Bells have long been used as warnings, to announce events in a community, and as a means of driving out evil. The article below was originally published in 1911 and covers a few of the great bells of the world.
Great Bells of the World
In the great drama of history bells have played a very prominent role. The bell most historical and most dear to all Americans is the Liberty Bell now in Philadelphia. The other nations of the world have bells as famous and dear to them in historic memory as our Liberty Bell.
Belfast
In Belfast, Ireland, there is a bell reputed to be 1,352 years old. It is said that the bell was bequeathed to a church in that city by St. Patrick. It is carefully preserved and ornamented with precious stones and filigree of gold and silver.
Tsar Kolokol
The largest bell in the world is known as Tsar Kolokol. There is an interesting history surrounding it. When it had been cast, attempt was made to hang it so that it might be rung, but, by an unhappy chance, it broke from its support and fell to the ground, wherein it made a great hole into which it sank and lay for many years. Finally, after more than a hundred years of oblivion, it was raised and placed in a public square in Moscow, where it now stands.
This bell weighs more than 440,000 pounds, and is more than 19 feet in height and 22 in diameter.
China
There is a bell in northern China which has been ringing without intermission for 100 years. The natives believe that at every stroke of the bell a devil is exorcised from their midst. A special tax has been levied to support those who make a business of ringing this bell. It is rung by a system of relay teams that keep replacing one another.
Inspiration
The history of bells is very interesting. They are usually connected with important periods in a nation’s existence. They have inspired much of the world’s best poetry. One of the most harmonic lyrics, “The Bells,” by Edgar Allen Poe was inspired by the ringing of church bells near his home. Father Prout’s beautiful lyric, “The Bells of Shandon,” was inspired by the bells near Cork, Ireland. Bells that ring at scheduled periods in certain communities become, as it were, a living part of the community.
Source: The Pickens sentinel-journal. (Pickens, S.C.), 21 Sept. 1911.
