Ringers’ Jugs.
By Isaac J. Reeve.
The old time belfry laws were the means of many persons being fined, and the money so obtained was spent in ale. Ringers’ Jugs were by no means uncommon, and some were curious examples of the potters’ art.
There is a curious jug or pitcher belonging to the ringers of Hadleigh. It is a “vas ansatum” having two ears, is circular in shape, swelling out in the middle, and being more contracted at the ends. It is brown earthenware glazed. It holds sixteen quarts, and bears this inscription, very rudely indented, apparently with a chisel when the clay was soft, the first word M E, or perhaps M. E. I., is in italics, the rest in Roman capitals:—
Me, Thomas Windle, Isaac Bunn, John Mann, Adam Sage, George Bond, Thomas Goldsborough, Robert Smith, Henry West. (No doubt the names of the eight ringers.)
Below the names,—
If you love me doe not lend me,
Euse me often and keep me clenly,
Fill me full or not at all,
If it be strong, and not with small.
Below all, in the front, is the word Hadly, underneath one handle is the date, 17 F. G. 15, and under the other, 17 R. O. 15, the letters probably the initials of the potters. The jug is in the possession of Mr. Pettitt, of the Eight Bells Inn, who holds it for the ringers, of whom he is the leader. It is still occasionally used on the occasion of any profitable wedding, and filled every Christmas by mine host, when the ringers assemble for a frolic, with strong beer, which goes by the name of old King William, and strangers going in are expected to pay sixpence to assist in keeping it full, according to its own request.
The ringers’ pot—a brown glazed jug with handle, holding about two gallons—having the following inscription in rude letters—
Here you may see what
I request of Hanst (honest) Gentlemen
My Baly (belly) filed of the Bast I com
But now and then, 1716,
was formerly carried from house to house by the bell-ringers of Ixworth, in Suffolk, to receive whatever beer the liberal parishioners might be disposed to bestow. It has been disused about thirty years. It was probably made at the celebrated pottery in the neighbouring parish of Wattisfield.
A similar kind of jug, both in shape and size, to that of Hadleigh, belongs to the ringers of Clare. On one side is a crown in faint relief, under that a bell in large proportion, and on it impressed in italics:—
Campane
Sonant canore.
Beneath the clapper is this,—
Clare Ringers,
1729.
Near the base there is an aperture for a tap to draw off the beer, there being no spout or lip.
At Hinderclay, in Suffolk, is a ringers’ pitcher, still preserved in the church tower, of form and size similar to the Hadleigh jug: it is thus inscribed:—
By Samuel Moss this pitcher was given to the noble society of ringers, at Hinderclay, viz., Tho. Sturgeon, Ed. Lock, John Haws, Ric. Ruddock, and Relf Chapman, to which society he once belonged, and left in the year 1702.
From London I was sent
As plainly doth appear,
It was to this intent—
To be filled with strong beer.
Pray remember the pitcher when empty.
A similar pitcher is in the adjoining church tower of Garboldisham, Norfolk.
At the Mackworth Arms, at Swansea, a similar kind of jug may be seen in a niche on the staircase, but the colour is light yellow, and the workmanship of a superior order, it has but one handle, and the following inscription in two lines:—
Come fill me well with liquor sweet, and that is good when friends do meet,
When I am full then drink about, I ne’er will fail till all is out.
Underneath were representations of flowers, birds, and fishes.
There is in the Norfolk and Norwich Museum a large jug, which was presented in July, 1831, by the Rev. G. R. Leathes, of Shrophan. It is of brown earth, glazed, dated 1676, and inscribed:—
John Wayman,
J.F.
Come Brother, shall we join?
Give me your twopence—here is mine.
This most likely belonged to a company of Shrophan ringers. It has but one handle, and is rather curiously ornamented.
Note.—This article was written about twenty-five years ago.—Editor.