FIG. 52.—BELL CAST BY JOHN PENNINGTON AT EXETER IN 1670.
FIG. 53.—GROUP OF BELL-METAL MORTARS.
(In the British Museum.)
Bellmen were the heralds of news in country towns, and the importance of their office was made clear by the "Oyez! Oyez!" by which they prefixed their tale. The ancient watchman clanged his bell and the light in the lantern slung at his waist flickered as he sounded the call. This is mentioned in an old ballad, the first verse of which reads:
"Time, master, calls your bellman to his task,
To see your doors and windows are all fast."
Numerous examples of curious bells are to be seen in our museums. In the Welsh Museum at Cardiff there is an old Celtic bell from Llangwynodl, shown side by side with an electrotype of the famous bell of St. Patrick. There is rather a sad note in the story of the fate of the old division bell of the Irish House of Commons, which, when the Parliament was abolished, was sold for use in a Dublin theatre as a call bell, eventually to be resold as old metal. That curio would at this juncture have been regarded as an historical relic of some value.
The restoration of bells sometimes leads to mistakes when it is found that the inscriptions upon them appear to indicate an older date than would be judged to be correct from their appearance. Of such restoration work an instance may be given of the peal of twelve bells recently placed in the tower of St. Mary's Church, which has become the cathedral of the new diocese of Chelmsford. The bells were dedicated in the presence of ringers from a large number of towns and villages in Essex, a county noted for its bell-towers and bells. The peal of ten replaces one cast in 1777, and the old inscriptions have been placed on the new bells. One reads:
"Tho' much against us may be said,