Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1871-09-14
The CurfeW Bell.

Many have heard Of the "curfcw bell"
but not all who know its origin Its his
tory in England runs back to the time of
William the Copqueror, who ordered q
bell to he rung about SHUTDOWN in summer,
and eight O'Clock in he eve ming in Inter,
at which time fce-lights were to be put
out aud the people to remain within DOORS
and penalties we're imposed upon those
who neglected or refused to comply with
tue law. This was called the "curfew," q
word derived from the French couorefeu,
cover fire, and so the appropriateness of
the name is readily seen. The old King
has been generally charged with institut-
ing this custom in order to impress upon
his subjects sense of their abject condi
ton; but as the "curfew bel" was rung
in France long before Williams time, as d
safeguard against fires, it is not improbable
tEa5 he brought the custom with HIM into
England from the continent, and that he
has been s'andtred as to his motives. At
any rate, he has sins enough to answer for
without this.
In the sixteenth century "bellln| n I"
wer" auded to the night watch in London.
They went through the STR ets ringing
thu ir bells, and crying: Take care OF fire
aid candle; be kind to the poor, ard pray
for the dead.' 1t was the b.lInan's duty,
also, to hlrss the sleepers as he passed their
doors. In III Penscroso,' Milton refers
to this custom:
"The bellman's drOwsy charm,
TO bless the doors from nightly HARM"
Poets have oft N referred to the curfew
or cover fire bell Gray begins his beau
'iful Ell gy with:
"The curfew tolls the knell Of parting day"
Longtello~, too, las pr ty little poem
telling the story of this bell with charm
ing simplicity:
solemnly, mournfully dealing ts dole,
The curfew bell is beginning to toll.
" Cover the ember, put ont the light,
Toll comes with the morning, and rest with the
night.
" Dark grow the windows, and quenched L. the
Sound fades Into silence, all footsteps retire.
mo voice In the chambers, no sound In the hall,
Sleep and oblivion reign over ali.''
XII g William died, ard the original Oh.
bliLa'ioDs Of the curtew were at last re
moved about the time Of Henry in TOO;
out the custom of ringing an evening b. II
is still kept up in England With variarions
as to the hour The "n,ne o'clock bell
familiar to most New England people
which sends so many you"g people home
and to bt d, and which in the early history
nf our country, Wa almost as 1i2i,:h
obey>d by all, both old and young. a, the
old curfew, traces it, origin almost directly
to the vcr-ire bell. In Longft lows
Evangeline the custom is we'll de-
fined:
canon the bell from the belfry
Rang out the hour of nlne-the village curfew-
and straiEItwny
Rose the gucst-and departed; and silence rcigned
in the household"
But now the customs have changed and
though the bell still rings out on the even
ing air, in country village and city streets,
it has lost its power, save as tell-tale of
passing time. Let the old bells ring on
wo love the sound; or, in the words of
MOo'e:
"Thnec evening bells those evening bells!
How many a tale their music tells.
Of youth, and home, aud that sweet time
When last heard their soothing chime"
--RnrUl Aeto Yorker