The record-union., 1899-11-08
History of Bells in Europe.

are of comparatively modern introduc-
ton in Europe They are of great an
! tiquity in the East and can probably
! be referred to China as the first to
/ make use of them, a discovery to De
added to those, of gunpowder and the
mariners compass. Layard thought
he had found small bells of bronze in
| his excavations in Mesopotamia, but
! this inference has not been borne out
! by the operations of subsequent ex-
! plorers. The so-called bells said to
have been attached to the garments OF
the Jewish priests are thought to be
pieces of metal which struck together
with a tinkling effect. but not to be &C
tually in the shape assigned to bells.
1t seems certain from all the previous
Investigations and from the recently
published "A Book About Bells, by
the Rev. C. S. Tyack, that small bells
were known from a remote antiquity
| in the Orient, that large bells are of
comparatively modern introduction ev-
erywhere in the world and that Eu-
rope was backward in adopting the i'm
plement in any form.
| The word itself indicates rather
modern origin. The basin which the
| Romans used to wash their feet IN was
called .'pelvis" and this again is de-
rived from the two Latin words pes
and ''lavere, y meaning. simply, 30
wash the feetp Ou1 word Is taken
from the compound term. This basin
was in the beginning rather gong
than a bell proper. as it's shape indi-
Gates, and its use for making an agree
able noise must have been subordinate
to it's homelier and more domestic use.
There was nothing in the ancient forms
of worship in Greece and Rome to call
for use of bells and it is not until
about 400 A. d. that Christianity be-
came enough of a public institution to
require an instrument of the sort. But
the Buddhists had them, and there is
no doubt that many bells of the finest
tone and most perfect manufacture can
be found in immemorial use III Ceyion,
Siam, Burma, Thibet, Japan and China.
The first mention of a bell in Eng
land goes back no farther than $50 A.
D., or Whereabouts. Somewhere near
that date, so the Venerable Bede in
forms his readers. Benedict Biscop
brought bell of considerable size from
| Italy and hung it in the church at
| Wearmouth. About that time ST. Hilda
died at Whitby, the Saxon Streanes-
| halch, and there was a bell in the
| tower there upon which her passing
was tolled. This makes it reasonably
| certain that bells were then better
known, even we'll enough to be accept
ed without comment, in the south of
England which had long been in COM
munication with Italy.
Tho of hnl N
goes back to a mechanical device re-
sembling the clepsydra, mentioned by
Lucian in $50 B. c. This was filed
with water, the flow of which rang a
bell at regular intervals. When first
used for this purpose in churches or
bell towers constructed especially for
them the hours were struck by hand.
| In the old days the craft of bell
founding was an honorable one and was
practiced through the country by wan
dering artisans. A parish desiring a
bell for it's church would send for these
craftsmen, collecting for their purpose
all manner of bronze brass, tin and
copper utensils. The artisans made
their molds and the casting took place
at the foot of the tower in which the
bell was to be installed, saving the
trouble and expense of a long carriage
of the finished article. There is a
common legend attaching itself to al
most every bell of more than average
sweetness and distinctness, accounting
for its finer qualities by the, presence
in it of a great deal of precious metal,
gold and silver, cast by the devout or
the generous in the melting pot. This
is generally untrue, the legend having
it's origin in the money raised to pay
the bell founders who wisely put it into
their own pockets rather than into the
bell. These same workmen were also
the makers of the great kettles or
caldrons of the day, some of which
have come down to the present with
their more distinguished cousins. as in
the colleges of Oxford. Frequently the
pots were larger than the bells; and
great platters, LAYERS mortars and ba-
sins were all from the same hands.
Many interesting ceremonials have
been brought together by Mr.. Tyack.
in use in the Roman, Greek and Eng
lish churches. Aspleasant "reminiscences
is taken from the pages of Gilbert
Whites Natural History of Selborne, ;"
the writer being the rector of the par
ish there. Sir Simeon Stewart had a
chime of bells cast in 1875 to commem-
crate the birthday of his daughter,
Mary, and celebrated by turning the
treble bell upside down and using 1t
for a punch bowl on the festive occa-
Chicago News.
Into wisdom 81 web wise men their