sit nomen Domini benedictum semper in eum.”(May the name of the Lord always be blessed upon him,i.e.on the bell when struck.)4th. “Musa Raphaelis sonat auribus Immanuelis.”(The music of Raphael sounds in the ear of Immanuel.)5th. “Sum Rosa pulsata mundique Maria vocata.”(I, Maria, am struck and called the Rose of the world.)
1st. “Hoc signum Petri pulsatum nomine Christi.”(This emblem of Peter is struck in the name of Christ.)2nd. “Nomen Magdalene campana sonat melode.”(This bell named Magdalen sounds melodiously.)3rd. “Sit nomen Domini benedictum semper in eum.”(May the name of the Lord always be blessed upon him,i.e.on the bell when struck.)4th. “Musa Raphaelis sonat auribus Immanuelis.”(The music of Raphael sounds in the ear of Immanuel.)5th. “Sum Rosa pulsata mundique Maria vocata.”(I, Maria, am struck and called the Rose of the world.)
1st. “Hoc signum Petri pulsatum nomine Christi.”
(This emblem of Peter is struck in the name of Christ.)
2nd. “Nomen Magdalene campana sonat melode.”
(This bell named Magdalen sounds melodiously.)
3rd. “Sit nomen Domini benedictum semper in eum.”
(May the name of the Lord always be blessed upon him,i.e.on the bell when struck.)
4th. “Musa Raphaelis sonat auribus Immanuelis.”
(The music of Raphael sounds in the ear of Immanuel.)
5th. “Sum Rosa pulsata mundique Maria vocata.”
(I, Maria, am struck and called the Rose of the world.)
The names of these five bells were thus:—Peter, Magdalen, (?) Jesus, Raphael and Mary.
Other inscriptions take the form of an invocation or prayer for the bell itself, its donor or those who hear it,e.g.—
“Augustine tuam campanam protege sanam.”(Augustine, protect thy bell and keep it sound.)“Sancte Johannes, ora pro animabus Johannis Pudsey, militis, et Mariae, consortae suae.”(St John, pray for the souls of John Pudsey, knight, and Mary his wife.)“Protege pura via quos convoco virgo Maria.”(Guard in the way those whom I pure Virgin Mary call.)
“Augustine tuam campanam protege sanam.”(Augustine, protect thy bell and keep it sound.)“Sancte Johannes, ora pro animabus Johannis Pudsey, militis, et Mariae, consortae suae.”(St John, pray for the souls of John Pudsey, knight, and Mary his wife.)“Protege pura via quos convoco virgo Maria.”(Guard in the way those whom I pure Virgin Mary call.)
“Augustine tuam campanam protege sanam.”
(Augustine, protect thy bell and keep it sound.)
“Sancte Johannes, ora pro animabus Johannis Pudsey, militis, et Mariae, consortae suae.”
(St John, pray for the souls of John Pudsey, knight, and Mary his wife.)
“Protege pura via quos convoco virgo Maria.”
(Guard in the way those whom I pure Virgin Mary call.)
The “Mittags Glocke” (mid-day bell) at Strassburg, taken down at the time of the French Revolution, bore the legend:
“Vox ego sum vitae; voco vos; orate venite.”(I am the voice of life: I call you: come and pray.)
“Vox ego sum vitae; voco vos; orate venite.”(I am the voice of life: I call you: come and pray.)
“Vox ego sum vitae; voco vos; orate venite.”
(I am the voice of life: I call you: come and pray.)
A bell in Rouen cathedral, melted down in 1793, was inscribed:
“Je suis George d’Ambois,Qui trente cinque mille pois;Mais lui qui me peseraTrente six mille me trouvera.”(I am George d’Ambois, weighing 35,000 ℔; but he who weighs me will find me 36,000.)
“Je suis George d’Ambois,Qui trente cinque mille pois;Mais lui qui me peseraTrente six mille me trouvera.”
“Je suis George d’Ambois,
Qui trente cinque mille pois;
Mais lui qui me pesera
Trente six mille me trouvera.”
(I am George d’Ambois, weighing 35,000 ℔; but he who weighs me will find me 36,000.)
A similar inscription is said to have been cast on the largest of the bells placed by Edward III. in a “clocher” or bell hut in the Little Cloisters at Westminster:
“King Edward made mee thirty thousand weight and three,Take mee down and wey mee and more you shall find mee.”
“King Edward made mee thirty thousand weight and three,
Take mee down and wey mee and more you shall find mee.”
On the “Thor Glocke” at Strassburg above mentioned are the words:—
“Dieses Thor Glocke das erst mal schalltAls man 1618 sahltDass Mgte jahr regnet manNach doctor Luther Jubal jahrDas Bös hinaus das Gut hineinZu läuten soll igr arbeit seyn.”
“Dieses Thor Glocke das erst mal schallt
Als man 1618 sahlt
Dass Mgte jahr regnet man
Nach doctor Luther Jubal jahr
Das Bös hinaus das Gut hinein
Zu läuten soll igr arbeit seyn.”
The reference is to the year 1517, when Luther began his crusade, and the verse may be Englished as follows:—
When first ringeth this Gate Bell1618 years we tell.We reckon this a year to beFrom Dr Luther’s jubilee.To ring out ill, the good ring in,Its daily task shall now begin.
When first ringeth this Gate Bell
1618 years we tell.
We reckon this a year to be
From Dr Luther’s jubilee.
To ring out ill, the good ring in,
Its daily task shall now begin.
Large Bells.—There are a few bells of world-wide renown, and several others more or less celebrated. The great bell at Moscow, “Tsar Kolokol,” which, according to the inscription, was cast in 1733, was in the earth 103 years and was raised by the emperor Nicholas in 1836. The present bell seems never to have been actually hung or rung, having been cracked in the furnace; and it now stands on a raised platform in the middle of a square. It is used as a chapel. It weighs about 180 tons, height 19 ft. 3 in., circumference 60 ft. 9 in., thickness 2 ft., weight of broken piece 11 tons. The second Moscow bell, the largest in the world in actual use, weighs 128 tons. In a pagoda in Upper Burma hangs a bell 16 ft. in diameter, weighing about 80 tons. The great bell at Peking weighs 53 tons; Nanking, 22 tons; Olmutz, 17 tons; Vienna (1711), 17 tons; Notre Dame (1680), 17 tons; Erfurt, 13 tons; Great Peter, York Minster, recast in 1845, 12½ tons; Great Paul, at St Paul’s cathedral, 16¾ tons; Great Tom at Oxford, 7½ tons; Great Tom at Lincoln, 5½ tons. Big Ben of the Westminster Clock Tower weighs 13½ tons; it was cast by George Mears under the direction of the first Lord Grimthorpe (E. Beckett Denison) in 1858. Its four quarters were cast by Warner in 1856. The “Kaiserglocke” of Cologne cathedral, recast in 1875, with metal from French cannon captured in 1870-1871, weighs 27½ tons.
These large bells are either not moved at all, or only slightly swung to enable the clapper to touch their side; in some cases they are struck by a hammer or beam from outside. The heaviestringingpeals in England are those at Exeter and St Paul’s cathedrals, tenors 72 cwt. and 62 cwt. respectively.
Bell-ringing.—The science and art of bell-ringing, as practised upon church and tower bells, falls under two main heads:—(1) Mechanical ringing, in connexion with the machinery of a clock or “carillon”; (2) Ringing by hand, by means of ropes attached to the fittings of the bells, whereby the bell itself is either moved as it hangs mouth downwards sufficiently for the clapper just to touch its side (called technically “chiming”); or is swung round nearly full circle with its mouth uppermost (technically“ringing”), in which case the impact of the clapper is much heavier, and the sound produced is consequently louder and more far-reaching. Mechanical ringing is more common on the continent of Europe, especially in Belgium and Flanders; ringing by hand is more common in England, where the development of change-ringing (see below) has brought it into prominence.
(1) Mechanical ringing is effected by a system of wires connected with small hammers striking the bells, usually on their outside, and worked either by connexion with the machinery of a clock, so as to play tunes or artificially arranged chimes at definite intervals; or with a key-board resembling that of an organ. The first of these methods is familiar in the chimes (Cambridge, Westminster, &c.) heard from many towers at the striking of the hours and quarters; or in hymn tunes played at intervals (e.g.of three hours) upon the church bells. The second method is peculiar to the “carillon” (q.v.), as found everywhere in Belgium, where with a set of from 20 or 30 to 60 or 70 bells a much wider scope for tunes and harmonies is provided than in English belfries, few of which have more than one octave of bells in one key only and none more than 12 bells. The carillons at Louvain and Bruges contain 40 bells, and that of Mechlin 44, while in the tower of Antwerp cathedral there are upwards of 90 bells, for the largest of which, cast in 1507, Charles V. stood sponsor at its consecration.
(2)Ringing by Hand.—Church bells may be “chimed” or “rung” (see above). One man can, as a rule, chime three bells, with a rope in each hand and one foot in the loop of another; but by the use of an “Ellacombe” or other chiming apparatus one man can work six, eight or ten bells. Some prefer the quieter sound of chiming as an introduction to divine service, but where a band of ringers is available and change-ringing is practised the bells as a rule are rung. The practice of “clocking” a bell, in which the clapper, by means of a cord attached to it and pulled from below, is allowed to swing against the bell at rest, is often employed to save trouble; but the jar is very likely to crack the bell. In ringing, or in true chiming, the bell is in motion when struck.
For ringing, a bell is pulled up and “set” mouth uppermost. She (to ringers a bell is feminine) is then pulled off, first at “handstroke” (i.e.with the hands on the “sally” or tufted portion of the rope, a few feet from its lower end) and then at “back-stroke” in the reverse direction (with the hands nearer the lower end, the rope having at the previous pull coiled round three-quarters of the wheel’s circumference), describing at each pull almost a full circle till she comes back to the upright position. At each revolution the swing is chiefly done by the weight of the bell, the ringer giving a pull of just sufficient strength to bring the bell back into the upright position; otherwise its swing would become gradually shorter till it remained at rest mouth downwards.
Change-ringing.—When a given number of bells are rung over and over again in the same order, from the highest note, or “treble,” to the lowest, or “tenor”—1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7—they are said to be rung in “rounds.” “Changes” are variations of this order—e.g.2 1 3 5 4 7 6, 2 3 1 4 5 6 7; and “change-ringing” is the art of ringing bells in “changes,” so that a different “change” or rearrangement of order is produced at each pull of the bell-ropes, until, without any repetition of the same change, the bells come back into “rounds.” The general principle of all methods of change-ringing is that each bell, after striking in the first place or “lead,” works gradually “up” to the last place or “behind,” and “down” again to the first, and that no bell ever shifts more than one place in each change. Thus the ringer of any bell knows that whatever his position in one change, his place in the next will be either the same, or the place before or the place after. He does not have to learn by heart the different changes or variations of order; nor need he, unless he is the “conductor,” know the exact order of any one change. He has to bear in mind, first, which way his bell is working, viz. whether “up” from first to last place, or “down” from last to first; secondly, in what place his bell is striking; thirdly, what bell or bells are striking immediately before or after him—this being ascertained chiefly by “rope-sight,”i.e.the knack, acquired by practice, of seeing which rope is being pulled immediately before and after his own. He must also remember and apply the rules of the particular “method” which is being rung. The following table representing the first twenty changes of a “plain course” of “Grandsire Triples” (for these terms, see below) illustrates the subject-matter of this section:—
It will be observed that at the 1st change the third bell and at the 15th the fifth bell, according to the rule of this “method,” strikes a second blow in the third place (“makes third’s place”). This stops the regular work of the bells which at the previous change were in the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th places (“in 4, 5, 6, 7”), causing them to take a step backwards in their course “up” or “down,” or as it is technically called, to “dodge.” Were it not for this, the bells would come back into “rounds” at the 14th change. It is by the use of “place-making” and “dodging,” according to the rules of various “methods,” that the required number of changes, upon any number of bells, can be produced. But in order that this may be done, without the bells coming back into “rounds” (as,e.g.in the “plain course” of Grandsire Triples, above given, they will do in seventy changes), further modifications of the “coursing order,” called technically “Bobs” and “Singles,” must be introduced. In ringing, notice of these alterations as they occur is given by one of the ringers, who acts as “conductor,” calling out “Bob” or “Single” at the right moment to warn the ringers of certain bells to make the requisite alteration in the regular work of their bells. (Hence, in ringing language, to “call” a peal or touch = to conduct it.) Particulars of these, as of other details of change-ringing, may be gathered from books dealing with the technique of the art; but they are best mastered in actual practice. The term “single,” applied to five-bell ringing meant that, as the first three bells remained unchanged, only a single pair of bells changed places,e.g.1 5 4 3 2, 1 5 4 2 3. On larger numbers of bells it loses this meaning; but the effect of this “call” is that the “coursing order” of a single pair of bells is inverted. The origin of “Bob” is unknown. As a “call” it was perhaps adopted as a short, sharp sound, easily uttered and easily heard by the ringers. As applied to a “method” or system of ringing it may refer to the evolution of “dodging,”e.g.in “Treble Bob” to the zigzag “dodging” path of the treble bell; but none of the old writers attempts to explain it.
The number ofpossible“changes” on any given series of bells may be ascertained, according to the mathematical formula of “permutations,” by multiplying the number of the bells together. Thus on three bells, only 6 changes or variations of order (1 × 2 × 3) can be produced; on four bells, 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 = 24; on five, 24 × 5 = 120; on six, 120 × 6 = 720; on seven, 720 × 7 = 5040. A “peal” on any such number of bells is in ordinary language the ringing of all the possible changes. But technically, only the full extent of changes upon seven bells, usually rung with a “tenor behind,” is called a “peal”; a shorter performance upon seven or more bells, or the full extent upon less than seven, being, in ringing parlance, a “touch.” On six bells the full extent of changes must be repeated continuously seven times (720 × 7 = 5040), and on five bells forty-two times (l20 × 42 = 5040) to rank as a “peal.” On eight or more bells 5000 changes in round numbers is accepted as theminimumstandard for a peal; and on such numbers of bells up to twelve (the largest number used in change-ringing), peals are so arranged that the bells come into rounds at, or at some point beyond,5000 changes. As many as 16,000 changes, occupying from nine to ten hours, have been rung upon church bells. But the great physical strain upon the ringers—to say nothing of the effect upon those who are within hearing—makes such performances exceptional. The word “peal” is often, though incorrectly, used (1) for a set of church bells (“a peal of six,” “a peal of eight”), for which the correct term is “a ring” of bells; (2) for any shorter performance than a full peal (e.g.“wedding-peal,” “muffled peal,” &c.), called in ringing language a “touch.” Its use as equivalent for “method,” found in old campanological works, is now obsolete.
Change-ringing upon five bells is called “Doubles,” upon seven bells “Triples,” upon nine “Caters” (Fr.quatre), and upon eleven “Cinques,” from the fact that at each change two, three, four or five pairs of bells change places with each other. “Doubles” can be and are rung when there are only five bells; but as a rule these “odd-bell” systems are rung with a “tenor behind,”i.e.struck at the end of each change; the number of bells in a tower being usually an even number—six, eight, ten or twelve. In “even-bell” systems the tenor is “rung in” or “turned in,”i.e.changes with the other bells, and a different terminology is employed; change-ringing on six bells being called “Minor”; on eight bells, “Major”; on ten bells, “Royal”; and on twelve, “Maximus.” The principal “methods” of change-ringing, each of which has its special rules, are—(1) “Grandsire”; (2) “Plain Bob”; (3) “Treble Bob”; (4) “Stedman,” from the name of its inventor, Fabian Stedman, about 1670. In “Grandsire” the treble and one other bell, in “Plain Bob” the treble alone, has a “plain hunt,”i.e.works from the first place, or “lead,” to the last place, or “behind,” and back again, without any dodging; in “Treble Bob” the treble has a uniform but zigzag course, dodging in each place on its way up and down. This is called a “Treble Bob hunt”; and under these two heads, according to the work of the treble, are classified a variety of “plain methods” and “Treble Bob methods,” among the latter being the so-called “Surprise” methods, the most complicated and difficult of all. “Stedman’s principle,” which issui generis, consists in the three front bells ringing their six possible changes, while the remaining pair or pairs of bells dodge. It is thus an “odd-bell” method adapted to five, seven, nine or eleven bells; as also is “Grandsire,” though occasionally rung on even numbers of bells. “Treble Bob” is always, and “Plain Bob” generally, rung on even numbers—six, eight, ten or twelve. In ringing, whenever the treble has a uniform course, unaffected by “Bobs” or “Singles,” it serves as a guide to the other changing bells, according to the place in which they meet and cross its path from “behind” to the “lead.” The order in which the different dodges occur, and the “course bell,”i.e.the bell which he follows from behind to lead, are also useful, and on large numbers of bells indispensable, guides to the ringer.
Quite distinct from the art of change-ringing is the science of “composing,”i.e.arranging and uniting by the proper “calls,” subject to certain fixed laws and conditions, a number of groups of changes, so that no one change, or series of changes represented in those groups, shall be repeated. A composition, long or short, is said to be “true” if it is free from, “false” if it involves, such repetition; and the body of ascertained laws and conditions governing true composition in any method constitutes the test or “proof” to be applied to a composition in that method to demonstrate its truth or falseness. Many practical ringers know little or nothing of the principles of composition, and are content with performing compositions received from composers, or published in ringing books and periodicals. An elaborate statement of the principles of composition in the “Grandsire” method may be found in an appendix to Snowdon’sGrandsire(1888), by the Rev. C.D.P. Davies. Those which apply to “Treble Bob” are explained in Snowdon’sTreatise on Treble Bob, Part I. But, so far as can be ascertained, there is no treatise dealing with the science of composition as a whole; nor is it possible here to attempt a popular exposition of its principles.
One of the objects kept in view by composers is musical effect. Certain sequences or contrasts of notes strike the ear as more musical than others; and an arrangement which brings up the more musical changes in quicker succession improves the musical effect of the “peal” or “touch.” On seven bells all the possible changes must be inserted in a true peal; but on larger numbers of bells, where the choice is from an immense number of possible changes, the composer is free to select those which are most musical. Unless, however, the bells of any given “ring” are in perfect tune and harmony with each other, their musical effect must be impaired, however well they are rung. This gives importance to the science and art of bell-tuning, in which great progress has been made (see above).
The art of scientific change-ringing, peculiar to England, does not seem to have been evolved before the middle of the 17th century. Societies or gilds of ringers, however, existed much earlier. A patent roll of 39 Henry III. (1255) confirms the “Brethren of the Guild of Westminster, who are appointed to ring the great bells there,” in the enjoyment of the “privileges and free customs which they have enjoyed from the time of Edward the Confessor.” In 1602 (as appears from a MS. in the library of All Souls’ College, Oxford) was founded a society called the “Scholars of Cheapside.” In 1637 began the “Ancient Society of College Youths,” so called from their meeting to practise on the six bells at St Martin’s, College Hill, a church destroyed in the Great Fire of London, 1666. At first only “rounds” and “call-changes” were rung, till about 1642, when 120 “Bob Doubles” were achieved; but slow progress was made till 1677, when Fabian Stedman of Cambridge published hisCampanologia, dedicating it to this society, his method being first rung about this time by some of its members. Before the end of the 17th century was founded the “Society of London Scholars,” the name of which was changed in 1746 to “Cumberland Youths” in compliment to the victor of Culloden. These two metropolitan societies still exist, and include in their membership most of the leading change-ringers of England: one of the oldest provincial societies being that of Saffron Walden in Essex, founded in 1623, and still holding an annual ringing festival. In the latter half of the 18th and first half of the 19th century change-ringing, which at first seems to have been an aristocratic pastime, degenerated in social repute. Church bells and their ringers, neglected by church authorities, became associated with the lower and least reputable phases of parochial life; and belfries were too often an adjunct to the pothouse. In the last half of the 19th century there was a great revival of change-ringing, leading to improvements in belfries and in ringers, and to their gradual recognition as church workers. Diocesan or county associations for the promotion of change-ringing and of belfry reform spread knowledge of the art and aroused church officials to greater interest in and care for their bells. A Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, consisting of delegates from these various societies, meets annually in London or at some provincial centre to discuss ringing matters, and to collect and formulate useful knowledge upon practical questions—e.g.the proper care of bells and the means of preventing annoyance from their use in the neighbourhood of houses, rules for the conduct of belfries, &c. It is now less likely than ever that the Belgian carillons will be preferred in England to the peculiarly English system of ringing bells in peal; by which, whatever its difficulties, the musical sound of bells is most fully brought out, and their scientific construction best stimulated.
Authorities.—The literature of bell-lore (or campanology) consists chiefly of scattered treatises or pamphlets upon the technique of different methods of change-ringing, or upon the bells of particular counties or districts. The earliest that deal with the science and art of change-ringing areCampanologia or the Art of Ringing Improved(1677), and a chapter of “Advice to a Ringer” in theSchool of Recreations, or Gentleman’s Tutor(1684), showing that in its early days bell-ringing was a fashionable pastime. Then followCampanologia, or the Art of Ringing made Easy(1766),Clavis Campanologia, a Key to Ringing(1788), and Shipway’sCampanologia(1816). The revival of change-ringing in recent years has produced many manuals:e.g.Snowdon’sRope-Sight(explaining the “Plain Bob” method),Grandsire, Treatise on Treble Bob, Double Norwich Court Bob Major, andStandard Methods(with a book of diagrams);Troyte onChange-Ringing;The Duffield Method, by Sir A.P. Heywood, Bart., its inventor. Somewhat prior to these are various works by the Rev. H.T. Ellacombe, inventor of a chiming apparatus which bears his name, and a pioneer in belfry reform. Among these are accounts of the church bells of Devon, Somerset and Gloucester, and pamphlets onBelfries and Ringers, Chiming, &c.; much of their contents being summarized inThe Ringer’s Guide to the Church Bells of Devon, by C. Pearson (1888). AGlossary of Technical Termsused in connexion with church bells and change-ringing was published (1901) under the auspices of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. On the history of church bells and customs connected with them much curious information is given in North’sEnglish Bells and Bell Lore(1888). By the same author are monographs on the church bells of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and Hertfordshire. There are similar works on the church bells of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, by Dr Raven; of Huntingdonshire, by the Rev. T.M.N. Owen; and on the church bells of Essex, by the Rev. C. Deedes. A compilation and summary of many data of bell-lore will be found inA Book about Bells, by the Rev. G.S. Tyack; and in a volume by Dr Raven in the “Antiquary’s Books” series (Methuen, 1906), entitledThe Bells of England, which deals with the antiquarian side of bell-lore. See alsoQuarterly Review, No. cxc. (September 1854);Windsor Magazine(December 1896); Lord Rayleigh’s paper “On the Tones of Bells” in thePhil. Mag.for January 1890; and a series of articles from theGuardian, reprinted as a pamphlet under the title,Church Bells and Bell-ringing.
Authorities.—The literature of bell-lore (or campanology) consists chiefly of scattered treatises or pamphlets upon the technique of different methods of change-ringing, or upon the bells of particular counties or districts. The earliest that deal with the science and art of change-ringing areCampanologia or the Art of Ringing Improved(1677), and a chapter of “Advice to a Ringer” in theSchool of Recreations, or Gentleman’s Tutor(1684), showing that in its early days bell-ringing was a fashionable pastime. Then followCampanologia, or the Art of Ringing made Easy(1766),Clavis Campanologia, a Key to Ringing(1788), and Shipway’sCampanologia(1816). The revival of change-ringing in recent years has produced many manuals:e.g.Snowdon’sRope-Sight(explaining the “Plain Bob” method),Grandsire, Treatise on Treble Bob, Double Norwich Court Bob Major, andStandard Methods(with a book of diagrams);Troyte onChange-Ringing;The Duffield Method, by Sir A.P. Heywood, Bart., its inventor. Somewhat prior to these are various works by the Rev. H.T. Ellacombe, inventor of a chiming apparatus which bears his name, and a pioneer in belfry reform. Among these are accounts of the church bells of Devon, Somerset and Gloucester, and pamphlets onBelfries and Ringers, Chiming, &c.; much of their contents being summarized inThe Ringer’s Guide to the Church Bells of Devon, by C. Pearson (1888). AGlossary of Technical Termsused in connexion with church bells and change-ringing was published (1901) under the auspices of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. On the history of church bells and customs connected with them much curious information is given in North’sEnglish Bells and Bell Lore(1888). By the same author are monographs on the church bells of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and Hertfordshire. There are similar works on the church bells of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, by Dr Raven; of Huntingdonshire, by the Rev. T.M.N. Owen; and on the church bells of Essex, by the Rev. C. Deedes. A compilation and summary of many data of bell-lore will be found inA Book about Bells, by the Rev. G.S. Tyack; and in a volume by Dr Raven in the “Antiquary’s Books” series (Methuen, 1906), entitledThe Bells of England, which deals with the antiquarian side of bell-lore. See alsoQuarterly Review, No. cxc. (September 1854);Windsor Magazine(December 1896); Lord Rayleigh’s paper “On the Tones of Bells” in thePhil. Mag.for January 1890; and a series of articles from theGuardian, reprinted as a pamphlet under the title,Church Bells and Bell-ringing.
(T. L. P.)
House Bells.—Buildings are commonly provided with bells, conveniently arranged so as to enable attendants to be summoned to the different rooms. In the old system, which has been largely superseded by pneumatic and still more by electric bells, the bells themselves are of the ordinary conical shape and are provided with clappers hung loosely inside them. Being supported on springs they continue to swing, and therefore to give out sound as the clapper knocks against the sides, for some time after they have been set in motion by means of the strings or wires by which each is connected to a bell-pull in the rooms. These wires are generally placed out of sight inside the walls, and bell-cranks are employed to take them round corners and to change the direction of motion as required. A lightly poised pendulum is often attached to each bell, to show by its motion when it has been rung. In pneumatic bells the wires are replaced by pipes of narrow bore, and the current of air which is caused to flow along these by the pressing of a push-button actuates a small hammer which impinges rapidly against a bell or gong. An electric bell consists of a small electro-magnet acting on a soft iron armature which is supported in such a way that normally it stands away from the magnet. When the latter is energized by the passage of an electric current, the armature is attracted towards it, and a small hammer attached to it strikes a blow on the bell or gong. This “single stroke” type of bell is largely used in railway signalling instruments. For domestic purposes, however, the bells are arranged so that the hammer strikes a series of strokes, continuing so long as the push-button which closes the electric circuit is pressed. A light spring is provided against which the armature rests when it is not attracted by the electro-magnet, and the current is arranged to pass through this spring and the armature on its way to the magnet. When the armature is attracted by the magnet it breaks contact with this spring, the current is interrupted, and the magnet being no longer energized allows the armature to fall back on the spring and thus restore the circuit. In this way a rapid to and fro motion is imparted to the hammer. The electric current is supplied by a battery, usually either of Leclanché or of dry cells. One bell will serve for all the rooms of a house, an “indicator” being provided to show from which it has been rung. Such indicators are of two main types: the current either sets in motion a pendulum, or causes a disk bearing the name or number of the room concerned to come into view. Each push must have one wire appropriated to itself leading from the battery through the indicator to the bell, but the return wire from the bell to the battery may be common to all the pushes. Bells of this kind cease to ring whenever the electrical continuity of any of these wires is interrupted, but in some cases, as in connexion with burglar-alarms, it is desirable that the bell, once set in action, shall continue to ring even though the wires are cut. For this purpose, in “continuous ringing” bells, the current, started by the push or alarm apparatus, instead of working the bell, is made to operate a relay-switch and thus to bring into circuit a second battery which continues to ring the bell, no matter what happens to the first circuit.
(H. M. R.)
BELLABELLA,the common name (popularized from the Indian corruption of Milbank) for a tribe of Kwakiutl Indians at Milbank, British Columbia, including the subtribes Kokaitk, Oetlitk and Ocalitk. They were converted to Christianity by Protestant missionaries, and number about 300.
BELLACOOLAorBilqula, a tribe of North American Indians of Salishan stock, inhabiting the coast of British Columbia. They number some 300.
BELLADONNA(from the Ital.bella donna, “beautiful lady,” the berries having been used as a cosmetic), the roots and leaves ofAtropa belladonna, or deadly nightshade (q.v.), widely used in medicine on account of the alkaloids which they contain. Of these the more important are atropine (or atropia), hyoscyamine, hyoscine and belladonine; atropine is the most important, occurring as the malate to the extent of about 0.47% in the leaves, and from 0.6 to 0.25% in the roots.
Atropine, C17H23NO3, was discovered in 1833 by P.L. Geiger and Hesse and by Mein in the tissues ofAtropa belladonna, from which it may be extracted by means of chloroform. By crystallization from alcohol it is obtained as colourless needles, melting at 115°. Hydrolysis with hydrochloric acid or baryta water gives tropic acid and tropine; on the other hand, by boiling equimolecular quantities of these substances with dilute hydrochloric acid, atropine is reformed. Since both these substances have been synthesized (seeTropine), the artificial formation of atropine is accomplished. Atropine is optically inactive; hyoscyamine, possibly a physical isomer, which yields atropine when heated to 108.6°, is laevorotatory.
Medicine.—The official doses of atropine are from1⁄200to1⁄100grain, and the sulphate, which is in general use in medicine, has a similar dose. It is highly important to observe that the official doses of the various pharmacopoeias may with safety be greatly exceeded in practice. They are based on the experimentaltoxic, as distinguished fromlethaldose. A toxic dose causes unpleasant symptoms, but in certain cases, such as this, it may require very many times a toxic dose to produce the lethal effect. In other words, whilst one-fiftieth of a grain may cause unpleasant symptoms, it may need more than a grain to kill. So valuable are certain of the properties of atropine that it is often desirable to give doses of one-twentieth or one-tenth of a grain; but these will never be ventured upon by the practitioner who is ignorant of the great interval between the minimum toxic and the minimum lethal dose. It actually needs twenty to thirty grains of atropine to kill a rabbit: the animal is, however, somewhat exceptional in this regard. The most valuable preparations of this potent drug are theliquor atropinae sulphatis, which is a 1% solution, and thelamella—for insertion within the conjunctival sac—which contains one five-thousandth part of a grain of the alkaloid.
Pharmacology.—When rubbed into the skin with such substances as alcohol or glycerine, which are absorbed, atropine is carried through the epidermis with them, and in this manner—or when simply applied to a raw surface—it paralyses the terminals of the pain-conducting sensory nerves. It acts similarly, though less markedly, upon the nerves which determine the secretion of the perspiration, and is therefore a local anaesthetic or anodyne and an anhidrotic. Being rapidly absorbed into the blood, it exercises a long and highly important series of actions on nearly every part and function of the nervous system. Perhaps its most remarkable action is that upon the terminals of nearly all the secretory nerves in the body. This causes the entire skin to become dry—as in the case of the local action above mentioned; and it arrests the secretion of saliva and mucus in the mouth and throat, causing these parts to become very dry and to feel very uncomfortable. This latter result is due to paralysis of thechorda tympaninerve, which is mainly responsible for the salivary secretion. Certain nerve fibres from the sympathetic nervous system, which can also cause the secretion of a(specially viscous) saliva, are entirely unaffected by atropine. A curious parallel to this occurs in its action on the eye. There is much uncertainty as to the influence of atropine on the secretions of the stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas and kidneys, and it is not possible to make any definite statement, save that in all probability the activities of the nerves innervating the gland-cells in these organs are reduced, though they are certainly not arrested, as in the other cases. The secretion of mucus by the bronchi and trachea is greatly reduced and their muscular tissue is paralysed—a fact of which much use is made in practical medicine. The secretion of milk, if occurring in the mammary gland, is much diminished or entirely arrested. Given internally, atropine does not exert any appreciable sedative action upon the nerves of pain.
The action of atropine on the motor nerves is equally important. Those that go to the voluntary muscles are depressed only by very large and dangerous doses. The drug appears to have no influence upon the contractile cells that constitute muscle-fibre, any more than it has directly upon the secretory cells that constitute any gland. But moderate doses of atropine markedly paralyse the terminals of the nerves that go to involuntary muscles, whether the action of those nerves be motor or inhibitory. In the intestine, for instance, are layers of muscle-fibre which are constantly being inhibited or kept under check by the splanchnic nerves. These are paralysed by atropine, and intestinal peristalsis is consequently made more active, the muscles being released from nervous control. The motor nerves of the arteries, of the bladder and rectal sphincters, and also of the bronchi, are paralysed by atropine, but the nervous arrangements of those organs are highly complex and until they are further unravelled by physiologists, pharmacology will be unable to give much information which might be of great value in the employment of atropine. The action upon the vaso-motor system is, however, fairly clear. Whether effected entirely by action on the nerve terminals, or by an additional influence upon the vaso-motor centre in the medulla oblongata, atropine certainly causes extreme dilatation of the blood-vessels, so much so that the skin becomes flushed and there may appear, after large doses, an erythematous rash, which must be carefully distinguished, in cases of supposed belladonna poisoning, from that of scarlet fever: more especially as the temperature may be elevated and the pulse is very rapid in both conditions. But whilst the characteristic action of atropine is to dilate the blood-vessels, its first action is to stimulate the vaso-motor centre—thereby causing temporary contraction of the vessels—and to increase the rapidity of the heart’s action, so that the blood-pressure rapidly rises. Though transient, this action is so certain, marked and rapid, as to make the subcutaneous injection of atropine invaluable in certain conditions. The respiratory centre is similarly stimulated, so that atropine must be regarded as a temporary but efficient respiratory and cardiac stimulant.
Toxic doses of atropine—and therefore of belladonna—raise the temperature several degrees. The action is probably nervous, but in the present state of our knowledge regarding the control of the temperature by the nervous system, it cannot be further defined. In small therapeutic and in small toxic doses atropine stimulates the motor apparatus of the spinal cord, just as it stimulates the centres in the medulla oblongata. This is indeed, as Sir Thomas Fraser has pointed out, “a strychnine action.” In large toxic and in lethal doses the activity of the spinal cord is lowered.
No less important than any of the above is the action of atropine on the cerebrum. This has long been a debated matter, but it may now be stated, with considerable certainty, that the higher centres are incoordinately stimulated, a state closely resembling that of delirium tremens being induced. In cases of poisoning the delirium may last for many hours or even days. Thereafter a more or less sleepy state supervenes, but it is not the case that atropine ever causes genuine coma. The stuporose condition is the result of exhaustion after the long period of cerebral excitement. It is to be noted that children, who are particularly susceptible to the influence of certain of the other potent alkaloids, such as morphine and strychnine, will take relatively large doses of atropine without ill-effect.
The action of atropine on the eye is of high theoretical and practical importance. The drug affects only the involuntary muscles of the eye, just as it affects only the involuntary or non-striated portion of the oesophagus. The result of its instillation into the eye—and the same occurs when the atropine has been absorbed elsewhere—is rapidly to cause wide dilatation of the pupil. This can be experimentally shown—by the method of exclusion—to be caused by a paralysis of the terminals of the third cranial nerve in thesphincter pupillaeof the iris. The action of atropine in dilating the pupil is also aided by a stimulation of the fibres from the sympathetic nervous system, which innervate the remaining muscle of the iris—thedilator pupillae. As a result of the extreme pupillary dilatation, the tension of the eyeball is greatly raised. The sight of many an eye has been destroyed by the use of atropine—in ignorance of this action on the intra-ocular tension—in cases of incipient glaucoma. The use of atropine is absolutely contra-indicated in any case where the intra-ocular tension already is, or threatens to become, unduly high. This warning applies notably to those—usually women—who are accustomed indiscriminately to use belladonna or atropine in order to give greater brilliancy to their eyes. The fourth ocular result of administering atropine is the production of a slight but definite degree of local anaesthesia of the eyeball. It follows from the above that a patient who is definitely under the influence of atropine will display rapid pulse, dilated pupils, a dry skin and a sense of discomfort, due to dryness of the mouth and throat.
Therapeutics.—The external uses of the drug are mainly analgesic. The liniment or plaster of belladonna will relieve many forms of local pain. Generally speaking, it may be laid down that atropine is more likely than iodine to relieve a pain of quite superficial origin; and conversely. Totally to be reprobated is the use, in order to relieve pain, of belladonna or any other application which affects the skin, in cases where the surgeon may later be required to operate. In such cases, it is necessary to use such anodyne measures as will not interfere with the subsequent demands that may be made of the skin,i.e.that it be aseptic and in a condition so sound that it is able to undertake the process of healing itself after the operation has been performed. Atropine is universally and constantly used in ophthalmic practice in order to dilate the pupil for examination of the retina by the ophthalmoscope, or in cases where the inflamed iris threatens to form adhesions to neighbouring parts. The drug is often replaced in ophthalmology by homatropine—an alkaloid prepared from tropine—which acts similarly to atropine but has the advantage of allowing the ocular changes to pass away in a much shorter time. The anhidrotic action of atropine is largely employed in controlling the night-sweats so characteristic of pulmonary tuberculosis, small doses of the solution of the sulphate being given at night.
The uses of atropine in cardiac affections are still obscure and dubious. It can only be laid down that the drug is a valuable though temporary stimulant in emergencies, and that its use as a plaster or internally often relieves cardiac pain. Recollection of the extraordinary complexity of the problems which are involved in the whole question of pain of cardiac origin will emphasize the extreme vagueness of the above assertion. Professor Schäfer recommended the use of atropine prior to the administration of a general anaesthetic, in cases where the action of the vagus nerve upon the heart is to be dreaded; and there is little doubt of the value of this precaution, which has no attendant disadvantages, in all such cases. Atropine is often of value as an antidote, as in poisoning by pilocarpine, muscarine (mushroom poisoning), prussic acid, &c.
Omitting numerous minor applications of this drug, we may pass to two therapeutic uses which are of unquestionable utility. In cases of whooping-cough or any other condition in which there is spasmodic action of the muscular fibre in the bronchi—a definition which includes nearly every form of asthma and many cases of bronchitis—atropine is an almost invaluabledrug. Not only does it relieve the spasm, but it lessens the amount of secretion—often dangerously excessive—which is often associated with it. The relief of symptoms in whooping-cough is sharply to be distinguished from any influence on the course of the disease, since the drug does not abbreviate its duration by a single day. In treating an actual and present attack of asthma, it is advisable to give the standardized tincture of belladonna—unless expense is no consideration, in which case atropine may itself be used—in doses of twenty minims every quarter of an hour as long as no evil effects appear. Relief is thereby constantly obtained. Smaller doses of the drug should be given three times a day between the attacks.
The nocturnal enuresis or urinary incontinence of children and of adults is frequently relieved by this drug. The excellent toleration of atropine displayed by children must be remembered, and if its use is “pushed” a cure may almost always be expected.
Toxicology.—The symptoms of poisoning by belladonna or atropine are dealt with above. The essential point here to be added is that death takes place from combined cardiac and respiratory failure. This fact is, of course, the key to treatment. This consists in the use of emetics or the stomach-pump, with lime-water, which decomposes the alkaloid. These measures are, however, usually rendered nugatory by the very rapid absorption of the alkaloid. Death is to be averted by such measures as will keep the heart and lungs in action until the drug has been excreted by the kidneys. Inject stimulants subcutaneously; give coffee—hot and strong—by the mouth and rectum, or use large doses of caffeine citrate; and employ artificial respiration. Do not employ such physiological antagonists as pilocarpine or morphine, for the lethal actions of all these drugs exhibit not mutual antagonism but coincidence.
BELLAGIO,a town of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Como, about 15 m. N.N.E. by steamer from the town of Como, situated on the promontory which divides the two southern arms of the Lake of Como. Pop. (1901) 3536. It is chiefly remarkable for the beauty of its scenery, and is a very favourite resort in the spring and autumn. Some of the gardens of its villas are remarkably fine. The manufacture of silks and carving in olive wood are carried on.
BELLAIRE,a city of Belmont county, Ohio, U.S.A., on the Ohio river, 5 m. S. of Wheeling, West Virginia. Pop. (1890) 9934; (1900) 9912 (1159 foreign-born); (1910) 12,946. It is served by the Baltimore & Ohio, the Pennsylvania, and the Ohio River & Western railways. Bellaire is the shipping centre of the Belmont county coalfield which in 1907 produced 19.3% of the total output of coal for the state. Iron, limestone and fireclay are found in the vicinity; among the manufactures are iron and steel, glass, galvanized and enamelled ware, agricultural implements and stoves. The value of the city’s factory products increased from $8,837,646 in 1900 to $10,712,438 in 1905, or 21.2%. Bellaire was settled about 1795, was laid out in 1836, was incorporated as a village in 1858, and was chartered as a city in 1874.
BELLAMY, EDWARD(1850-1898), American author and social reformer, was born at Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, on the 25th of March 1850. He studied for a time at Union College, Schenectady, New York, and in Germany; was admitted to the bar in 1871; but soon engaged in newspaper work, first as an associate editor of theSpringfield Union, Mass., and then as an editorial writer for theNew York Evening Post. After publishing three novelettes (Six to One, Dr Heidenhoff’s ProcessandMiss Ludington’s Sister), pleasantly written and showing some inventiveness in situation, but attracting no special notice, in 1888 he caught the public attention withLooking Backward, 2000-1887. in which he set forth ideas of co-operative or semi-socialistic life in village or city communities. The book was widely circulated in America and Europe, and was translated into several foreign languages. It was at first judged merely as a romance, but was soon accepted as a statement of the deliberate wishes and methods of its author, who devoted the remainder of his life as editor, author, lecturer and politician, to the promotion of the communistic theories ofLooking Backward, which he called “nationalism”; a Nationalist party (the main points of whose immediate programme, according to Bellamy, were embodied in the platform of the People’s party of 1892) was organized, but obtained no political hold. In 1897 Bellamy publishedEquality, a sequel toLooking Backward. He died at Chicopee Falls on the 22nd of May 1898.
BELLAMY, GEORGE ANNE(1727-1788), English actress, born at Fingal, Ireland, by her own account, on the 23rd of April 1733, but more probably in 1727, was the illegitimate daughter of Lord Tyrawley, British ambassador at Lisbon. Her mother married there a Captain Bellamy, and the child received the name George Anne, by mistake for Georgiana. Lord Tyrawley acknowledged the child, had her educated in a convent in Boulogne, and through him she came to know a number of notable people in London. On his appointment as ambassador to Russia, she went to live with her mother in London, made the acquaintance of Mrs Woffington and Garrick, and adopted the theatrical profession. Her first engagement was at Covent Garden as Monimia in theOrphanin 1744. Owing to her personal charms and the social patronage extended to her, her success was immediate, and till 1770 she acted in London, Edinburgh and Dublin, in all the principal tragic roles. She played Juliet to Garrick’s Romeo at Drury Lane at the time that Spranger Barry (q.v.) was giving the rival performances at Covent Garden, and was considered the better of the Juliets. Her last years were unhappy, and passed in poverty and ill-health. She died on the 16th of February 1788.