Christian antiquities -- England; Churches -- England
The bride and groom we greet
In holy wedlock joined,
Our sounds are emblems sweet
Of hearts in love combined.
The sixth bell is inscribed--
The fleeting hours I tell,
I summon all to pray,
I toll the funeral knell,
I hail the festal day.
The seventh bell at Castleton has the following legend--
When of departed hours we toll the knell,
Instruction take, and spend the future well.
James Harrison, Founder, 1803.
The second bell at Monyash is inscribed: "Sca Maria o. p. n." (Sancta
Maria ora pro nobis.)
The old curfew custom is still kept up in the Peak district of
Derbyshire, notably at Winster, where the bell is rung throughout
November, December, January, and February at eight o'clock every work
day evening, except on Saturdays, when the hour is seven. There are
Sanctus bells at Tideswell, Hathersage, Beeley, Ashover, and other
Derbyshire churches. All Saints' Church, at Derby ("All Saints," _i.e._,
"the unknown good"), has a melodious set of chimes. They play the
following tunes: Sunday, "Old One Hundred and Fourth" (Hanover); Monday,
"The Lass of Patie's Mill"; Tuesday, "The Highland Lassie"; Wednesday,
"The Shady Bowers"; Thursday, "The National Anthem"; Friday, Handel's
"March in Scipio"; Saturday, "The Silken Garter." They all date from the
last century.
Church bells have the subtle charm of sentiment. When they swing in the
hoary village tower, and send their mellifluous message across the
country side and down the deep and devious valley, or when they make
musical with mellow carillon the dreamy atmosphere of moss grown
cathedral closes, they have a poetical influence. How pleasant it is to
listen to the chimes which ring out from time to time from the towers
of Notre Dame, in the city of Rubens, and from the Campanile at Venice!
Through the balmy air of night
How they ring out their delight!
From the molten golden notes,
And all in tune,
What a liquid ditty floats
To the turtle dove that listens, while she gloats
On the moon!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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