Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1912-05-31
LEGENDS OF
CHURCH BELLS

Legendary lOTe Is AllSu WllA plAoh6S
stories of bells, many of them a pecu-
liar mingling of myth and truth.
Within the last century a spot at
Brcnckburne, in Northumberland, used
TO be pointed out by old people. who
said they had been old when they
were young that a great treasure had
been buried there. When at last this
treasure" was exhumed it proved TO
be the fragments OF the bell OF the
priory church, which stood in ruins
near by. According to the legend
and it is one which may we'll be true
the bells last resting place can thus
be accounted for: A party OF moss.
trooping Scots, bent on plumber, We're
seeking far and wide to discover the
priory. But it lay in a cleft betwee
the wooded banks OF the Coquet, con-
cealed from view from the higher
lands about it. The mosstroopers, eX-
ceedingly wroth, at last give up the
search in despair. and the n
deeming themselves safe at last, by
wa.y of Thanksgiving for their deliver
ante, rang a peal upon the bell. Un-
luckily, the sound OF the bell reached
the Scots in the forests above, and
with this as guide they found the
priory, which they sacked and burned.
The priory bell presumably fell to the
ground during the eontlagration' and
Vas Eventually buried.
TO this day the ehoristers OF Dur
ham cathedral ascend the tower, on
Tie eve of the feast OF Corpus Christi.
and sing the TIE Deum. This cere-
mony is in commefnoration or the
marvellous extinguishing OF a fire on
thar night, in the year 1929. tou hun
dred and eighty-three years ago. Az
midnight the monks were at prayer
when the belfry was struck by light
ning and set on fire. All night the
| flames ragged and until the middle OF
| the following day. But for all that
the tower escaped serious injury, n
the bells were not damaged at all,
| These bells are not the same as those
which now call the inhabitants OF the
| citg to worship, for in the registry OF
! the Church of st. Mary-le Bow. Dur
ham. which records the burial OF one
Thomas Bartlett in 1852. a note is add
ed to the effect that "thys man did
caste the abbey bells the summer be-
| fore he dyed"
Buried somewhere beneath the soil
of the graveyard OF Buckingham
church. in Sussex, lies, according to
the legend. a peal OF bells intended
once upon a time for the tower. which
still has only a single bell to call the
faithful to prayer. AS far as can be
asce.tained, the story is as follows: In
the early middle eyes when the
church could be approached by water
as well as by land, a certain valiant
knight wished to present to 1t a peal
of bells. These bells were cast at o
| foundry many miles away and brought
to the church by wate-. They arrived
IN safety. but through carelessness or
inadvertence they were allowed to
slide 10 one side Of the boat during
unloading. and In a few moments the
vessel listed over and sank, deposit.
ing the bells in the mud at the bottom
Of the canal. where they are to th1s
day. When he heard OF this the
donor made a wow. enchantment. or
spell" saying that Buckingham church
should never have more than n bell
until the peal he had given was
dragged from the bottom by a OF
four milk-white oxen. The white oxen
do not appear to have been forthcon'-
ing, and in later times the canal was
filed in. The peculiar fact is that the
| church is still only possessed OF one
bell.
Old bells bore man quaint legends
craven Upon them, sucn as ejacula-
ions and prayers. and sometimes
quite a little history, as in the case OF
(the great bell in Glasgow cathedral,
which bears the following inscription:
In the year OF grace. 1883, Marcus
Knox. a merchant in Glasgow, jealous
for the interest Of the Reformed Re
ligion, caused me to be fabricated IN
Holland, for the use Of his fellow
citizens of Glasgow. and placed me
with solemnity in tie lower OF Their
cathedral. MY function vas an
nounced by the impress or my bosom:
Me audito, venias, doctrinam sanctam
ut discas, and ] was taught to pro-
claim the hours of UNDECIDED time.
One hundred and ninety-tive years had
+! sounded these awful warnings, wher
was broken by the hands OF incon.
| siderate and careless men. In the year
| 1890 | was cast into the furnace, re.
founded at London, aid returned to
my sacred vocation. Reader! thou al
so shalt know a resurrection, may 1t
be to eternal life ~
! Henry VIII. looked upon bells as q
useful means of addition to his in
| come. and nothing more. and owing
TO his vandalism in this direction,
many valuable and beautiful old bells
| disappeared with other church prop
| erty to be sold for their value as
! metal. Many curious things happened
when these bells were removed which
gave rise to nnnumerable legends. At
Lynn and at Yarmouth ships carrying
bells TO foreign ports f~ouncered and
sank. and the wrecking OF a vessel
CARRYING fourteen OF the bells OF Jer-
sey at the entrance OF st. Malo Har-
bour gave rise to the legend that when
| the wind blows the drowned bells are
pealing. Sir Miles Partridge, who
won the Jesus Bells of ST. Paul's from
King Henry when playing ut dice was
shortly after hanged on Tower Hill,
and, perhaps most remarkable OF all.
g certain Bishop of Bangor. who. hav-
| ing sold the bells OF has cathedral,
went to see them shipped, was forth
with stricken with blindness.-Lon-
don Globe.