Change ringing

“ Mechanical ringing is more common on the continent of Europe, especially in Belgium and Flanders; ringing by hand is more common in England, where the development of change-ringing (see below) has brought it into prominence.
(1) Mechanical ringing is effected by a system of wires connected with small hammers striking the bells, usually on their outside, and worked either by connexion with the machinery of a clock, so as to play tunes or artificially arranged chimes at definite intervals; or with a key-board resembling that of an organ. ”

“ Change-ringing is, as we have already noted, an entirely modern introduction, and is, moreover, confined to England. In pre-Reformation days we hear of guilds of ringers, as, for instance, at Westminster Abbey, in the reign of Henry III, where the brethren of the guild appear to have enjoyed their privileges since the time of [Pg 68] Edward the Confessor. In smaller monastic or collegiate establishments clerics in minor orders were often entrusted with the duty of ringing the bells, as at Tong, in Shropshire (cf. Plate 30) . ”

“ The ringing of changes is performed, partly by the ear, and partly by the eye; the ear informs when to make a change, the eye directs the pull in the making of it, but then again the ear guides the striking of the note true in its place according to time. So that the ear and eye have each of them its proper object in the ringing of changes, and therefore ought at the same time to be absolutely free from all others whatsoever, the notes of the bells being the object of the ear, and the bell-ropes the object of the eye. ”

“ On four Bells, there are Twenty four several Changes, in Ringing of which, there is one Bell called the Hunt, and the other three are Extream Bells; the Hunt moves, and hunts up and down continually, and lies but once in one place, except only when it comes before or behind the Bells, at which time it lies there twice together; it has the same course here, as in the six Changes before set down; two of the Extream Bells makes a Change every time the Hunt comes before or behind them. ”

“ And for this there can be no better plan than to note upon paper the changes which may be made with from 2 to 4 bells, assuming that one, which may be represented by a cross, star, or other mark, is the bell which the student takes to move, vary, or change. Whether he takes the position of 1, 2, or any other number, No. 1, in a ring of church bells, is always that with the highest note, and in this way it will be plain, first, to presume that there are 2 bells, and the reader takes the second, upon which there are, as he knows already as shown, but two changes ”

“ The ringing may be present for some time, scarcely perceptible, when suddenly the sound will change, becoming much louder, and the note jumping high up in the scale, where it will continue to ring quite loudly for some minutes, and gradually die away, to appear again some time afterward. ”

“ Ring, ring, v.i. to sound as a bell when struck: to tinkle: to practise the art of ringing bells: to continue to sound: to be filled with report: to resound: to echo.—v.t. to cause to sound, as a metal: to produce by ringing:—pa.t. rang, rung; pa.p. rung.—n. a sound, esp. of metals: the sound of many voices: a chime of many bells.—ns. Ring′er; Ring′ing, the act of causing to sound, as music-bells: resounding.—adv. Ring′ingly.—Ring backward, to change the order of ringing; Ring down, to conclude; Ring in (theat.) , to signal the conductor to begin; Ringing of the ears, a sound in the ears ”

“ To ring, and to ring changes, on either church or musical hand bells, are three very different subjects. In order to ring changes, however, it is absolutely necessary to have a good knowledge of ringing, or the means adopted to make the bells sound in their proper time and place, whether it be in the church tower, on the large swinging bells with ropes, or in the parlour or drawing-room, upon the musical bells, held in the hand or hands. ”

“ Every Practitioner, that has judgment to beat his own time, has the advantage of ringing his bell true, whilst the rest of the notes commit faults; for the compass being once fixed, as many bells as do either rise or fall from thence commit errors.
The truest way of raising a peal of bells according to the best of modern practice, is, as quick as may be; every Ringer taking assistance to raise his bell, according as the going of it requires. In raising of them, the lesser bells as the Treble &c. ”

“ A peal, in technical language, is a performance on the bells of more than 5000 changes ; and it occupies the ringers a considerable period of time, generally more than three hours. But a touch or flourish on the bells, which is the ordinary method of notifying any joyful occurrence, is round ringing varied by changes at the option of the ringers, or according to the custom of the belfry. It is usual in the first instance to set the bells ; that is, to throw every bell, with its mouth upward, in a stationary position in the frame. ”

“ To ring-in rounds, it matters little which bell is taken to perform upon, as each takes its place in proper turn, whether it be first, middle, last, or any other position, which will be very well understood if the new ringer has practised, as he should do, rounds upon hand bells. ”

“ The problem which confronts one in the production of a system of selective ringing on party lines is that of causing the bell of any chosen one of the several parties on a circuit to respond to a signal sent out from the central office without sounding any of the other bells. ”

“ It appears to us quite worth the consideration of the clergy whether the practice of hand-bell ringing would not do much to keep their corps of church ringers together and provide an antidote to the public-house. We find that a medium set of eight hand-bells, forming an octave, can be obtained for from four to five pounds; and the steps of the art present no considerable difficulty, even to rustic intellects. Many a young country curate would find it a pleasant thing to take the post of leader, and call his choir together for hebdomadal practices. ”

“ George, Devon, who from quite a young man has entered deeply and fully into all matters of interest relative to Church Bells and Ringing, and who now supervises that bell-ringing page in the interesting weekly paper called Church Bells, where from time to time much is given which is interesting to all who may wish to become ringers in practice or performance, with good and reliable information as the groundwork upon which they desire to ultimately place their edifice of knowledge of the subject in question. ”

“ The want of something more, as the first steps to ringing, has been felt and acknowledged by many persons at many times; and to supply this want is all that is now attempted—not in any way to disparage the well-known works of others more skilled in the art of ringing, but to lead upwards and onwards to those works by short and easy words and lessons, is the wish of the Author in the following pages. ”

“ And if twelve men should attempt to ring all those Changes on twelve Bells, they could not effect it in less than seventy five years, twelve Lunar Months, one week, and three days, notwithstanding they ring without intermission, and after the proportion of 720 Changes every hour. Or if one man should attempt to prick them down upon Paper, he could not effect it in less than the aforesaid space. And 1440 being prickt in a sheet, they would take up six hundred sixty five Reams of Paper, and upwards, reckoning five hundred Sheets to a Ream ”

“ But my bell-ringing practice was shortened by a singular accident, which not only stopped my performance, but made even the sound of a bell terrible to my ears.
One Sunday, I went with another into the belfry to ring for noon prayers, but the second stroke we had pulled showed us that the clapper of the bell [Pg 88] we were at was muffled. Some one had been buried that morning, and it had been prepared, of course, to ring a mournful note. We did not know of this, but the remedy was easy. "Jack," said my companion, "step up to the loft, and cut off the hat;" ”

“ I may oversleep myself in the morning, and I can't get at my man now. Would you mind giving me a ring up on the 'phone about six o'clock? You see, I have the telephone by my bed, and it would be sure to wake me--especially if you told the operator to keep on ringing. ”

“ I know that I have become so accustomed to a ring on my little finger, that if perchance I have forgotten it, and gone into society, I have blushed to the roots of my hair, and stammered and been distracted, thinking myself insufficiently clothed, simply because I had left my ring on the washhand-stand. ”

“ Of this the ringing in the ears, as well as the itching in the nose, must be held to be an example. The well-known ringing in the ears does come with extraordinary suddenness, as we have all experienced, and when it comes makes the most staid philosopher look foolish and out of sorts for the moment. Its connection with death is perhaps to be traced to the passing bell of early and mediæval times, and to the tolling of bells at funerals even in our own day. ”

“ What is to prevent one single ring from doing all the work? Why go about with your left hand loaded,—a ring to every finger? nay, they overflow; the right hand must be forced into the service. And you have left out the most important ring of all, the one to stop your drivelling at this absurd rate. ”

“ Some there are who heap several rings on the little finger alone; while others, again, wear but one ring on this finger—the ring that sets a seal on the signet-ring itself; this last being carefully shut up as an object of rarity, too precious to be worn in common use, and only to be taken from the cabinet (dactyliotheca) as from a sanctuary. And thus is the wearing of a single ring upon the little finger no more than an ostentatious advertisement that the owner has property of a more precious nature under seal at home. ”

“ The bell-ringers take themselves with an absurd seriousness, which has not nowadays the least excuse. The exercise may have been accounted a useful and a pious one when bell-ringing was supposed to exorcise devils, or at the very least of it, to remind the faithful that the hour of prayer was come ”

“ This and the beautiful science of bell-ringing consequent on it are peculiar to ourselves. The method of sounding the bells here understood is by a hammer acting on the rim, or by pulling the clapper, as is used with us for chimes, and where the bell frame is weak. This accounts for the much larger bells which are found abroad, and which were never meant to be poised and swung. Owing to the above difference between the Continental and English methods of bell-ringing, it is not easy to express the difference between simpulsare, compulsare, and depulsare. ”

“ You may cause a ring to shift from one hand to another, and make it go on any finger required on the other hand, while somebody holds both your arms, in order to prevent communication between them by attending to these instructions:—Desire some lady in company to lend you a gold ring, recommending her, at the same time, to make a mark on it, that she may know it again. Have a gold ring of your own, which fasten by a small piece of catgut-string, to a watch-barrel, and sew it to the left sleeve of your coat. Take the ring that is given you in your right hand ”

“ The assembly room was decorated with several appropriate devices; and some of the old men, with the greater part of the company, enjoyed themselves to a late hour. [199]
Bell Ringing
and
Hand Bells in Churches. To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.
Sir,—In pp. 161-2, vol. ii., your correspondent H. H. N. N. of Newark, informs us of the custom of ringing a bell at six o’clock in the morning, and eight in the evening; likewise of a set of “hand bells” kept in the church there; and desires to be informed of their use. ”

“ Colonel Dodge gives a clear account of the manner in which an established sign is abbreviated in practice, as follows: "There are an almost infinite number and variety of abbreviations. For instance, to tell a man to 'talk,' the most common formal sign is made thus: Hold the right hand in front of, the back near, the mouth, end of thumb and index-finger joined into an 'O,' the outer fingers closed on the palm; throw the hand forward sharply by a quick motion of the wrist, and at the same time flip forward the index-finger. ”

“ The young man took the ring, and scarce had he put it on his fingernail his yard stretched itself a cubit's length.
"Well, what of it?" asked the aged woman. "Doth thy yard reach to thy knees?"
"Yea, good woman. It reacheth even below my kness."
"Now, my little dove, pass the ring down thy whole finger."
He passed the ring over his entire finger, and his yard lenghtened out even unto seven versts. [3]
"Ah! good woman! where shall I lodge it? It will bring me ill fortune with my wife."
"Thrust up the ring to thy finger nail; thy yard will be but a cubit's span. ”

“ A forced or squeezed-out tone is always bad—bad for the voice and bad for the ear of the listener!
THE VOWEL IN SINGING
Another point to be noted by the conductor is that one sings upon vowels and not upon consonants; that most of the consonants are in fact merely devices for interrupt135ing the vowel sounds in various ways; and that good tone depends largely upon the ability of the singer to select the best of several different sounds of the vowel and to hold this sound without any change in quality during the entire time that the tone is prolonged. ”