S.W. SINGER.
Church Bells ([Vol. iii., p. 339.]).—Should the following extract from Mr. Fletcher's Notes on Nineveh have escaped the notice of MR. GATTY, it may probably interest him:—
"During the following (12th) century Dionysius Bar Salibi occupied the (Jacobite) patriarchal throne, a man noted for piety and learning. He composed several works on theological subjects, among which we find a curious disquisition on bells, the invention of which he ascribes to Noah. He mentions that several histories record a command given to that patriarch to strike on the bell with a piece of wood three times a day, in order to summon the workmen to their labour while he was building the ark. And this he seems to consider the origin of church bells, an opinion which, indeed, is common to other Oriental writers."—Vol. ii. p. 212.
E. H. A.
Chiming, Tolling, and Pealing ([Vol. iii., p. 339.]).—Though the following has not, I fear, canonical authority, nor is it of remote antiquity, still, as they are not lines of yesterday, they may serve as one Reply to MR. GATTY'S late Query on Chiming, tolling, and pealing:—
"To call the folk to church in time
We chime,
When joy and mirth are on the wing
We ring,
When we mourn a departed soul