which may be rendered in English:—
“I praise the true God, I call the people, I assemble the clergy;
I mourn the departed, I put to flight pestilence, I honour festivals;
I knoll for burials, I break the power of the lightning, I mark the sabbaths;
I rouse the sluggard, I disperse the winds, I calm the bloodthirsty.”
These lines will be familiar to readers of Longfellow’s Golden Legend; but some of the uses mentioned belong to a time when bells were thought to have a magic power over the forces of nature, and a category of modern uses embraces many others here ignored.
The modern uses of bells naturally fall into two main divisions—religious and secular, or quasi-religious uses. By the former I mean the ringing of bells for divine service, and, in particular, for the festivals of the Church, and their use at weddings, funerals, and other events of life with which the Church is naturally concerned. Other uses, again, though now purely secular, had once a religious meaning, such as the Curfew and Pancake bells. More secular uses are those of the Gleaning bell and the Fire bell, of bells rung for local meetings or festivities, or in commemoration of national events.
The great bell of Tong Church, Shropshire.
Recast by Taylor, 1892. (See page [49].)