WALES—
Llangwynodl, Carnarvonshire; now in the possession
of W. C. Yale-Jones-Parry, Esq., of Madryn Castle,
Pwllheli, Carnarvonshire (_Archæologia Cambrensis_,
1st ser., vol. iv., p. 167; and 4th ser., vol. ii., p. 274).
SCOTLAND—
Strathfillan (Bell of St. Fillan), Perthshire; now in the
National Museum at Edinburgh (Dr. J. Anderson’s
_Scotland in Early Christian Times_, 1st ser., p. 186).
IRELAND—
Lorrha (Bell of St. Ruadhan), Co. Tipperary; now in
the British Museum (H. T. Ellacombe’s _Church Bells
of Devon—Supplement_, p. 344).
FRANCE—
St. Pol de Léon (Bell of St. Meriadec) (Rohault de Fleury’s
_La Messe_, vol. vi., pl. CDXVIII.; Ellacombe, p. 383).
The ornament on the handles is of two kinds—zoömorphic and
phyllomorphic. The former consists of the head of a beast at each end
of the loop handle where it joins the body of the bell, and the latter
of a leaf in the same position. The bell of Llangwynodl[388] has a good
typical example of a zoömorphic handle, and the bell of St. Pol de Léon
is the only one with leaf terminations to the handle. The Llangwynodl
bell is 5 inches high, and measures 6½ inches by 4 inches across the
mouth; and the St. Pol de Léon bell is 9½ inches high, and measures
6½ inches across the mouth. St. Fillan’s bell is 1 foot high, and St.
Ruadhan’s bell only 2 inches or 3 inches high.
[388] We are indebted to Mr. W. Corbet Yale-Jones-Parry, of Madryn
Castle, Pwllheli, the present owner of the Bell, for permission to
reproduce the photograph.
Celtic quadrangular bells of cast bronze with ornamented bodies exist
at the following places:—
IRELAND—
Lough Lene Castle, Co. Westmeath; now in the Museum
of the R.I.A. at Dublin; Bangor, Co. Down (_Ulster
Journal of Archæology_, vol. i., p. 179; Ellacombe, p. 340).
Cashel; now at Adare Manor (Lady Dunraven’s _Memorials
of Adare Manor_, p. 152; Ellacombe, p. 340).
By the courtesy of Mr. George Coffey, M.R.I.A., of the Museum of the
Royal Irish Academy, we are able to illustrate the bell from Lough Lene
Castle.
It is 1 foot 1¼ inches high, including the handle, and measures 8⅛
inches by 7¾ inches across the mouth. The shape of the body of the
bell resembles that of the iron quadrangular bells, but exhibits
much greater refinement in the delicate and almost imperceptible
curves of the sides. The handle is semicircular. The cross of the
well-known Irish type, with a border of key-pattern below, round the
mouth of the bell, on one of the border faces; and a border of angular
interlaced-work in a similar position on each of the narrower faces.