The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1881-02-19

ABOUT BELLS.
Their Origin and History-Customs Con
corning Them-Noted Bells
of the World.

1t is impossible for us to trace the ORR
Gin of bells, vet that they were univers.
ally used ages ago and written of by the
most ancient writers is certain. One
writer asserts that Tubal Cain, instruc-
tor of every artiticer in brass and iron, -
formed rude kind of bell, and even
goes SO far as to say that Noah used
similar instrument for summonng his
ship carpenters to their work. These
statements do not seem so absurd, when
we consider the thorough knowledge pos
sessed by the ancients in the working of
metals.
The term bell is supposed by some to
have been derived from the Latin word
Oclris-a basin. indicating its form; 9TH
ers think it derives its origin from the
Saxon btNab-to bawl. Again, it is
stated that it is derived from Baal or
3el-thc sun, as he was considered the
author of vibratory motion and the source
of musical sound. and that such instru-
ments as produced sound by percussion
were called DellS.
The bells first in use were small in
size. Moses in the book of Exodus
speaks of the bells attached to the vest
ment of the High Priest. The ancient
Persians had bells attached to their royal
costumes. rs in later days the German
civil officers had them suspended from
their garments.
Isaiah speaks of the bells worn at the
feet of women. In Egypt. girls wore
strings of bells around their ankles, which
is common custom in Cairo at the pres
ent day.
Zachariah speaks Of the bells on the
neclss of horses. The Greeks and Ro-
mans attached them to the necks of their
| horses to accustom them to noise and
prepare them for battle. Among the
Greeks and Romans, bells were used
upon every occasion. They were rung to
announce the hour of public business and
for assembling the family; in the camp
and on the battle field; proclaimed the
feast and preceded the funeral process
sion: hung in triumphal cars and on the
nccks of malefactors: and yet it appears
strange that they knew nothing of the
comparatively recent system of bell hang
ing.
| Bells seem always to be associated with
church worship. Paulinus, Bishop Of
| Nola in Campania, in the fourth century.
is said to have introduced church bells.
In the sixth century they were used in
the converts. About the year $50 they
were introduced into France. They were
stlspended in a frame on the roof of the
| church. and in some cases were placed
there at the expense Of the city to which
they belonged.
Pope Sebastian first ordered that the
hours of the day should be announced
by ringing the bell. so that the people
might attend better to the hOrG eanOhicR,
ing At the siege of Sens in 60 by Clio
THAR, the Bishop of Orleans ordered the
bells of St. Stephen to be rung. Their
sound SO frightened Clothair that he aban-
doned the siege.
The first mention we have of bells in
England is by Bede, toward the close of
the seventh century. They were first
used in the East in the ninth century: in
Switzerland in 1920. In the eleventh
century the. cathedral of Augsburg vNs
provided -. .rv ertts.
The custom of baptizing bells
mated in the eighth cent
tinues to this day. The
and named-theif
sons who had q
Grated to rer