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A PAPER ON BELLS 
 
 MODERN IMPROVEMENTS 
 
 Cl^immg antr CnnllDns, 
 
 Mr. GEORGE LUND, 
 
 BEFORE THE 
 
 SOCIETY OF ARTS, LONDON, 
 
 March 6th, 1874, 
 
 LIEUT.- COL. SIR JAMES HOGG, M.P., 
 
 C}iai7 man of the Metroplitan Board of Woi-ks 
 In the Chair. 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022383768 
 
On BbllSj and Modern Improvements 
 
 FOR CHIMmO AND CaRILLONS, 
 
 I FEEL that some words of apology are due from me 
 for presuming to read a paper before so learned a society 
 as this ; but upon the scientific part of thp question I 
 most candidly admit that I am not equal to entering at 
 present, being quite content to quote the opinions of 
 others, far more competent than I to express an opinion; 
 but I venture to think that, upon the practical part of 
 the bell question, and the mechanical means used for 
 producing the best musical effects upon them, I may- 
 be heard with pleasure and interest by my audience 
 generally ; and to some of my hearers who, like myself, 
 are enthusiastic in such matters, I may be able to im- 
 part some information which may prove of value in 
 furthering the common object we have in view, the 
 revival of the love of bell music, which, until within 
 the last few years, has fallen considerably in public 
 estimation, on account of the rude and unsatisfactory 
 machinery used in its production. It must be distinctly 
 borne in mind that, although special reference only is 
 made to the machinery as applied to hemispherical bells, 
 it is quite as applicable to the church bell or any other 
 shape of bell, modifications only being introduced to 
 suit the weight of hammers to be used to bring the 
 proper tone out of the bells. I propose to divide the 
 subject of this paper into three heads, giving, firstly. 
 
some information about what came uhder my notice 
 while making a hurried tour through Belgium, the home 
 of chimes ; then, secondly, touching briefly upon bells, 
 their manufacture and uses in our own country, to come, 
 thirdly, to the more immediate subject of this paper — 
 hemispherical bells, and modern improvements in the 
 machinery of chimes and carillons. The first town of 
 importance on the route, vik Dover, Calais, and Cologne, 
 is Ghent, where there are 44 bells, a tune being played 
 every quarter of an hour, once an hour being not 
 enough to satisfy the insatiable desire of the Belgians 
 for bell music. My impression on first hearing them 
 was, that they were played by some means loud and 
 soft, but I soon decided that that could not be with- 
 out a system of dampers being used, and that I knew 
 had not, and has not yet, been successfully, if at all, 
 applied to bells. It is a subject to which I intend 
 to give attention as soon as possible, and I hope any 
 difficulties, should damping be found to be useful, may 
 be overcome. I must say I do not believe it to be a 
 Herculean task. We have already sketched out a very 
 simple method of damping by apparatus attached to 
 the hammer, which could be easily altered to be worked 
 by a pedal or by an extra key, so that a bell could be 
 allowed to sound out for any length of time or damped 
 instantly ; and I have no doubt that most intricate and 
 difficult effects of melodies, with running accompani- 
 ments in the base, could be played in this way with 
 perfect distinctness ; the great fault with all the Belgian 
 music being its indistinctness. 
 
 The machinery used in Ghent is on the same prin- 
 ciple as in all the other towns, and is the same as has 
 been used in England till within the last few years. A 
 large barrel of either iron or brass, with pins in it of 
 large size to catch upon the ends of the levers, to which 
 are attached the hammers which strike the bells, to 
 raise them, and let them fall again immediatelj' on the 
 
s 
 
 bell, is driven by a smaller drum and wheel, round which 
 is wound the flax or iron wire rope, to which is attached 
 the weight, which is the motive power. At Ghent, the 
 music drum is made of brass, with square holes punched 
 into it, and in these holes iron lifting-pins are placed. 
 The surface of the barrel being divided by the square 
 holes into intervals for crotchets, quavers, and semi- 
 quavers, it is a matter of no very great difficulty to 
 arrange the tunes ; and when it is desired to remove 
 them for a change of tune, it is easy to knock them 
 out from the inside, and to put them in such other 
 holes as the nature of the notes to be produced may 
 require. The ropes here are of flax ; the driving weight 
 is 300 lbs., and is wound up twice a day. There are 
 as many as four hammers to some of the bells, and none 
 have less than three. The brass drum is about six feet 
 in diameter, and, when in motion, reminds one very 
 much of a water-wheel, so ponderous does all the 
 machinery look. It was constructed by Charles Nolet, 
 a native of the town, and I have no doubt his fellow^ 
 townsmen are very proud of his memory, for he must 
 have been long since dead." The next place, en route, 
 is Bruges, where the machinery is on a much larger 
 scale than even at Ghent, the barrel being eight feet 
 in diameter, 48 bells, and as many as six hammers to 
 some of the bells — 190 in all. The machiney was con- 
 structed by Antomusde de Hondt, of Bruges, as far 
 back as 1748, and of late years iron wire has been 
 substituted for flax rope. The weight has to be wound 
 up every two hours, a man living in the tower for that 
 purpose. The clock here is worthy of passing notice, 
 being of a very large size to carry the hands for the 
 dials, which are 19 feet in diameter. It has a gridiron 
 pendulum, which is supposed to compensate for changes 
 of temperature, but this it certainly does not do to any 
 satisfactory extent. It strikes the hours at the hour 
 and half-hour, on a different bell at the half-hour to 
 
distinguish them, and a tune is played at each quarter. 
 As at Ghent, there are small clappers fixed inside the 
 bells, by which they are played upon by hand. The 
 performance is done in this way. The man who is 
 about to distinguish himself regularly prepares as for 
 a pugilistic encounter. He takes off his coat, waistcoat, 
 and hat, puts his long hair learnedly off his forehead and 
 behind his ears — at least the man I saw did — looks 
 intently for a few moments into the corner of the room, 
 puts on a regular pair of boxing-gloves in the greatest 
 possible hurry, evidently for fear that the brilliant 
 melody should escape him, sits himself down in front 
 of long rows of pegs and pedals, and bangs -away at 
 them as hard as ever he can go, first up, then down, 
 now in the middle, now both ends at once — and I 
 believe the whole lot would have gone down at once 
 if he could have managed it— legs and arms all going 
 in a perfect frenzy, but there being many more pegs 
 than arms and legs, he could not manage more than a 
 certain number at a time. How thankful the Antwerpers 
 ought to be. Now for the result produced — a great 
 deal of clatter and fatigue, but very, little music. Noise 
 and jingle, most lovely to those who like it ; but I am 
 one of those unappreciative sort of people who do not 
 think that music consists in a thundering noise and 
 clatter. Dr. Gatty, in his " History of the Bell," says, 
 upon this subject : — " The Carilloneur uses both hands 
 'and feet in executing the sprightly airs which ■ charm 
 the inhabitants of the cities of the Low Countries. The 
 pedals communicate with the larger bells for the base ; 
 and the keys upon which the treble notes depend are 
 struck by the hand edgeways, the little finger of the 
 player being defended by a thick leathern stall. It 
 requires considerable strength, as well as celerity and 
 skill in the player, for unless a violent blow be given to 
 the key, only a weak sound would be produced ; " and 
 Dr. Burney (in his " Present State of Music in Germany, 
 
1772,") says: — "The want of something to stop the 
 vibration of each bell at the pleasure of the player, like 
 the valves of an organ, is. an intolerable defect to a cul- 
 tivated ear, for by the notes of one passage perpetually 
 running into another, everything is so inarticulate and 
 confused, as to occasion a very disagreeable jargon." 
 He also says : — " The carillons are said to be originally 
 of Alost, in' this country (that is, Germany), and are 
 still here and in Holland in their greatest perfection." 
 
 The next town I visited, where there are chimes, 
 was Antwerp, where there are 48 bells. The bells are 
 swung as well as chimed on by the machinery, which 
 was made by Van Hoof in 1786. The weight is wound 
 up twice a day. These people, seem very fond of wind- 
 ing up jveights, nothing less than twice a day suits them, 
 and, in one instance named, every two hours. The next 
 and last in my route .was Namur, where th^re are 54 
 bells. , The machinery was made by Nolet, of. Ghent ; 
 of the date I have no note, but I should say it was 
 decidedly more recent than the machine by the same 
 . maker at his native town, the whole arrangement of the 
 bells and hammers and machinery being much more 
 perfect and mechanical. The music was taken in excel- 
 lent time ; there was a distinct melody running all 
 through, with a most judiciously arranged accompani- 
 ment in the base. 
 
 There is at Louvain a large bell foundry, where,, I 
 believe, nearly, , if not all, the Belgian bells have been 
 cast. Van Acholdt is the proprietor. At the time I 
 visited him he had nothing particular in hand, but a few 
 years ago he sent a large peal of 42 bells to this country 
 for Boston, in Lincolnshire, which are considered to be 
 very good. The process of manufacture of English bells, 
 which I am now about to describe, will apply equally 
 to the German bells, and I need only mention here 
 that many people consider them superior in tone to ours. 
 I believe that a great deal of this apparent superiority 
 
8 
 
 is due to the number they use. Take them singly, and 
 undoubtedly they are thin in quality of tone. 
 
 There is a most excellent work about bells, edited 
 by the Rev. H. T. El-lacombe, and called the " Bells of 
 the Church," a supplement to the " Church Bells of 
 Devon," and I was so much struck with the easily- 
 understood description he gives there of bell founding, 
 that I think I cannot do better than give it in his own 
 words. He says : — " It will be interesting to the general 
 reader if I describe the -modern process of bell casting. 
 This I am the better enabled to do by taking the esta- 
 blishment at Whitechapel, the oldest in London or in 
 England." Before describing the process of casting a 
 bell, it may be well to state that bell-metal consists of 
 an amalgam of copper and tin, in proportion of about 
 three parts of copper to one of tin. There are, of course, 
 various trade secrets as to the exact proportions of the 
 different metals necessary to constitute a first-rate alloy. 
 Mr. Deiiison, in his book, says that, after many experi- 
 ments, he has come to the conclusion that the proper 
 coinposition for bells is thirteen of copper to four of 
 tin. 
 
 There is no . great mystery, after all, in the bell- 
 founders' art, but extreme care is necessary, in order to 
 produce a good toned bell, that all the preliminary 
 operations should be conducted with the greatest exact- 
 ness. Passing through various yards at the Whitechapel 
 Foundry — in which are stored quantities of old timber, 
 old belUmetal, and a multitude of odds and ends, in the 
 shape of cannon and great masses of old copper destined 
 one day for the furnace — we arrive at the moulding- 
 room. In describing the casting of a bell it will be 
 necessary to observe that it is nothing more than a layer 
 of metal which has been run into the space between the 
 mould and its outer covering and allowed to cool. 
 Figure 2 will explain this very readily. Here we have a 
 section of a bell as it lies in the pit during the process of 
 
casting. The various parts of a bell may be described 
 as the body, or barrel ; the clapper, or striker hanging 
 on the inside ; and the ear, or cannon, on its top or 
 crown, by which it is hung in its chosen position in the 
 tower. 
 
 The following description applies to all bells, large' 
 and small, the various modifications in the shape, &c., 
 not interfering with the principle on which it is manu- 
 factured. The first principle to be observed, is the 
 construction of the shape or form of the future bell, so 
 as to ensure that due harmony in ail the parts which 
 shall give to it the proper degree of tone and vibration. 
 Various theories have obtained in different countries, 
 and among the different founders of our own country, 
 as to the best proportions for bells ; but the following 
 scale has been proposed and generally followed iit this 
 foundry as coming nearest to perfection. Taking the 
 thickness of the sound-bow or brim— -that is, the part 
 where the clapper strikes — a bell should measure in 
 diameter at the mouth, fifteen brims ; in height to the 
 shoulder, twelve brims ; and in width at the shoulder, 
 seven and a-half brims, or half the width of the mouth. 
 These proportions, however, are very variable, and 
 depend greatly on the taste, experience, andv skill of 
 the founder, an .approximation merely being arrived 
 at in these figures. Mr. Denison , says : — "The most 
 essential point of all to be attended to in ordering bells 
 is to require absolutely, and in spite of all protestation 
 of the founders, that none of them, when finished, are to 
 be thinner in the sound-bow, or thickest part, than one - 
 thirteenth of the diameter." I know that some good 
 old bells are a little thinner, but I never saw a new one 
 that was less, and had at the same time anything of the 
 soft and sweet tone which which church bells ought to 
 have. I can only account for the old ones bearing to 
 be thinner, though by no means so thin as many modern 
 ones, by the well-known- greater softness and toughness 
 
10 
 
 of the copper of old times, when they smelted less metal 
 out of the ore. The small bells of a peal are always 
 rightly made thicker in proportion than the large ones, 
 and will run up one-eleventh of the diameter, the large 
 ones being one-thirteenth. I would here observe that 
 Mr. Denison goes . most minutely into the why and the 
 wherefore of the proporti9ns of metal and the shape of 
 bells ; but I have selected Mr. Ellaconabe's description 
 of bell founding, because I have thought it would be 
 more generally understood. To the searcher after 
 information, both books are invaluable, one treating 
 exhaustively on the constructive part, and only slightly 
 on what I may call the archaeological part of the ques- 
 tion ; and the other exhaustively on the archaeological, 
 and only slightly on the constructive. The size and pro- 
 portions, then, of the future bells being ascertained, the 
 making of the mould is proceeded with. The outer 
 form of the core, by which the inner shape of the bell 
 is determined, is made by means of a crook, which is 
 made to'revolve on the clay, &c., of which the mould is 
 composed. This crook is a kind of double compass, the 
 outer leg 'of which is in two parts, formed of wood and 
 metal. The inner part (of metal) is cut or curved to 
 the shape of the outside of, the core, or inside of the 
 intended bell ; arid the outer part (of wood) to the form 
 the outside of the bell is to be made. This crook and 
 compass is to move on a pivot afSxed" to a beam above, 
 and its lower end is driven into the ground. In the 
 case of very large bells, the mould is perfected in the 
 pit in which they are to be cast. The crook is driven 
 by the hand of the moulder, and the moulds being com- 
 posed of plastic clay, &c., the form of the inner side of 
 the bell is defined by a few revolutions of this simple 
 machine. Thus is formed the core, or inner mould. 
 The cope, or outer mould is formed in much the same 
 way, except that its inner surface is smoothed to form 
 the outer side of the bell. The core is first roughly 
 
II 
 
 built up of brickwork, with a hollow in the centre. It is 
 then :plastered over with soft clay, &c., and moulded as 
 described by the action of the crook, and is afterwards 
 dried by means of a fire in the hollow mentioned. 
 When baked sufficiently hard, it is covered all over 
 with a size of tan and grease. Over this size a coating 
 of hay bands and loam is laid, the exact thickness the 
 bell is intended to be made ; on this thickness the outer 
 leg of the crook — the inner leg which formed the core 
 having been removed — is made to rotate, and so forms 
 the shape of the inside of the cope or outer mould. 
 This thickening being thoroughly dried, upon it is 
 formed the cope, or outer mould, upon the outerisurface 
 of which are formed ledges, by means of which, when 
 dry, it is raised, and the thickening destroyed. Both 
 are then retouched, any device or inscription being im- 
 pressed upon the inside of the cope; it is re-lowered, 
 and the hollow space between the cope and core is, of 
 course, the exact shape the bell is to be. The head and 
 staple to hold the clapper being now fitted above all, 
 the mould may be said to be complete. A sufficient 
 number of moulds being now formed for the number of 
 bells to be cast, the pit is filled in with earth, firmly 
 rammed down, to prevent the copes rising ^yhen the 
 nietal is run in. The furnaces are now lighted, the 
 metals in their proper proportion are melted — some- 
 times as much as twenty tons at a time— =and from 
 time to time tested — till found to be of the right tem- 
 perature, when the furnace doors are opened, and the 
 molten metal directed through properly constructed 
 channels to each mould in succession, till the whole 
 number of bells is cast. Sufficient time is allowed 
 for cooling. The earth is dug away from around the 
 moulds, which are then destroyed, the bells' being taken 
 to the tuning room, where they are tried for note ; and 
 when tuning is necessary, which is almost always the 
 case, the bell is securely fixed into a wooden frame by 
 
12 
 
 means of wedges, underneath a steam cutter, which 
 cuts as much as may be required, either from the inside 
 of the bell, in the region of the sound-bow, to deepen 
 the note, or from the edge of the lip to sharpen it. 
 
 The earliest notice of a belfry and peal of bells is 
 contained in the following passage : — Egelric, Abbot of 
 Croyland (who died 984) in the time of Edgar, caused a 
 peal of bells to be made for his Abbey, to each of which 
 he gave names, which it is needless to give here ; and 
 the celebrated " Benedictional of St. Ethelwold," in the 
 library of the Duke of DevonshirCj furnishes us with an 
 earlier instance of a belfry with four bells, namely, about 
 the y"fear 980. From that time to the present, bells of 
 all sizes, shapes, and weights, have been cast ; and I 
 think that a few moments may not be unpleasantly 
 spent in enumerating some of the most famous. The 
 largest bell in England is, as you are doubtless aware, 
 " Big Ben," the clock bell at Westminster ; it may 
 not be equally well known that it derives its name 
 from the fact that Sir, Benjamin Hall was then Chief 
 Commissioner of Her Majesty's Office of Works when 
 the bell was first cast, and his name inscribed on it ; it 
 was named after hirh, Ben, and from its size was natu- 
 rally called big ; hence the name, " Big Ben." It bears 
 this inscription: — "This bell, weighing 13 tons, 10 cwt, 
 3 qrs., 15 lbs., was cast by George Mears, of White- 
 chapel, for the clock of the Houses of Parliament, under 
 the direction of Edward Beckett Denison, Esq., Q.C., in 
 the 2istyear of the reign of Queen Victoria, and in the 
 year of our Lord, 1858." It was contracted for that the ■ 
 bell should bear the blow of an 8 cwt. hammer, but 
 after the clock had struck on it for a few months cracks 
 showed themselves, and, upon examination, it was found " 
 that the metal was porous and the casting defective. 
 The striking was then removed to the fourth quarter 
 bell, upon which the hours were struck for two or three 
 years ; but after many complaints of the confusion, the 
 
13 
 
 striking on the big bell was resumed (November, 1863 
 with a lighter hammer, the bell being turned a quarter 
 round by the button or mushroom head by which it is 
 hung. The four qniarter bells were cast by Messrs. 
 Warner without any known defect, and are remarkably 
 good. I may here give you some information which 
 may be new to you, and at the same time bear testi- 
 mony to the remarkable time-keeping of the clock. 
 We receive from the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, 
 by electric current, a time signal every hour — and I 
 show upon the table the instrument we use, for register- 
 ing it — having found it extremely inconvenient to be on 
 the 'look-out exactly at the hour, failing which the signal 
 was lost. It is the invention of a brother of mine, 
 improved by myself only to this extent, that instead of 
 using an ink chronograph watch we use a stop chrono- 
 graph ; and for the information of those who do not know 
 the difference between the two, I would say that in one 
 the seconds-hand is double, and that when the signal 
 comes it draws the upper hand through the reservoir of 
 ink in the end of the lower hand, and so marks the error 
 of the watch on its dial or face, and that the hand is con- 
 stantly moving. In our chronograph the hand can be 
 started from zero and allowed to travel as long as 
 desired, can be stopped and again brought to zero for 
 another start, each being done by pressure. Having 
 placed the hand at rest, we put the watch into the in- 
 strument and leave it.. At the next hour the signal is 
 sent from the Royal Observatory, and the hand of the 
 watch is started absolutely to Greenwich meantinje. 
 We can then, at our leisure, compare our regulators. 
 The wire through which our signals come is used by the 
 Westminster clock once eacli day, to transmit a register 
 of its time to the Astronomer Royal at Greenwich, and 
 to Mr. Dent, in the Strand. When we want to compare 
 " Big Ben," we only replace our watch, and let the clock 
 signal (being the second pressure) stop the hand. When- 
 
14 
 
 ever it stops to the right or left of zero, so is it fast or 
 slow of time. If it stops at zero it is, of course, correct 
 time. It is verj/ rarely indeed that we find it many 
 seconds out. The next largest- bell in England is 
 " Peter of York ; " diameter 8 feet 4 inches, height 
 7 feet 7 inches, weight 12 tons 10 cwt. ; the note is 
 F sharp. The next great bell is the " Mighty Tom," 
 of Oxford, 7 feet in diameter, and weighing 7 tons 
 12 cwt. The note is generally considered to be A, 
 but being faulty in some parts, the tones vary, and 
 some say it gives out five notes. Rather a cheap way ^ 
 that of getting the effect of a peal of five bells. Three 
 unsuccessful attempts were made to cast it in 1681 ; 
 twice it wanted metal enough to make out the canons^ 
 and the third time it burst the mould and ran into the 
 ground. It was at last, can I say successfully cast, 
 with its five notes, by a London bell-founder, named 
 Christopher Hodson. In 1682, it was moved from the 
 church to the gate house, and, on the 29th of May, 1684, 
 it first rang out, between eight and nine at night, from 
 which time to this a servant tolls it every night at nine, 
 as a signal to all scholars to repair to their respective 
 colleges and halls. 
 
 There is a great bell at Lincoln Cathedral weighing 
 5 tons 8 cwt. ; note A. This, arid the two quarter bells, 
 were cast from the old 1610 bell, and six other bells 
 from the rood tower, called the Lady bells, by Mears, of 
 London, in 1834. St. Paul's Cathedral has a large hour 
 and two smaller quarter bells, none of them anything to 
 bqast of, in the south tower. - There is, however, in the 
 north tower, a bell which bears the inscription: — "Made 
 by Philip Wightman, 1700." The diameter is only 49 J 
 inches, and the thickness 3^ inches, yet the tone is most 
 deep and sonorous, and I think, for its size, one of the 
 ■ most pleasing to the ear I have ever heard. Having had 
 occasion to try it several times, the impression remain- 
 ing of it is a most pleasing one, which I cannot say of 
 
15 
 
 the three other bells ; the quarter bells are specially- 
 poor and lacking in quality of tone. There are also 
 large bells at Leeds Town Hall, St. Dunstan's Canter- 
 bury, and at Glasgow. One of the latest additions to 
 the large bells in England is at Worcester. Cathedral, for 
 the new clock to strike on, and for occasional tolling. 
 It is hung on the balance-beam principle. The gudgeons 
 or pivots on which the bell moves are wedge-shaped, and 
 roll on hand brasses, very slightly hollowed ; the friction 
 is thereby so little that the bell can be tolled by one 
 man with one hand, although it weighs four tons and a- 
 half, a lever being attached to the stock instead of a 
 wheel, which is necessary under some circumstances. 
 It was so tolled for service, for the first time, by 
 Mr. Denison and the Rev. H. T. Ellacombe, on Sunday, 
 the 17th January, 1869, in the company of the Rev. R. 
 Cattley and others, and it is owing to the- last-named 
 gentleman's indefatigable efforts that the peal has since 
 been made up to fifteen bells, and machinery provided 
 to play tunes upon them. 
 
 . I may here be permitted to publicly thank him for 
 his extreme courtesy to me on the occasion of a visit 
 which I lately made to Worcester. Anything more 
 perfect in the way of general arrangement of bell fram- 
 ing to support aind carry the bells, of fittings in the bell- 
 ringers' floor, and evidence of heart and soul enthusiasm 
 of the master mind in the work, from floor to roof of the 
 tower, is not to be found. The bells, made by Messrs. 
 Taylor, of Loughborough, are undoubtedly very fine, and 
 the clock, made by Messrs. Joyce, of Whitchurch, is 
 a specimen of' English work of the highest order. 
 
 In Mr. EUacombe's book, much more and most in- 
 teresting information will be found about big bells, in 
 this and, other countries, large peals, &c., and recom- 
 mending it to your notice, I pass on to :-?The various 
 uses to which bells have been put." The two most im- 
 portant of these, and the only two which I shall speak 
 
i6 
 
 of, are change ringing, by ringers swinging the bells, and 
 chiming tunes by machinery. Seventy or one hundred 
 years ago, ringing was a much more popular and fashion- 
 able pastime than it is now. The exact date is uncertain 
 when the art of ringing a number of variations on bells 
 was first practised, but probably about the commence- 
 ment of the seventeenth century. Long before that 
 date, no doubt bells had been rung, but only in rounds, 
 that is, in the same rotation each time. • The earliest 
 known record of a ringing society is to be found in a 
 manuscript in the library of All Souls College, Oxford, 
 entitled, "Orders conceyved and agreed upon by the 
 company exercising the arte of ringing, knowne and 
 called by the name of the Schollers of Chepezyde, in 
 London, begun and so continued from the second day 
 of February, anno 1603." This society appears ^o have 
 existed down to 1634. Three years afterwards, another 
 society was formed, called the College Youths, records 
 of which exist down to 1755. There is at the present 
 time a society of the same name, which claims relation- 
 ship, rightly or wrongly it is not necessary here to in- 
 quire, with this ancient and aristocratic society. I do 
 not suppose that much harm will be done either one 
 way or the other ; it is enough for my purpose to say 
 that other societies have been formed, two numerous to 
 mention ; that some have flourished more or less — the 
 majority, I imagine, less ; some have died natural and 
 some unnatural deaths, but still the College Youths, in 
 name at least, exist. The aristpcratic element of the 
 society has now, however, given way to respectable 
 tradesmen, clerks in various capacities, , and skilled 
 artisans (I quote Mr. Ellacombe's words), with a very 
 fair sprinkling of clergymen, barristers, and- gentlemen 
 of no occupation (but bell-ringing, I suppose). They, 
 however, gave most practical proof of the good ringing 
 qualities they possessed in 1862, by ringing, on the 27th 
 April in that year, a true and complete peal of cinques. 
 
17 
 
 on Stedman's principle, consisting of 8,580 changes, 
 in a most masterly style, in six hours and forty-one 
 minutes, on the noble bells of St. Michael's, Cornhill, 
 being the greatest number of changes ever rung in that 
 method on twelve bells. The number of changes which 
 can be rung upon a given number of bells is something 
 extraordinary, and should any of my hearers care to 
 inquire into the mysteries of the art, I would recommend 
 them to get a book called "An Introduction to the 
 Early Stages of the Art of Church or Hand-bell Ring- 
 ing, for the use of Beginners," by Charles A. W. Troyte. 
 He there gives, as the number which can be rung on 
 eight bells, at 40,320, time required to ring, one day 
 four hours. 
 
 On 9 bells, 362,880 Time 10 days 12 hours. 
 
 ♦„ 10 ,, 3,628,800 ,, 105 days. 
 
 ,, II ,, 39,916,800 ,, 3 years 60 days. 
 
 ., 12 » 479.001,600 „ 37 years 355 days. 
 
 It is truly a most mysterious art. I have tried to 
 master its intricacies so as to be able to write the 
 changes for our chiming barrels, but at present have 
 made very little progress. The book being only an 
 introduction and for the instruction of beginners, what is 
 to follow after must be wonderful indeed. I will read 
 you just one chapter as a specimen. In Chapter IV, 
 Mr. Troyte says, " Having, in the last chapter, I hope, 
 explained the working of the Grandsire method, I now 
 call the learner's attention to the most beautiful of all 
 five-bell methods. It is beautiful in its work and 
 ■beautiful in its music, and once learned, I think not 
 much harder than the Grandsire method. It was in- 
 vented by a Mr. Fabian Stedman, about the year 1640, 
 and has since the'i^become most justly popular among 
 ringers. The great beauty of it no doubt consists in 
 the two facts, that bells come to lead at back stroke 
 as well as at hand stroke, and that double dodging 
 is always going on behind. The foundation of the 
 
 B 
 
i8 
 
 principle is that three bells should go through the 
 three-bell changes, as given in Chapter II, while the 
 other bells dodge behind at the completion of each six 
 changes, one bell coming down from behind to take its 
 part in the dodging. But it is not possible to ring it by. 
 this plan, therefore it is necessary to give certain further 
 instructions, and before I do so, I wish to call the 
 learner's attention to the fact that the treble is no 
 longer the easiest bell to ring, but does exactly the 
 same work as the other bells ; this forms one of the 
 great difficulties of the method." Then come the rules 
 for Stedman's principle. The work . of each bell is 
 described as divided into three parts, viz., the quick 
 work, the dodging, and the slow work, each being 
 minutely described. He then goes on to say, " In short, 
 and for the sake of making it easy for learning by 
 heart, in coming from behind make 3rd's place, lead a 
 whole pull, strike one blow in 2nd's place, lead another 
 whole pull, make 3rd's place, lead one blow, make 3rd's 
 again' lead another blow, make 3rd's again, lead a whole 
 pull, one blow in 2nd's, and another whole pull, make 
 3rd's, and up (or out)." After describing more dodging 
 in and out, half turns and whole turns, odd, even, slow, 
 and quick sixes, he says, "I have now, I hope, explained 
 the following terms, and shall use them hereafter without 
 further explanation : — 
 
 Quick work; 
 Slow work. 
 The dodging. 
 Odd sixes. 
 Eyen sixes. 
 Slow sixes. 
 Quick sixes. 
 
 First and last whole turns. 
 First and last half turns. 
 Going in quick. 
 Going out quick. 
 Going in slow. 
 Going out slow. 
 
 "It is necessary that these terms should be thoroughly 
 understood before the learner attempts to go further." 
 I do not think any of us do thoroughly understand — I 
 can answer for myself — and we will therefore take such 
 sound advice and dismiss the subj.ect, and pass to 
 another use to which church bells have been put, viz.. 
 
19 
 
 -for the playing of tunes upon them by machinery. 
 These machines have been most aptly described as 
 " rather rough, the barrel-end has a rope coiled round 
 it, and it drives two or three wheels, ending in a fly, 
 to regulate the velocity." This meagre description 
 exactly conveying the impression of- their' meagre 
 effects. There are many of them spread all over the 
 country, in various stages of decay. I will only mention 
 three which have come under my own immediate notice. 
 The first was, uhtil the restorations were commenced, in 
 full force, on eight bells, at St. Alban's Abbey. One 
 tune after another had gone to rest, till at last " The 
 Curley-headed Plough Boy" alone remained to tell his 
 tale of past glories. He, at last, has been put in a 
 corner, where some friends of mine, who live close to 
 the abbey, fervently hope he will remain for all time. 
 At Southwell, where there is a minster second only to 
 Lincoln cathedral in interest as a specimen of early 
 Norman architecture, there are chimes. Here the only 
 remaining tune is " God Save the Queen." The last 1 
 came across accidentally, at Kettering. There I could 
 make nothing of the tune at all, and ceased to be sur- 
 prised at it when told, by an old inhabitant, that I was 
 no exception to the rule. He was the only person who 
 knew that it was made up of the " Old Hundredth " and 
 " Caller Herring," that they were the two last surviving 
 tunes twenty odd years ago, that they had not been 
 played for about that tiriie till a few years since, when the 
 machineiy was then put in order, and he supposed that, 
 in the interval, they had become so inextricably mixed up 
 together, that separated they could not be. He thought 
 it would have been better to have left them alone. We 
 did not disagree upon the point. No doubt there are , 
 many machines, constructed upon the old principle, 
 which continue to play tunes as well as ever they did, 
 proper care and attention having been always bestowed 
 upon them ; but bad- is the best If anyone should 
 
 B 2 
 
20 
 
 wish to hear a melancholy exhibition of what such 
 machines of comparative modern construction can do, 
 let him go and hear the Royal Exchange chimes play, 
 at 9 A.M. and 6 P.M. Can nothing be done to- remove 
 the reproach that the wealthiest city in the world, at its 
 Royal Exchange, presents such a contemptible speci- 
 men of discord ! 
 
 We now come to the more immediate subject of this 
 paper — ^hemispherical bells, and modern improvements 
 in the machinery for carillons and chimes — and I would 
 wish it to be distinctly understood, that I do not for 
 one moment desire to be understood to say that this 
 shape of bell will supersede, to any great extent, the' 
 church bell shape, or that the power of the tone of one 
 is to be compared to the power of tone of the other." 
 In the hemispherical shape, a 4^ cwt. bell will produce 
 the same note as 25 cwt. in the church bell shape, and 
 it is quite obvious that 4^ cwt. cannot produce the same 
 volume of sound as 25 cwt. But what I do say is, and 
 my firm have proved it in practice, that hemispherical 
 bells, in peals of eight and more, can be used most 
 advantageously in places and spaces, with all the 
 machinery necessary to produce the required effects of 
 change ringing, quarter striking, and tune playing, 
 where the other shape could not have been used, first, 
 for want of space, and, secondly, in many instances— a 
 most serious consideration — on account of the cost. 
 
 That they and our machinery will prove useful in 
 providing for a want which has been greatly felt of late 
 years, viz., the supply of bells and filling the place of 
 ringers in neighbourhoods were they are not to be 
 found, I have no doubt whatever; and I am also of 
 opinion that a very large field for their use exists in 
 towers and turrets attached to country mansions. Their 
 sweetness of tone is eminently suited for this purpose, 
 as all the charming effects of bell music may be obtained 
 from them without the tinkling sheep-bell sound of 
 
21 
 
 light peals, or the .impossible expense and over-powering 
 sound, at short distances, of peals of the ordinary shape, 
 sufficiently heavy and deep in tone to give good effects. 
 They also possess this very great advantage over .church 
 bells, that through any number they retain their musical 
 continuity, that is to say, from one octave to another, 
 even in chromatic scales, they can be perfectly tuned, 
 whereas in church bells, beyond a certain number, 
 generally over ten to thirteen, they cannot be made — to 
 use a technical term — to fit. At Worcester, for instance, 
 the two smaller bells in playing the music are decidedly 
 out of tune. 
 
 It is not proposed to enter, in this paper, into the 
 question whether or not hemispherical bells are con- 
 structed upon scientific principles. I cannot really tell 
 ydu upon what principle they are constructed. I have 
 never put the question to the founders of them, for the 
 (to me) satisfactory reason that I do not believe they 
 would tell me if I did, At present, I have quite enough 
 to do to make use of them when made. All I propose 
 to do is to give some information respecting accom- 
 plished facts with regard to them . and the chiming 
 machinery which we have made and are making, under 
 the patent of Mr. Imhof, taken out on the 29th Sep- 
 tember, 1866 — information which we have ventured to 
 think may prove to be interesting to our fellow-members 
 in this society. From time to time we have applied 
 them in isolated cases to clocks, with invariable success, 
 but it was not till 1870 that we had an opportunity 
 of ordering a peal of sixteen, for a tower at Colonel 
 Tomline's, Orwell Park, a few miles from Ipswich. The 
 smallest in the peal is i foot 4 inches in diameter, and 
 weighs 3 qrs. 13 lbs., from which they run down to the 
 lowest in the peal, 3 feet ^ inch in diameter, which 
 weighs 6 cwt. 19 lbs. The hour bell is 3 feet 6| inches 
 in diameter, and weighs 9 cwt. 2 qrs. 5 lbs. The peal is 
 in the key of E flat, with two half notes, the key which 
 
22 
 
 we consider best adapted for bell music, and was the 
 first of that number and size ever cast. The whole 
 weight is about two and a-half tons, and the bells are 
 arranged in two tiers of wooden bell-frame, the-cranks 
 leading to the machinery being placed in the centre of 
 the two, and leading right and left. The whole is con- 
 tained in a space 7 feet 9 inches by about 1 1 feet high, 
 tier above tier, each bell in its own compartment, so as 
 not to interfere with or stifle the sound of its next door 
 neighbour. When the bells arrived at the foot of the 
 tower, it was unanimously considered by the builders' 
 employes .engaged on the estate that the tower would 
 not hold them, but, to the intense astonishment of every 
 one, the bell-frame and the bells were all fixed in their 
 places in less than a week, with two feet out of the nine 
 unoccupied. Our first object, in undertaking work of 
 this kind, is to see the plage the bells are to go in, and 
 then to obtain, from the architept of the building, trac- 
 ings of the bell^chamber. We then design and carefully 
 draw to scale the bell-frame and bells, knowing approxi- 
 mately their dimensions, so that they are as good as 
 placed, for all practical purposes of construction, in the 
 tower before they are actually cast, and we are then able 
 to state, with the greatest accuracy, what sized bell.^ can 
 be used. The facility with which these bells can be 
 fixed in their places is one of their numerous recom- 
 mendations. A hole is drilled through the crown i^ 
 of an inch diameter, and through this and the cross- 
 beam of the bell-fr^me which is to carry it is passed -a 
 bolt, secured by a nut and w,ashers,^nd in this way each 
 is fastened to its own beam, upon which ar.e fixed the 
 hammers and counterrsprings to prevent chattering in 
 the blow, so that, falling as it does from the centre of the 
 bell, the full force of the blow of the hammer falls upon 
 the bell. The machine which we manufactured and 
 applied to these bells, chimes the Cambridge quarters 
 the same as the Westminster clock, and plays one of 
 
23 
 
 seven tunes twice over or not, at will, each third hour, 
 with one weight and one train of wheels, but does not 
 strike the hours. A clock being already there, it was 
 thought desirable to alt«r that for the purpose. Iff may 
 be here observed that we are making, by gracious com- 
 mand of Her Majesty the Queen, a machine for St. 
 Mark's, Victoria Park, which does all three with one 
 weight and one train of wheels, a description of which 
 I shall give later on. The patent, under which these 
 machines are manufactured, is the sole invention of 
 Mr. Imhof, and consists in the discharge of the hammer 
 upon the bell by means of a pin in a wooden barrel, and 
 the provision of a cam action to again raise it to the 
 catch from which it was discharged ; thus doing away 
 with the difficulty which is experienced in preventing 
 the wear of the pin in the barrel, and the end of the 
 lever in the old principle, where the hammer is raised by 
 the pin in the barrel acting upon the end of the lever to 
 which the hammer is attached, and so lifting it and 
 allowing it to again fall upon the bell, and strike the 
 blow ; thus, from the very first, two defects from wear 
 arise — the pin and lever both wear, and the time of 
 the music and draught of the hammer are consequently 
 affected. Mr. Imhof's plan is now universally acknow- 
 ledged to be the only one suitable for the purpose of 
 chiming -tnachines. No doubt many improvements have 
 i)een made since Mr. Imhof designed the first machine, 
 and I am sure that he most readily admits it, but at the 
 same time the fact should not be lost sight of that to 
 him alone is due the credit of inventing the separating 
 of the discharge of the hammer from the lifting pin, and 
 it is this which constitutes the mainspring of all the 
 improvements which have been, from time to time, in- 
 troduced. 
 
 I shall now proceed to give a description of the 
 machine at Ipswich, and as I propose to show you the 
 principal improvements which we have made from stage 
 
24 
 
 to stage of our progress, I must preface my remarks 
 upon this part of my subject by referring to the first 
 machine we made, which we do not now use. Its great 
 defect — and one which invariably proves fatal to accu- 
 rate time-keeping in any self-acting instrument which 
 has rough work to do — is that the barrel is made to 
 revolve by means of an outside driving-wheel fixed on 
 to the main shaft of the weight-drum, and geared into a 
 wheel of a similar number of teeth, and upon the shaft 
 of which was fixed what is called the carrying-arm, 
 which carries round the musical barrel one revolution of 
 the drum, thus being equal to one of the barrel. Let 
 the pivots of these two shafts fit the holes in which they 
 work, and, let the depths of the wheels be pitched as 
 accurately as possible, and the working of the teeth one 
 into the other be quite perfect tooth and space, and yet 
 in a very short time wear will begin to show itself, the 
 wheels will begin to rock, and the machine for time- 
 keeping purposes becomes no better than one constructed 
 upon the old principle. A barrel which can be set back 
 by any unusual pressure cannot keep good time, for it 
 not only retards the note which it is discharging, but 
 with the spring it gets with the set-back, it shoots for- 
 ward to the next pin, and discharges it as much too soon 
 as the last one was too late. This will be evident to the 
 most casual observer. This machine is constructed to 
 strike the hours and quarters, and to play a tune twice over 
 every third hour with one weight and one train of wheels,. 
 There are three key-frames constructed in the same way 
 as the key-frame of a self-acting organ, the key discharg- 
 ing the hammer on the bell instead of opening the valve 
 as in an organ. Two are for the music, and one small 
 one for the quarters, placed for convenience and saving 
 of room in the centre of the two. They are all connected 
 together,' and are so arranged, that when the two are 
 down, playing the music, the quarter frame is lifted, 
 and the pins in the barrel cannot touch the quarter 
 
2S 
 
 keys, and vice versd, the quarter frame being down, the 
 music-frames are up ; the striking of the hours is also 
 ingeniously arranged for, but to this I shall refer later 
 on. As previously stated, we have abandoned " the 
 driving of the musical barrels by outside wheels, and now 
 always drive them direct from the shaft, upon which the 
 weight-drum works, and to which is fixed the main 
 wheel of the machine, by making it project sufficiently 
 through the bracket in which it "works, to allow of the 
 carrying-arm being fastened to it. The carrying- arm is, 
 as its name implies, that part of the machine which gives 
 motion to, or carries round, the musical barrel, the main 
 shaft passing into the centre of the barrel, and the 
 carrying-pin also entering it as near to the outer circum- 
 ference as possible, both being accurately fitted, and the 
 action of the barrel being only backwards and forwards, 
 not being circular, the wear, even in the course of years, 
 is very trifling, and can be rectified at any time by simply 
 putting a new back brass to the barrel. This was the 
 first great improvement. Our next endeavour was to 
 avoid, in the striking of the quarters, so much loss of 
 fall of weight, one turn of the barrel, equal to a fall of 
 2 ft., being used for the gtriking of the quarters in one 
 hour alone, in the first machine. We therefore separated 
 the quarter barrel from the musical barrel, making the 
 quarter barrel revolve only twice for the quarters of three 
 hours, thus saving one turn, equal to two feet of fall, 
 every three hours, equal to a saving of sixteen feet in the 
 twenty-four hours, an enormous saving in such matters 
 In this machine, as in the first, the catches are released 
 by a key in a key-frame, and a difficulty presented itself 
 How could we get over the pins discharging the hammers 
 for the music at the same time as the quarters, without 
 lifting the key-frame, which is very heavy and cumber- 
 some to deal with .? We soon decided that a simple'plan 
 was to keep the musical barrel still, till required to play - 
 the tune, by holding it free of the carrying-pin in the 
 
26 
 
 carrying-arm, and successfully accomplished it in this 
 way. Instead of having a spring to bear on the end of 
 the pivot of the barrel, we substituted a weight working 
 over a pulley, and attached to a lever, by which it can 
 be- lifted or allowed to fall according to whether the 
 barrel is required to revolve or not. We put a spring at 
 the other end of the barrel, where the main-shaft enters, 
 so that when the weight is lifted this spring pumps the 
 barrel away from the" carrier, and it is held in the proper 
 position for the pin to pick it up again the next third 
 hour by a piece of steel in its outer edge entering a 
 notched piece of iron. The weight when raised is held 
 by a catch, which is withdrawn just before the last 
 quarter change at the hour, is being struck, by a pin in 
 the quarter barrel. It then falls, and brings the musical 
 barrel to bear against the end of the carrier-pin till it 
 reaches the notch cut in the brass rim, arrived there the 
 machine stops, the barrel is drawn by the weight to the 
 proper depth, according to the tune to be played, and it 
 only awaits release from the clock at the last blow of the 
 hour to start and play a tune through twice. This 
 having been done, the weight is again raised by a small 
 roller in the main wheel of the machine, and the barrel 
 remains at rest for three hours more. There are seven 
 tunes played, a different one at each third hour or not 
 at will ; and here again the small barrel plays a simple, 
 yet most important part. Thg tunes are changed by 
 shifting a seven-star snail, as in an ordinary musical box. 
 This snail is shifted by a double action lever. A small 
 roller is fitted to the carrying-arm, which at each revolu- 
 tion comes in contact with the "V "-shaped end of the 
 lever, presses it down; and, so doing, raises the other end 
 of the lever, which in its turn shifts the snail. To pre- 
 vent this being done the first time round, a short spring 
 lever is made to hold the pushing end of the snail-shifting 
 lever away, and it is only when it is required to change 
 the tune that a pin in the quarter barrel withdraws the 
 
2; 
 
 spring lever and allows the lever to work. The shifting 
 lever end is made with a joint, so that by simply with- 
 drawing it from contact with the snail the tune is not 
 changed, although the spring lever may be withdrawn 
 by the pin in the barrel. The quarter barrel thus per- 
 forms four distinct functions. It strikes the .quarters, 
 stops the machine when required by a simple action — 
 which I have thought it needless to explain^causes the 
 music to be played at the proper times, and changes the 
 tune or not, as desired ; thus making it an automatic 
 machine, it only being necessary that a small weight 
 should be lifted by the clock and allowed to fall at each 
 quarter of an hour, by which the machinery is started 
 for the quarters, and a similar weight each third hour for 
 the music. In the one case, the weight is raised by four 
 pins in a gun-metal wheel fixed to the minute square of 
 the clock, and in the other, frpm the locking plate which 
 regulates the strikiiig of the hours. The improvements 
 sought for in the congtr-uction of our next machine were 
 these — to do away with the key-frame which we thought 
 unnecessary, both orj account of the expeflsiveness of its 
 manufacture, and the drag we found it was upon the 
 machinery. The discharge was not as easy as we could 
 have wished it to be (although the machine still works 
 admirably), and other minor details, such as to reduce 
 the weight of the cam, to do away with the hammers 
 having to drag the weight of the levers after them, and 
 so reducing their force of blows ; and in other respects 
 to give the machinery more life, or more properly speak- 
 ing, velocity, which performs a most important part in 
 this machinery, the two main considerations being an 
 easy and quick discharge, the most rapid lift attainable, 
 so as to have as few hammers as possible on the lift at 
 one time. The machine I am now about briefly to de- 
 scribe, has been made for, and is now in course of erection 
 at. High Beech Church, Epping Forest, to the order of 
 T. C. Baring, Esq. There are thirteen hemispherical 
 
28 
 
 bells in a tower nine feet square, and the machinery is 
 placed in a room below. In a space of only nine feet 
 square it would have been quite impossible to have got 
 church bells of any size or of a sufficient number, and 
 ringers could not have been found to use them. Hemi- 
 spherical bells here exactly supply the want, and in 
 making the machinery we desired that it should be no 
 mere approach to the speed of changes as rung by 
 ringers, but the exact speed should be given. 
 
 Ringers ring 28 changes per minute, which is 224 
 blows in the same time, each change being 8 blows on 8 
 bells, and in order that not more than one hammer should 
 be on the lift at once it was necessary to have a cam of 
 that lifting power. The main wheel makes a revolution 
 once a minute, consequently the discharging barrel which, 
 it drives from its shaft, as before described, makes a 
 revolution in the same time ; and to produce the needful 
 correspondence between our wheels and pinions, and to 
 give the propar interval between each pair of changes, 
 exactly the same as ringers do, it was necessary to make 
 our cam revolve 60 times to its once, and having four 
 lifters, four times sixty (240) blows can be lifted per 
 minute, more really than is required. I may here say 
 that before making this machine we made a smaller one, 
 which we here exhibit, and which we have had in use 
 for some time. The heaviest hammers to be lifted are 
 about 20 lbs., for which the machinery need not be large. 
 For larger machines we have plans of a more powerful 
 description, which we do not propose here to explain, 
 suffice it to say that, be the weights what they may, we 
 are prepared to deal satisfactorily with them. Haviiig 
 disposed of the number of hammers to be lifted, our 
 next object was to do away with the unwieldy key- 
 frame, and make a key and catch-all in one, which should 
 be quite easy of discharge and yet have holding power 
 to its extreme point of discharge. This was not arrived 
 at without much thought, one amongst many difficulties 
 
, 29 
 
 being to put them in such a position that the wooden 
 barrel could be removed without disturbing them. This 
 has been quite satisfactorily done, a catch has been 
 constructed with all the requisite qualities in itself, and 
 has been put in such a position that the barrel can be 
 removed in a moment. We also here introduced a great 
 improvement in the spring which draws in the pusher, 
 by which the lever, to which is attached the bell hammer, 
 is raised again to the catch which holds it. When the 
 catch is discharged and the lever falls, it is of course 
 necessary that the lever should not be again raised until 
 the blow is struck upon the bell ; and in order to do 
 this, what we call a pusher, or cat's-paw is attached to 
 the lever, working freely on it, which is drawn into con- 
 tact with the cam at the last moment in this way. It is, 
 of course, a well-known mechanical law that there is 
 much less action at the centre upon which anything 
 works than at its extreme end. We therefore place a 
 spring on an iron bar, which does three things. While 
 the lever and hammer are held up, it keeps the pusher 
 against its banking pin; as the lever falls it keeps it 
 pressed away from the cam till the last moment, when 
 its bent end comes in contact with a corresponding pro- 
 jecting part at the centre of the pusher and so draws it 
 in contact with the cam, the next coming lifter of which 
 lifts it to the catch, firmly held by which, all the weight 
 of the hamn;ier being gone from it, it flirts the pusher 
 away- to the banking pin till again discharged, when the 
 process is repeated. Originally three separate actions 
 were provided for this purpose. We consider these two 
 improvements to be of the most important character, 
 both as regards cost and efficiency. Other improve- 
 ments were made, but not of sufficient importance to be 
 referred to. It has two barrels, one of which has 296 
 / changes on eight bells pricked on it, which will be used 
 from 10.30 to 10.4s, at which time that barrel will be 
 taken out and one with 1 10 changes on 10 bells, three 
 
30 
 
 bell chimes and tolling, used at the discretion of the 
 verger. A barrel can also be applied by which the hours 
 and quarters can be struck the same as at Westminster ; 
 or, still further, a /-tune barrel could be made, by which 
 a different tune could be played through twice, at each 
 hour, or the same at will, if the quarter-hour striking 
 were found wearisome. To remove the barret, all that 
 is necessary is to move tlie spring which presses on the 
 end pivot on one side, draw the barrel a little to the 
 left, and out it comes free of everything. There is also 
 a key-board attached, by which Mrs. Baring can play on 
 the bells as easily as she can play on a piano.- This 
 machine, therefore, is applicable for four purposes, chim- 
 ing for the services of the church at any time, the 
 striking part of a Cambridge quarter-clock, the playing 
 of seven different tunes automatically, or a musical in- 
 strument to be played by hand. Some of my fellow- 
 craftsmen here this evening may perhaps be sceptical, 
 and say that I have as strong an imagination as the man 
 who used to warm his hands by holding them round a 
 candle-flame, but I can assure them it is quite true, and 
 that I may perhaps have some further astonishments in 
 store. 
 
 All our machinery is so constructed that any one 
 part can be taken out for repair without disturbing any 
 other, and even to every lever, and every catch up to 
 any number. The advantage of this plan was fully 
 demonstrated, in this way. After the machinery had 
 been fixed at Ipswich some short time, I had left it at 
 nine o'clock on the Saturday evening, after it had chimed 
 the quarters and played its tune twice over, and upon 
 my return, at nine o'clock on Sunday morning — of course 
 you understand that I was only there to see all was 
 right— to my great dismay I found that the heavy rain 
 of the night before had run through an unstopped hole 
 in the lead floor of the bell-chamber above, and that the 
 machinery was most carefully watered all over. Of 
 
31 
 
 course by Monday red rust was everywhere where I had 
 not been able to wipe it off the day before. A workman 
 and myself began at seven o'clock on Monday morning. 
 - It only missed striking the quarters for two hours ; it 
 played as usnal each third hour, and was as free from 
 water and rust as ever it was by six o*clock the same 
 evening, much of the steel work having been re-polished. 
 Had it been needful to take all the machine to pieces 
 at once, three days at least of silence would have been 
 necessary. 
 
 It now only remains to explain the arrangements we 
 have made in the larger of the two machines before you 
 for the several actions it has to perform. It will chime 
 the Cambridge quarters, and strike the hours (the same 
 as the Westminster clock), and will play one of seven 
 tunes every third hour, to be changed or not at will, as 
 described in the others, with only one weight and one 
 train of wheels. Clock-makers have always, hitherto, 
 used three weights and three trains of wheels for the 
 same purpose. It will also be used for chiming for the 
 services of the church of St. Mark, Victoria-park. As 
 you see there are two wooden barrels ; one, the shorter, 
 chimes the quarters and strikes the hours, and the longer 
 will play the tunes or changes. The smaller barrel 
 makes fifteen revolutions in twelve hours by means of a 
 fifteen-step snail, which is shifted one step forward by a 
 carrying-arm and double-action lever, once each turn, 
 the same as used for altering the tunes, and before de- 
 scribed. The quarters are also struck from it by means 
 of keys and levers, connected with the four proper notes 
 on the music side of the machine. By it are also struck 
 the hours by a key and lever action, drawing in the hour- 
 hammer lever in contact with the pins in the back of the 
 main wheel of the machine, and holding it there suffi- 
 ciently long for one or more blows to be struck on the 
 bell, according to the hour. Immediately the last blow is 
 struck, the spring, against which it was drawn, throws the 
 
32 
 
 lever ouf of the way of the pins, and at each third hour 
 a weight is dropped, and the musical barrel pushed in, it 
 having stood still during the striking of the hours and 
 quarters, as already described in the Ipswich machine. 
 We have, however, greatly improved and strengthened 
 the catch which holds up the lever to which the weight 
 is attached, and have made the lever to fall free of the 
 lifting pins in the face of the main wheel, so that by 
 removing the jointed end of the snail-shifting lever, and 
 moving forward the small-barrel snail to a step in which 
 there are n© pins, as occurs in that part of it which comes 
 into action each third hour, changes or music can be 
 played for any desired length of time, without the 
 weight being raised, and the barrel being pushed out of 
 action, after the second time round, as it would be in the 
 ordinary way. In the Ipswich machine the shorter 
 wooden barrel is a three hour locking plate for hours 
 and music only ; in this it becomes a twelve hour rapidly 
 revolving locking plate, for hours, quarters, and music, 
 than which there is no simpler or safer mode of stopping 
 in clock work or any self-acting machinery. A slow one 
 is, however, of very little use. In the intervals defined by 
 this locking plate pins will be put which will either act 
 upon the four quarter keys, the hour lever key, or the 
 key which discharges the weight for the playing of the 
 music, and causes it to be raised again when it should 
 cease, one key serving both purposes, according to 
 whether quarters or hours are to be struck or music 
 played. 
 
 We are also engaged upon the manufacture of a 
 smaller machine for ten small hemispherical bells, the 
 stable turret into which they will go being only 4 ft. 6 in. 
 square by 8 ft. high, which, with change of barrel, will 
 either strike the hours and quarters, or play one of seven 
 tunes twice Over every hour, or as often as desired ; a 
 key-board for playing by hand will also be added. We 
 are also planning a Cambridge quarter clock, which will 
 
33 
 
 only require one v/eight instedS of the two ordinarily 
 used, for a larger tower, hemispherical bells again carry^ 
 ing off the palm. The advantages which we claim for 
 our method of carrying out this patent are :■— Extreme 
 simplicity' of all the parts of action ; lightness of all the 
 several parts, yet perfect strength and durability ; high 
 finish and accuracy (and upon this point we are most 
 particular, as, failing this, in self-acting musical instru- 
 ments all else is labour in vain); absolute steadiness and 
 ease of discharge, by which perfection is obtained in the 
 music or changes, or whatever work the machinery is 
 called upon to perform ; rapidity of lift, by which multi- 
 plicity of hammers is avoided and weight saved ; ease 
 with which repair can be done to any one given part 
 without disturbing the machine as a whole ; and last, 
 but not least, cheapness, not the cheapness which is 
 obtained by inferiority of workmanship, but cheapness 
 which is obtained by simplicity of action-^not using 
 three actions where one will do because our ancestors 
 did it that way three hundred years ago, and therefore 
 it must be right, and, consequently, saving material and 
 . labour which which make the cost. 
 
 After a short discussion the Chairman said it became 
 his duty to ask those present to join him in a vote of 
 thanks to Mr. Lund for the very interesting paper he 
 had read. He thought it would be apparent to all that 
 it had been a labour of love to him, and that he had 
 brought to the subject a great amount of patient labour, 
 attention, and scientific skill. As to the last paragraph, 
 they must have all felt the soothing influence produced 
 by a chime of bells, and many were the sweet recollec- 
 tions the village bells recalled to most of us. He agreed 
 with the speaker who remarked that some bells in 
 London were felt to be a nuisance, but even in London 
 many people liked to hear a chime of bells. As to young 
 beginners, he thought they would be deterred from com- 
 mencing the study of change-ringing by the description 
 
 C 
 
34 
 
 of Mr. Lund. He woulcf say, even if he had an inclina- " 
 tion at his time of life to commence a new study, what 
 had been seated was more than sufficient to deter him, 
 and he would rather prefer commencing the study of 
 Hebrew or Sanscrit. He asked them to join with him 
 in sincerely thanking Mr. Lund for his paper, and in 
 congratulating him, after the years of labour he had be- 
 stowed, on the satisfactory results he had produced. He 
 could only express a hope that those labours and the 
 intelligence he liad shown might not cease, -but that 
 they might be devoted to some other work in the same 
 branch, which might tend to be useful to both science 
 and art. 
 
 Mr. Lund in reply said : — I rise to thank you. Ladies 
 and Gentlemen, for the kind way in which you received 
 my paper. I can assure you it has been a very, great 
 pleasure to me to come here and read it. 
 
 The vote of thanks was then passed. 
 
35 
 
 A short Description of tlie Patent MacMnery manufactured by 
 Messrs. LUND & BLOCKLEY, and the advantages claimed for it. 
 
 First as it relates to. Clocks which chime the quarters 
 and strike the hours. 
 
 For such Clocks Clockmakers have always hitherto 
 used three weights and three trains of wheels, all included 
 in one frame, by which all the vibration of the striking 
 is felt by the going part, which is decidedly objectionable. 
 Under the patent they put the going part in a frame by 
 itself, and all the work it has to do is to move the 
 hands on one or more dials and lift and let fall a small 
 weight every quarter of an hour to set the machinery in 
 motion, which chimes the quarters and strikes the hours, 
 and which stands by itself and with one weight only 
 does the work of Clockmakers' two weights and two 
 trains of wheels. Under the patent as carried out by 
 Lund & Blockley, the discharge of the hammers upon 
 the bells being very easy and the relifting very rapid, 
 the precision of time of the quarters is perfect and 
 under no other plan can changes be given on six or eight 
 bells. _ N 
 
 Summarized the advantages are : — 
 
 1st. The striking is no interference with the time- 
 keeping of the Clock — most important. 
 
30 
 
 2nd. One weight and one train of wheels only is 
 required for the chiming of the quarters and 
 striking of the hours instead of two. 
 
 3rd. Regularity of interval between each blow much 
 more exact and will always remain so, the dis- 
 charge being very easy and entirely independent 
 of the lift of the hammer. 
 
 4th. Saving of cost. 
 
 Now with reference to. Clocks which, besides chiming 
 the quarters and striking the hours, play tunes every 
 third hour or as often as desired. All the above ad- 
 vantages are gained in these Clocks as in the others, \ 
 and, in addition, the tunes which are played do not 
 involve the use of a fourth weight and train of wheels. 
 Some slight addition only is made in the hour-andi- 
 quarter barrel ; and a barrel of seven tunes, by most 
 simple mechanism is made to work in connection with 
 it each third hour or as often as desired, by which a 
 different tune of the seven can be played over twice, or 
 the same at will. 
 
 . Any number of barrels of seven tunes can be added 
 at any time, and a barrel can also be rhade to it, so that 
 changes such as ringers ring can be chimed upon the 
 bells. This, in the case of a Church, is used for the 
 services, and at a Town Hall or other building would 
 be used on any public rejoicing, or with the object of 
 showing off the bells to the best advantage. Upon no 
 other machinery but theirs can this be done. 
 
 In this part of the machine, also, the discharge of - 
 the hammers is made perfectly easy and independent of 
 the lift, which is again very rapid, to insure the tunes 
 being played in a lively way and in correct time. A 
 key board is also applied by which tunes can be played 
 by hand with the greatest ease. 
 
 Summarized, the advantages are the four already 
 enumerated under the head of Chiming Clocks. 
 
37 
 
 5th. With the addition of one or more barrels and 
 the needful hammers and hammer works for the 
 extra bells, one of seven or more tunes can be 
 played twice over every third hour or oftener, the 
 same or a different one each time at will. 
 
 6th. Ringers changes can be rung at full speed, and 
 with the greatest precision, by the addition of 
 another barrel, for the services of a Church, or on 
 public occasions at a Town Hall or other public 
 building, or the better to show off the bells. 
 
 7th. A key board can be added for playing tunes 
 by hand. 
 
 Messrs. LUND & Blocklev have made, under the 
 patent, a machine to chime the quarters, and play a tune 
 every third hour, with i6 bells, for Orwell Park, Ipswich. 
 One for High Beech Churchy near Loughton, with 13 
 bells, which has two barrels, one for 196 changes on 
 eight bells, and one for changes on 10 bells, rounds on 
 three, and tolling on the tenor for the services of the 
 Church. A key board is attached by which tunes are 
 played by the organist on the 13 belts. Another is 
 about to be added, which will then make the machinery 
 the striking part of a quarter Clock. Another they have 
 madej by command oi the Queen, for St. Mark's, Victoria 
 Park, which combines in itself all three things. It 
 chimes the quarters, strikes the hours, and plays one of 
 seven tunes twice over each third hour, with one weight 
 and one train of wheels, and is the only one existing of 
 its kind. All these bells are hemispherical. 
 
 They are now making, amongst others, one on the 
 same principle for a" peal of eight large church bells, for 
 a Church at Derby, the tenor bell of which will weigh 
 one and a half tons. 
 
 They have also just completed, at a Church at 
 Weymouth, a machine with two barrels for the services 
 
38 
 
 of the Church, and an extra barrel of seven tunes, one 
 of which is played over twice each third hour, and a key- 
 board is attached for playing by hand. There are ten 
 hemispherical bells, nine consecutive and one half-note. 
 
 The generous gift of a peal of bells, by Henry 
 Ed-«?ards, Esq., to Weymouth, consists of lO hemis- 
 pherical bells cast by Messrs. Taylor & Co. of Lough- 
 borough, to whom the greatest credit is due for the 
 trouble they have taken to cast so musical a peal in the 
 short time Messrs. Lund and Blockley -were able to give 
 them from the receipt of the order to the end of the 
 year, being less than three months. The term hemis- 
 pherical must not be understood in its literal sense. 
 They are not, actually, half spheres, but resemble, as 
 much as possible, the old-fashioned finger glasses, from 
 which, when struck on the edge, a beautiful note may 
 be produced ; and, in using them in certain cases, the 
 advantages claimed for them are the very great 
 saving in the weight of metal necessary to produce a 
 given note in the musical scale ; and, consequently, the 
 perfect safety with which they can be put in towers with 
 weak foundations. Take the instance of our own peal of 
 ten. The tenor bell weighs about five cwt., and is Bflat; to 
 produce the same note in the church-bell shape would 
 require twenty cwt. of metal ; of course the five cwt. 
 will not produce the same volume of sound as twenty 
 cwt., but the relative sweetness and quality of tone of a 
 hemispherical bell of five cwt. over a church'bell of the 
 same weight is very greatly in favour of the former ; 
 and Mr. Taylor, who has cast some of the largest and 
 most successful bells in the country, speaking of peals 
 of hemispherical and church bells with that weight of 
 tenor, viz., five cwt., says that the church bells should not, 
 on any account, be recommended of so light a weight. 
 The first large pea:l of hemispherical bells, put up in this 
 or any country, were made to the order of Messrs. Lund 
 
39 
 
 and Blockley by a London firm for Orwell Park, Ipswich,, 
 and were 16 in number, tenor bell E flat and weighing 
 al?out six cwt.,^since which, they have supplied peals, 
 amongst others, of 13 to High Bee^h in Essex, of 11 
 to St. Mark's Church, Victoria Park, London, by 
 gracious command of Her Majesty the Queen, in com- 
 memoration of her visit to the park ; and, in every case, 
 they have given universal satisfaction. No attempt was 
 made in any case, nor was it intended, at Christ Church, 
 to make a great deal of noise to be a nuisance to every-- 
 one ; but what was intended, and has been done, is to put 
 there a peal of most musical bells which, can be heard, 
 with pleasure, by everyone within a radius of two miles 
 with the wind in any direction, save the immediate 
 neighbourhood of the tower and esplanade. It is much 
 to be regretted that this should be so, but it is no fault 
 whatever of the bells, but of the tower which, on- the 
 seaward and town side, is completely blocked in by 
 houses, as everyone can see for himself, and what ob- 
 structs the sight, must of necessity, prevent the sound 
 from reaching the ear. Many people have heard them 
 at the cemetery, Radapole Church, and all round to the 
 Dorchester Road for two miles ; and, in some cases, 
 farther. They have been heard, with the wind blowing 
 strongly in an opposite direction, on the Dyke Road, 
 and it will be found that in walking along the' esplanade, 
 where the sound can force itself through there, the bells 
 are to be heard ; and from St. John's Church, a fine 
 position for another peal, they can be distinctly heard 
 as far and farther than the coast-guard station. They 
 are in the key of B flat ; nine consecutive notes, and a flat 
 seventh. The bells are contained in a wooden frame 
 nine feet high by about five feet broad. Each bell is 
 secured to its beam by a bolt and screw passing through 
 a hole in its centre. There are two hammers to each 
 bell attached to the beam above with a counter-spring 
 to each to prevent double blows. Another frame carries 
 
40 
 
 a pair of cranks for each, bell, which are attached by 
 wire ea'ch to its proper hammer, and thence commu- 
 nicate, by similar wire^ to the levers in the machinery 
 below. 
 
 The machinery made by Messrs. Lund and Blockley 
 of 42, Pall Mall, London, watch and clock makers to 
 the Queen, is constructed under a patent which was the 
 invention of Mr. Imhof of 547, Oxford Street. He 
 originally used it for the drum-beaters in his self-acting 
 organs, of which he is the sole manufacturer in London, 
 and it occurred to him that the same idea would answer 
 for the hammers to strike on bells in chiming machinery. 
 The fundamental principle of the invention is this, that 
 the discharge of the hammer should be independent of . 
 the lift. In old chiming machinery this is not so. It 
 will there be found to be done by pins in a barrel of 
 large and ponderous construction, which, in revolving, 
 lift the levers to which the hammers are attached, and 
 let them drop again as soon as iheir lines of contact are 
 passed. In the patent the hammers are lifted, and held 
 by catches till pins, in a barrel of small and very light 
 construction, pass and release them much in the same 
 way that a gun is full-cocked by the thumb, and easily 
 discharged by the first finger. The important points to 
 be considered in rnaking the machinery are, to have a 
 very easy discharge and rapid lift, in order to avoid 
 multiplicity of hammers to each bell. This Messrs. 
 Lund and Blockley have most satisfactorily accom- 
 plished. It will be foutid that an amount of pressure 
 can actually be applied to the levers sufficient to break 
 them before they will pass ; but touch the catch in the 
 proper place and they will pass with the greatest ease. 
 The lift is also very rapid, as many as 224 blows being 
 discharged and lifted per minute, so that two hammers 
 only are required to give the most rapid repetition ' on 
 each note or bell which music can want The motive 
 power is a weight attached to a drum and main wheel, 
 
41 
 
 intermediate wheel to drive the cam and a worm wheel, 
 and worm with fans to regulate the speed. Upon the 
 main wheel arbor of the machine, one of the three 
 barrels belonging to the machine, and hereafter to be 
 described, is placed in such a way that it caff be easily 
 removed. This barrel when the machinery is started 
 moves round, and by means of pins in its surface dis- 
 charges the catches, the levers fall, and the required 
 , blows are struck upon the bells. By means of a simple 
 spring action a loose pusher is brought in contact with 
 the cam, and the lever is raised again to the catch and 
 there held till again wanted to be discharged. The 
 barrels are made of wood, they are lo inches diameter 
 and about 26 inches long ; and in them are placed the 
 discharging pins as before described at the proper in- 
 tervals to produce given tunes qr changes, The pins are 
 made of brass ; and, for the heaviest hammers, would 
 not exceed one-eighth of an inch in diameter, any pres- 
 sure of hammer on the catch which these could not 
 discharge being destructive of all proper time-keeping ; 
 and it will be readily understood that this is a most 
 important point in the machinery, when it is stated that 
 in two barrels which are used for chiming the changes 
 for the services gf the church the actual interval of time 
 elapsing between each blow delivered is about a quarter 
 of a second, and the actual space occupied on the circum- 
 ference of the barrel one-eighth of an inch. The barrel 
 makes a revolution once in a minute, ringers ring 28 
 changes in the same time ; and as the machine is not 
 an attempt only to produce changes at full speed, but 
 that it positively does it ; and as there are eight blows 
 in each change, it is seen that 224 blows are discharged 
 and lifted again in* each minute. The barrel being 30 
 inches in circumference, multiply 30 by 8 which will give 
 240 against 224 blows struck. The 60 seconds in a 
 minute, multiplied by 4, again gives 240 against 224 
 blows struck. These facts taken into consideration, the 
 
42 
 
 precision of the change-chiming seems marvellous. In 
 the third barrel for the seven tunes, the intervals are of 
 course greater, but it will be found that the time kept is 
 most perfect, so much so, that if part of a tune be heard 
 at a distance, and the wind then fails to carry the sound 
 for a bar or two if the tune be hummed in proper time, 
 as soon as the sound is heard again, the note will 
 be found to be the one required exactly. The tunes 
 are — 
 
 1. God save the Queen. 
 
 2. Auld Lang Syne. 
 
 3. Adeste Fidelep. 
 
 4. Blue Bells of Scotland. 
 
 5. Rule Britannia. 
 
 6. Old looth Psalm. 
 
 7. Home, Sweet Home, 
 
 and it will be found that each tune is given with the 
 greatest exactness ; and is, in no degree, mutilated as is 
 often the case in chiming machinery of other kinds to 
 meet the; difficulty of lifting the hammers, in rapidly 
 recurring notes upon the same bell. The rapid and 
 florid passages of the quick tunes being given with as 
 perfect accuracy as the slower time of the sacred tunes. 
 One tune will be played twice over each third hour 
 when the clock is completed, the same or a different 
 one ^ach third hour at will by simply laying a lever up 
 or down. The whole machine is so arranged that each 
 part is easily accessible without disturbing any other, 
 and of the best materials and construction. There are 
 many other points worthy of notice in connection, with 
 the machine, notably, a key board, by which tunes can 
 be played by hand with the greatest ease, but the 
 principal points have been referred to. Mr, Church- 
 warden Rowe has charge of it, and will, no doubt, 
 afford every facility for its inspection. Mr.' Butt lias 
 been entrusted with the winding up and general care of 
 the work. 
 
43 
 
 The cost of the machinery has been provided for by 
 the proceeds of a bazaar got up by the ladies of Wey- 
 mouth, and we hope it will prove a source of pleasure to 
 them for many years to come. — " Weymouth and Port- 
 land Telegraph," January, 1875. 
 
 A new Carillon Machine, of exquisite and ingenious 
 workmanship,' has lately been set up at Christ Church, 
 Weymouth, by Messrs. Lund and Blockley of 4.2, Pall 
 Mall, London. The bells are not of the usual form for 
 ringing, but are fixed hemispheres, called by the ancients 
 Petasi, or Skull-caps, like that worn by Mercury. They 
 are from the foundry of Messrs. Taylor of Loughborough, 
 in B flat. They are the gift of Henry Edwards, Esq., M.P. ; 
 the cost of the machinery being paid for by a bazaar and 
 subscription. For a detailed description of the machinery , 
 we beg to refer our readers to a most interesting paper 
 read by Mr. Lund, in March last, before the Society of 
 Arts, which is published in the " Transactions " of that 
 Society.—" Church Bells," February 20, 1875. 
 
 Fargues & Co., Printers, Warwick Street, Regent Street.