Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1871-05-12
3fisfcliamp.
The Curiew Bell.

Many have heard of the 'curfew bell,
but not all know its origin. It's his ory
in England runs back to the time of
William the Conqueror, who ordered
bell to be rung about sundown in sum.
mer, and at eight o'clock in the evening
in winter, at which time fire and lights
were to be put out, and the people to re-
main within doors, aud penalties were
imposed upon those who neglected or
refused to comply with the law. This
was called the "curtew," a word derived
from the French couvrefeu, cover fire,
and so the appropriateness of the name
is readily seen. The old king has been
generally charged with instituting this
sustom in order to impress upon his sub
jects a sense of their abject condition;
but, as the "curfew bell" was rung in
France long before Williams time, as a
safeguard against fires, it is not improb-
able that he brought the custom with
him into England from the continent,
and that he has been slandered as to his
motives. Atany rate, he has sins enough
to answer for without this. In the six
teenth century, "bell-men" were added
to the nightwatch in London. They
went through the streets ringing their
bells, and crying Take care of fire and
candle; be kind to the poor, and pray
for the dead" II was the belman's du-
ty, also, to bless the sleepers as he passed
their doors. In I'll Penseroso," Milton
refers to this custom:
"The bell-m drowsy charm.
To bless the doors from nightly HARM
Poets have often, referred to the cur
few, or cover-fre, bell. Gray begins
his beautiful "Elegy" with
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day"
Longiellow, too, has pretty little poem
telling the story of this bell with charm
ing simplicity:
"Solemnly mournfully. dealing its dole.
The curtew bell Is beginning to toll.
Cover the embers put out the light;
Toll Genes with the morning. ana with the night
Dark grow the windows. and quenehed is the fire !;
Sound fades into silence. all footsteps retire.
| No voice in the chambers. no sound in the hall;
| Sleep and oblivion reign over rall'
King William died, and the original
obligations of the curiew were at last re-
moved about the time of Henry |, in
100; but the custom ofriDging an even
ing bell is still kept up in England /,
with variations as to the hour. The
mine o'clock bell"-familiar to most
New England people-which sends SO
many young people home and to bed,
and which, in the early history of our
country, was almost as rigidly obeyed
by all, both old and young, as the old
curfew, traces its origin directly to the
cover of the bell. In Longieliow's
"Evangeline," the custom is well de-
scribed:
Anon the bell from the belfry
Rang out the hour Of nine-the village curfew-and
straightway
Rose the guests aud departed and silence reigned
in the household"
But now the customs have changed /;
and though the bell still rings out on
the evening air, in country village and
city street, it has lost its power, save as
tell-tale of passing time. Let the old
bells ring on; we love their sound or,
in the words of Moore
| Those evening bells ! those evening bells
How many tale their music tells,
| Ofyouth. and home, and that sweet time
| When last heard their soothing ehimeg"
Our Boys and Girls.