Bells of All Nations by Ernest Morris File 02 – Part one, Chapters I to VII – Pages 1 to 54 This document is provided for you by The Whiting Society of Ringers visit www.whitingsociety.org.uk for the full range of publications and articles about bells and change ringing CHAPTER I Origin and Development THE ORIGIN OF BELLS TOOK place in those distant days when man began primitively and tentatively to work and to hammer metals. His early impressions would be that malleable copper beaten into a saucer-like shape had a resonancy when struck, which intrigued his rudimentary feeling for music. In the Bronze Age, when the melting and mixing of copper and tin became prevalent, the increase in resonance and tonal power of the cast bronze instrument over the hammered copper one would become apparent ; and we may consider that in the Bronze Age the bell began its career. The Saucer-shape was probably the earliest form of bell-but the spherical hollow type is also ancient, small in size, with holes here and there, and having a little ball of metal rolling loose therein. These are called crotals-meaning rattle-and of this shape presumably were the golden Bells which were commanded to be made for the adornment of the Ephod of Aaron. 1 In media:val days too, a similar method arose of adorning the vestments of the Christian priesthood. , We have notices of several magnificent robes which were thus dec-orated. Conrad, Abbot of Canterbury, had a cope fringed with one hundred and forty little silver bells ; and fifty-one of silver gilt tinkled round the cope of Lanfranc. Riculfus, Bishop of Soissons, in his will, 1 Exodus xxviii. 33-4 "Upon the hem, pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet; and bells of gold between them round about ; a golden bell and a pome­ granate, a golden bell and a pomegranate." Chap. xxxix, v. 25, records that this command was carried out, "They made bells ofpuie gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates, upon the hem of the robe." Again in the Apocrypha we are told by Jesus, son of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus 45 ch. g v.,) "many golden bells" were placed round about, " that as he went there might be a sound and a noise made that might be heard in the temple, for a memorial to the children of the people." I B 2 BELLS OF ALL NATIONS dated 915, speaks of stoles adorned in a similar manner, and Peterborough Abbey had examples of a like kind. This form of bell has had very little development, remaining practically stationary through the ages. They are referred to by the prophet Isaiah, as worn at the feet of the women, and the prophet Zachariah (xiv. 20) mentions the " bells of the horses." Several of the sculptures discovered at Nineveh represent horses with bells hanging from their bridles, or (as is sometimes seen even to-day on the modern cart-horse) fixed on top of their heads. Euripides, lEschylus, and Aristo­ phanes are all witnesses on behalf of this usage in Greece. Russian horses frequently carry bells within the arch which surmounts the native horse collar, and in England the horses of the old tram­ cars sometimes wore a single bell suspended from their collars. The ancient Persians had such bells attached to their royal costumes, as in later days the chief men and civil officers of the Germans had them suspended from their garments. In Egypt, Arabia, Persia and other Eastern Countries, girls wore strings of bdls about their ankles, and may be seen in Cairo at the present day. Ladies wore little bells jingling at their girdles ; knights attached them to their armour, and the high curled shoes of the time frequently ended with a bell at the pointed toe. The official jesters at the English Court and elsewhere, always adorned their caps with bells, and the Morris-dancers on May-day in olden times were commonly bedecked with jingling bells. They were used in the camps and garrisons of the Greeks, were hung in triumphal cars, and sometimes used in the temples. They were also hung on the necks of malefactors on their way to execution, and from this Greek custom-it is said-was derived the Roman one of hanging a bell and a scourge to the Emperor's chariot, that, in the height of his prosperity, he might be admonished against pride, and be mindful of human misery. Bells were used at Athens by the priests of Proserpine, when inviting the people to sacrifice. The ringing of bells during eclipses is recorded by Juvenal. Pliny 1 says bells were used long before his time, and were called tintinnabula : Strabo tells us that 1 C. Plin, Hist. Natur. i, 36c. I 3· ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT 3 market time was announced by their sound, and Romans announced the hour of bathing by tintinnabulum. Suetorius informs us that Augustus caused one to be hung before the temple of Jupiter. The feast of Osiris is known to have been announced by bells. ..tEschylus and Euripides tell us that Greek warriors had small bells concealed within the hollow oftheir shields, and that when the captains went their rounds of the camp at night, each soldier was required to ring his bell in order to show that he was alert and watchful at his post. In triumphant entries of conquerors, bells were hung on the chariots, and Diodorus Siculus informs us that they were attached to the car which conveyed the body of Alexander from Babylon to Egypt. Plutarch says that when the city of Xanthus was be­ sieged, the inhabitants tried to escape by swimming and diving through the river, but a snare was laid for them by nets with small bells attached being spread across the stream under the water. Thus by coming into contact with these artfully contrived nets, the bells jingled, and so led to capture. The kings of Persia, when administering justice to their subjects, had a bronze bell suspended over their heads, to which a chain was fixed. Every time the bell tolled, the officers in attendance introduced to the presence of the king those who had any complaint to make, or who sought redress at his hands. Bells appear to have been used in very early times in Hindoo temples, and now high up in the Himalayas, in temples and on prayer wheels, the small musical bell is still to be heard. They have been found in Egypt with very early mummies at Thebes. The Chinese and Japanese pilgrims to the shrines used small spherical bells as votive offerings. Several ancient manuscripts have pictures which throw light on the use of bells in early times, as, for instance, one from a MS. Missal in the British Museum depicting a performer on a row of three "hand-bells" suspended from an arch, which he strikes with a hammer. Another portrays King David engaged in a similar act with four bells. This is from a MS. Psalter, also in the British Museum, and is the heading for the forty­ sixth Psalm. Others give representations of church towers or turrets with bells hanging in them, without wheels or ringing arrangements. 4 BELLS OF ALL NATIONS In the Bayeux tapestry there is a representation of the funeral of Edward the Confessor, in which the corpse is accompanied by two boys, each ringing a pair of hand-bells. Among the sculptural representations is one of the wonderful figures adorning the facade of the cathedral at Chartres-music striking her little bells with a hammer. Carved on one of the eight sides of the Norman font at Belton, Lincolnshire, is a representation of a Campanarius handling two bell-ropes. The figure shows that he was in Minor orders, and is vested in the camisia, which, according to Hoffman, is either an albe, or, most probably in this case, a soutane, or cassock. On the capital of a 12th century pillar in the Cathedral of Autun, France, is a carving representing a performance on bells. The chief performer seem to have suspended himself upon a trapeze on which hang six or seven bells, two of which he is" ringing with his hands. Another appears through a slit in his tunic, probably fastened to his thigh, and he seems to be going through a kind ofjig at the same time. On either side of him is a companion each,of whom is striking the clapper of one of the suspended bells, and one is ringing another he holds in one hand. Another sculptured figure, of the Norman period, may be seen in the church at Stoke Dry, Rutland, where it is carved on one of the columns supporting the chancel arch. It shows a ringer pulling the rope of the bell which is above him. It may be added that bells appear to have been almost universally as well as anciently known. Tribes inhabiting the remotest islands in the midst of the sea, have been found in the possession of bells. The cauldrons of Dodona, which closely resemble the Indian gong, are known to have been of very ancient origin. Possibly the oldest bells in the world, of which there is any information, may be some Assyrian bells found by Mr. Layard, in the Palace of Nimrod. 1 Such an ancient bell, reputed by authorities to be at least 3,ooo years old, discovered in excavations in the Holy Land, is now in a museum at Berlin. Those taken from tombs of the Peruvians, and some small bells brought by the trading canoes of Indians to Columbus, at Cape Hondorus, show they were known in America before its discovery by Europeans.