The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1871-05-13

WAYNE COUNTY, IND. MAY


The New York Observer, a few
weeks since. had among its Notes
and Queries an allusion to the
Curfew Bell. The following ar
ticle, contain ng more complete
information in regard to the sub
ject, may be interesting to our
readers. It is from "Our Bows
and Girls"
Many have heard of the "curfew
BELL" but not all know its origin.
Its history in England runs back
to the time of William the Con-
queror, who ordered bell to be
rung about sundown in summer,
and at eight o'clock in the evening
in winter. at which time fire and
lights we're to be put out. and the
people to remain within doors, and
penalties we're imposed upon those
who neglected or refused to com.
ply with the law. This was called
''curfew." 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 in
stitutiDg this custom in order to
impress upon his subject a sense
of their ahject condition; but, as
the "curfew belr' was rung in
France long before Williams time,
as a safeguard against fires, it is
not improbable that he brought
the custom with him into England
from the continent, and that he has
been slandered as to his motives.
AT any rate, he has sins enough to
answer for without this. In the
sixteenth century, 'be:l-men' were
added to the night-watch in London.
They went through the streets ring
ing their bells, and crying. "Take
care Of fire and candle; be kind
to the poor. and pray for the dead"
1t was the bell-man's duty, also, to
bless the sleepers as he passed
their doors. In I'll Penseroso,"
Milton refers to this custnm
"The bell mans drowsy charm.
10 bless the doors from nightly harm."
Poets have often referred to the
curfew, or cover-fire bell. GRAY
begins his beautiful 'Elegy' with
"The curfew tolls the kne,l of parting day."
Longfeilow, too, has a pretty little
poem telling the story Of this bell
with charming simplicity:
"Solemnly, mournfully, dealing it's dole,
The curfew bell is beginning to toll.
Cover the embers, put out the light;
Toll comes with the morning, and rest with
the night.
No voice in the chambers, no sound in the
hall;
Sleep and oblivion reign over ALL"
King William died, and the
original obligations of the curfew
we're at last removed about the
time of Henry I, in HOO; but the
custom of ringing an evening bell
is still kept up in England, with
as to the hour. The
''nine 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
snd young, as the old curfew,
traces its origin directly to the
cover-lre bell In Longfellow's
Evangeline," the custom is we'll
described:
canon the bell from. the belfry
Rang out the hour OF niue-the village cur.
few-and straightway
Rose the guests and departed and silence
reigned in the household
But now the customs have chang
ed; and though the bell still rings
put on the evening air, 10 country
village and city street, it has lost
ts power. save as q tell-tale Of
passing time Let the old bells
ing on; we love their sound; or.
n the words of More
Those evening bells those evening bellsI
low many tale their music tells,
)f youth, and home, and that sweet time
" hen last heard their soothing chime