Death knell

English tradition

In England, an ancient custom was the ringing of church bells at three specific times before and after the death of a Christian. Sometimes a passing bell was first rung when the person was still dying,{{Cite book| location = New York| publisher = J. G. Gregory |last = Timbs | first = John | title = Mysteries of Life, Death, and Futurity: Illustrated from the Best and Latest Authorities| date = 1863 | edition = 13th

During the reign of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, statutes regulated death knell,{{Cite journal

The use of the passing bell for sick persons is indicated in the advertisements of Queen Elizabeth in 1564: "[W]here any Christian bodie is in passing, that the bell be tolled, and that the curate be specially called for to comfort the sick person".

Manner of ringing

The manner of ringing the knell varied in different parishes. Sometimes the age of the departed was signified by the number of chimes (or strokes) of the bell, but the use of "tellers" to denote the sex was almost universal. For instance in the greater number of churches in the counties of Kent and Surrey they used the customary number of tellers, viz., three times three strokes for a man, and three times two for a woman; with a varying usage for children. The word "tellers" became changed into "Tailors". J. C. L. Stahlschmidt described of the practices at each church in Kent and Surrey in his two books about the bells of those counties. It also features in Dorothy L. Sayers' mystery novel The Nine Tailors.

Half-muffled bells

An excellent example of this was demonstrated with the bells of Westminster Abbey at the Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997.

The accompanying picture shows a half-muffled full-circle bell, with the bell in the inverted position (or the "up" position). The clapper is shown resting on the lower side of the bell's soundbow, and when it first rotates (to the right in the picture) the un-muffled side of the clapper will strike when the bell rises to the inverted position and the clapper is moving faster and crosses to the other side. On the return stroke the same happens but the strike will be muffled. Note that only bells swung through a large arc or full-circle can be half-muffled, as it requires considerable rotation of the bell to strike on both sides of the clapper. The tradition in the United Kingdom is that bells are only fully muffled for the death of a sovereign.

In art & literature

"For Whom the Bell Tolls" is a partial quotation of the phrase:

"...And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee."

John Donne's 1624 work Devotions upon Emergent Occasions.

There are many other references to this phrase in Art and Literature.

In music

In Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, the funeral knell was used in the section of the 5th movement (i.e. Dream of a Witches' Sabbath).

References

References

1. Walters p. 156. Walters also notes that "there was sometimes the inconvenience that though the Passing Bell had been duly rung, the dying person might recover".
2. Walters p. 160.
3. Timbs, John. (1867). "Things Not Generally Known: Familiarly Explained". Lockwood & Company.
4. Thomas Hood, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=iNADAAAAQAAJ&dq=His+death+which+happened+in+his+berth,+At+forty-odd+befell:+They+went+and+told+the+sexton,+and+The+sexton+tolled+the+bell&pg=PA224 Faithless Sally Brown]", ''The Improved Illustrated Reader'', 1885, Fifth Book, William Collins and Sons, London and Glasgow, p. 224: "His death which happened in his berth, At forty-odd befell: They went and told the sexton, and The sexton tolled the bell".
5. Walters p. 157.
6. Walters p. 160.
7. Walters p. 155.
8. Walters p. 157–58.
9. Stahlschmidt, J. C. L.. (1887). "The Church Bells of Kent: Their Inscriptions, Founders, Uses and Traditions". Elliot Stock.
10. Stahlschmidt, J. C. L.. (1884). "Surrey Bells and London Bell Founders: A Contribution to the Comparative Study of Bell Inscriptions". Elliot Stock.