The modern uses of bells naturally fall into two main divisions--religious and secular, or quasi-religious uses. By the former I mean the ringing of bells for divine service, and, in particular, for the festivals of the Church, and their use at weddings, funerals, and other events of life with which the Church is naturally concerned. Other uses, again, though now purely secular, had once a religious meaning, such as the Curfew and Pancake bells. More secular uses are those of the Gleaning bell and the Fire bell, of bells rung for local meetings or festivities, or in commemoration of national events.
THE GREAT BELL OF TONG CHURCH, SHROPSHIRE.
The only allusion to bells in our Prayer Book is in the Preface, which directs that the minister “shall cause a bell to be tolled thereunto a convenient time before he begin, that the people may come to hear GOD’S Word, and to pray with him.” This was, of course, the original purpose for which bells were applied to an ecclesiastical use, and by virtue of which they are reckoned among the “Ornaments of the Church.” It is, therefore, the rule that every place of worship within the realm of the Church should have at least one bell, and in England at any rate there are not more than half a dozen parishes where the rule is ignored. The fifteenth Canon similarly enjoins the ringing of a bell on Wednesdays and Fridays for the Litany.
Methods of ringing the bells for service depend largely on the number of bells available and the possibility of collecting ringers together; and the ringing of peals at these times is comparatively rare. Ordinarily, where there are more than two, the bells are chimed for periods varying from ten minutes to half an hour on Sundays, while on week-days a single bell perforce suffices, tolled haply by the parson himself. In many places it is the custom to toll the largest bell for the last few minutes before service begins; this is known as the “Sermon Bell,” and was originally meant to indicate that a sermon would be preached. Or the smallest bell is rung hurriedly, as if to warn laggards, and this is called the “ting-tang,” “priest’s,” or “parson’s” bell. Some of these little bells bear the appropriate inscription, “Come away make no delay.” The use of a sermon bell is said to date from before the Reformation.