The following on a card was also placed in the belfry of Stow Church:—
We ring the quick to church, the dead to grave,
Good is our use, such usage let us have.
Who swears or curses, or in chol’ric mood
Quarrels or strikes, although he draws no blood,
Who wears his hat, or overturns a bell,
Or by unskilful handling mars a peal,
Let him pay sixpence for each single crime,
’Twill make him cautious ’gainst another time.
So, when the bells are ceased, then let us sing
God bless our Holy Church—God save the Queen.
The foregoing are a few examples of the many curious ringers’ regulations which found a place in belfrys in bygone times. Mr. J. Potter Briscoe, in his “Curiosities of the Belfry” (London, 1883), gives a complete collection of these old-time rules in prose and poetry.
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.)