The Fog Bell "O father! I hear the church bells ring; 66 I say, what may it be?" "Tis a fog bell on a rock-bound coast"; And he steered for the open sea. LONGFELLOW, The Wreck of the Hesperus. Hawking Bells.-In hawking, a small strap was fastened with rings of leather passed around each leg of the hawk just above the talon, and each of them had a little bell attached. In the flight of hawks it was so arranged that the different bells varied in tone in order that a concert of might be produced. gay music Neither the king nor he that loves him best, Dare stir a wing if Warwick shakes his bells. SHAKESPEARE, Henry VI, Act I, Scene 1. John Gilpin's spouse said to her dear, To-morrow is our wedding day, All in a chaise and pair. COWPER. Door Bells. When door bells were unknown Greek and Roman visitors kicked or pounded on the door, to announce themselves. In Horace's Ode to Spring a literal translation would read: "Pale Death strikes with equal foot at the hovels of the poor and the palaces of kings." Sheep Bells. When the quiet colored end of evening smiles, On the solitary pasture the sheep half asleep, Tinkle homeward through the twilight. BROWNING. The Bell Bird. It is generally supposed that the forests of Brazil abound with birds, but nothing can be more still and solitary. The silence is appalling, undisturbed by the sight or voice of any living thing, except among the highest trees a singular sound is heard. It resembles the clinking of metal or the distant tolling of a church bell. This is the note of the Bell Bird. A Cup Bell. We had a fine dinner and good learned company, many doctors of physic, and we were used with extraordinary respect. Among other observables we drank the king's health out of a gilt cup given by King Henry VIII to the company, with bells hanging to it, which every man is to ring by shaking after he hath drunk up the whole cup. Pepy's Diary, 1663. Horse's Bells.- The ancient Greeks and Romans hung small bells called tintinnabula around their horse's necks for ornament. Jockey and his horse were by their masters sent, They are to run and cannot miss the bell. North's Forest of Varieties. Here lyes the man whose horse did gaine The bell on Salisbury Plain. CAMDEN, An Old Epitaph. A BELLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH In a dramatic pastoral, entitled Rhodon and Iris, first acted at Norwich in 1631, we find the following list of the dress, ornaments, and toilet requisites of a fashionable belle of the period: Chains, coronets, pendants, bracelets, and earrings; Pins, girdles, spangles, embroideries, and rings; |