and William Purdue of Bristol, in 1678, perhaps with the fear of James II’s advent to the throne before his eyes, gives vent to the prayer:
LORD BY THY MIGHT KEEP US FROM POOPE AND HYPOCRITE,
at Stanley S. Leonard, Gloucestershire.
The Ringing of the Sacring Bell by a Clerk in Minor Orders.
From a Manuscript in the British Museum. (See pages [68], [88]).
For the most part the inscriptions of this period are, when not merely churchwardens’ names, coloured with a piety which finds vent in quaint and homely expressions, such as “FEARE GOD,” “IESVS BEE OVR SPEED,” “IN GOD IS MY HOPE.” They remind us of the bells of Rylstone, in Yorkshire, of which Wordsworth says:
“When the bells of Rylstone played
Their Sabbath music—God us ayde—
Inscriptive legend, which I ween,
May on those holy bells be seen.”
He was, however, unfortunately misinformed, as the true inscription (on one bell) was, “In God is all.” Other attempts are more ambitious, such as—