Durand, in his Rituals of the Roman Church, says: "For expiring persons bells must be tolled, that people may put up their prayers: this must be done twice for a woman, and thrice for a man." And such is still the general custom: either before or after the knell is rung, to toll three times three, or three times two, at intervals, to mark the sex.[[6]]
"Defunctos plorare" is probably as old as any use of a bell; but there is every reason to believe that—
"the ringing of bells at the departure of the soul (to quote from Brewster's Ency.) originated in the darkest ages, but with a different view from that in which they are now employed. It was to avert the influence of Demons. But if the superstition of our ancestors did not originate in this imaginary virtue, while they preserved the practice, it is certain they believed the mere noise had the same effect; and as, according to their ideas, evil spirits were always hovering around to make a prey of departing souls, the tolling of bells struck them with terror. We may trace the practice of tolling bells during funerals to the like source. This has been practised from times of great antiquity: the bells being muffled, for the sake of greater solemnity, in the same way as drums are muffled at military funerals."
H. T. Ellacombe.
Rectory, Clyst St. George.
At St. James' Church, Hull, on the occurrence of a death in the parish, a bell is tolled quickly for about the space of ten minutes; and before ceasing, nine knells given if the deceased be a man, six if a woman, and three if a child. As far as I have been able to ascertain, the custom is now almost peculiar to the north of England; but in ancient times it must have been very general according to Durandus, who has the following in his Rationale, lib. i. cap. 4. 13.:
"Verum aliquo moriente, campanæ debent pulsari; ut populus hoc audiens, oret pro illo. Pro muliere quidem bis, pro eo quod invenit asperitatem.... Pro viro vero ter pulsator.... Si autem clericus sit, tot vicibus simpulsatur, quot ordines habuit ipse. Ad ultimum vero compulsari debet cum omnibus campanis, ut ita sciat populus pro quo sit orandum."—Mr. Strutt's Man. and Cust., iii. 176.
Also a passage is quoted from an old English Homily, ending with:
"At the deth of a manne three bellis shulde be ronge, as his knyll, in worscheppe of the Trinetee; and for a womanne, who was the secunde persone of the Trinetee, two bellis should be rungen."