INSCRIPTIONS ON BELLS.
Vivos voco—Mortuos plango—Fulgura frango.
I call the living—I mourn the dead—I break the lightning.
This brief and impressive announcement—the motto of Schiller’s ever-memorable Song of the Bell—was common to the church-bells of the Middle Ages, and may still be found on the bell of the great Minster of Schaffhausen, and on that of the church near Lucerne. Another and a usual one, which is, in fact, but an amplification of the first, is this
Funera plango—Fulgura frango—Sabbato pango.
Excito lentos—Dissipo ventos—Paco cruentos.
I mourn at funerals—I break the lightning—I proclaim the Sabbath.
I urge the tardy—I disperse the winds—I calm the turbulent.
The following motto may still be seen on some of the bells that have swung in their steeples for centuries. It will be observed to entitle them to a sixfold efficacy.
Men’s death I tell by doleful knell,
Lightning and thunder I break asunder,
On Sabbath all to church I call,
The sleepy head I raise from bed,
The winds so fierce I do disperse,
Men’s cruel rage I do assuage.
On the famous alarm-bell called Roland, in the belfry-tower of the once powerful city of Ghent, is engraved the subjoined inscription, in the old Walloon or Flemish dialect:—
Mynen naem is Roland; als ik klep is er brand,
and als ik luy is er victorie in het land.
Anglicé. My name is Roland; when I toll there is fire,
and when I ring there is victory in the land.
On others may be found these inscriptions:—
Deum verum laudo, plebem voco, clerum congrego,
Defuncto ploro, pestum fugo, festa decoro.
I praise the true God, call the people, convene the clergy,
I mourn for the dead, drive away pestilence, and grace festivals.
Gaudemus gaudentibus,
Dolemus dolentibus.
Let us rejoice with the joyful, and grieve with the sorrowful.
INSCRIPTIONS ON THE BELLS OF ST. MICHAEL’S, COVENTRY, CAST IN 1774.
I.
Although I am both light and small,
I will be heard above you all.
II.
If you have a judicious ear,
You’ll own my voice is sweet and clear.
III.
Such wondrous power to music’s given,
It elevates the soul to heaven.
IV.
While thus we join in cheerful sound,
May love and loyalty abound.
V.
To honour both of God and king,
Our voices shall in concert sing.
VI.
Music is a medicine to the mind.
VII.
Ye ringers all, that prize your health and happiness,
Be sober, merry, wise, and you’ll the same possess.
VIII.
Ye people all that hear me ring,
Be faithful to your God and king.
IX.
In wedlock’s bands all ye who join,
With hands your hearts unite;
So shall our tuneful tongues combine
To laud the nuptial rite.
X.
I am and have been called the common bell,
To ring, when fire breaks out, to tell.
There is in the abbey church at Sherborne, in Dorsetshire, a fire-bell confined exclusively to alarms in case of conflagrations. The motto around the rim or carrel runs thus:—
1652.
Lord, quench this furious flame;
Arise, run, help, put out the same.
The books of the Roman Catholic faith contain a ritual for the baptism of bells, which decrees that they be named and anointed,—a ceremonial which was supposed to insure them against the machinations of evil spirits.
On the largest of three bells placed by Edward III. in the Little Sanctuary, Westminster, are these words:—
King Edward made me thirtie thousand weight and three;
Take me down and wey me, and more you shall find me.
The Great Tom of Oxford was cast after two failures, April 8, 1680, from the metal of an old bell, on which was the following curious inscription, whence its name:—
In Thomæ laude resono bim bom sine fraude.
On a bell in Durham Cathedral is inscribed,—
To call the folk to church in time,
I chime.
When mirth and pleasure’s on the wing,
I ring.
And when the body leaves the soul,
I toll.
On a bell at Lapley, in Staffordshire:—
I will sound and resound to thee, O Lord,
To call thy people to thy word.
On a bell in Meivod Church, Montgomeryshire:—
I to the church the living call,
And to the grave do summon all.
On Independence bell, Philadelphia, from Lev. xxv. 10:—
Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.
In St. Helen’s Church, Worcester, England, is a chime of bells cast in the time of Queen Anne, with names and inscriptions commemorative of victories gained during her reign:—
1. Blenheim.
First is my note, and Blenheim is my name;
For Blenheim’s story will be first in fame.
2. Barcelona.
Let me relate how Louis did bemoan
His grandson Philip’s flight from Barcelon.
3. Ramillies.
Deluged in blood, I, Ramillies, advance
Britannia’s glory on the fall of France.
4. Menin.
Let Menin on my sides engraven be;
And Flanders freed from Gallic slavery.
5. Turin.
When in harmonious peal I roundly go,
Think on Turin, and triumphs on the Po.
6. Eugene.
With joy I hear illustrious Eugene’s name;
Fav’rite of fortune and the boast of fame.
7. Marlborough.
But I, for pride, the greater Marlborough bear;
Terror of tyrants, and the soul of war.
8. Queen Anne.
Th’ immortal praises of Queen Anne I sound,
With union blest, and all these glories crowned.
The inscriptions are all dated 1706, except that on the seventh, which is dated 1712.
On one of eight bells in the church tower of Pilton, Devon, is a modern achievement in this kind of literature:—
Recast by John Taylor and Son,
Who tho best prize for church bells won
At the Great Ex-hi-bi-ti-on
In London, 1—8—5 and 1.
In St. John’s Cathedral, Hong Kong:—
I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. (Acts xxii. 21.)
At Fotheringay, Northamptonshire:—
Domini laudem, non verbo sed voce resonabo.
At Hornby:—
When I do ring,
God’s praises sing;
When I do toll,
Pray heart and soul.
At Nottingham:—
I toll the funeral knell;
I hail the festal day;
The fleeting hour I tell;
I summon all to pray.
At Bolton:—
My roaring sound doth warning give
That men cannot here always live.
Distich inscribed on a bell at Bergamoz, by Cardinal Orsini, Benedict XIII.:—
| Convoco, | signo, | noto, | compello, | concino, | ploro, |
| │ | │ | │ | │ | │ | │ |
| Arma, | Dies, | Horas, | Fulgura, | Festa, | Rogos. |
Similar in form is an inscription on Lindsey Court-house:—
| Hæc domus | ||||
| Odit | amat | punit | conservat | honorat |
| │ | │ | │ | │ | │ |
| Nequitiam, | pacem, | crimina, | jura, | bonos. |
On the clock of the town hall of Bala, North Wales, is the following inscription:—
Here I stand both day and night,
To tell the hours with all my might;
Do thou example take by me,
And serve thy God as I serve thee.