Church Bells And Their Associations.

And if that you desire to be enrolled A ringer here these orders keep and hold ; But whoso doth these orders disobey Unto the stocks we will take him straightway , There to remain until he be willing To pay the forfeit and the clerk a shilling . "

These fines were rig idl y adhered to , and the money so obtained was laid out in ale for the refreshment of the ringers . At many churches large jugs , with curious inscriptions , were expressly provided to contain the beer . One at Hinder Clay , in Suffolk , was presented to the Noble Society of Ringers of that parish by Samuel Moss , who once belonged to the body , and left in 1702 , It bears the inscription" From London I was sent , As plainly doth appear , It was to this

intent—To be filled with strong beer . Please remember the pitcher ivhen empty . " Inscrip tions on the bells themselves are very common . Those on the oldest are in Lombardic and black letter characters , the former probably the more ancient . The black letter was superseded by the ordinary Roman capitals towards the close of the sixteenth century . We give a selection of the

most curious of these epigraphs or bell legends . Weever , in his work on "Funeral Monuments , " says : "In the little sanctuary at Westminster , King Edivard III . erected a clochier ( clock tower ) , and placed therein three bells for the use of St . Stephen ' s Chapel . About the biggest of them were cast in the metal these

words' King Edward made me thirty thousand iveight and three ; Take me down and wey me , and more you shall find me . '" At St . Michael ' s , Coventry , on the fourth bell is" I ring at six to let men know AVhen to and from their work to go i " on the seventh

bell"I ring to sermon with a lusty borne , For all may come and not can stay at home ;" on the eig

hth" I am and have been called tbe common bell , To ring when fire breaks out to tell . " Inscribed on a bell at Sellack Church , Herefordshire , were the lines—• " I to tbe church the living call , And to the grave do summon all . " Sometimes the inscription gave the maker ' s name , as at St . Mary the

Virgin , Oxford" Be it known to all that doth me see For Newcome , of Leicester , made me . " Often , too , the donor ' s name was thus perpetuated . The tenth bell at Bath Abbey bears this couplet" All you of Bath that hear me sound

Thank Lady Hopton ' s hundred pound . " The bells of Bakewell Church , Derbyshire , are all engraved with quaint rhymes , those on the fifth bell being" Thro' grandsires and fcripples with pleasure men rang , Till Death calls the Bobs and brings on the last change . "